Posted by zeugma on December 10, 2005, at 16:23:02
In reply to Re: Entering study vs symptoms » Cairo, posted by Larry Hoover on December 10, 2005, at 10:38:04
And they have no explanation for why it can help pain. There's so much we don't know. Taking a drug in hopes a side effect might occur is not my idea of how medicine ought to work, but pain makes you try anything. <sigh>>
nortriptyline is actually the most rational therapy in the psychotropic armaterium (sp.). i mean its dosing displays a clear window beneath which it is not very effective (for depression), and above which it is not effective. this is why plasma levels are routinely done with this drug. reactions to other meds vary wildly, but if you can get in the neighborhood of 100 ng/mL, then a month's trial will establish whether you are a responder or not. no other psychotropic to my knowledge displays such a window.
of course, the reason for the window is unknown. but at least there is a rational way of prescribing this drug. the rest of psychiatry is empiricism, and pet theory.
-z
poster:zeugma
thread:587337
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20051203/msgs/587844.html