Posted by Questionmark on April 26, 2013, at 0:16:15
If you're short on time or feeling impatient, skip the detailed crap between the asterisks. In summary it basically just says memantine has been good for my depression and SA/SP but possibly bad for my OCD-type stuff.
I have been on memantine for about 4 weeks. Started at 5mg for a week, then 10, and now 15mg for about 2 wks.*******
All these emotional and psychological processes are complex -- far more than is justified by saying "depression" or "anxiety." But to be concise, I'll say that so far it has helped quite significantly with depression and certain depressive ways of thinking. It has also been subtly but tremendously helpful for anxiety, particularly SA and discomfort.
However, for the main "condition" or set of issues I take it for -- those falling under the umbrella of pathologically perfectionistic OCD/OCPD (e.g. extreme indecisiveness, uncontrollable and grossly excessive thoroughness in all tasks, time management problems, hyper-focus and extreme interest/curiosity in certain subjects to the point of devouring obscene quantities of time, etc.) -- it has been slightly helpful in some ways, but dreadfully detrimental in many other ways and possibly overall. The constant thinking about certain things, hyper-focus, and overpowering extreme excessive interest & curiosity in certain subjects (e.g., things relating to politics; psychology; philosophy; psychopharmacology) seems to have gotten much worse. (It's hard to say as it was already so bad when not depressed.) Also the perfectionistic and overly thorough behavior seems to have gotten even worse. But certain other things seem to have somewhat improved: negative ruminating over things I can't change, overly critical self-judgement. ... Dammit. Anyway...
*******
I am quite concerned about memantine's D2 agonist activity and the sort of side effects that may occur as a result of this, particularly in terms of cognitive and behavioral side effects, and even more especially in terms of its potential effects on obsessive-compulsive types of thinking and behavior. It would help too if I could determine its affinity for this receptor in comparison to the NMDA receptor, but I have not been able to find this.
... I have scoured the internet -- in both study abstracts and various discussion boards -- trying to find any input (opINions even) on the significance of memantine's D2 agonism, or even its affinity for it, yet have found almost nothing. I don't understand it.
So, if anyone could help me with any of these questions, I would GREATLY appreciate it.I mean, there's all this talk about memantine being potentially good for OCD or obsessive-compulsive type issues due to its effect on certain NMDA receptors, yet there is NO talk about its effect on the D2 receptor and its potential consequences! What is going on here?? Isn't D2 agonism often associated with a significant increase in obsessive thinking and compulsive behavior??
I'm also concerned about my D2 receptors being significantly downregulated while taking a medication that I'm not even USing for its D2 activity! .. Memantine is a fairly dirty drug in terms of pharmacological activity (tho pretty clean in its effects). Yet no one seems to talk about this.
Please help me sort all this out if possible.Oh, and finally, I am very concerned about potential effects on appetite and weight (as I'm sure many others would be, tho usu for opposite reasons). I cannot afford to lose any more weight or have a weaker appetite than I already do. Has anyone who has tried this noticed any differences in appetite or weight gain/loss? This is another concern I have w the D2 agonism, as I would guess this could cause a reduction in appetite.
Otherwise, however, the drug seems to be very benign in terms of side effects, at least up to 15mg/day. The only other things I would mention are that my insomnia seems to have been exacerbated pretty badly (even more so), and there might be a minor decrease in bowel motility.
Sorry for the long post, and thank you so much for any guidance.
poster:Questionmark
thread:1042670
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20130408/msgs/1042670.html