Posted by JohnL on April 13, 2000, at 4:50:12
In reply to Reboxetine Vestra, posted by Missy on April 12, 2000, at 13:30:18
> Greetings, I am very curious to hear more about the people who have taken Vestra (Reboxetine). I am anxious to try it when it comes out in the United States.
I tried Reboxetine briefly. The immediate dramatic worsening of depression was too scary. Not to mention the anxiety, restlessness, insomnia, dry mouth, constipation, and total impotence. If someone's norepinephrine system is fine to begin with, Reboxetine will likely cause them lots of problems. If their norepinephrine system is deficient, then it will likely be helpful. But from what I've seen in statistics, norepinephrine faults make up a low percentage of cases.
In comparison, I found Desipramine far more effective on mood enhancement (no worsening either), and Nortriptyline somewhat helpful. But Desipramine was a stand out performer. Its side effects compared to Reboxetine were slightly less. It's hard to beat those time-tested tricyclics that have endured decades. They can have some unwanted side effects, but Reboxetine for me was much worse in every aspect imaginable. I think this effort to reinvent the wheel has resulted in a product not any better than the original wheel, and perhaps lacking in advantages of the original wheel. If Reboxetine never gets approved, I can understand why.
Since I've tried and compared various norepinephrine drugs, I would highly recommend someone try either Desipramine or Nortriptyline instead of Reboxetine. If you have ever had experience with stimulants, a positive mood response to Ritalin predicts a positive response to Desipramine. And a negative or neutral response to Ritalin predicts a positive response to Nortriptyline. I personally think Reboxetine has no advantage whatsoever over either of these two tricyclics. Any argument that Rebox has fewer side effects proved to be false with me. Those time-tested tricyclics--the gold standards of yesterday--are still the yardsticks for comparison, and I don't think Reboxetine measures up.
poster:JohnL
thread:29738
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000411/msgs/29813.html