Posted by bleauberry on July 8, 2012, at 18:22:58
In reply to im running out of ideas, posted by poser938 on July 8, 2012, at 17:47:48
I'm sorry it's been such a long struggle. Lamictal....I usually don't like that one, but in this case I think it is a decent choice. It is sort of outside the box, and when things that would seem to make sense fail then it is time to think outside the box. No one knows all the mechanisms of lamictal or how those influence multiple systems. Some things turn genes on or up, others turn them down or off. Lamictal is a complicated med interacting with several different systems that could spark the dopamine system. My opinion though is if that is to happen, the odds are it will only happen at low doses, such as 25mg to 50mg. Even just 12.5mg can feel dopaminergic stimulation-like. Higher doses I think would probably worsen emotional blunting. But anything is possible.
I know it seems logical to look at the dopamine system since things went wrong with mirapex. I dunno, I think that is probably true but only to a certain degree. Things just aren't that simple in the brain. Everything ties in with everything else, if we impact one thing, others are impacted too.
I've been battling anhedonia/apathy/flatness for years and while it would sure seem like a dopamine thing, the things that help me the most are norepinephrine, not dopamine. Those two are closely related, not as distinctly separate as we sometiimes make it sound like they are. So maybe, since so many dopamine avenues have already proven deadends, how about make the same kind of effort in the norepinephrine department?
Adrafanil with prozac did a decent job on anhedonia for me for a few years. Savella was good, at just tiny doses. Parnate, if you haven't tried that, yeah. Start simple try some tyrosine, try some dl-phenylalanine, then try them together, try l-methione with them. Of all the amino acids, methione is actually the king in terms of depression. Works better with the other two.
Buy a home unit CES Cranial Electrical Stimulation, which is sort of like a low voltage self administered electrical brain stimulation 20 minutes twice a day. It helps to stimulate the brain receptors to fire. Cost is $700 though, but they refund it if it doesn't work.
Anyway, hang in there! Hope you can get a few ideas.
poster:bleauberry
thread:1021003
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20120630/msgs/1021006.html