Posted by sweetmarie on July 7, 2001, at 6:15:28
In reply to Re: Long-term effects of Ecstasy » sweetmarie, posted by Elizabeth on July 6, 2001, at 23:23:55
> What evidence is there to support the idea that your friend's depression is related to her ecstasy use? The time course -- onset of depression a year after she last used ecstasy -- just isn't consistent with a drug-induced mood disorder.
She has no actual evidence. She`s seen 3 psychiatrists prior to this specialist, and none of them have had a clue as to what is wrong with her. And she doesn`t have depression as such - just bizarre head stuff (whirling thoughts, strange head pains, acute anxiety, `unreal` feelings etc). She`s had brain scans, and various other physical examinations which have showed that there`s nothing wrong physically. She`s also had phsychotherapy, which has been unhelpful.
The Ecstasy use was very heavy e.g. 6 days a week for a long period of time, during which time she wrote two cars off and lost two jobs.
I guess that 5 years of being unwell with seemingly no cause, and no `typical` symptoms (she`s been variously diagnosed as having `atypical depression`, `borderline personality disorder`, and just severe anxiety), it seems likely that the illness is drug-related. >
> Anyway, if Nardil worked for her, she should probably go with another monoamine oxidase inhibitor, such as Parnate or Marplan. She might try augmenting with lithium. (She should *not* take ecstasy with MAOIs!)
I`ll certainly suggest other MAOIs to her. She`s been on Lithium for about 6 months now, firstly as an augmentation of the Nardil, and currently as an augmentation of Venlafaxine. She started a course of ECT, but was summarily discharged from hospital after 3 sessions as a result of `inappropriate behaviour` (she was very distressed and quite aggressive, which I personally think should have been dealt with during her stay, but ...).
Anyway, thanks for your reply and suggestions. I`ll pass them on to her.
Anna.
p.s. she has absolutely no intention of ever touching a non-prescription drug again!
poster:sweetmarie
thread:69198
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010701/msgs/69253.html