![[dr. bob]](/dr-bob-sm.gif)
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 5 of 5. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Charlie Pitrat on October 2, 1998, at 15:20:49
HELLO, IVE BEEN ON WELLBUTRIN,ZOLFT,PAXIL,PROZAC AND OTHER OLDER ANTI-DEPESSANTS HAS ANYONE EVER TRYED STIMULANTS, LIKE DEXEDRINE,RITALIN, OR OTHERS, IVE BEEN SEEING THE SAME DOCTOR FOR ABOUT 4 YEARS AND STILL SUFFERING FROM DEPRESSION , PLEASE ANY HELP? CHARLIE
Posted by Sally on October 6, 1998, at 1:57:02
In reply to ANY MEDS OR COMBO- DRUGS THAT WORK!!, posted by Charlie Pitrat on October 2, 1998, at 15:20:49
> HELLO, IVE BEEN ON WELLBUTRIN,ZOLFT,PAXIL,PROZAC AND OTHER OLDER ANTI-DEPESSANTS HAS ANYONE EVER TRYED STIMULANTS, LIKE DEXEDRINE,RITALIN, OR OTHERS, IVE BEEN SEEING THE SAME DOCTOR FOR ABOUT 4 YEARS AND STILL SUFFERING FROM DEPRESSION , PLEASE ANY HELP? CHARLIE
Like you Charlie, I've tried all the SSRI's. But
they all made me tired and I lost my libido. So
next I tried Wellbutrin. My libido returned--as well
as the depression! Next,before trying any psychostimulants,
my psychiatrist asked me to have blood tests and an EKG
to make sure my body was in proper health. It was.
So I began taking Dexedrine SR with the Wellbutrin SR.
We had to experiement with the dose for several months,
before I really felt okay. Now after 6 months, I
think I may have developed a tolerance to the Dexedrine
because I'm starting to feel tired and depressed
again. Hang in there--it's a long process finding the
right medication, and that might change after a while!
,
Posted by Toby on October 6, 1998, at 9:52:01
In reply to ANY MEDS OR COMBO- DRUGS THAT WORK!!, posted by Charlie Pitrat on October 2, 1998, at 15:20:49
Have you been engaging in psychotherapy as well as the medications? Both together work better than either one alone. You've been checked out medically and there is nothing contributing to the depression such as thyroid, heart trouble, asthma, smoking, alcohol, kidney or liver trouble, diabetes, lupus, TB, anemia? Have you been on combinations of medications or just a long succession of one medication at a time? If you have done all the above and want some thoughts on combos of medications, here are some...
Things to add to SSRI's: Buspar, Pindolol, Serzone, Fenfluramine, Cylert, ritalin, Bromocriptine, Ludiomil, Wellbutrin, Remeron, Effexor, Buprenex, Klonopin, estrogen (for females). Don't forget ECT. If you haven't been on an MAOI, that is worth a try if you will follow the diet that is required. I know you listed some of the above medications as ones that didn't work. However, combinations of those can work when alone they do nothing. Some that I have seen work together (alone, nothing) are Serzone + Wellbutrin, Effexor + Remeron, Zoloft + Pamelor + Lithium, Serzone + Pindolol, Buspar + SSRI's. The way to see if a combo will work, is to go back and look at which ones you tolerated best and which may have helped "a little" and then to add those together. You can swap them around fairly easily (all except the MAOI's) and give them brief trials for 3-5 days each and see which combo gives you a gut feeling of improvement. You will need to work closely with your doctor in order to achieve this.
Posted by Michael Cooper on October 28, 1998, at 12:35:54
In reply to ANY MEDS OR COMBO- DRUGS THAT WORK!!, posted by Charlie Pitrat on October 2, 1998, at 15:20:49
> HELLO, IVE BEEN ON WELLBUTRIN,ZOLFT,PAXIL,PROZAC AND OTHER OLDER ANTI-DEPESSANTS HAS ANYONE EVER TRYED STIMULANTS, LIKE DEXEDRINE,RITALIN, OR OTHERS, IVE BEEN SEEING THE SAME DOCTOR FOR ABOUT 4 YEARS AND STILL SUFFERING FROM DEPRESSION , PLEASE ANY HELP? CHARLIE
After 12 years of psychoanalytically oriented
therapy with 3 different psychiatrist-analysts,
and hearing things like (1975) 'antidepressants
are like aspirins, they treat the symptoms but not
the cause', I realized that the responsibility
(in the sense of suffering or benefiting from the
consequences of the treatment decisions) are
ultimately the patient's. There still seems to
be resentment of patients suggesting their own
drug treatment, even though the "experts" can
not predict which drugs will be successful. If
the physician is not able to suggest an effective
drug, the patient must request it or see a
different physician (or else suffer the
consequence). The physician is also faced with the added burden of
add burden of the Drug War, which introduces a
chilling effect on the prescription of stimulants.
I am presently taking 20 mg of Prozac and 30-40 mg
of Adderall (a mixture of amphetimines)per day.
I had found that the Prozac was insufficient as
the sole antidepressant, and was also taking
200-300 mg of Wellbutrin (I had to change
physicians to get the Wellbutrin). I recently
replaced the Wellbutrin with St.John's Wort, 300mg
standardized extract, 3x per day. I am aware of
the warnings of not taking St. John's Wort with
SSRIs due to its MAO activity, but I think that
this activity is very slight, and is not
responsible for its antidepressant effect,
I have had no problems with it. Also, if skipping
a day of Prozac, or taking an additional 20 mg
changes the quality of your sleep, recall of
dreams, etc., you may want to experiment with
that.
Posted by Michael Cooper on October 28, 1998, at 15:57:54
In reply to ANY MEDS OR COMBO- DRUGS THAT WORK!!, posted by Charlie Pitrat on October 2, 1998, at 15:20:49
> HELLO, IVE BEEN ON WELLBUTRIN,ZOLFT,PAXIL,PROZAC AND OTHER OLDER ANTI-DEPESSANTS HAS ANYONE EVER TRYED STIMULANTS, LIKE DEXEDRINE,RITALIN, OR OTHERS, IVE BEEN SEEING THE SAME DOCTOR FOR ABOUT 4 YEARS AND STILL SUFFERING FROM DEPRESSION , PLEASE ANY HELP? CHARLIE
I have to add a caveat, however. I did have a
favorable response to Prozac and Paxil taken
alone. It was not sufficient, however. I had
taken small doses, sporadically, of amphetamine,
before I was able to obtain antidepressants. As
this was sporadic, I can't say how much stimulants
would have helped without the antidepressants.
I look upon them as an adjuvant to a partially
successful drug. I had read that a failure to have
a euphoric response to amphetamine was a
predictor of a favorable response to amitriptyline
but not to imipramine , and a euphoric response was a predictor of
a positive response to imipramine but not amitriptyline.
I also had tried imipramine with no therapeutic response.
As I had had no euphoria from amphetamine, I requested
amitriptyline from my third therapist who was open
enough to prescribe it.
This is the end of the thread.
Psycho-Babble Medication | Extras | FAQ
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.org
Script revised: February 4, 2008
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/cgi-bin/pb/mget.pl
Copyright 2006-17 Robert Hsiung.
Owned and operated by Dr. Bob LLC and not the University of Chicago.