Posted by g_g_g_unit on January 26, 2012, at 5:36:19
Sorry for posting again (I've probably expounded on this in the past anyway), but I was inspired to write after reading a thread a little further up about difficulty tolerating serotonergic meds.
I've been noticing something strange. While on Lexapro, if I slept 7 hours or less, I would feel really wired and anxious, like I was overdosing on adrenaline; if I slept more than 7 hours, I'd feel depressed and foggy. On 20mg, I never experienced any substantial relief from suicidal thoughts, depression or irritability.
I've noticed that anything that acts on noradrenaline will have an undesirable effect. clomipramine made me feel totally wired and agitated; same with Strattera, Ritalin and also Dexedrine (when I wasn't sleepy and dazed on it).
Technically I have inattentive ADD, but anything that acts on noradrenaline will just have the tendency to make my mind feel way too constricted and weird to actually focus and concentrate. I can read, sort of, because I'm more alert, but my mind just feels too 'boxed in' to really process stuff.
The only thing I ever recall actually improving my focus in an uncomplicated fashion was low-dose Prozac (10mg), which I'm aware will act on the prefrontal cortex via 5-ht2c antagonism. However, I tried it before I was diagnosed with ADD, so I can't recall the *exact* extent of its benefits, but there were definitely some from memory. Same with low-dose nortriptyline - which I was prescribed for sleep prior to my ADD dx., but which proved too stimulating for that purpose .. though I did retrospectively notice improved ability to stick to a task, which has completely dissolved during depression.
Conversely, anything inhibitory - benzos, gabapentin - will technically help me 'focus' by shutting down ruminative thoughts, but they make my attention span 1000x worse and affect my reading comprehension, which is by far the most depressing aspect of my condition .. things were always difficult with ADD, but since become depressed 3 years ago, I've just been in this constant fog. Like I say, stimulants lift the fog, but don't actually help me read stuff like books.
I donno what's going on. Am I just really sensitive to stimulants/noradrenaline? Does it sound like bipolar+ADD?
I really wish I, or my pdoc, had some idea of what's going on. I mean, he's great, but it feels like we're just shooting in the dark at this point. I've stopped Lexapro in preparation to start Parnate next Friday, but now I'm getting hesitant .. I just can't waste more and more time on these trials that go nowhere.
poster:g_g_g_unit
thread:1008429
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20120120/msgs/1008429.html