Posted by Scott L. Schofield on March 17, 2000, at 13:26:00
In reply to Scott - Nomifensin, posted by KarenB on March 16, 2000, at 23:23:34
> This nomifensin (Merital) you mention: Have you tried it? Is it available in the US?
> I did several searches today and didn't come up with much, as it was mostly in German.
Hi Karen.
* Nomifensine (Merital) was available briefly in the mid 1980’s for the indication of depression. It was marketed in many countries, including the U.S. Nomifensine strongly inhibits the reuptake of both dopamine and norepinephrine, and promotes the release of dopamine as well. When reports of hemolytic anemia (exploding red blood-cells) associated with its use began to show up, the drug manufacturer (Hoescht-Roussel) withdrew it from market. It is still used today as a biological tool in the study of the central nervous system.When I tried Nomifensine, I began to respond to it at about the two-week mark. The antidepressant effect, although robust, only lasted for about three days. Amineptine is another drug that potently inhibits the reuptake of dopamine. I am very interested to know if anyone has tried both drugs, and how they reacted to each of them.
I am very angry and frustrated that amineptine has been bullied out of the world market. It was a first-line treatment in French psychiatry for twenty years with little question of its efficacy. It was at the top of my list of things to try until it was withdrawn just this past year. It seems to be the best antidepressant match for my illness profile – a retarded depression.
* Two spellings, “nomifensine” and “nomifensin” are used in medical literature, with the former being the more common.
- Scott
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Acta Psychiatr Scand 1991 Dec;84(6):552-4
Dopaminergic hypothesis for retarded depression: a symptom profile for predicting therapeutical responses.
Rampello L, Nicoletti G, Raffaele R
Institute of Neurology, University of Catania, Italy.
We assessed the therapeutical efficacy of various antidepressants (amineptine, minaprine and clomipramine) in patients affected by retarded depression. All patients exhibited symptoms of retardation, including hypokinesia, anergia, reduction of speech, increased salivation, hypersomnia, Parinaud's syndrome, reduced sexual activity, slowness, hypomimia, orthostatic hypotension, dysphagia and drowsiness. Antidepressant drugs were administered for a 6-week period in a randomized double-blind vs placebo design. The rank order of clinical effectiveness (amineptine much greater than minaprine greater than clomipramine greater than placebo) paralleled the specificity of antidepressants as dopaminomimetic agents. These results support the view that a reduced dopaminergic transmission contributes to the pathophysiology of retarded depression.
poster:Scott L. Schofield
thread:26793
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000312/msgs/27347.html