Posted by Uncouth on December 7, 2011, at 8:44:27
In reply to Re: Venlafaxine and opioid receptors? » Phidippus, posted by SLS on December 5, 2011, at 7:42:28
Scott have you ever thought about low dose naltrexone? If your looking at opioid system it would absolutely be worth a trial, I felt immediate and distinct results different than other antidepressant responses....and it definitely helped me to get I to a intense daily exercise regime.
Honestly I agree I think it's time to make some bigger changes if your still ill. I am also bipolar 2, and as my posts on this board over past few years show, been at times severely suicidally chronically depressed. But over the last six months I ha slowly started to come out of it. I am on the following very nontraditional meds and doses which have been effective where other meds were not:
Bupropion 600mg
Pramipexole 1mg
Naltrexone 3mg at night
Vyvanse 60mg
Acamprosate 2000mg (for OCD- ish symptoms but also for depression and stability I think....fairly low risk and helps glutamate over excitability)
Saphris 10mg
Cerefolin nac
TestosteroneAnd making it even more nonstandard with trying to switch fro. Saphris to trimipramine because of sleep issues. Saphris was far more effective than ability ever was, fwiw.
Importantly, I think that the addition of dhea 3 months ago was the kicker that got things started moving and also improved my exercise endurance and motivation. Other supps which I think are very important and I believe are impactful are rhodiola (definitely), omega3, lithium orotate (and I think orotic acid is important as a source of uridine itself which may be v important for bipolar), coq10, ALA, tryptophan and dl-phenylalanine. I am on a lot of stuff but believe it or not it is a significant reduction from 6 mos ago and I am closer to remission than I have been in ages cross fingers.
If I had to make some recommendations I would say to try 50mg DHEA bid for 6 weeks, consider LDN if you believe opioids are an issue, and see if both of those improve exercise motivation and endurance, your goal should be no less than 45 minutes of intense cardio 6 days a week, eventually.
If your serious, get serious and dump sh*t that's not obviously getting you to remission, I would say don't be afraid of dumping something because you feel you are getting partial benefits....it's clear your not anywhere near remission and that should be primary goal.
Have you looked into low dose buprenorphine or getting into a ketamine trial? Also look into tDCS, I have done it in the past with my CESta device and now do it a few days a month though I'm not sure it helps. Also have been doing neurofeedback for the past year and it's nice to have someone look at your EEG and actually say yeah something is wrong here that we can target,
Anyway let me know if you have any questions.
What about very high dose lamotrigine or rilutek? Clozapine? Oleptro? Remeron? Weight should be less important than remission at this point. Have you tried symbyax? Lots of things to try so dont waste time.
poster:Uncouth
thread:1004056
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20111120/msgs/1004362.html