Posted by Ron Hill on June 7, 2003, at 13:18:37
In reply to Re: Antidepressants and Bipolar Disorder? » Ron Hill, posted by katia on June 4, 2003, at 18:17:43
Hi Katia,
Sorry to take a couple days to get back to you.
> I was always under the assumption that bipolar was accompanied with those wonderful euphorias people talk about with no need to sleep and tons of energy. I've never quite experienced classic "mania" so I always off the bat told the pdocs that I was definitely NOT manic depressive. and they believed me.
As you now know, classic mania is usually associated with bipolar I, whereas the "manic" phase of bipolar II is generally limited to hypomania.
> I do have an appt. with a wellknown good pdoc on June 16th
Excellent.
> The last visit I had about two months ago, I suggested to the pdoc Serzone or Remeron. Since the samples they had were Serzone that's what he gave me. Great reasoning huh?
Your experience is not unusual. Unfortunately, the current state-of-the-art in psychiatric pharmacology includes a lot of trial-and-error.
> So I started on it and went hypomanic, I'm quite sure.
Antidepressant medication induced hypomania is a possible diagnostic indicator of BP II or BP III.
> Do you know anything about Cyclothymia? Isn't this a mild form of BPII?
I think you are correct, but it's been so long since I've read the definition of cyclothymia that I don't recall the specifics. Enter the word “cyclothymia” in your search engine and you’ll find plenty of information. However, I think you are bipolar (I hope I’m not offending you by being so bold with my opinion).
> I'm sure there's more to my dx than just unipolar depression, just not sure what that what else is.
Between now and the 16th, do some reading on bipolar II and see if you see yourself in the reflection.
> p.s. what is : Enada NADH in conjunction with 250 mg/day of TMG ??
NADH (coenzyme 1) is involved directly in the formation of dopamine and other neurotransmitters as well as being involved in a plethora of other essential biochemical reactions within the human body. Enada NADH is a patented stabilized form of NADH which is suitable for oral administration. It is available at most local nutritional stores under various brand names and it comes in two forms; 10 mg sublingual (under the tongue) tablets (ENADAlert), and 2.5 mg and 5 mg enteric coated (down the hatch) tablets (Enada NADH).
I started taking Enada NADH about five months ago to treat the atypical depressive phase of my bipolar disorder and, so far, it’s doing a great job. However, too high of a dosage causes me to become very irritable. It is my opinion that my atypical depressive phase (characterized by anhedonia, anergy, low motivation, hypersomia, apathy, negative self-talk, etc) is dopaminergic in nature. Therefore, when I read that NADH stimulates tyrosine hydroxylase, the key enzyme for the production of dopamine, and that NADH is already present in every living cell, I decided it was worth a trial. Indeed it was, as it turns out.
TMG (trimethylglycine) is an excellent methyl donor in many biochemical reactions in the human body. Larry Hoover can tell you better than I regarding the biochemical reaction mechanisms. Ancetdotally speaking, TMG works in a synergistic fashion with Enada NADH in treating my atypical depression. Specifically, 250 mg/day of TMG seems to extend the effectiveness of the Enada NADH. This affords me the opportunity to reduce my dosage of Enada NADH from 2.5 mg twice a week down to 2.5 mg once per week, which in turn, reduces the irritability caused by the Enada NADH.
As a side note, subsequent to my adding the TMG, I have added 250 mg of niacin which does wonders in treating my irritability. As a result, I can now take my 2.5 mg dose of Enada NADH twice a week (if I feel like I need it) without getting irritable.
Here are some of the links discussing Enada NADH:
http://www.healthwell.com/hnbreakthroughs/mar98/nadh.cfm?path=hw
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/htbin-post/Entrez/query?uid=8101444&form=6&db=m&Dopt=b
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/htbin-post/Entrez/query?uid=9247090&form=6&db=m&Dopt=b
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/htbin-post/Entrez/query?uid=9013405&form=6&db=m&Dopt=b
http://www.wholehealthmd.com/refshelf/substances_view/1,1525,10047,00.html#Cautions
http://www.nadh.com/site7/SYSact20.htm#Top
http://www.nadh.com/site7/RSdprs05.htm#Top
http://www.smart-drugs.com/article-JamesSouth-NADH.htm
http://www.nadh-priceinfo.org/
http://qualitycounts.com/fpnadh.html
http://www.immunesupport.com/library/showarticle.cfm/id/3118/T/Both/
http://www.immunesupport.com/library/powersearch2.cfm (Note: enter “NADH” as keyword)
poster:Ron Hill
thread:102831
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030604/msgs/232175.html