Posted by Rick on September 22, 2002, at 0:18:39
In reply to psychostim for SSRI apathy?, posted by bookgurl99 on September 21, 2002, at 13:32:00
> I've been taking zoloft for a few months. This has moved me from active despondence to apathy -- not motivated to really _do_ anything.
>
> The only thing that helps is coffee, although then of course I get the negative side effects of coffee. Is it possible that a psychostim like Ritalin would help with the apathy/low motivation?
>
Provigil 100-200mg can be very good for this, especially if you're prone to the anxiety and insomnia traditional stims are much more likely to cause. It's also in a less-restrictive drug class (IV) and easy to come off of at any time -- I've done it many times, cold turkey. In fact, it's hard to imagine why it's restricted at all. The downside is that Provigil is very expensive (although the 200 mg tabs are easy to snap in half by hand, leading to cost savings if you use 100 mg), and some people don't care for it. But I've had great success with Provigil as an adjunct to AD's and benzos. It really does reverse med-induced effects like fatigue and apathy, and is particularly suited for people who aren't accustomed to higher-powered stims. My only disappointment is that it's touted memory-enhancing effects didn't show up!Rick
poster:Rick
thread:120616
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020914/msgs/120683.html