Posted by TSA West on January 24, 2002, at 17:13:48
In reply to Mirapex any Success Stories?, posted by Denise528 on January 24, 2002, at 5:49:07
I had poop-out from Mirapex. But for a while it did work. Here's what I wrote during that time:
Mirapex is a dopamine agonist that is most often used for Parkinson's Disease. But, it has been shown in two studies to have antidepressant properties in non-Parkinson's patients.
Mirapex started working for me in a little less than a week (possibly because I got up to 6 mg per day in two days' time)! I found out that it needs to be taken about every 5 hours, otherwise I relapse. I have no side-effects from it (thank God).
Though I start to feel a relapse after 5 hours on Mirapex, that is because I have a fast metabolism. Mirapex actually has greater than 90% bioavailability with a long elimination half-life of 8 to 12 hours. So, some people can take it two times a day without relapsing; others take it three-times a day (so they don't feel bad again).
But when I wake up in the morning--8 hours after my last dose), I still feel okay. However, if I wait two hours after I get up to take the Mirapex, then I will relapse and not want to go to work.
Here are some advantages of Mirapex:
--It has a benign side-effect profile, with most patients reporting nausea as the main side-effect. But that side-effect may have been from the levodopa that the Parkinsons' patients were also taking during the clinical trials.
--Mirapex is definitely less expensive than Prozac or Wellbutrin. 100 of the 1.5 mg Mirapex tablets costs $80 on insurance at the largest HMO in the US. Prozac and Paxil are definitely more costly.
--It has few anticholinergic effects.
--It is not known to cause sexual dysfunction.
--Though it probably has to be taken three times a day, so does Neurontin, Wellbutrin IR, Effexor IR, and Visken.
--Mirapex has two studies done on it in non-Parkinsons' patients--one for unipolar depression and the other for bipolar disorder.
--It has minimal drug interactions as compared to Tricyclic Antidepressants or MAOI's (& RIMA's).Thus, if it works for you, its a good deal...
-Studies on Medline:
2. Pramipexole augmentation in the treatment of unipolar and bipolar depression: a retrospective chart review Ann Clin Psychiatry. 2000
3:
Maj J, Rogoz Z.
Synergistic effect of pramipexole and sertraline in the forced swimming test. Pol J Pharmacol. 1999 Nov-Dec
4: Corrigan MH, Denahan AQ, Wright CE, Ragual RJ, Evans DL. Related Articles Comparison of pramipexole, fluoxetine, and placebo in patients with major depression. Depress Anxiety. 2000;11(2)
poster:TSA West
thread:91391
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020124/msgs/91451.html