Posted by Ripley Snell on June 20, 2006, at 20:55:01
In reply to ADs that compliment stimulants?, posted by Santander on June 20, 2006, at 17:20:32
Oooh, I could go on and on on this topic! Being bipolar, I need mood elevation . . . yet in a stable way; I need stimulation . . . yet in a calm way.
I have found that the most calming ("sedating" isn't the word) ADs--this is just me speaking--are Remeron (mirtazapine), Paxil (paroxetine), and Lamictal (lamotrigine).
The antimanic (and, it's seeming, antidepressant, though I don't get that effect) Seroquel is good for "taking the rough edge off" a stimulant that might make me too (hypo)manic.
There's a nickname for Remeron and Effexor together, by the way: "Rocket Fuel." But those are just antidepressants; it would seem that maybe three agents would be good--the stimulant you're taking, an AD, and a mood stabilizer that has AD action, such as Lamictal.
The other approach is to see if you can get the effect you're getting from the stimulants instead from another agent. If it's activation you need, you might stop (slowly) the stimulants and take an "activating" AD--the combination of Remeron and Effexor I spoke of earlier, or EMSAM, or another MAOI, or even Paxil (with or without Effexor).
Best of luck!
poster:Ripley Snell
thread:659356
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060617/msgs/659443.html