Posted by Danny on June 17, 2000, at 23:42:14
In reply to Anti-psychotic drugs for depression, posted by Cecilia on June 13, 2000, at 3:23:31
I did have some success with Risperidal for depression, but I have serious GI problems and something didn't work out there. My suggestion would be to start with low doses; some of these things can be sedating.
> Is there anyone out there who doesn`t respond to anti-depressants at all who has responded to anti-psychotics for depression? Some people seem to be having good results using them to "augment" but I`ve never had a response to augment. On John L.`s recommendation, I read Dr. Jensen`s book, and asked my pdoc about it, his opinion was that the the "quick trial" method made sense only for stimulants. In any case, I`ve had many quick trials (stopped because of intolerable side effects), and many more full length trials and I`ve never found anything that worked even a little bit. I`ve tried most antidepressants(16), including a MAOI (Nardil), I`ve tried mood stabilizers (lithium added to Zoloft, neurontin added to Celexa), I`ve tried a couple of stimulants (Ritalin, Dexedrine), I`ve tried thyroid augmentaion (definitely not pleasant if you don`t need extra thyroid), I`ve augmented a couple of AD`s with Buspar, I`ve tried SAM-e and St. John`s wort, I`ve tried combinations ((Welbutrin with Celexa, Nortriptyline with Zoloft). I haven`t tried an anti-psychotic and the potential side effects scare me. Like I said, my pdoc didn`t think the short trial idea made any sense for anything except stimulants, and he didn`t seem exactly optimistic about the idea of an antipsychotic doing anything for me, but I think he would let me try it if I want, it`s not as if anything he has suggested has helped. I guess I`ll probably ask to try Zyprexa, which Chris K. said was very helpful for intrusive negative thoughts. Believe me, I have plenty of those-overwhelming self-hate, reliving unpleasant memories etc. (Yes, I`ve had talk therapy, $40.000 wasted). Just curious if any one with depression has found Zyprexa or other atypical antipsychotic useful on it`s own.
poster:Danny
thread:37118
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000610/msgs/37671.html