Posted by medlib on July 29, 2000, at 2:03:15
In reply to Re: Info on oxcarbazepine - Thanks! » medlib, posted by Chris A. on July 27, 2000, at 23:49:27
Chris--
Thanks for the citations and for inquiring about me! I really can relate to "tired neurons" and am sorry that I didn't take time to preview my post to you--2 errors in the same post are embarrassing! I've just come from the funeral of a friend who was 6 years younger that I am; her sudden, unexpected death (heart attack) is sobering; I have many risk factors for an MI--she had none (that we knew). Sorta makes my suffering through drug trials seem trivial. I'm on Effexor and Ritalin and am trying to add Remeron (pdoc thinks Effexor+Remeron is an especially potent combo), but the daily severe migraines that Remeron causes are wearing. I'm sure that your post-ECT or my son's past post-ictal headaches must be worse; but, any severe headache makes thinking pretty tough. Sometimes, it's difficult to gauge which causes more "cognitive difficulties"--depression, or its various treatments.
I was interested in the drug you mentioned because my son's been on Tegretol for 20+ years (epilepsy). One brief drug-free period long ago let us see how much Tegretol "costs" him mentally (particularly, short-term memory) for its seizure-free insurance. Huge difference. He has managed, nevertheless, to acquire a grad degree (4.0) and succeed at a memory-intensive profession. Guess I'm feeling guilty for allowing myself to become so impaired by depression.
The information Sunnely provided (she is incredibly knowledgeable and thorough!) that Oxcz yields an active metabolite different from carbamazebine is hopeful, as is the info on weight gain. I'd be quite interested in your experience with it--hope it works out for you.
Well wishes--medlib
>
> > did you find reference to cognitive enhancement for this drug?
>
> One UK study, (Eur J Clin Pharmocol 1993;44a6):529-33), which appeared to have face validity, indicated that OXCZ improved performance (compared to placebo) on a focused attention task and increased manual writing. Subjective ratings showed that it increased feelings of alertness, clear headedness and quickwittedness. The researchers concluded that it has a slightly stimulant effect on some aspects of psychomotor functioning.
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> Another Brazilian study suggested a potential AD effect. (Eur J Pharmacol 1998 Apr 17;347(1):23-7).
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> >I ask because the drug lit mentions cognitive difficulties (I presume, similar to Tegretol).
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> I'm praying that the results of the above studies apply to me! We're jumping through all sorts of hoops to try to enhance and perserve cognitive functioning. My neurons have had enough and feel like they're about 1,000 years old.
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> > Anyway, hope this helps a little,
>
> Yes, this does help. Thanks a bunch. Following a lot of ECT I've found I've had to relearn lots of details, and one of them is how to search. My therapist showed me where the control is for the emergency flashers is on my car yesterday. I've been driving around for six months without a clue. Talk about feeling dumb!
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> How are < you > doing??
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> Blessings,
>
> Chris A.
poster:medlib
thread:41526
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000717/msgs/41632.html