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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 15 of 15. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by linkadge on June 2, 2011, at 19:29:06
Wow - nortriptyline is such a dumb drug! I can't remember how to speak, let alone spell!
Posted by Phillipa on June 2, 2011, at 19:41:34
In reply to nortriptyline - dumb as a rock!, posted by linkadge on June 2, 2011, at 19:29:06
Personally I wouldn't take a TCA after my experience when first had panic walked the streets all night was so panicky more so. Phillipa
Posted by jono_in_adelaide on June 2, 2011, at 19:54:24
In reply to Re: nortriptyline - dumb as a rock!, posted by Phillipa on June 2, 2011, at 19:41:34
What dose are you taking, and what are you taking it for?
There are quite likely other drugs that would achive the same result for you, without the side effects.
For example, bupropion or desipramine
Posted by SLS on June 2, 2011, at 20:17:57
In reply to Re: nortriptyline - dumb as a rock!, posted by jono_in_adelaide on June 2, 2011, at 19:54:24
The first time I tried nortriptyline, I was totally zonked for two or three days at a dosage of 25 mg. The brain fog lifted completely before two weeks had passed. I now take 150 mg. It is absolutely clean.
If you are sensitive to monoamine reuptake inhibitors, what about giving trimipramine a fair trial?
- Scott
Posted by SLS on June 2, 2011, at 20:19:11
In reply to Re: nortriptyline - dumb as a rock! » jono_in_adelaide, posted by SLS on June 2, 2011, at 20:17:57
Posted by zonked on June 2, 2011, at 20:51:18
In reply to nortriptyline - dumb as a rock!, posted by linkadge on June 2, 2011, at 19:29:06
I was given nortrip after a hospitalization last year by an inpatient psychiatrist who didn't know what he was doing (apparently, he didn't listen to me when I said drugs which preferentially enhance NE function *always* make me anxious and irritable - Effexor, Cymbalta, Wellbutrin) - and I had my typical increased NE reaction. EXTREMELY irritable and quick to anger. Not like me at all.
Then again, there are folks who *swear* by it... (usually as an adjunct, these days.)
Isn't it interesting how two people can present with the same symptoms but respond to different drugs, or have different side effects from the same drug? I hope in the decades to come we'll have scientific diagnostic tools which will cut short the time to finding the "right" pharmacological treatment for a given patient.
-z
> Wow - nortriptyline is such a dumb drug! I can't remember how to speak, let alone spell!
Posted by jono_in_adelaide on June 2, 2011, at 22:15:33
In reply to Re: nortriptyline - dumb as a rock! » jono_in_adelaide, posted by SLS on June 2, 2011, at 20:17:57
> The first time I tried nortriptyline, I was totally zonked for two or three days at a dosage of 25 mg. The brain fog lifted completely before two weeks had passed. I now take 150 mg. It is absolutely clean.
>
> If you are sensitive to monoamine reuptake inhibitors, what about giving trimipramine a fair trial?
>I thought trimipramine was perhaps the most sedating tricyclic (along with doxepin)..... if nortriptyline makes you feel drugged, I'd say that desipramine or bupropion would be better bets? Or am I misreading what you posted?
>
> - Scott
Posted by viper1431 on June 3, 2011, at 0:00:39
In reply to Re: nortriptyline - dumb as a rock! » linkadge, posted by zonked on June 2, 2011, at 20:51:18
Same for me on nortriptyline with the irratibility and anger.
> I was given nortrip after a hospitalization last year by an inpatient psychiatrist who didn't know what he was doing (apparently, he didn't listen to me when I said drugs which preferentially enhance NE function *always* make me anxious and irritable - Effexor, Cymbalta, Wellbutrin) - and I had my typical increased NE reaction. EXTREMELY irritable and quick to anger. Not like me at all.
>
> Then again, there are folks who *swear* by it... (usually as an adjunct, these days.)
>
> Isn't it interesting how two people can present with the same symptoms but respond to different drugs, or have different side effects from the same drug? I hope in the decades to come we'll have scientific diagnostic tools which will cut short the time to finding the "right" pharmacological treatment for a given patient.
>
> -z
> > Wow - nortriptyline is such a dumb drug! I can't remember how to speak, let alone spell!
>
>
Posted by floatingbridge on June 3, 2011, at 2:51:40
In reply to Re: nortriptyline - dumb as a rock! » jono_in_adelaide, posted by SLS on June 2, 2011, at 20:17:57
Is a fair trial of any tca about two weeks?
My reaction to doxepin & flexeril was that I was so doped. I didn't continue past two days. It's difficult to imagine becoming accustomed or really, having that lift.
