Posted by KaraS on November 20, 2004, at 16:43:46
In reply to Re: Treatment in England - lofepramine » KaraS, posted by ed_uk on November 20, 2004, at 14:57:31
Hi Ed,
Thanks for getting back to me.
> I find lofepramine (Gamanil) very easy to tolerate, easier than SSRIs in fact. Lofepramine is a norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor like desipramine. It is partially metabolised to desipramine. It is much less dangerous in overdose than other TCAs. It is also much less cardiotoxic. Liver damage is a very rare side effect (but other TCAs cause liver damage occasionally too, it's not clear that there's anything special about lofepramine here).
I wonder why lofepramine is singled out for this then? Do you have to have routine liver tests?
>Personally, I don't find it stimulating or sedating- it's fairly neutral for me. Some people find it stimulating. The anticholinergic side effects are very weak. I don't have any! It doesn't generally cause any weight gain. It's antihistamine effect is negligible. It causes insomnia for some people.Desipramine gave me tachycardia. So did Nortriptyline. They were both very powerful for me. I wonder how this one would effect me. Otherwise it seems too good to be true. No wonder it's used a lot in the UK. Wonder why it never made it here in the U.S.
>Out of the TCAs I've tried amitriptyline and dothiepin. They were both intolerable. Never tried reboxetine or milnacipran though. Reboxetine is on the market in England as Edronax. Milnacipran is not available here.I've tried doxepin, low dosage amitriptyline (that was horrible stuff - so incredibly sedating) and low dosage maprotiline. Maprotiline was very tolerable. It was slightly sedating and it helped me to sleep. Still too much anticholinergic effect for me but better than any of the other sedating TCAs.
I really need to start taking something noradrenergic and/or dopaminergic. The lofepramine has been very effective for you? Do you combine it with anything else? If I can't come up with something else that is good to try next, then I will probably try Parnate.
-K
poster:KaraS
thread:416530
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20041118/msgs/418342.html