Posted by jay2112 on July 7, 2021, at 18:11:33
In reply to Re: PEA arrived today, posted by SLS on July 6, 2021, at 11:14:25
(Linkadge...I am sorry for hijacking your thread..lol)
> > Just to add. I had some PEA from another supplement called "Brain Boost". It contained 90mg of PEA from AFA blue green algae. Although, AFA contains other trace amines as well. This is why I ordered some pure PEA to see the difference.
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> That sounds encouraging. You might consider taking it in the background while you continue searching for complementary drugs that work synergistically with PEA. When I first started adding Lamictal, I felt a great antidepressant response. However, it waned after a week or so, but it did not stop working completely. Lithium definitely didn't make me feel worse. Because the purported mechanisms of action of Lamictal are so different from anything else, I thought I would keep taking it in the "background" at 300 mg/day while trying other treatments. When I first added lithium to Parnate and Lamictal about 10 years ago, I experienced a significant improvement after my very first dose of lithium at 150 mg. I continued, and went up to 300 mg/day and remained happy with what that dosage. When I increased lithium to 450 mg/day, my response had been reversed. Lithium at 450 mg/day made my depression worse, and included a sort of apathy and lack of creativity.
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> This was pure empirical observation. My response to lithium follows a bell-shaped curve. Perhaps not so coincidentally, scientists found that the effect of lithium on glutamate concentrations in the hippocampus also follows a bimodal (biphasic) pattern.Hi Scott:
Your story sounds so, so very encouraging! I honestly am happy for you, because you have given *so* much to this board since the beginning! It takes true bravado to tackle mental illness with such creativity, and you always backup your findings with very sound science.
Coincidentally, I think I buried this in my last post, but I actually started nortriptyline, as your mention of a positive response with it and Nardil gave me the impetus. I was *really* hurting, almost to the point of hospitalization, and when I read your use with it (nortriptyline), I had recalled many years ago how it provided me such a full, robust response, in combination with fluoxetine. But, fluoxetine turned out to not provide much benefit for me. Fast forward to today, and I am on 225mg's of venlafaxine, after going all the way up to 450mgs, with nothing but side-effects. I am BP2, with a major tendency towards deep, intense depression. And, venlafaxine still was leaving me down...the bottom of hell..lol. At 225mgs, venlafaxine mainly is a serotogenic med. So, I got nortiptyline from my pdoc, combined with 225mg of venlafaxine, and knock on wood, both my anxiety and depression have greatly receded...for the first time since...well when I was last on nortriptyline! I have been on 25mg's for a few weeks, and am going to possibly push to 50mg next week. Oh...and I also take a small dose of risperidone, as it's strong 5-ht2c antagonism seems to work very smoothly in reducing my sensitivity to serotonin.
I worry a bit about aging and the anticholinergic properties of nortriptyline, but from my experience with cholinergic nootropics, I responded very badly to any type of choline supplement. So, my hypothesis is that, as the research mentions, hyper-cholinergic activity has many co-relations to depression and anxiety. Plus, nortriptyline has been shown to increase, ontopic (lol), PEA, as well as other smaller neurochemicals. I may also try supplemental PEA, as a bonus.
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> In the past, my greatest degree of response came from a combination of TCA + MAOI. A robust remission was achieved using a combination of Parnate + desipramine. However, in retrospect, I realized that there was residual anhedonia. The response I glean from Nardil + nortripyline is broader, and produces a more "pleasant" state of mind, and the anhedonia all but disappeared (MAO-A)?I'd love to try a traditional MAOI, but am honestly holding up quite good...and my anhedonia, as well as my aggravated grief (and self-injurious intrusive thoughts) have faded away, as well. I still have a good cry once in awhile, and it feels good to do so, and the sexual dysfunction and metabolic effects are a bit of a pain in the butt, but exercise and Viagra help. And, my pdoc is open to the idea of an MAOI, so if I do end up back in my vegetative state, I have another option. And, I also take lamotrigine, which seems to even me out, once the hell-bottom depression and anxiety are looked after.
> I experienced several severe, delusional manias in association with MAOIs. This is the diagnostic qualifier that determines my diagnosis being Bipolar Disorder, even though I never experienced a single manic episode without some sort of biological intervention.
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> I chose to continue with low-dosage lithium, despite my being dubious that it was necessary for my improvement in depression. However, for over 15 years, scientists have reported a lower risk of contracting Alzheimer's Dementia in people who take very low dosages of lithium.
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> For me, the choice to continue taking lithium at 300 mg/day was obvious.
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> - ScottI'd love to go back on my 300mg's a day lithium, but unfortunately I have kidney disease. Even in low doses, I nearly die from direct pain in my kidney area. I have gone into spasms of pain from my kidneys due to taking lithium. Plus I get intense pruitis (which is a symptom of kidney failure) and nausea so bad I used to throw up blood. (I had it all checked out, though. No cancer or anything...) Plus, my creatine levels would be through the roof when I took lithium.
So, my doctor said *absolutely not* to the stuff. I am checking into small dose lithium orotate, though.Thanks kindly,
Jay
Humans punish themselves endlessly
for not being what they believe they should be.
-Don Miguel Ruiz-
poster:jay2112
thread:1115807
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20210418/msgs/1115849.html