Posted by steve12 on September 9, 2004, at 18:25:52
In reply to Cyproheptidine » steve12, posted by Racer on September 9, 2004, at 17:42:08
Thanks -- but I looked it up and noticed that it causes weight gain! I do think, however, that future treatments of depression will focus on the HPA -- but that's still 10 years away.
> It's an old anti-histimine that isn't used for that anymore. The usual AH effects, but it does help with being able to sleep after an exciting event. For me, the cool effects lasted just long enough before it made me sleepy.
>
> It's one of the drugs suggested to mitigate SSRI sexual side effects, although it doesn't work for everyone. The biggest benefits for me were the cost -- since I was uninsured, and it's way long off patent -- and the fact that it's a pretty clean mitigating agent. Since it's been around forever, and been used for a million things, there aren't a lot of surprises with it.
>
> Aside from all that, one additional factor interested me: it's been studied as a treatment for Cushing's Disease in animals. Since there's so much literature now about the HPA axis and depression, and the HPA axis is what's out of whack in Cushing's, it made sense that it might be a useful augmenting agent. (In fact, I've come across references to it being used as an anti-depressant on its own, although that was back when dirt was new.)
>
> Hope that helps. (Oh, and the brand name I know is Periactin.)
poster:steve12
thread:388301
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040909/msgs/388882.html