Posted by Christ_empowered on March 15, 2020, at 20:14:03
In reply to Re: Olanzapine » undopaminergic, posted by Jadde on March 15, 2020, at 18:27:12
ok. -not- an expert. just...oddly fascinated, largely because it affects me, and lots of others. with that disclaimer out of the way (LOL)...
most (all?) antidepressants reduce frontal lobe function. its...part of how they work, reducing agitation, anxiety, ruminations, and...emotional intensity. sad, but true. :-(
the neuroleptics reduce frontal lobe activity a whole, whole lot. its more pronounced with some than with others. abilify is less of a numbing drug (but trust me, there's a numbing element) than zyprexa. so...
additional sedation (may or may not be useful), plus a reduction in agitation, emotional intensity, probably (I would think, hope) with less pronounced straight up apathy than,say, equivalent doses of Thorazine.
is it helpful? can be. if the depression is characterized by ruminations, guilt, crying spells, phobias, anxiety...I could see it being quite helpful. if its more lethargy, fatigue, oversleeping, overeating...I would probably ask to try (or add in) something else, personally.
there's also drug-drug interactions to consider. i don't know about MAOIs, but most of the more popular antidepressants increase neuroleptic blood levels. so, if you were on, say, Elavil...a 5mgs dose of olanzapine might affect the CNS (and body as a whole...) more like a 7.5, 10mgs dose. that's something that seems to come into play more in Schizophrenia and Schizoaffective disorder.
AIMS tests are under-utilized. they just check for TD. TD is far less common with many atypicals than with equivalent doses of old drugs. olanzapine I think is on the lower end of the atypicals, in terms of causing TD. ziprasidone, if I recall correctly, is on the higher end. Abilify seems to be lower, it seems safer in the animal models, but...cases of TD are popping up all over, so there's that.
hope this helps.
poster:Christ_empowered
thread:1109017
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20200303/msgs/1109042.html