Posted by SLS on April 25, 2009, at 18:43:42
In reply to Any new update on Rilutek / Riluzole?, posted by uncouth on April 25, 2009, at 17:40:46
> Took a gander through the archives, but was wondering if anyone has any new updates, treatment experiences, results positive/negative with RILUZOLE? Just got my trial box of 56 x 50mg tablets today. Taking 2x/day for my severe, treatment-resistant (possibly bipolar) major depression, that has so far been refractory to 150mg of Nortriptyline, 375mg of Effexor, and 19 sessions of ECT, 13 of which were bilateral.
>
> I need help otherwise i'm going to kill myself within the next few weeks, I fear.
I am glad that you are being so aggressive with your treatment. You are a survivor, and I hope that this attribute will get you through as many drug trials as is necessary to find an effective treatment.I guess you already know that my trial of riluzole was a failure. It didn't help. It didn't hurt.
Why did you become interested in riluzole? Did you have a positive response to lamotrigine?
While you are still on nortriptyline and Effexor, you might want to try adding Wellbutrin and lamotrigine before giving up on that route entirely. It would save a lot of time.
My bipolar depression is currently being treated with:
Parnate 80mg
nortriptyline 150mg
Lamictal 200mg
Abilify 20mg
memantine 20mgI added memantine this week to help me break through a response plateau. There is some work being done by the NIMH looking at bipolar disorder and antiglutamatergic drugs, including lamotrigine, riluzole and memantine. I'll post the results of my memantine trial in a few weeks. I plan on moving up to 40mg if necessary. For now, I am going to give 20mg three weeks before evaluating my response to it.
Try to remain optimistic. There are probably a great many treatments that you have yet to try. Each combination of drugs and dosages is a new trial on its own with the potential to hit the right targets. Perhaps you can list which drugs you have tried and what were the results. Any reaction at all - positive or negative - might provide a clue as to what to do next.
- Scott
poster:SLS
thread:892763
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20090416/msgs/892775.html