Posted by Cindylou on October 7, 2001, at 14:59:46
In reply to Re: Desipramine + prozac, posted by JohnL on October 7, 2001, at 7:38:05
Just curious on this. I am going to start trying Lamictal Wednesday when I see my pdoc, and I've heard it often isn't effective alone. Since I can't tolerate SSRIs or APs, I'm wondering if Desipramine (VERY LOW DOSE) might be a try?
Of course, I'm hoping the Lamictal will work on its own for me. But from past experience, things are never quite that easy for me.
Thanks,
cindy
> Hi Angell,
> In research abstracts, the combination of Desipramine and Prozac looks to be real good. The tricky thing though is that Prozac will increase the amount of plasma Desipramine by anywhere from 2 to 11 times, so smaller doses would be likely. In my own experimentations, I have found benefit from Desipramine in as little as three hours, with a mere 1/4 of a 25mg tab. It provides energy and warmness, kind of like a mild stimulant except without the peaks and valleys. It helps with motivation. In research studies it has been helpful for cocaine or amphetamine withdrawals, which are similar in many ways to depression. In those studies, Desipramine worked where Prozac alone or an MAOI alone did not. While Desipramine inhibits the reuptake of norepinephrine, it also indirectly boosts the expression of dopamine D2 receptors, which in itself is a good target for depressive symptoms. Many drugs that are good for depression either directly or indirectly target D2 receptors.
>
> Regardless of the technical side of it, my gut instinct tells me that Prozac plus Desipramine could be a real good combo. There was another study though that can kind of muddy the waters. In that study, they compared patients on high dose 60mg Prozac to patients on low dose 20mg Prozac with Desipramine added to it. Of the two groups, the high dose Prozac group did the best. And of course, regardless of any research study, the only way to find out for sure is to try it personally and see. As with all things, mileage will vary considerably from person to person. But overall, Prozac plus Desipramine looks to me like a good combo.
> John
>
> > Hello out there in babble land. Has anyone evert tried
> > the combo of desipramine and prozac with success?
> > Any info or insight is appreciated. Thanks.
poster:Cindylou
thread:80489
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20011007/msgs/80555.html