I suppose it must.
> The first time I tried nortriptyline, I was totally zonked for two or three days at a dosage of 25 mg. The brain fog lifted completely before two weeks had passed. I now take 150 mg. It is absolutely clean.
>
> If you are sensitive to monoamine reuptake inhibitors, what about giving trimipramine a fair trial?
>
>
> - Scott
Posted by SLS on June 3, 2011, at 4:24:34
In reply to Re: nortriptyline - dumb as a rock! » SLS, posted by floatingbridge on June 3, 2011, at 2:51:40
> Is a fair trial of any tca about two weeks?
Not really. Some people demonstrate, but don't always report, a barely perceptible improvement during week two. Give a TCA at least three weeks after each dosage increase to evaluate the clinical response. This could be a 8-12 week process.
Sorry...
- Scott
Posted by SLS on June 3, 2011, at 4:31:28
In reply to Re: nortriptyline - dumb as a rock!, posted by jono_in_adelaide on June 2, 2011, at 22:15:33
> > The first time I tried nortriptyline, I was totally zonked for two or three days at a dosage of 25 mg. The brain fog lifted completely before two weeks had passed. I now take 150 mg. It is absolutely clean.
> >
> > If you are sensitive to monoamine reuptake inhibitors, what about giving trimipramine a fair trial?
> >
>
> I thought trimipramine was perhaps the most sedating tricyclic (along with doxepin)..... if nortriptyline makes you feel drugged, I'd say that desipramine or bupropion would be better bets? Or am I misreading what you posted?
> >
> > - Scott
>
>
Hi.Sedation does not equate to "dumbing" cognitive impairments.
Trimipramine did not sedate me at all. I found amitriptyline much more sedating. I guess we have to acknowledge the interindividual variability in our physiologies to account for these differences in reactions to the same drug.
- Scott
Posted by Conundrum on June 4, 2011, at 12:08:22
In reply to nortriptyline - dumb as a rock!, posted by linkadge on June 2, 2011, at 19:29:06
> Wow - nortriptyline is such a dumb drug! I can't remember how to speak, let alone spell!
I don't know how long you have been on it, but some of those effects dissapate with time. I've seen a number of studies indicating that. Look up nortriptyline cognitive side effects in google scholar.
Posted by SLS on June 4, 2011, at 13:20:52
In reply to Re: nortriptyline - dumb as a rock!, posted by Conundrum on June 4, 2011, at 12:08:22
> > Wow - nortriptyline is such a dumb drug! I can't remember how to speak, let alone spell!
>
> I don't know how long you have been on it, but some of those effects dissapate with time. I've seen a number of studies indicating that. Look up nortriptyline cognitive side effects in google scholar."Dumbing" can be an effect of anticholinergic drugs. Imipramine has had the reputation of being a dumb drug, and is due primarily to is anticholinergic properties. I am surprised that nortriptyline would be as much of a problem, especially since Linkadge did not report such with amitriptyline, the more antcholinergic of the two.
- Scott
Posted by bleauberry on June 4, 2011, at 19:08:27
In reply to nortriptyline - dumb as a rock!, posted by linkadge on June 2, 2011, at 19:29:06
About a year ago I was actually doing better than in quite a while at just 3mg nortriptyline. Then went to 5mg. Was still ok but I could start to feel the power and dumbness of it a little bit. Doc of course said to shoot for 10mg ASAP. Bad mistake. Talk about bad. Oh my.
I think many times, maybe just from my own experiences and observations of others, it isn't so much the drug itself that causes the problem, but the dose. A doctor might say I'm nuts for doing well on 3mg....but I would turn that around and tell the doctor he/she is nuts for not listening. It's their job.
Anyway, sorry it feels yuck Link. You're a smart cookie and I have no doubt you'll maneuver your way through this.
Posted by Conundrum on June 5, 2011, at 9:36:20
In reply to Re: nortriptyline - dumb as a rock! » Conundrum, posted by SLS on June 4, 2011, at 13:20:52
I think link was only on 5mg amitripytline if i remember correctly.
> > > Wow - nortriptyline is such a dumb drug! I can't remember how to speak, let alone spell!
> >
> > I don't know how long you have been on it, but some of those effects dissapate with time. I've seen a number of studies indicating that. Look up nortriptyline cognitive side effects in google scholar.
>
> "Dumbing" can be an effect of anticholinergic drugs. Imipramine has had the reputation of being a dumb drug, and is due primarily to is anticholinergic properties. I am surprised that nortriptyline would be as much of a problem, especially since Linkadge did not report such with amitriptyline, the more antcholinergic of the two.
>
>
> - Scott
This is the end of the thread.
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