Posted by Leonardo on March 4, 2001, at 7:27:09
In reply to Who has depression without ADD, and takes stims?, posted by PhoenixGirl on March 3, 2001, at 15:35:40
I don't quite fit your category as I *believe* I have ADHD and depression, and as I have only just started taking stims I don't know about long term effects from my own experience.
However, I do know that it is generally frowned upon to prescribe the stims for depression as they are believed to be short lasting and addictive if used to treat fatigue and/or depression.
Not all Pdocs agree with this this, and some support the idea of usind stims as an antidepressant, though they seem to be in the miniority. My Pdoc seems to think that in the case of developing a tolerance after a while, it would be OK to up the dose, within some limits I guess. However, you need to be careful about starting on a low dose and working up gradually, or you may get a bad response which doesn't settle down later on. My experience of Ritalin and dex is that you get a very strong response on the first doses, which doesn't occur again later, and if you over do it at first, the later responses may be erratic.
Some people may have depression resulting from ADHD without actually realising they have ADHD (which was true in my case), as the symptoms tend to be less pronounced in adults.
See:
http://www.btinternet.com/~black.ice/addnet/cosgrove.html
Under 'Future Ideas - Adult Psychiatry' it says:
"At a psychopharmacology conference in Belfast organized by the British Association for Psychopharmacology, a desire for better and more consistently effective antidepressant drugs was expressed. It was suggested that adult psychiatry did not have to wait for the pharmaceutical industry to produce yet another antidepressant because Ritalin and dexamphetamine have considerable antidepressant properties in and of themselves. The dopaminergic system is recognized as being involved in the experience of pleasure, and both electroconvulsive therapy and a number of dopamine facilitating drugs (e.g. monoamine oxidase inhibitors and dopamine agonists, bromocriptine and piribedyl, and the dopamine reuptake inhibitor, buproprion) are known to relieve depression through their effects on dopamine [60]. Biederman’s family study [18] that first degree relatives of known ADHD sufferers are 2.4 times more likely to suffer from depression should alert adult psychiatry to the value of trying Ritalin or dexamphetamine in cases of adult depression with a family history of ADHD. Certainly, the drug treatment of ADHD in children characteristically raises self-esteem and makes the chronically unhappy child observably happier. It would be surprising if this did not also occur in adult ADHD sufferers."
Leonardo
> I want to hear from people who treat their depression with a stimulant, do not have ADD, and also have not developed tolerance to the stimulant. I want to see if this is possible, or how likely it is. Thanks
poster:Leonardo
thread:55460
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010302/msgs/55513.html