Posted by Brainbeard on June 22, 2009, at 12:53:17
In reply to Re: Sigh. Abilify is now prescribed. What about Luvox? » Brainbeard, posted by Amelia_in_StPaul on June 22, 2009, at 11:30:56
> Yeah, I've been on wellbutrin. That was great, until it caused panic attacks. So what are you on now? I dislike feeling dead on medication. Yet, that's where it went with me with SSRIs.
>
> I like your name.Thanks. I like it too. To me it evokes the image of a legendary pirate who had his brains growing out of his chin.
I absolutely dislike feeling dead on medication too. The benefit of being dead emotionally is that you can't feel fear or depression. But it's a rather crude solution.
Right now I'm in an experimental phase med-wise. I tried sertraline (aka Zoloft) for a couple of weeks but quit prematurely. I've started low dose imipramine (aka Tofranil). So far I think it's a splendid drug. There's some amitriptyline (aka Elavil) on the way; I'd like to try and combine low dose imipramine with low dose amitriptyline for several reasons (it comes down to combining benefits). Then I also think about returning to sertraline, but low dose (25mg). And I'm trying low dose ondansetron, a drug normally used as an anti-emetic, i.e. anti-nausea drug, being a 5HT3-
antagonist, for anxiety. There have been some promising studies. Can't tell yet if it works. I've just discovered that ondansetron and other 5HT3-antagonists indirectly inhibit dopamine transmission. Which is in itself not cool. But it's another clue that anxiety disorders are related to the dopaminergic system, perhaps even more than to the serotonergic system. And the SSRIs might work for anxiety because eventually they screw up your dopaminergic circuits. That might even be the reason that for OCD, the SSRIs often start to work only after several months (instead of weeks as with depression).I'm suspecting that the TCA's are less likely to kill your emotions, although they can be rather sedating at first. Anyhow, I think I wanna stay away from total serotonin reuptake inhibition, because it obviously messes up your dopamine system, resulting in libido problems, emotional numbness, apathy, etcetera; in short: having less fun and being less alive. That's why I'm not taking clomipramine, the TCA that works excellent for OCD (which I have), but is such a strong SRI that it messes with your dopamine big time.
poster:Brainbeard
thread:902046
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20090620/msgs/902621.html