Posted by jrbecker on October 10, 2002, at 19:36:07
In reply to Atypical Depression - any new treatments?, posted by patc on October 10, 2002, at 17:24:13
I know, I just found that out as well about gepirone. I recently wrapped up participating in a gepirone study at Columbia in NYC, and after talking to the docs just last week, they thought it was on track for release in early to mid '03. Too bad. Other 5HT1a agonists are on the way though, although probably not til '04 or '05. We can be hopeful though, since there are a lot of pharmacological treatment avenues coming out soon. See link (a UK site from '99, but it pertains to current FDA approval process)…
http://www.abpi.org.uk/publications/publication_details/targetDepression/section6.asp
As for available treatments, I have had some success from Lamictal, helping with cravings, irritability, social avoidance, motivation, and a small effect for hypersomnia (does cause some daytime sleepiness though).
My least disliked of the SSRIs was Celexa, and of the atypicals, it was Effexor. Might use a NARI as an adjunct (reboxetine; tomexetine [early '03 release]. But don't discount the MAOIs as an option (e.g., desipramine, nardil, parnate) though. Side effects aside, they have a great track for our depressive type and it still might be a best-fit for some of us.
I will let you know if I can find out more from the researchers at Columbia about gepirone.
J
poster:jrbecker
thread:123105
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20021006/msgs/123117.html