Posted by SLS on July 29, 2012, at 0:49:22
In reply to Re: Ritalin not working? Depression, posted by ChicagoKat on July 28, 2012, at 21:26:43
Perhaps you have "developmental ptsd".
http://www.positivehumandevelopment.com/developmental-ptsd.html
If developmental PTSD is a component of your condition, you could look to trying things that reduce norepinephrine (NE) activity or glutamate (GLU) activity.
1. Prazosin (Minipress)
Prazosin is a NE alpha-1 antagonist originally used as an antihypertensive. It has a great deal of data supporting its use in PTSD. It tends to be a very "clean" drug with regard to side effects. It may produce some sedation, fatigue, and dizziness at first, but these things usually disappear rather quickly.
2. Clonidine (Catapres)
Clonidine is a NE alpha-2 agonist originally used as an antihypertensive. It reduces NE from the opposite side of the synapse from prazosin. Clonidine has been used to treat PTSD for a few years, but it sometimes causes depression as a persistent side effect. I don't know the statistics on the frequency of this.
3. Topiramate (Topamax)
Topiramate was developed as an anticonvulsant, but has utility for other conditions. It does quite a few things pharmacologically, including increasing gamma-amino butyric acid (GABA) activity and reducing glutamate activity through mechanisms that are different from those of the benzodiazepines.
4. Tiagabine (Gabitril)
Tiagabine is a GABA reuptake inhibitor originally developed as an anticonvulsant. There are conflicting opinions regarding the utility of tiagabine to treat PTSD. Tiagabine is unpredictable. It reduces anxiety and promotes sleep in some people, and does quite the opposite in others.
My doctor believes that developmental PTSD is a component of my depressive disorder. I have been using prazosin since December, 2011 with good results. I combine it with several other drugs. The severity of my depression has ameliorated a great deal. Prazosin has a short half-life (3 hours), so it is best taken three times a day. My current dosage is 6 mg/day (2 mg t.i.d.) To me, prazosin feels like an antidepressant rather than an anxiolytic.
- ScottSome see things as they are and ask why.
I dream of things that never were and ask why not.- George Bernard Shaw
poster:SLS
thread:1022230
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20120718/msgs/1022345.html