Posted by Tony P on January 3, 2012, at 23:15:52
In reply to Dopamine Fixes for Effexor, posted by never2late on January 2, 2012, at 2:26:16
I have experienced both emotional blunting & anhedonia on various ADs, and the opposite: Serzone in particular freed me up to feel some feelings I'd buried for years.
Based on my own experience, I would agree that increasing your Adderal once you are stabilized on the Effexor might help; other stimulants such as methylphenidate or DexA would have basically the same effect.
I take Modafinil (100-200 mg/day) and find it very helpful mentally, emotionally & behaviourally (if that's a word???), with less jitteriness than the amphetamine family and absolutely no insomnia problems. It is also very helpful in getting over depression-induced "jet-lag", both from insomnia and hypersomnia, including resetting your biological clock. It gives me increased mental clarity and motivation. Unfortunately, it is mainly prescribed "on label" for narcolepsy, so it isn't covered by many drug plans. It is much safer & has lower side-effects than the amphetamine family (including Adderal), so I don't know why it's not much more widely prescribed.
If after a sufficiently long trial of Effexor you find it's not meeting your needs, ask your pdoc about Cymbalta. It has a had a somewhat negative press (or perhaps less effective marketing) compared to Effexor, but I find it both more effective and with far less side-effects (YMMV). The manufacturer claims it is a better-balanced SNRI than Effexor, and my experience bears this out, but it seems to be a very personal thing.
poster:Tony P
thread:1006132
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20111226/msgs/1006275.html