Posted by Christ_empowered on September 6, 2014, at 8:19:01
In reply to Re: Neuroleptic Brain-shrinkage, posted by Beckett on September 5, 2014, at 20:51:06
Ideally, neuroleptics (full dose, at least) should be reserved for schizophrenia and severe bipolar I. That said......low doses of neuroleptics probably aren't so bad. I don't know about that brain shrinkage thing, but the available data on TD (dealing mostly with the older drugs) would seem to indicate that its your cumulative exposure to neuroleptics that matters.
So, 2.5mgs/zyprexa per day isn't as big a deal as, say, 20mgs/day used for schizophrenia. Its probably not as bad as moderate-to-high doses of the older drugs. Throw more drugs in, you probably get more brain damage. The old school lithium+haldol combo, for instance, can cause serious brain damage.
All I can think of is a switch to Abilify. I know, I'm like an ad for it, lol. Thing is...over time, neuroleptics "upregulate" D2 receptors. Blocking D2 receptors is what most neuroleptics do. The upregulation can make you more vulnerable to problems once you taper or quit (especially if you stop abruptly). Abilify doesn't cause as much D2 upregulation in adults (kids and adolescents are a different story) as the older atypicals. Zyprexa causes about as much upregulation as Haldol, it just has a more benign neurological side effect profile.
I do Orthomolecular. It helps anxiety and agitation (and allergies, thank God). An added bonus is that high doses of multiple antioxidants plus b vitamins may both prevent TD and help reverse it, especially if you catch TD early.
Since TD is indicative of serious brain damage, my best bet is that the high dose antioxidants and b vitamins help protect the brain from ill effects of the neuroleptics. I seem to recall reading that high doses of taurine may help prevent TD (and exert a calming effect).
Anyway...that's all I can come up with. I know you can get the brain shrinkage without TD, but my best guess is that something that prevents TD probably protects the brain, so you shouldn't get as much brain damage. Hopefully (this is for me), OM prevents "tardive dementia," which I find to be the scariest thing ever.
Good luck!
poster:Christ_empowered
thread:1070819
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20140815/msgs/1070844.html