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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 12 of 12. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by JohhnyYen on December 29, 2012, at 15:26:46
I currently take
Lexapro 10mg
memantine 10mg bid
lithium orotate 5mg bid
baclofen 30mg bid
low dose naltrexone at nightoccasionally ashwaganda and bacopa
I stopped tianeptine a little over a week ago. It was working great for depression, but my dosage kept escalating. I was taking 40mg 3x day and it was still losing efficacy. The last time I took it with it working I took 60mg, after that it would not work even after taking 100mg.
I have taken it a few times since then with no noticeable effect. What is a guy to do?
I also recently stopped cabergoline after a month trial, .5 2x week.
Mood is pretty low as of late.
Vitamin D was a bit low, have been taking 5000ui.
I need to make it through these winter blues, any suggestions?
Posted by brynb on December 29, 2012, at 16:05:43
In reply to This List of Mine - Meds, posted by JohhnyYen on December 29, 2012, at 15:26:46
Hi JohhnyYen,
I don't think I can be of any help (sorry!), but I'm curious as to why you're on Baclofen. I've heard it can be effective in treating anxiety.
Thanks,
bryn
Posted by JohhnyYen on December 29, 2012, at 16:16:41
In reply to Re: This List of Mine - Meds » JohhnyYen, posted by brynb on December 29, 2012, at 16:05:43
> Hi JohhnyYen,
>
> I don't think I can be of any help (sorry!), but I'm curious as to why you're on Baclofen. I've heard it can be effective in treating anxiety.
>
> Thanks,
> brynHi bryn,
I take baclofen as an anti addiction medication. I am a recovering drug addict among other things and baclofen has been used to alleviate cravings.
I don't drink very often now, and when I do I don't enjoy it that much, but I still have drank.
I should add, my main diagnosis's most of my life have been OCD and depression.
Posted by Phillipa on December 29, 2012, at 17:27:31
In reply to Re: This List of Mine - Meds, posted by JohhnyYen on December 29, 2012, at 16:16:41
Have you tried luxox or amiltriptiline for the OCD? Phillipa
Posted by JohhnyYen on December 29, 2012, at 18:08:12
In reply to Re: This List of Mine - Meds » JohhnyYen, posted by Phillipa on December 29, 2012, at 17:27:31
I was Luvox and some sort of TCA as a child, I think amitriptyline.
More than anything it is the depression that holds me down. Persistent melancholic mood and anhedonia.
I can act happy, and often do, but it's not what I am feeling. When the depression lifts, like it did with the tianeptine, I can stand the OCD.
Posted by schleprock on December 29, 2012, at 19:59:31
In reply to This List of Mine - Meds, posted by JohhnyYen on December 29, 2012, at 15:26:46
> I currently take
>
> Lexapro 10mg
> memantine 10mg bid
> lithium orotate 5mg bid
> baclofen 30mg bid
> low dose naltrexone at night
>
> occasionally ashwaganda and bacopa
>
> I stopped tianeptine a little over a week ago. It was working great for depression, but my dosage kept escalating. I was taking 40mg 3x day and it was still losing efficacy. The last time I took it with it working I took 60mg, after that it would not work even after taking 100mg.
>
> I have taken it a few times since then with no noticeable effect. What is a guy to do?
>
> I also recently stopped cabergoline after a month trial, .5 2x week.
>
> Mood is pretty low as of late.
>
> Vitamin D was a bit low, have been taking 5000ui.
>
> I need to make it through these winter blues, any suggestions?
>I don't know anything about making it through the "winter blues", but Lou Pilder, our resident "Prince of Death", could plug those meds into the Deathometer and tell you your life expectancy.
Posted by brynb on December 29, 2012, at 20:26:20
In reply to Re: This List of Mine - Meds, posted by JohhnyYen on December 29, 2012, at 16:16:41
> > Hi JohhnyYen,
> >
> > I don't think I can be of any help (sorry!), but I'm curious as to why you're on Baclofen. I've heard it can be effective in treating anxiety.
> >
> > Thanks,
> > bryn
>
> Hi bryn,
>
> I take baclofen as an anti addiction medication. I am a recovering drug addict among other things and baclofen has been used to alleviate cravings.
>
> I don't drink very often now, and when I do I don't enjoy it that much, but I still have drank.
>
> I should add, my main diagnosis's most of my life have been OCD and depression.Hi Johnny,
That's really interesting. I too am a former drug addict and didn't realize Baclofen was used to curb cravings. I could be wrong, but I believe I've seen it used as an off-label anxiolytic.
Thanks and I hope you get some valuable feedback.
-Bryn
Posted by JohhnyYen on December 29, 2012, at 22:28:30
In reply to Re: This List of Mine - Meds » JohhnyYen, posted by brynb on December 29, 2012, at 20:26:20
Yea it is interesting. I found out about it about 4 months ago and take it every day. I really think there is something to it. I have not noticed it doing much for my anxiety, maybe initially.
Here are a couple articles on baclofen used for addiction.
http://alcalc.oxfordjournals.org/content/42/2/158.full
bit of pseudo here, interesting nonetheless
Posted by SLS on December 30, 2012, at 13:00:42
In reply to Re: This List of Mine - Meds, posted by JohhnyYen on December 29, 2012, at 22:28:30
Nice article.
> http://www.baclofenuk.com/howdoesbaclofenwork.htm
Besides alcohol, is baclofen effective for any other drugs of addiction?
Thanks.
- Scott
Posted by brynb on December 30, 2012, at 13:01:17
In reply to This List of Mine - Meds, posted by JohhnyYen on December 29, 2012, at 15:26:46
> I currently take
>
> Lexapro 10mg
> memantine 10mg bid
> lithium orotate 5mg bid
> baclofen 30mg bid
> low dose naltrexone at night> Mood is pretty low as of late.
> I need to make it through these winter blues, any suggestions?
>Have you considered going up to 20 mg of Lexapro? It could be the way to go in your case...
-b
Posted by JohhnyYen on December 30, 2012, at 20:44:46
In reply to Re: This List of Mine - Meds » JohhnyYen, posted by brynb on December 30, 2012, at 13:01:17
> Have you considered going up to 20 mg of Lexapro? It could be the way to go in your case...I had been on 20mg of Lexapro for some time before, also on 30mg. I found it didn't really do much for the depression, I think it made me care less about the depression and in general. It is not the treatment I am looking for anymore.
> Besides alcohol, is baclofen effective for any other drugs of addiction?
It has been studied for cocaine and opiate use.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14728105
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC293465/
Posted by bleauberry on December 31, 2012, at 16:20:57
In reply to This List of Mine - Meds, posted by JohhnyYen on December 29, 2012, at 15:26:46
I don't see much support or enhancement of the norepinephrine chemistry or the dopamine chemistry in that list of meds. Could easily be the missing link. There is some background noise and some indirect effect of those meds on NE/DA, but no certainly not enough to balance things out with lexapro and everything else going on. So maybe think about some meds or herbs of various mechanisms that deal primarily with NE and/or DA? I'm thinking candidates for that kind of search would include stuff like nortriptyline, desipramine, ritalin, adderall, DLPA, tyrosine, amisulpride, savella. And you also need to be sure it isn't one of the meds you are taking now that is causing some bad effects. Any of those could cause or worsen depression, despite that they can also improve them. For example what if no new additions helped, but then you ran out of lithium and discovered you felt great without it? Ya know? Not picking on lithium, just a random example. You know what I mean. Anyway, if you think all the meds are good and none are causing a problem, then turn the focus to NE/DA. That's probably what I would do anyway.
This is the end of the thread.
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