Posted by bleauberry on February 9, 2010, at 19:14:40
In reply to Re: Oregon University's new antidepressant » floatingbridge, posted by Cherry Carver on February 9, 2010, at 0:05:42
I can understand not being able to tolerate any of those meds. Some people are very sensitive. I am. Any of those drugs can feel like serious nuclear bombs to certain people.
As for cymbalta, its power does not come from its NE reuptake. That is minimal, at just 1 part NE per 10 parts serotonin. There is something else about cymbalta, I'm not sure what, that makes it as harsh as it is. Its withdrawals are hell also.
A med much stronger than cymbalta, yet feels much cleaner and much easier to tolerate and much faster to work, is Savella. It is almost an equal balance between NE and serotonin. What makes it so much friendlier I have no idea. As sensitive as I am, and an ECT failure, Savella really surprised me.
You were asking about effexor. If you couldn't tolerate any of those other meds, I would stay far away from effexor or pristiq if I were you.
Safest bets for someone like you:
Lexapro liquid. With the measuring dropper you get at the pharmacy, you can make custom doses as accurate as 1/10th of a milligram. One of my doctors has people in remission on as little as 1mg lexapro. The usual doses are supposed to be 10mg to 20mg. Takes more time for small doses to work, but they can still work.I'm not suggesting lexapro in particular, just using it as an example. Prozac, zoloft, risperdal...many meds...available as liquids for custom small dosing. Me, I make my own custom doses.
I think doctors commonly and blindly overdose patients on what are supposedly normal doses. As I see it, there is no one-size-fits-all. For people with a history like yours or mine, I feel it becomes an integral and crucial part of the strategy to approach any new med with very tiny doses. Custom-made doses at home if need be. I've gotten real good at that.
Who knows, one of those meds you couldn't handle might have been magic for you, if they had you start at a much lower dose (1/10th) and go from there. Me and cymbalta...I found 3mg was decent...how do you get 3mg?...inside the capsule are coated beads...about 10 of them is 1mg...just count out a custom dose and swallow with applesauce. The usual dose of cymbalta...30mg...holy cow.
Anyway, yeah, cymbalta sucks bigtime. A few people love it. Savella is in my opinion the unsung hero that probably won't be fully discovered for another 5 or 10 years.
> Haven't tried any of those...here's what they prescribed for me in 1997 (Cymbalta came much later):
>
> Wellbutrin
> Buspar
> Tegretol
> Librium
> Lithium
> Depakote
> Tofranil
> Paxil
> Mellaril
> Desyrel
>
> All these drugs were prescribed for me during the span of one month, several at the same time (even though they were contraindicated!). Needless to say, my mind has never been very clear since then.
>
> I couldn't tolerate any of these, so they finally put me back on Klonopin. They did give me a brief course of Phenobarbital along with the other pills, but, to my great sorrow, I couldn't stay on it forever.
>
> What was your response to Effexor? Also, you said you keep a mood chart--is that a doctor-specific chart or one you just keep to measure your own ebb and flow? How do you create a mood chart? I'd like to do that.
>
> > CC, would it be stronger, or have less side effects--like effexor vs. pristiq? Could be you could not tolerate either. I tolerate both effexor and pristiq.... Pristiq does not work as well for me--but then, I compare that with the effexor response I had ten years ago....
> >
> > fb
> >
> > > I mentioned this before, but Cymbalta made me throw up all day long after one dose and nearly stopped my heart. I hate this drug with all my might. I can't imagine what a stronger version would do! Wow!
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> > > >
> > > > A stronger cymbalta? Less Hypotension (do they mean hypertension?) Don't they know milnacipran has been available for 15 years? Don't all shout at once...
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > www.psychcentral.com/news/2010/02/05/improved-antidepressant-in-the-works/11212.html
> > >
> > >
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> >
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poster:bleauberry
thread:936057
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20100204/msgs/936511.html