Posted by Adam on January 30, 2000, at 15:48:28
In reply to Re: "Suicide linked " "Question for Adam...", posted by Ant-Rock on January 30, 2000, at 13:36:12
Scott, Ant,
As for my rather horrific experiences at the beginning of 1999, all I can say is that I got off Wellbutrin, which I wasn't satisfied with as an antidepressant (though I had no adverse reactions to it) and started on Serzone. I stayed on Serzone for eight weeks (about four weeks longer than I wanted to, but I did what my doctor told me to do) and it took about that long to go from severely depressed but functioning to a state that I can confidently say was the worst thing I have ever experienced in my life. I was certainly unhappy enough before to think about suicide at least five or six times a day, but on Serzone I made the transition from ideation to attempt, and felt the pain was so unbearable that I was compelled to do so. It all may have been a result of getting off Wellbutrin, which I could have underestimated. I have no way of knowing for sure. My doctors just shrug when I bring it up.
As for my curiosity about my own genetic makeup, I've thought about the experiment since then, and there are a lot of potential problems that could make it not really worth doing. Also, if my 5-HT2A receptor were defective, then how can I explain my reaction to Serzone mechanistically, or the fact that I did not have such an adverse reaction to Remeron, which is also a 5-HT2 antagonist (though it does a number of other things too, just like Serzone).
Lastly, I would only do it if I thought it was such a trivial experiment (i.e. conditions were near perfect) that the costs in time and money would be negligible. I would be using some of the facilities of my employer for decidedly irrelevant purposes to their interests, would be doing so without permission, and hence any discovery I made would be worth nothing to anyone scientifically, and would only be a rather selfish way to satisfy my own curiosity.
Hence, it's probably a really bad idea, and I just got carried away.
> Hi Adam,
> My name is Anthony, and I was hoping you could help me out with some info. You mentioned having some negative effects while on Serzone.
> A few years back I had a very bad adverse reaction to the drug Amoxapine, which I was taking for depression. My nervous system went into some kind of shock, with my legs feeling like rubber and a severe worsening of my depression. I had tried many different meds in the past and never had a bad experience before with AD's.
> Anyway,
> Three years later while taking a small dose of Risperdal, also for depression, I had another severe and lasting reaction much like the Amoxapine one.
> I guess I was wondering if you could tell me whether these two meds are in any way related or if their mechanism of action are similar. You seem to have a grasp of the way these meds can "cause" positive or negative reactions.
> Thanks again Adam, or anyone else reading this with any feedback they can provide.
>
> Anthony
poster:Adam
thread:19909
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000128/msgs/20120.html