![[dr. bob]](/dr-bob-sm.gif)
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 4 of 4. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by jay on January 12, 2004, at 0:54:17
J Psychopharmacol. 2001 Jun;15(2):136-8. Related Articles, Links
The 'dalhousie serotonin cocktail' for treatment-resistant major depressive disorder.Dursun SM, Devarajan S, Kutcher S.
Department of Psychiatry, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. sdursun@is.dal.ca
We describe the successful treatment of five patients with treatment-resistant major depressive disorder (TR-MDD) with a combination pharmacotherapy of pindolol, tryptophan and nefazodone. Five TR-MDD outpatients who had previously not responded to at least four different antidepressant medication trials were initiated on 300 mg/day of nefazodone, 7.5 mg/day of pindolol and 1 g/day of tryptophan. Pindolol doses remained the same throughout the 20 weeks, while tryptophan and nefazodone dosages were gradually increased to 8 g/day and 450 mg/day, respectively. The Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D) was used to evaluate outcome. By week 4, all cases demonstrated at least 50% decrease in HAM-D scores. At the end of the trial, the group mean HAM-D score had significantly decreased from 26.8 (+/- 1.9) to 1.8 (+/- 0.8) (p < 0.001). No significant adverse effects were reported. These results suggest that if serotonin availability and release is further enhanced by tryptophan in the presence of nefazodone and pindolol, an antidepressant effect may be produced in patients who are otherwise treatment-resistant. Due to limited sample size, an open design and an 'unusually' high successful efficacy rate of this preliminary study, controlled studies are required to confirm the efficacy of this treatment strategy.
Publication Types:
Clinical TrialPMID: 11448087 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Posted by Ame Sans Vie on January 12, 2004, at 8:54:26
In reply to 'Dalhousie serotonin cocktail' for TRD , posted by jay on January 12, 2004, at 0:54:17
Posted by linkadge on January 12, 2004, at 16:39:23
In reply to Interesting study -- thanks for posting :-) (nm), posted by Ame Sans Vie on January 12, 2004, at 8:54:26
does anyone know if 5htp and tryptophan are comparable (ie 1g of one = 1g of the other)
Thanks
Linkadge
Posted by omegon on January 12, 2004, at 18:55:07
In reply to tryptophan - 5htp comparisons, posted by linkadge on January 12, 2004, at 16:39:23
> does anyone know if 5htp and tryptophan are comparable (ie 1g of one = 1g of the other)
No, you definitely need more tryptophan than 5-HTP to get a similar effect. I have seen 10-15x as much quoted (e.g. 1000mg/day trytophan ~= 100mg/day 5-HTP. (Tryptophan is used to make 5-HTP in the body, which is used to make serotonin; but not all tryptophan is absorbed, and not all of what is absorbed is made into 5-HTP.)
It's not just the dosage that's different, either; e.g. gastrointestinal side effects are supposedly lower with tryptophan, though I found these decreased with time on 5-HTP in any case.
This is the end of the thread.
Psycho-Babble Medication | Extras | FAQ
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.org
Script revised: February 4, 2008
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/cgi-bin/pb/mget.pl
Copyright 2006-17 Robert Hsiung.
Owned and operated by Dr. Bob LLC and not the University of Chicago.