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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 6 of 6. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by g_g_g_unit on July 1, 2010, at 0:36:24
i experience a lot of emotional blankness part-and-parcel with my atypical depression. i do find my mood lifts periodically and superficially in response to positive events, but never to the point where i'm actually happy or able to 'experience' myself.
what's weird is that i took 20mg of amitriptyline to sleep two nights ago and spent the rest of the following day feeling really fragile and kinda teary. it wasn't particularly pleasant, but it was the first time i've really felt *something* in a while.
why would amitriptyline enhance my emotion like that? i also had a very similar reaction to Seroquel when used for sleep, teariness and all.
i'm also a little confused about how conventional AD's might work in this instance. depression (in certain manifestations) supposedly robs us of emotional range and affect, yet SSRI's are renowned for doing the same? i read that the measure of a positive response is the loss of hopelessness. but is the emotional deadness i feel possibly the result of a different dysfunction?
Posted by g_g_g_unit on July 1, 2010, at 4:08:14
In reply to emotional emptiness? + amitriptyline, posted by g_g_g_unit on July 1, 2010, at 0:36:24
is that next-day dysphoria on amitrip and seroquel actually withdrawal rather than a direct drug effect?
Posted by Conundrum on July 2, 2010, at 8:12:04
In reply to Re: emotional emptiness? + amitriptyline, posted by g_g_g_unit on July 1, 2010, at 4:08:14
if you are taking the drug at the same time each day it probably isn't withdrawal. How long have you been taking it? It takes a while for its antidepressant mechanism to kick in. It can take up to a month to work. Perhaps all the negative emotions that have been bottle up from numbness are being released? Is this dysphoria preferable over feeling dead inside?
Posted by g_g_g_unit on July 2, 2010, at 20:58:24
In reply to Re: emotional emptiness? + amitriptyline » g_g_g_unit, posted by Conundrum on July 2, 2010, at 8:12:04
> if you are taking the drug at the same time each day it probably isn't withdrawal. How long have you been taking it? It takes a while for its antidepressant mechanism to kick in. It can take up to a month to work. Perhaps all the negative emotions that have been bottle up from numbness are being released? Is this dysphoria preferable over feeling dead inside?
i'm not taking it as an anti-depressant; i just use it once in a while to sleep. there's no build-up in effect - i notice the dysphoria and sadness after one-off uses.
and yeah, it is preferable to feeling dead :)
but i was just curious what Seroquel and Amitriptyline had in common that might cause that effect
Posted by violette on July 9, 2010, at 11:36:13
In reply to Re: emotional emptiness? + amitriptyline » Conundrum, posted by g_g_g_unit on July 2, 2010, at 20:58:24
(((ggg)))
:)
Posted by Conundrum on July 10, 2010, at 22:49:20
In reply to Re: emotional emptiness? + amitriptyline » Conundrum, posted by g_g_g_unit on July 2, 2010, at 20:58:24
both of those drugs are pretty complex. They're both antihistamines which helps with sleep as does 5HT2A antagonism which both drugs share. Both are NRIs as well. I'm not sure if seroquel has strong antimuscarinic properties, but amitriptyline does.
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