Posted by JohnL on May 11, 2001, at 4:31:03
In reply to Tyrosine questions, posted by tresni on May 10, 2001, at 15:40:14
Everything you've said would seem to suggest you are on the right track, and that the chemistry responsible for your symptoms is dopamine chemistry. That doesn't surprise me because very often it seems dysthymias and long term depressions are dopamine related, unlike severe depressive bouts which tend to be serotonin related. There is nothing in literature to support this, but it's just what I've observed over the years taking note of other people's struggles and what works and doesn't work in different situations.
If tyrosine is going to be helpful to you, I would assume it would do so anywhere from day 1 to week 6. If nothing by week 6, I personally would discontinue.
I don't think there is anything wrong with taking tyrosine longterm. It's just a concentrated supplement of what is found naturally in food. There is a feedback mechanism where excess tyrosine will discarded. No matter how much you take or for how long, there is a limit to how much your body will accept. The rest goes out as waste. That may or may not affect whether it is effective for you or not.
Tolerance is a realistic possibility, and can happen with anything.
The most effective dose is the one that works. Experimentation is the only way to find out.
As long as it isn't causing increased blood pressure, irritibility or anxiety, I see no problem taking it with ritalin. They both work on the same chemistry. It could be better than either alone, or it could go too far causing stuff like anxiety, irritibility or anger.
For depressions like yours, I prefer cocktails that include either Zyprexa, Risperdal, or Amisulpride. For example, regardless of what happens with tyrosine, I think the odds are real good that one of the 3 antipsychotics would go very well with ritalin and completely wipe out all your symptoms. Something like Ritalin+Zyprexa, Ritalin+Prozac, Ritalin+Zyprexa+Prozac, or similar combinations with Risperdal or Amisulpride instead of Zyprexa....these are top combos I would keep in mind. In your shoes, with the benefit of hindsight, I would narrow my universe to just those drugs and experiment with various combinations of them.
John
poster:JohnL
thread:62396
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010507/msgs/62453.html