Posted by SLS on March 12, 2020, at 20:57:18
In reply to Re: memantine -- mania / Alzheimer's » SLS, posted by undopaminergic on March 7, 2020, at 22:35:48
Hi UD.
Thanks for sharing so much of your experiences and information. I have been manic a handful of times, all of which involved MAOIs. No euphoria. Pyschotic mixed-states. Depression can make it a struggle to build a life for yourself - if you're lucky. It might require investing more years to build that life. However, with mania, that investment can be lost overnight.
I'm glad you didn't hurt yourself with the memantine.
- Scott
> [Re. memantine]
>
> > > I felt great on it, with sufficient doses. Unfortunately, it actually produced mania, and the ending was not happy. Think self-destructive behaviour and hospitalisation.
> >
> > How much did you take?
>
> First time I tried it, I took 5 or 10 mg, and it made me feel weird. I actually gave up on it. Next time, I was going to exploit the "feeling weird" effect, and I tried 20 mg, but instead, a got a hypomanic reaction. Then I was unable get more of it, until I bought 100 grams of 99%+ lab tested memantine powder, and I experimented with doses of 20 mg of so; I was afraid to go higher because I was worried about "Olney's lesions". This dose was insufficient to achieve any kind of worthwhile effect, so I gave up on it again.
>
> Then, later I was apparently in a more reckless/courageous/desperate state (though not manic), and I used 60, maybe up to 80 mg -- as needed -- and I was hoping for the best with regard to the lesions. That's when I got the manic effect. The self-destructive behaviour included taking several 1000 mg of memantine powder, in an attempt to produce Olney's lesions and completely obliterate my retrosplenial cortex, or something like that. I remember lying on the floor performing purposeless movements with one of my arms, and I just couldn't motivate myself to stop, because I was catatonic. I apparently kept up these purposeless movements indefinitely, and I am told they found me in a puddle of sweat. I understand I had rhabdomyolysis, and I was close to serious kidney damage. I almost died, because it was more or less accidental that they found me in time and called for the ambulance. I was taken to hospital for intensive care. From my period at the "somatic" hospital, I only barely remember a beautiful blond nurse I was somehow teasing sexually (think kinky nurse fantasies). When I started remembering normally again, I was in the psych ward. Unsurprisingly, I went back into a depressive state.
>
> My parents got rid of my memantine, and I have not used it again, though I would be willing to try -- with great caution.
>
> Mania is to be taken seriously, I have realised as of late. Especially the mixed mania. I had classic (euphoric) mania, but a discussion I had with my parents made me angry, and I decided enough was enough and so I did the self-destructive stuff. That's how easily a classic mania may transition into mixed.
>
> A friend later informed me that memantine does not produce Olney's lesions... otherwise, I suppose I would have serious brain damage today. I am almost certainly the world-record holder in the category of greatest dose of memantine taken.
>
> I'm pleased that I've been developing more insight lately regarding such things as mania and psychosis. Trimipramine is the most effective antipsychotic for me, much more effective than even clozapine.
>
> > My mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. Nothing really works, from what I've read. I don't think that donepezil and memantine are as effective as doctors once convinced themselves they were.
> >
>
> Agreed.
>
> > The only drug that might have some value is lithium when taken in small amounts. I doubt more than 150 mg/day of lithium carbonate is necessary. I just bought some lithium orotate for Mom. I couldn't get her doctor to prescribe lithium, so that was the best I could come up with. I got the Weyland brand lithium orotate that delivers 20mg of elemental lithium.
> >
>
> That should be more than enough.
>
> -undopaminergic
>
Some see things as they are and ask why.
I dream of things that never were and ask why not.The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.
poster:SLS
thread:1108501
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20200303/msgs/1108963.html