Posted by Ron Hill on April 8, 2002, at 17:29:28
In reply to Ron Hill and Colin Wallace, posted by johnj on April 7, 2002, at 21:28:38
>I have started and stopped running about 3 times due to the same occurence. Doctors don't see any correlation between the aerobic workout and the meds. I DO feel a direct relation.
I disliked AD's for a number of reasons, one of which was the lack of consistency. It seemed that I was forever "chasing a dose". In other words, changes in the environmental influences of my life (e.g. increase in stress, increase in work out intensity, etc.) would get my meds totally out of whack.
>I would like to try sam-e and see what it does, but don't know much about it. I would like to find something to help me sleep and then maybe the sam-e along with other vitamins or a small dose of another AD might allow me to run again.
SAM-e works great for me, but it may or may not be right for you. I hope it works for you because it is much smoother and gentler than AD's. Here are my recommendations:
1) Read all you can about SAM-e. See links in my prior post to you in an above thread to get started.
2) Talk to your pdoc if you decide to conduct a SAM-e trial. Take key SAM-e documents with you to show pdoc.
Please feel free to ask me further questions if I can help you.
Before I started taking meds, I unknowingly self-medicated with exercise. I'm BP II, but was initially mis-dx'ed as ADHD and put on Ritalin. Paxil was added a couple months latter to try to control the irritable mood swings brought on by the Ritalin. This med combo pushed me into full blown mania and then eventually dumped me into a depression pit too deep to climb out of. I mention all this in order to explain how exercise interacted with these meds.
Given that I had always worked out, I continued to do so when given Ritalin. Low doses of Ritalin initially caused a mild euphoria. Exercise elevated this euphoric effect during the training, and also worsened the insomnia (which made it difficult for me to function well at work). When Paxil was added, exercise greatly amplified the serotogenic effects during the training session and the insomnia continued to be a problem. For example, I was able to stay at work totally focused and on task for 36 hours straight, but then I would need to sleep for two days. Needless to say, this schedule did not go over real well at work. Therefore, in an attempt to solve the insomnia (and save my job), I quit working out. But by this time I was manic. The irony is that once the Ritalin/Paxil med combo quit working and dropped me into depression, I had allowed my self-medication tool to become so rusty that I could not use it to lift me up as I always had done prior to taking meds. The point I'm trying to make with this rant is that, like you, I found that exercise greatly influences the effects of medication.
Colin trains for, and competes in, triathlons while taking a low doses of Zoloft (12.5 mg/day) and SAM-e (200 mg/day), so his input may be of value to you. Please don't quote me on Colin's med doses. He will be back to this board in a week subsequent to completing his sentence in e-jail (hope he has access to w/o equipment in jail so he can continue his training schedule).
poster:Ron Hill
thread:102320
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020408/msgs/102410.html