Posted by LouisianaSportsman on March 3, 2014, at 15:58:56
To follow-up my previous thread after today's visit, my PDOC and I decided to taper Effexor XR (venlafaxine) and replace it with Brintellix (vortioxetine).
Eric, to say that I didn't put a lot of weight on your assessment of Brintellix would be a lie; your guidance coupled with everything I've been reading has lead me to believe that this would be the best AD option going forward per my symptomatic indications.
Scott, your interest in vortioxetine has also really enthralled me; especially,intriguing to me was when I read that your expressed interest in giving up tranylcypromine just to try this 5-HT7 receptor antagonist.
Lamdage22, I know that you're in Germany, but you've expressed considerable, notable interest about vortioxetine on the board, so I will also keep you in the know.
To begin thetrial, I received 4 sample bottles of #7 10mg. tablets for this month. My PDOC advised, depending on toleration, that the dosage will increase to 20mg. next month. She advised that she had prescribed other patients Brintellix and had high expectations for the drug.
Perhaps, I should have quizzed her more, but from what I gathered, it seemed like she had two other patients taking it one geriatric man and one middle-aged woman; both of whom had main complaints of nausea which she postulated was due to vortioxetine's 5-HT3 receptor anatognism [drugs that target this receptor are antiemetics actually, e.g. Zofran, but such antagonism can lead to adverse emetic effects].
Neither of the two patients has had their dosage increased to 20mg. I do not know of duration, and she didn't note anything "blockbuster" about their trial progression. Furthermore, she told me outright that I was her "guinea pig", lol.
I took my first tablet ~3hours. ago and so far I feel nothing psychoactively or in terms of side effects. My stomach is currently "growling", but it was growling before I had administered vortioxetine; therefore, it is hard to judge if this is an effect or not. I will be sure to report more information at a later date.
Interesting to note, while 20mg. is the PI sheet's target dosage, 10mg. is at least somewhat effective in studies.
via PI sheet
"Study 1: 10mg. -5.7 overall from placebo; +0.2 placebo-subtracted difference from 20mg. therapy.
Study 2: 10mg. -4.9 overall from placebo; -0.8 difference from 20mg. therapy.
Study 5: 10mg. -2.2 overall from placebo; +1.4 difference from 20mg. therapy."
My current cocktail (also switched to extended-release topiramate today), for a reference, is as follows: Adderall IR (amphetamine salts) 60mg.; Aplenzin (bupropion hydrobromide) 522mg.; Brintellix (vortioxetine) 10mg.; Lamictal (lamotrigine) 200mg.; Latuda (lurasidone) 80mg.; Nuvigil (armodafinil) 250mg.; Neurontin (gabapentin) 1,200mg.; Trokendi XR (topiramate) 100mg.
I will let the board know of my Brintellix progression as I notice the difference! (if any difference at all, lol, *crossing my fingers*)
If anyone has any questions or concerns, please feel free to let me know; I would love to discuss it.
Thanks!
poster:LouisianaSportsman
thread:1061746
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20140214/msgs/1061746.html