Posted by Doric on December 14, 2009, at 16:14:03
A comment on Parnate + Stims and mood. (Diagnosis MDD, ADD and sleep apnea)
I hope my experiences will be of benefit to others
Although stims appear to have aided many people in breaking years of depression, as a basis for mood improvement it cannot be other than problematic. It took me 8 months to realize that 25mg of Seroquel I was taking to aid sleeping at night was interfering with the efficacy of these drugs (Dex, Ritalin, Concerta); once the Seroquel was removed I was getting more consistent results, but not ones I had hoped for. The stims cleared my head, returned motor function, concentration etc, but were inadequate in maintaining sufficient and stable levels of mood improvement. I thought that I was metabolizing too quickly, as mood benefits lasted no longer than 2 hours, so then I would adjust the dose, and readjust, but could never get it right because they are not up to the task of rectifying my own complex mood disorder on their ownBUTare very useful in conjunction with Parnate for me. 2 grams of Parnate will remit most of my symptoms, but I am just too wired, I sleep every second night. However, 120gms (3x40mg) is sufficient when augmented with Dex (3x5mg). No serotonin rush etc, they work complimentaryParnate treats mainly mood, while dex treats ADD symptoms, with an obvious synergistic improvement and unity occurring.
The reasons doctors are reluctant to employ this strategy is because not enough testing has been done in this area because no-one is prepared to fund this type of study because there is no money in itthere is no money to be made in researching augmentation strategies for drugs that already have FDA approval. While many doctors want to see more research in this area, the Pharma companies couldnt care less. Only 1% of all monies spent on research is allocated to augmentation research.
These two links are for proposed trials for Parnate + dex augmentation (2001 & 2006) that were both abandoned because of lack of funding.
http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00296686
http://www.researchcrossroads.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=128&Itemid=65&trial_id=NCT00296686It becomes very difficult when you are unwell to get doctors to follow courses of actions, that as the patient, you feel you need to explore. If you feel your concerns are not being met, so much the worse.
I started this strategy myself and then told my doctor. I had partial remission with both of these of these drugs that in total covered all symptoms, while he wanted me to start Strattera that was very unlikely to treat the worst symptomdepression. If they dont like ittoo bad
poster:Doric
thread:929229
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20091125/msgs/929229.html