Posted by SLS on January 23, 2001, at 22:00:25
In reply to Am near the end of my rope!, posted by shelby on January 23, 2001, at 21:40:09
> I am going to my psych. doctor on Monday and wanted to post this question in the hopes I will get some answers - hopefully.
>
> My question is - is there another tricyclic that is similar to elavil in no problems with sleeping but that gets my away from the carbohydrate cravings. As I go up in dose (winter time) so too, do my cravings.
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> I have been on anti-depressents for 10 years approx. I started out and am currently on elavil. Over the years, I have tried to get off meds but crash within a week. I have also tried the SSRI's (Effexor, Paxil, Prozac, Serzone, Desyrel, Zoloft, Wellbutrin) with no great results (insomnia, agitation, aggressiveness, felt like a wall was around me). I have started at low doses and slowly working my way up. I have also given these drugs a good amount of time (6-8 weeks give or take a week). I have also tried St. John's Wort and trytophin. They did not work for depression either.
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> It seems like the older tricyclics work for me due to their "dirty blanket" abilities (not just targeting seretonin, norepinephrine or dopamine).
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> I have tried doxepin (even worse carbo cravings!), trimipramine, ludiomil (really scary side effect - felt like I was going to have a seizure). These three were taken along with elavil so the side effect profile would be exacerbated (sp?). I have also tried imipramine by itself years ago but had night sweats, bad dreams and insomnia.
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> I need a calming anti-depressent. Is there such a one that is similar to elavil? Sorry for the long post. I have read the archives also trying to find info that would pertain to me.
>
> ThanksDear Shelby,
If you want to stick with tricyclics, you can try either desipramine or nortriptyline. Nortriptyline is the daughter molecule of Elavil, but has less of the H1 receptor effects known to produce increased appetite and weight gain. In my experience, desipramine actually helps reduce my appetite. Both of these drugs seem to fit the bill. If one does not work as well as you like, you can switch over to the other one. There seems to be a trend for people to respond better to one and not the other and vise versa. I am not sure if there is any merit to this idea, but if imipramine worked better than Elavil, try desipramine first. Desipramine is the daughter drug of imipramine. If the Elavil worked better than the imipramine, try the nortriptyline first. Again, I have no statistical information to support this notion.
Either of these drugs should have a calming effect if you are responding well to them as antidepressants. They are not as sedating, but can be calming as your depression remits and the anxiety along with it. You might feel a bit stimulated early on, perhaps with a temporary increase in anxiety, but it may be worth riding out this brief phase early in treatment.
Good luck. Tell me what you come up with.
- Scott
poster:SLS
thread:52366
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010122/msgs/52367.html