Posted by King Vultan on June 8, 2004, at 12:29:48
In reply to how is wellbutrin an AD, and Ritalin not, posted by linkadge on June 8, 2004, at 10:07:27
> I was just wondering what distinguises wellbutrin from ritalin as an antidepressant.
>
> Don't they work similarly?? What makes wellbutrin special in that it can be classified as an antidepressant??
>
> Linkadge
Ritalin is classified as a Schedule II stimulant because of its abuse/tolerance potential, while Wellbutrin lacks the stimulatory effects of Ritalin and is classified as an antidepressant. In general, stimulating drugs that are problematic enough to be classified as controlled substances (amphetamines, Provigil, etc.) are considered to be stimulants rather than antidepressants.While both Wellbutrin and Ritalin act on dopamine (and norepinephrine), the critical difference is in the manner that they increase dopaminergic transmission. My doctor said that you can think of stimulants more or less as hammers in releasing dopamine (with the analogy taken to its extreme, cocaine would be a sledgehammer), while Wellbutrin is much milder, as if the dopaminergic pleasure centers of the brain were being gently brushed or caressed.
Wellbutrin is kind of a fluke antidepressant, as it is a dopaminergic drug with a pharmacology that winds up giving it antidepressant abilities without the typical tolerance and abuse problems of the stimulants. The only other dopaminergic antidepressant--that's available in the US, anyway--is the MAOI Parnate. While much less powerful than than the amphetamines and Ritalin, this drug does have some real stimulant character to it; although, it's apparently not enough to warrant classification as a controlled substance. Therefore, it is still considered an antidepressant.
Todd
poster:King Vultan
thread:354773
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040608/msgs/354806.html