Posted by sowhysosad on May 4, 2009, at 21:14:08
In reply to Re: Mirtazapine and RLS, posted by West on May 4, 2009, at 18:23:37
> Cool, and interesting. Can i ask, were you severe?
Yeah, it was a severe and chronic depression. It was a kind of rebound depression after suffering akathisia on sertraline, and unlike any depression I had before. There was a definite lingering dopamine issue after the akathisia, which makes sense given SSRI-induced akathisia is supposedly caused by overly high serotonin which in turn causes dopamine depletion.
I also had a comorbid movement disorder in my jaw, doubtless also as a result of the dopamine depletion thing (although I'd previously had some milder symptoms on Cipralex). Misery surrounding that was perpetuating the depression and meds seemed to make the condition worse.
> What about the codeine, is that prescribed? (he asks, looking a bit doubtful).
I used it in the 2 darkest days after withdrawing from imipramine, combining 2 OTC meds so as not to OD on paracetamol or ibuprofen. It had an immediate antidepressant effect.
It also had the unexpected side effect of dramatically improving my movement disorder, which confirmed my theory about depleted dopamine (apparently codeine causes dopamine release through a GABA-mediated mechanism).
[Just a brief aside: my NHS neuro disagrees with every piece of research I've read on codeine and dopamine and claims the former inhibits the latter. He originally suggested trying an atypical antipsychotic to block D2 receptors. I finally convinced him dopamine depletion was actually the problem, and he then suggested trying Levodopa in the future. Errrr....no thanks.]
> I'm pretty sure i'll pass up 'taz presently but good luck.
A lot of people in another thread here said it did nothing for their severe depression, so perhaps a good move.
>I've got some tramadol on the way which i'm feeling entirely unprepared for.
Let us know how you get on.
poster:sowhysosad
thread:894213
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20090426/msgs/894291.html