Posted by JohnL on December 1, 1999, at 16:39:45
In reply to Re: Serzone effect for Social Phobia?JohnL., posted by MA on December 1, 1999, at 9:01:01
> JohnL.
>
> It sounds as though Serzone worked for you at a certain dose, yet once you were beyond that, it didn't.
>
> Why didn't you go back to it at the dose at which it worked? If you miss the window can't you regain the feeling again on that same dose?You know, I was so suicidally depressed and so distraught with my new pdoc who was doing this to me that I couldn't have been paid a million dollars to stay with Serzone or the pdoc. I couldn't get away fast enough. In hindsight, that was probably a mistake, because I don't know whether I would have regained a good effect by lowering the dose and staying with it longer. That's the problem with a lousy doc...we get lousy management.
>
> I think you responded to one or more of my posts and commented that you and I had similar symptoms of depression. Social phobia, dysthymic, etc.Yep. I've come to know my depression as the melancholic type. Characterized by anhedonia, low energy, withdrawn. Melancholic dysthymia with some suicidal bouts mixed in from time to time.
>
> Serzone is one of the only meds I haven't tried. Right now I'm on Celexa 40 mg, Wellbutrin 200 mg and Neurontin 200-300 mg. The Neurontin was just added, but I don't think I'm bipolar, although I have commented to my pdoc that when I went off AD's entirely, my inital sx of depression were agitation, hyperness, etc. I felt like I was handling things beautifully until I crashed big time. Did you ever try Neurontin? Effects?No. Haven't tried Neurontin. I did try Lamictal. It was worth about a point on a ten point scale. Definitely helpful, but no miracle.
>
> So many times I'm not sure how to classify my depression and my doc isn't either. We just keep trying different mixes, but never seem to hit the right combination.I sure hear ya. I've frustrated all my docs so far. To make it even worse, my current pdoc is retiring in a few weeks...I have to start the hunt from scratch again! And I'm not in any good shape to do that.
>
> What are you taking now and how is it working?Prozac + Remeron. No it's not working. I feel like I'm teetering on the edge. I'm on a thin line between dysthymia and major depression.
>
> Send me your list of best and worst combos. That might be a good category for everyone. Thanks
>
> MAFor me the best SSRI was Zoloft, and for a short time I was actually totally euthymic after adding Nortriptyline to it. But that faded, and even though I wasn't depressed, I was totally incapacitated by anhedonia (talk about major apathy) and total destruction of sex. With the benefit of hindsight, I should have stayed with it and added a dopamine agonist like amantadine or bromocriptine for the apathy and the sex. That would have been a wise thing to try, had I known at the time, before dumping the whole thing and starting over.
The worst ones were Paxil (hair loss and sex loss), Serzone (worsened depression), Moclobemide (worsened depression), Wellbutrin (very loud tinnitus), Buspar (very loud tinnitus), Pindolol (very tiring). Buspar+Pindolol is supposed to be great, but it caused me such dizziness and confusion I couldn't function. I was immediately scared away on short trials of Effexor and then Vivactil, but they are still both on my radar screen. It seems I've tried so many things I have forgotten some.
Things I've found either neutral or mildly helpful are St Johnswort, SAMe, Lamictal, Naltrexone. Actually the best I ever felt was on 200mg/day of 5HTP. But it had a strange urination burning kind of side effect that was scary and intolerable and unexplained by anyone. Don't know where to go from here, but I'm down in the dark dumps and need to find a way out. Nice talking with you MA. JohnL
poster:JohnL
thread:16019
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/19991123/msgs/16057.html