Posted by med_empowered on August 15, 2005, at 10:09:51
In reply to Re: is SEROQUEL better than ZYPREXA for depression?, posted by bipolarspectrum on August 15, 2005, at 2:42:01
hey! If you opt for zyprexa, there are a few thing you could do about sedation...if you're not suffering from schizophrenia, psychotic depression, or a pscyhotic phase of bipolar, your doc might be willing to try something like Provigil as morning add-on...it could, theoretically, counteract some of the sedation w/o making you feel wired or upping the risk of psychosis too much (back when thorazine was introduced, it was often mixed with Ritalin or Dexedrine to counter-act sedation). You might want to start lower than you are now; 5mgs/day is a usual starting dose (the symbyax starting doses are ofen somewhat higher). I think there's a 2.5mg tablet; if its not available to you, you can purchase a pill cutter/splicer at your local pharmacy and cut the pill more or less in half and then dose upwards until you feel adequate relief and can also handle any accompanying sedation. One poster here recommended taking the zyprexa around 5PM, rather than just before bedtime...it apparently works to calm you down and lull you to sleep w/o much sedation in the day this way. Adding a stimulating anti-depressant might be useful, but the outcomes of this kind of combo would be largely unknown...Pamelor, Wellbutrin, and Cymbalta/Effexor might be good meds to try for this kind of thing. Symbyax might also be a good idea, since the Prozac component is often somewhat "stimulating". I dont know what zyprexa/prozac combos are available, but I think the starting dose is 6zyprexa/20prozac...I would imagine that there are formulations that are more zyprexa- or prozac- heavy, depending on your needs. Good luck!
poster:med_empowered
thread:540969
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050811/msgs/541888.html