Posted by Racer on June 30, 2005, at 0:02:56
In reply to Re: Jay, I think you've tried cyproheptadine too? » linkadge, posted by ed_uk on June 29, 2005, at 21:42:21
I've been on cyproheptidine, as has my cat and numerous horses I've known. It's used pretty extensively in veterinary medicine these days. Here are a few of my notes on it:
1. I've taken it for AD induced anorgasmia, and it's worked for me. Take a tablet, about two hours later I can roll around and scream with the best of them. And, about the time I'm done screaming, I'm ready to fall asleep -- which is a bit of a relief, since I'm often one of those who is up all night after sex, ready to run around the block a few times. The sleepiness doesn't hit at the same time as the orgasmatron, for which I am profoundly grateful.
If I take it regularly, though, for this reason, it will decrease the effectiveness of my AD. {shrug} I'm middle aged and married -- not like I have a sex life anyway...
2. My cat takes it for appetite enhancement and to help with itchiness. He's not in love with getting the pills -- I don't bother with the vet's prescription for him, just give him mine -- and I'm not in love with the way it knocks him out. It helps a lot with the itch, but doesn't actually help all that much with the appetite. (Appetite is only intermittently a problem with him. He's old, sick, and goes off his feed now and then.) When he's getting it regularly, he spends even more time sleeping, and doesn't seem to feel up to doing much. Now, again -- he's 17, so he isn't exactly a whirlwind of activity, but it still worries me a bit when he's so very lethargic.
3. It's used in horses for a variety of conditions, including Cushing's disease and a lot of anxiety related behavior problems. For Cushing's, it's the second choice drug, with pergolide the first. The problem with pergolide, though, is that it's expensive when you get to doses for 1200 pound patients, so cyproheptidine is the first choice for most of us. The studies of cyproheptidine in equine Cushing's are equivocal at best, but in combination with clinical experience among vets I know, cyproheptidine seems to improve the condition in slightly less than half the horses it's tried in. Pergolide is much more effective, in most horses, but cyproheptidine is effective enough in enough horses that it's worth trying first when cost is an issue.
The "big thing" a few years back with horses was something called "photic head-shaking" which is just what it sounds like: some horses shake their heads in response to bright light, very much like some people who sneeze when they walk out into the sun. Now, it's hard to know how much is behavior, and how much is physical, especially since there's that whole thing that happens when something that starts off as a physical reaction becomes a behavior, if that makes sense. You know, like if you don't get after a horse who's naughty because you think it's physical, he'll learn to do that naughty thing because he can get away with it. Anyway, cyproheptidine helps a lot of horses with the whole photic headshaking thing. For some of them, it probably is by its anti-histimine action. For those horses, if they were getting runny noses when they hit the light, drying that up will help a lot with the behavior. For others -- probably the majority that I saw with PHS, frankly -- I'd bet it's more the anxiolytic effects of the drug. Some horses -- more than most of us would like to admit -- get pretty neurotic under contemporary conditions. They learn all sorts of weird behaviors, from playing with their tongues, to stereotypic movements, to behavior that seems motivated by a need for reassurance. If you ask me, PHS is sometimes an allergy like problem, but more often a horse asking for reassurance that he can't get away with naughtiness. (Sounds weird, but makes sense with a lot of horses. Most horses need to know who's in charge -- it may seem as though they're trying to be in charge, but most would much rather someone else is in charge. They just want to know who it is.)
Anyway, my experience with cyproheptidine is overwhelmingly good. I keep some around, for a variety of reasons -- although not for horses right now -- and always recommend it for AD related sexual side effects.
Hope that helps.
poster:Racer
thread:521042
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050627/msgs/521367.html