Posted by SalArmy4me on April 4, 2001, at 3:25:40
Before you give up on medical treatment and go for something invasive like ECT (or God forbid something destructive, like alcohol), there is hope for you in newer medications and newer combinations. I found relief in a non-antidepressant with antidepressant properties called Visken (mentioned in Tips). Here are some more viable options that you may not have thought of:
Nefazodone - great for sleep; no sexual dysfunction; no anticholinergics side-effects.
Lamotrigine - good side-effect profile; most antidepressant properties of the mood-stabilizers
Carbamazepine - less side effects than Lithium or divalproex sodium; good for anger and irritability
Topiramate - the newest mood-stabilizer; it promotes weight loss.
Desipramine - the least side-effects of all the Tricyclics; one of the SNRIs
High-dose Venlafaxine - at higher doses Venlafaxine affects more chemicals and has a greater efficacy than SSRIs.
Buspirone - an effective antidepressant and anxiolytic at high doses.
Dopamine Agonists - Pramipexole; Ropinirole: has two studies on it (I took it once).
"Power Combinations" - Remeron + Effexor; Wellbutrin + Remeron, Remeron + Prozac {These combinations are possibly as effective as ECT}.
Augmentation of anything you have tried before with Lithium, T4, Pindolol, or buspirone (I take pindolol).
Foreign medications to the US: the RIMA Moclobemide; Reboxetine; Amisulpride, Adrafanil, etcetera.
Atypical Neuroleptics/Antipsychotics with antidepressant properties: Risperidone, Olanzapine, Seroquel, Geodon
Provigil - a stimulant that is possibly effective in depression
Irreversable MAOIs - Phenelzine, Tranylcypromine: Extremely Effective at many disorders.
MAOI-B - Selegiline, an Anti-Parkinson's drug that at high doses is almost comparable to Phenelzine 30 mg.
I hope that gives you hope!
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poster:SalArmy4me
thread:58619
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010403/msgs/58619.html