Posted by SLS on August 7, 2012, at 7:23:29
In reply to Re: To all treatment-resistant people!, posted by Slabicki on August 6, 2012, at 21:36:25
> > > I get a partial response to an ever dwindling number of medications, without which I am barely able to eat/drink/walk/communicate.
> > Gosh. Join the club. :-(> Scott, how are you doing?
I am frustrated, but grateful that I am getting a partial response for having added prazosin (Minipress) to my treatment regime. My goal is to return to work. I am still more depressed than I am well. I think I could work with a 50% improvement. My energy level is still too low, and I still have cognitive impairments that get in the way of reading, learning, and remembering.
My doctor chose prazosin for me based upon his thoughts regarding "developmental PTSD". Since prazosin is of help to people with adult PTSD (acute event driven), he thought that it might help me based upon my childhood history of chronic physical and emotional traumas combined with neglect.
http://www.positivehumandevelopment.com/developmental-ptsd.html
I recently tried adding Topamax, another drug that has been shown to help with PTSD. It made my condition significantly worse. I am looking to accelerate my rate of recovery. Prazosin just isn't working fast enough for me. I began taking it in December, 2011. I am certainly better on it than off it.
Currently:
Parnate 80 mg
nortriptyline 150 mg
Lamictal 200 mg
Abilify 10 mg
lithium 300 mg
prazosin 4 mgThe one drug that I would like to jettison is Abilify. It raises my triglycerides to an unhealthy level (> 400). I might consider trying to discontinue it if I respond robustly to the addition of another drug. I might be able to do without lithium, but I keep it in place because it seems to reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer's Dementia. Unfortunately, depressive disorders increase this risk. I am hoping that lithium offsets this. In addition, lithium might accelerate the recovery of the hippocampus that occurs with successful treatment.
I am looking at trying rTMS or a method of reducing glutamatergic activity. Ketamine and memantine are examples of this. In addition, N-acetylcysteine (NAC), is of interest. Beyond these treatments, I have just about run out of ideas. Hopefully, I won't need any.
I may switch from prazosin to its sister drug, doxazosin. Doxazosin has a half-life of 22 hours. Prazosin is perhaps too short-acting, having a half-life of only 3 hours. I would like to see how I respond to a more consistent blood level of a NE alpha-1 antagonist. Of course, the possibility exists that prazosin does other things pharmacologically that doxazosin does not. I might not respond to doxazosin at all.
- 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:1022678
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20120803/msgs/1022825.html