Posted by bleauberry on December 11, 2011, at 14:40:52
In reply to 15 yr. old nephew pot addict and depressed. How, posted by Laney on December 11, 2011, at 14:19:21
Just my view, I think when someone finds marijuana hard to avoid it means they need some help in the dopamine/norepinephrine department, maybe the opioids, and of course serotonin is always involved to some degree. So I doubt most people would find serotonin based meds helpful and maybe even hurtful since they will further worsen any dopamine/ne shortfall.
Anyway the best medication I am aware of for a situation like this is actually an over the counter herb called rhodiola rosea. Other than that you could probably be looking at things like wellbutrin, low dose ssri with ritalin, zoloft with nortriptyline. Any combo that allows the flexibility to get a 50/50 approach on serotonin and ne. Any ssri should probably be prozac or zoloft.
But you never know. Anything is possible.
His environment needs to be looked at. Does he have a reason to be depressed? Has life been unusually harsh recently to maybe slowly bring this on?
I know a guy who failed so many meds and also failed ECT I see him once in a while and he is functioning perfectly with just marijuana as an antidepressant which works great for him where nothing else did. In your case it looks like it is not being helpful because if it was then he wouldn't be so depressed. Whether to quit or not, well, that's a different issue. For now if the treatment is going to include antidepressant choices then the ones above are the ones I would look at.
poster:bleauberry
thread:1004677
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20111208/msgs/1004682.html