Posted by psychobot5000 on January 22, 2007, at 11:15:21
In reply to Best combo for depression?, posted by Netch on January 22, 2007, at 7:41:00
> Many sites claim that combos of antidepressants, mood stabalizers and anxiolytics will improve treatment for depression.
>
> Has anyone tried a combo treatment?
>
> What combo worked for you?Many of us on this board are on three, four, five, or more drugs at one time for depression or related disorders, including antidepressants, mood-stabilizers, and anxiolytics. Taking more than one class of drug can definitely work when nothing else does. However, everyone's personal brain-chemistry is differnt.
Some people augment traditional antidepressants with antipsychotics: abilify, zyprexa, risperdal, seroquel.
Lots of people on this site augment with benzodiazepines for anxiety (some say they can help with depression too, though occasionally they seem to worsen it), like ativan/lorazepam, diazepam/valium, klonopin, xanax, and others. Buspar is a newer anxiolytic that doesn't form dependence, and can be useful to some people for depression.
Some of the most treatment-resistant patients here combine MAO inhibitors (powerful, rarely used antidepressants) with tricyclics (another class of antidepressant) and/or stimulants (usually adderall or dexedrine, but sometimes methylphenidate/ritalin/concerta). This can be highly effective, but is very risky. The traditional rules say not to do it, because, if not monitored very carefully, you can die from one of several complications.
Anyway. You might try searching the vast archives here for other combinations that people have found worked. Sometimes people have success combining drugs that work on serotonin, with ones that work on noradrenaline and dopamine. Everyone's brain is individual, though, so what works for one patient may not be what works for another.
Best of luck,
Psychbot
poster:psychobot5000
thread:725091
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20070119/msgs/725163.html