Posted by Blue Cheer 1 on February 6, 2002, at 23:07:00
I've been using Aricept, an anticholinesterase inhibitor for Alzheimer's Disease (10 mg/day), as a mood stabilizer and cognitive enhancer since May, 2000. I've used it in combination with other mood stabilizers (e.g., Lamictal, lithium, and Trileptal), ADs and Valium. I really can't determine what effect, if any, it's had on my mood or cognition, but I continue using it mainly as prophylaxis for cognitive adverse effects of psychotropic drugs and age-related conditions.
It's been studied lately for the treatment of tardive dyskinesia, panic disorder, performance anxiety or "stage fright" (given on a prn basis), personality disorder, and for augmentation of neuroleptics in schizophrenia, but its primary use in psychiatry has been for pharmacotherapy-related cognitive impairment.
It's used for bupropion-associated memory dysfunction and anticholinergic side effects such as constipation and dry mouth. It can improve depression and possibly augment ADs, induce mania in some people (within hours), and act as a stabilizer in others.
Recommended starting dose is 2.5 to 5 mg. in the morning -- raising it to 5 mg to 10 mg in two weeks. No tolerance has been seen, and it probably has a broader therapeutic spectrum than it was approved for (e.g., cognitive enhancement in persons without dementia or medication-related cognitive impairment).
Blue
poster:Blue Cheer 1
thread:93141
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020131/msgs/93141.html