Posted by Annie on September 5, 1999, at 21:24:26
In reply to Re: Selegiline for depression?, posted by Adam on September 5, 1999, at 8:59:05
> I honestly don't know if selegiline is helping me, or if I'm even on it at the moment. Either way, I have made a decision
> not to wait for it to "kick in" before I try to feel better. Or maybe I'm deluding myself, and this inner strength and resolve
> is a function of the drug. At any rate, I am struck again and again by the potency of the placebo effect in antidepressant
> studies. There is no reason to believe that antidepressants do nothing, but there is plenty of reason to believe that in even
> very severe cases, nothing works just as well. The recent hype over Merk's substance P reuptake inhibitor and the subsequent
> letdown (and steep decline in Merk's stock!) when it turned out that the drug was not significantly better than placebo. There
> is a great article in the April 9th issue of Science, I believe, discussing many issues surrounding the substance P dissapointment.
>
> What I take from this is that mere belief that you will get better can be enormously helpful. Where and upon what we place that
> belief may be extremely important. I think many of the claims made about the efficacy of antidepressants are overblown, while
> the significance of "placebo" is often downplayed or ignored. It should not be. It just may be that within every person is
> something at least as powerful as Prozac and the key is to access that factor. You may not think you've got it in you, but
> chances are you do.Adam,
I took part in the Substance P study. I experienced no improvement. I thought Merck shelved the whole idea, but was surprised to learn that a new Substance P study is now starting at a higher dose.
I've mentioned previously that I was in the Selegiline Patch study and I don't know if I was on Placebo or not. I experienced little relief until about the 5th week of the open label study (30 mg) and then it suddenly kicked in. Adam, that was the best I've felt in 6 years. It is worth waiting for! I wish you well.
Annie
poster:Annie
thread:5905
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/19991001/msgs/11069.html