Posted by SalArmy4me on January 2, 2001, at 21:52:35
I post this from time to time because some people haven't even heard of
certain treatment options--so they try other augmentation agents that
have less evidence behind them, and work poorly or not at all. Examples
of these unproven agents include Omega3s, amantadine, inositol, or all
the over-the-counter vitamins, minerals, or herbs--save hypericum.No augmentation agent will work as well as Lithium. This is the first
choice in augmentation according to my doctor and the Harvard Psychiatry
Depression Algorithym (http://mhc.com/Algorithms/Depression/). But if you cannot take the side-effects of
Lithium, do not have a thyroid deficiency (which exacerbates
depression), or have not done well on buspirone, Harvard mentions Visken
(rx only: pindolol)--also featured prominently on the New York University Psychiatry website: http://www.med.nyu.edu/Psych/aug/index.htmlThis treatment for depression is nothing new, actually. Pindolol is a
beta-blocker, the only one of its class known to speed up the action of
antidepressants. The main studies done (found on Medline) have used it
most effectively with sertraline, although it has been tried and
proven effective with most of the SSRIs, tranylcypromine and
moclobemide, and a few of the tricyclics. See Dr. Bob's
Psychopharmacology website (uhs.bsd.uchicago.edu/~bhsiung/tips/tips.html) and look up pindolol for more information.I promote pindolol because it has made the most dramatic difference in
my life. I take 10 mg per day in two divided doses. Drawbacks: 1) It
is expensive in the brand form. My HMO, the largest in the United
States, does not cover it. That is because other treatments for
hypertension are preferred over pindolol. 2) It can cause
stomach-upset. This can be remedied with famotidine, cimetidine, or
protonix. 3) It takes as long as antidepressants to work, and 4) it
cannot be used in the place of a regular antidepressant/anticonvulsant.
But these drawbacks never convinced me to stop using it. There's your FYI.
poster:SalArmy4me
thread:50787
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20001231/msgs/50787.html