Posted by linkadge on November 23, 2007, at 19:25:46
In reply to Re: Amitriptyline, who's tried it and what's it deal?, posted by X-ray on November 22, 2007, at 21:34:46
Unlike many new antidepressants, the TCA's have a good history of being able to get people well.
A number of studies show that many people don't need TCA's for more than a year. Ie, depression resolves to the point where treatment is no longer necessary.
This is less often the case with SSRI's, where patients end up taking them for years, without really getting well.
A number of studies show that the TCA's are more effective for severe depression than the TCA's.
Sure, they're dirty, but thats part of what some believe makes them more effective than the SSRI's.
I found the TCA's much more effective than either SSRI's or venlafaxine. SSRI's and effexor did much less for problems like sleep, anxiety, appetite, motivation, or apathy. I felt like I had entered a different dimention. I just kept stopping the TCA's because every time I went on them, I just snapped out of the depression to the point where I thought it was all a figment of my imaginiation. I've never had that with a SSRI, ie I just felt blunted and drugged.
For me, TCA's feel much different from SSRI's or venlafaxine. They really gave a kick to some part of the brain registering the will to live.I am not saying they are without side effects. I found the side effects more tollerable than those of SSRI's.
If they could tweak the TCA molecule more to lesson cardiac side effects, maybe they'd have something.
The TCA's cannot be reduced to serotonin and noradrenaline reuptake inhibition. The TCA surmontil has no effects on monoamine uptake, but is as effective as other TCA's for depression. It also induces similar adaptive changes in dopamine, and opiate systems as the other TCA's.
I read a study which shows that chronic treatment with TCA's upregulats cannabanoid receptor functioning. This is a unique mechanism that has not been demonstrated with other antidepressants.
Linkadge
poster:linkadge
thread:796422
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20071115/msgs/796731.html