Posted by bubblegumchewer on August 4, 2002, at 10:09:43
In reply to Is caffeine an antidepressant?, posted by bubblegumchewer on August 3, 2002, at 9:54:36
Actually, before I join the club, I actually have never gathered evidence about any orgasm-intensifying or hastening effects... Ok, off to the bedroom. Just kidding. I'll have to make a scientific study of that later.
About psuedoephedrine, I am a chicken when it comes to the possibility of unforeseen panic attacks and I was told that such medication may make panic-prone people more vulnerable to an attack, so when I'm already miserable with facial pain, I just don't want to chance extra misery. I've taken it way back in the past and didn't notice any panic symptoms. Once, though, I was given a steroid shot in the doctors office for massive ear and throat swelling (a bad cold) and when I went home I suffered a panic attack. My pdoc then told me that steroids can bring on PAs in susceptible people.
Two conditions made me into and reinforced my status as a coffee "addict." First was having a baby in the house. You are up when you don't want to be, and the hours crawl when you've been watching Barney since 7 AM and you feel like you could sleep four more hours. Some coffee can make you feel less resentful to be up and around.
Second was taking antidepressants like zoloft. I had a fog-like sedation that was unpleasant but found that it could be counteracted by coffee; in fact, I think I developed a heavy habit just to counteract the fog. The mental state caused by lots o' zoloft (I really don't think I needed 200 mg. per day but my doc at the time thought if I was ever unhappy about anything in my life, I should up the dose) and lots o' coffee was slightly manic. No panic, though.
But here was the best combination: Those two plus the OLD Dimetapp. It was like being high: thinking I could hear things other people couldn't hear in music, thinking I was smarter than everyone...
Don't get me wrong: I wasn't seeking that combination; this was once or twice when I had a cold. But they yanked the old Dimetapp off the shelves because one or two people had a stroke from the phenylpropanolamine hydrochloride (PPA). Dimetapp was comprised of that plus brompheniramine maleate. I don't know which ingredient was responsible for the speed-like effects (I think it was the banned PPA. That used to be sold as a diet pill, also.) Now Dimetapp uses pseudoephedrine instead of the PPA and you have to take twice as much purple liquid to get a single dose.
My mom, incidentally, who is a former alcoholic, seemed to love the old Dimetapp; she was always picking up a store-brand bottle of it wherever she went.
Yes, I think that stimulant-type meds like pseudoephedrine do give me heart beat abnormalities like extra beats, flutters etc. They don't worry me but they are annoying. Caffeine can cause them but usually as long as I drink enough fluids (my pressure is low and I've been told to drink a lot and eat lots of salt) I have no heart problems.
Sorry this was long.
poster:bubblegumchewer
thread:115063
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020731/msgs/115157.html