Posted by Scott L. Schofield on April 26, 2000, at 16:13:16
In reply to Re: Serzone-- Sorry Noa, posted by Noa on April 25, 2000, at 18:26:30
Hi Noa.
I thought I might add one more suggestion that I feel is worth consideration.You may want to take advantage of this opportunity to add Wellbutrin to the Effexor while you are still taking it, unless you have already tried this combination or have had a bad experience with Wellbutrin. I have seen several cases in which this combination has produced a robust antidepressant response when neither drug by itself was sufficiently effective. This has been particularly true for those people who have previously experienced a partial response to both drugs when taken individually.
Possible benefits of this combination:
1. It might work.
2. Adding Wellbutrin may be activating and counteract any Effexor-induced sedation or fatigue.
3. Wellbutrin may counteract any Effexor-induced sexual side effects.
4. Wellbutrin may counteract any tendency towards weight-gain by exerting an anorectic effect.Will Wellbutrin cause or exacerbate sleep-disturbance? It might. If the combination works, such a side effect can probably be dealt with, and may well be worth the effort. If sleep-disturbance is a symptom of the depression itself, it may actually resolve upon remission.
I am still very interested to know if the administration of thyroid hormones can cause insomnia or other sleep-disturbances.
Thanks.
One additional comment: Learning about receptors is pretty neat, but I don't know of anyone who has yet been able to outwit trial and error. Clinical experience with different drugs along with an understanding of their properties can yield some pretty good guesses, but an empirical approach is still necessary. Even the algorithms of Dr. Jensen as described by JohnL are purely empirical. Why any one drug or drug combination works is, at best, conjecture. I try not to exclude any drug based upon the properties it is currently thought to possess.
JohnL - I think Dr. Jensen's approach is great. I find your caveat regarding his short trial periods for antidepressants (as opposed to such things as stimulants, lithium, hormones or neuroleptics) is appropriate when treating unipolar depression. I have profited greatly from your contributes and may end up getting well because of them. Thanks.
- Scott
poster:Scott L. Schofield
thread:30979
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000420/msgs/31365.html