Posted by Ron Hill on March 11, 2003, at 11:47:28
In reply to Re: Lithium and BDNF » Ron Hill, posted by BarbaraCat on March 10, 2003, at 17:02:17
Barbcat,
> Here you go, Ron. A good article on lithium and BDNF.
Good article. Thanks for the link.
> One more question perhaps you know the answer. I don't know if this is still the party line, but the action of lithium was supposed work by inhibiting inositol uptake. This surprises and confuses me because inositol is normally beneficial for depression (especially in myo-inositol form). Some studies say 'yes it helps BP' other say stay away from it.
It is my understanding that some of lithium's anti-manic qualities may be attributed to its interaction with inositol. Inositol is thought to help relieve depression (in some cases), but it can also contribute to the onset of mania. I've not done much research on inositol, so I don't know much about the topic. If I remember correctly, IsoM knows about inositol. I was taking it several months ago to see if it would help my then present depression. However, I quit when I read the same thing that you did (i.e.; that the action of lithium is thought to work, in part, by inhibiting inositol uptake).
> Also, was that you taking SAM-e? Are you still? I (400mg) am and it seems to help with focus and fibro pain, but I'm wary of anything that could incite hypomania. However, for my husband who gets low level dysthymia it works very well at 400mg.
SAM-e got the boot about ten months ago. After five months of good AD benefit, 200 mg/day of SAM-e started to induce extreme irritability (flash rage). I dropped down to 100 mg/day, but it still caused irritability. I took a break from it and tried it again, but it still caused flash rage.
Barb, as you know, I'm BP II and I've been taking Lithobid for three-and-one-half years. Lithobid does a good job of controlling my hypomania but does little or nothing for the depressive side of my disorder. After I kicked the SAM-e to the curb last spring, my depression began to return. However, the depression did not become debilitating until November when I fell into a very deep atypical depression that I could not get out of.
My wife is used to me going into depressions periodically, but when it extended into the third month, she called my pdoc to make an appointment. This forced me to crawl to my keyboard and begin to do some research in preparation for the appointment. That's when I came across some information on Enada NADH (coenzyme 1).
A little more than six weeks ago I added Enada NADH to my 600 mg/day of Lithobid and it has provided remarkable effectiveness for my BP II atypical depression (low motivation, anergy, anhedonia, hypersomnia) and extreme irritability (dysphoric mood states). It took a little trial-and-error to figure out the correct dose. Ironically, if I take too high of a dose it actually induces irritability.
It’s still too early in the trial to be making predictions regarding its long-term effectiveness, but it is currently working remarkably well. My motivation is back, my energy is up, my love of life has returned, I’m not sleeping all the time, and I’m no longer a rage-alcoholic. Needless to say, my wife prefers the “new and improved me”.
Barb, click on the link below if you want to read about what I’ve learned via my dosing trial-and-error:
http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030306/msgs/206934.html
If you or your husband want to know more about Enada NADH, let me know and I’ll sent you some links.
-- Ron
poster:Ron Hill
thread:206329
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030310/msgs/208062.html