Posted by SLS on March 10, 2012, at 6:51:23
In reply to any namenda/memantine experiences?, posted by g_g_g_unit on March 10, 2012, at 5:42:11
> I'm trying to find something that can help with focus and reading comprehension. Stimulants have been hit-and-miss in that regard. I've read at least one study where Memantine dramatically improved cognition in a couple of depressed patients and was just wondering if anyone (depressed or otherwise) noticed any benefits.
I tried memantine while taking Parnate, nortriptyline, Abilify, and Lamictal. I found it to be a very tolerable drug. I don't recall having any side effects. I really can't judge its effectiveness because I stopped taking it when I began to feel worse. It turned out that my deterioration was due to my taking an inferior generic version of Lamictal. I never went back to retry memantine subsequently. A recent study reported that memantine was NOT effective in augmenting Lamictal in bipolar disorder, despite some people initially experiencing a transient, mild improvement. Overall, clinical trials of memantine for treating depression have been equivocal.
I think memantine is worth a try in combination with antidepressants or stimulants. It is a benign drug, albeit somewhat weak. It is much weaker than ketamine at the NMDA glutamate receptor. I wish I could be more definitive in relating to you my personal experience with memantine, but I did not take it for more than a few weeks. I felt as though my thoughts were clearer and had more mental energy. However, these were not robust effects. I am reluctant to generalize my experience with memantine to others. All I can say is that memantine produced a small, perceptible improvement in depression, particularly with mental energy and cognition.
All in all, I have nothing that I can guarantee you. I can't guarantee you that memantine will work. I can't guarantee you that memantine won't work. However, I would just comment that memantine has a favorable side-effect profile.
I'm sorry that I couldn't be more helpful. However, I would not be very optimistic that memantine will help as monotherapy to treat depression.
http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/article.aspx?Volume=163&page=153&journalID=13
"This study failed to show that memantine, a low-to-moderate-affinity noncompetitive NMDA antagonist, has antidepressant effects in patients with major depression"
"Despite these negative results, it remains possible that more potent NMDA blockade may have utility in the treatment of depression for some patients. Memantine, in contrast to ketamine, has lower affinity for the NMDA receptor, has much faster open-channel blocking/unblocking kinetics, and exhibits a different type of channel closure (i.e., "partial trapping" as opposed to "trapping block" properties) (6). Such differences might explain the lack of antidepressant properties observed with memantine in the present trial."
- ScottSome see things as they are and ask why.
I dream of things that never were and ask why not.- George Bernard Shaw
poster:SLS
thread:1012702
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20120302/msgs/1012706.html