Posted by AndrewB on March 4, 2000, at 11:31:36
In reply to Re: andrewB, posted by Sigolene on March 3, 2000, at 14:56:06
I don't know if France has Reboxetine(That is the substance name). It might have a slightly different name in French. For example, it is ’Reboxetin’ in German. I know it is approved by the EU and available in the UK and other European countries. If it isn't available in France you can order it from the UK without a prescription. It costs $60 to $70 for about a month's supply.
Another medicine you might consider is amisulpride. This medicine is available in France. It was developed by a French company, Synthelabo. The French name for it might be slightly different though (amisulprida?). The brand name is Solian. It can be stimulating. I found it improved my energy for the first four months and it made the heavy fatigue I’d get from exercising go away. John L found it stimulating. Amisulpride doesn’t work on NE or serotonin, it activates dopamine receptors. It is a clean drug in the sense it has little in the way of side effects and it only activates the D2-D3 dopamine receptors, those involved in mood. A study showed it to be superior to Vivalan for dysthymia. Because it is fast acting, a one week trial should be all you need to determine if it is right for you.
Yes I remember that you have chronic fatigue (CFS). You have my sympathies, it sounds like quite a combination, chronic fatigue and depression. You know that most people with CFS don’t have depression, but a certain minority do.
Their depression is different than normal depression. Rather than having a hyperactive HPA axis and being somewhat hypercortisolic they have a hypoactive HPA axis and are somewhat hypocortisolic (See the article below).
I don’t know what this means as far as effective treatment strategies go. Atypical depressives are supposed to have hypoactive HPA axis too and they tend to respond to little else besides MAOIs. Maybe that means an MAOI (i.e. Parnate or Seligiline) might be effective for you.
If you haven’t already, I would go to the CFS boards, there are several, and ask those that have both depression and CFS what they have found effective for their depression.Best wishes for your health,
AndrewB
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J Affect Disord 1998 Jan;47(1-3):49-54
Urinary free cortisol excretion in chronic fatigue syndrome, major depression and in healthy volunteers.
Scott LV, Dinan TG
Department of Psychological Medicine, St. Bartholomew's Hospital and the Royal London School of Medicine, West Smithfield, UK.Urinary free cortisol excretion (UFC) was compared in 21 patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), in 10 melancholic depressives and in 15 healthy controls. Patients with depression had UFC values which were significantly higher than healthy comparison subjects, whereas UFC excretion of CFS patients was significantly lower than the comparison group. These findings are in keeping with currently held hypotheses of hyperactivity and hypoactivity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis in depression and chronic fatigue syndrome respectively. Five of the 21 CFS patients had a co-morbid depressive illness. This sub-group retained the profile of UFC excretion of those with CFS alone, suggesting a different pathophysiological basis for depressive symptoms in CFS.
poster:AndrewB
thread:25205
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000302/msgs/25897.html