Posted by JohnX2 on March 27, 2002, at 2:58:26
In reply to Re: Lithium the stimulant! JohnX2, posted by Bekka H. on March 27, 2002, at 2:24:06
Hi Bekka,Dexedrine (d-amphetamine) is selective for the dopamine receptor site. There used to be a cheaper form of speed called dl-amphetamine that was non-selective and would go after both norepinephrine and dopamine. The norepinephrine would cause mostly agitation. Adderall actually contains some of the l-amphetamine and can be more agitating.
Wellbutrin acts on the noradrenergric system, and it takes some time to desensitize feedback receptors that cause it to slow down nerve impulses in a stress area of the brain. I never felt stress on WB. It seems that this desensitization process ?may never? really occur for some people. I also read an article recently implicating that Wellbutrin may substantially indirectly increase serotonin conductance in a manner that may be somewhat consistent with Provigil (this is a swag today on my behalf...). Have you ever taken Provigil? This could also cause anxiety as it would bang on the anxiogenic 5-ht2 receptors. It may be interesting to see if people anxious on wellbutrin would be helped by a medicine like Zyprexa that blocks these serotonin receptors (wild ass guess on my behalf..).
I've taken Provigil, and it also did not irritate me. Provigil does make some people quite anxious.
Regards,
John
> Hi John,
>
> Yes, that explains it. That's interesting. I found Wellbutrin to be much more of an irritant/stimulant for me than Dexedrine. Dexedrine calms me down, but on Wellbutrin I was "hyper." I also had a lot of cardiovascular side effects from Wellbutrin, such as significant blood pressure elevations, sustained palpitations, etc., which I do not get on Dexedrine. Wellbutrin also caused severe insomnia. I have never understood why I do so much better on a real amphetamine. A former pdoc of mine said that, until Wellbutrin downregulates the receptors, it functions as "cheap speed." Well, that's a good description, except that, for me, it never stopped functioning as cheap speed, even after I had been on it long enough and at a high enough dosage to cause receptor downregulation.
>
> Bekka
poster:JohnX2
thread:100434
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020322/msgs/100506.html