Posted by azalea on October 26, 2008, at 11:20:53
In reply to Ritalin for depression?, posted by valiente on October 26, 2008, at 10:52:11
Are you being treated by a psychiatrist or general practitioner?
It seems counterintuitive to combine Zyprexa and Ritalin. While both are used to augment response to SSRIs like Prozac, they have opposing mechanisms of action. Zyprexa blocks dopamine, while Ritalin increases dopamine. Theoretically, it seems like the effects would cancel out each other.
In addition, it's a bit unusual to add additional agents before maximizing the dose of your current meds. 20mg if Prozac 3 days per week is a very low dose. I'm curious what the reasoning is behind this.
However, if what you're doing is working, no reason to change.
> I suffer from treatment resistant depression. I currently take 20 mg. of Prozac on Monday, Wednesday and Friday (none of weekends), Zyprexa, 5 mg. and Xanax, 1 mg., for severe morning anxiety and 1 mg. at bedtime. Recently my doctor determined that I also have ADD. He prescribed Ritalin for the ADD and says that it is also helpful for depression. I take 10 mg. in the morning and 10 mg. at noon. Has anyone been prescribed Ritalin for depression and if so, has it helped?
>
> He also said that next time I have an appointment he wants to add a small dose
> (200 mg) of Lithium. I wasn't clear on what this would do. Any ideas?
poster:azalea
thread:859329
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20081016/msgs/859333.html