Posted by Mitch on November 6, 2001, at 23:29:49
In reply to Re: other stuff » Mitch, posted by Elizabeth on November 6, 2001, at 14:49:18
> > Well, my BP *is* much higher while taking NT or Zoloft or Effexor (not a hypertensive crisis by any means-and different sfx)! It is normal if I am not taking those meds. It is borderline high when I am taking them. (118/70 > 145/80)
>
> How many measurements did you do? Effexor and TCAs can elevate blood pressure moderately, but I'd be surprised if Zoloft did it. Anyway, while you might be symptomatic at 145/80-ish, I wouldn't expect the symptoms to be major (maybe mild headache, skin tingling, that kind of thing). Also if the high BP was sustained (rather than, say, going up within an hour after you took the med and then going back down to normal shortly thereafter) I'd expect the symptoms to be less noticeable.I took the same measurements at the same times doing the same tasks with the same machine... at Wal-Mart. :)
Also, there were measurements at my GP's that confirmed the changes as well. So, no doubt about different meds affecting BP. I know about controls and variables and stuff :)
Oh, the BP changes were more chronic, not right after taking a dose kind of thing. I always took NT in divided doses anyways.
As far as *symptoms* go I cannot directly correlate the "cold/numb hands-nose" sfx with the BP changes-they may likely be separate events that are independent of the BP changes.
Also, Zoloft had the least BP effect of the meds I mentioned.
> > Also, when I was taking Adderall (just 5mg AM)-I coud jump on a stairmaster and I would get really nasty headaches in the back of my head.
>
> Did you ever have a chance to take your BP when this happened?
Unfortunately not, but I did question the pharmacist about this and he told me it was probably increased blood pressure and that I should probably do my CV workout immediately after awakening and *then* take my Adderall.
>
> > > Did the side effects last long (more than a few weeks, say), or were you unable to tolerate the nortriptyline long enough to find out?
> >
> > They were tolerable but very annoying. The Zoloft+Nortriptyline combo works fairly well for attentiveness.
>
> Lucky! I never found any SSRI that I tried (Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft) useful for attention problems.Well, Prozac clearly did help the most of the SSRi's, and Zoloft clearly does help (but much less so and not so great by itself). The reason I am still "hanging-around" SSRI's basically is that I have not just an attentional *deficit*, it is an attentional syndrome of sorts. I can have trouble switching attenton (OCPD-"like" hyperfocused stuff), and also have great trouble maintaining attention as well (more classic ADHD symptoms).
>
> > *If* the antihistaminic effect of the NT wasn't there it would probably be nearly ideal.
>
> In what way was the H1-blockade a problem? Did you ever try desipramine?Elizabeth, ANY antihistamine *wrecks* my attentional capacities. Remeron whacked it, so does nearly all the sedative TCA's, OTC antihistamines, etc.
Yes, I did try desipramine and had a *dramatic* improvement in attention (almost as good as Adderall!). However, I was too anxious on it and had much worse tachychardia and dizziness than with NT. NT, in summary is the only TCA I have tried that doesn't make me *profoundly* dizzy, confused, or anxious. I would like to retry low-dose Wellbutrin, however, in combo with low-dose activating SSRI. From my two experiences (during seasonal depressions with WB), I *didn't* get any irritability and I actually worked my way up to 150mg/day for a while. That's very unusal for me to be able to even approach "standard" doses of AD's.
>
> > > Alpha2 blockade leads to increased NE firing. But again, this is just speculative. What other drugs have caused that problem for you?
> >
> > Buspar(even worse than Remeron).
>
> Buspar does have a metabolite that is an alpha2 blocker, but it doesn't do it to any significant degree at prescribed doses as far as anyone can tell. It definitely would have less effect in that respect than Remeron would.I just read a post yesterday or today about 1-PP, which mentions that it was quite a *potent* alpha-2 antagonist. Also, I think the serotonin 5-HT1a *agonist* activity of Buspar may have contributed just as much to the irritability. Also possibly I may have simply had a classic paradoxical hostility reaction to an anxiolytic which is not uncommon with people that have ADHD.
Mitch
poster:Mitch
thread:82248
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20011104/msgs/83404.html