Posted by franco neuro on May 14, 2005, at 22:09:37
In reply to Re: Desipramine in neuropathic pain » franco neuro, posted by ed_uk on May 14, 2005, at 9:42:17
Hi Ed,
Thanks for the useful information.
> I hope you don't mind me asking. What is the cause of your pain?
That is the million dollar question. I've had numerous opinions, but no doctor has been able to give me a real answer. Nothing showed up on MRI and basic blood work was always pretty normal. That is until the past year or so. My sedimentation rate went from 1 to 24. No doubt due to neurogenic inflammation. Cholesterol and homocysteine have shot up and testosterone has dropped (no doubt coinciding with plummeting dopamine levels).
I've been to psychologists. While it's always good to get stuff off of ones chest, it certainly didn't help me physically. I think Dr. Goldstein has really given me the answer. As explained in my previous post. Genetic predisposition, severe childhood stress, injuries (twice broken right arm), etc. Even though the causative factors may be long gone, the changes to the neural networks, receptors, synapses, etc., remain.
I started to feel something was physically amiss quite early on. But it really didn't start to impact my life until about 7 years ago. I went through a period of high stress (bad relationship, stressful work environment, stressful living situation, etc.) that I think started the downward spiral. I started having severe insomnia and started noticing strange sensations in my legs and weakness in my left foot. I've been on the medical merry-go-round ever since.
> But these treatments are not easy to 'get hold of'. Why don't you try the more usual treatments first? You could try desipramine next. Being interested in the NMDA receptor, I expect you've already tried dextromethorphan. Perhaps you could consider oral amantadine, IV amantadine has also been used.
All true. I think I can get the IV lidocaine. I've only located one doctor who does the IV ketamine. He's located about 4 hours drive from me. IV amantadine was Dr. Goldstein's third most effective treatment behind IV ketamine and IV lidocaine. I would like to try oral amantadine since it is an NMDA antagonist and a dopamine agonist. Desiprimine is on my list. I'm sure it will help with pain, but I still think I need to address the NMDA/glutamate issue. Desiprimine is also cheap. As is dextromethorphan. I haven't tried it yet. I want to. I've found out recently that Benedryl does indeed help with my visceral nerve pain. I just took one. Histamine is an NMDA agonist, so antihistamines are in effect indirect NMDA antagonists.
My biggest problem after all of these years is still trying to find a doctor who will work with me on getting to the bottom of this.
poster:franco neuro
thread:473033
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050510/msgs/497884.html