Posted by linkadge on July 1, 2021, at 16:21:38
As you know, my mother (labelled as bipolar) has been depressed for over a year. She's on 1000mg of depakote, 3mg of breziprazole and 150mg of lyrica.
Basically, none of these are really doing anything to lift her depression. She lies around most of the day waiting for her next pill. She complains a lot of anxiety. She is convinced she is not depressed and doesn't want to take mood antidepressants although she is open to some 'supplements'. She is 72 years old, but there seems like some early onset dementia as well.
Today, I gave her a very small dose of PEA. Believe it or not, this made a notable difference for her. She became a bit more talkative, and wanted to go for a walk. After this she did a bit of gardening. It lasted about 2 hours and then she returned to baseline. I retested it a bit later and noticed a similar improvement.
I believe that her depression is dopaminergic. She is completely anhedonic and has a bit of a tremor (although the antispychotics could be causing this).
I tried this as a 'proof of concept'. In theory, with her 'anxiety' she shouldn't be taking anything stimulating. However, I strongly believe the anxiety is a manifestation of her profound anhedonia. She said her anxiety went down after taking it.
Of course, I have no idea what the next steps are... or whether it is even worth approaching her psychiatrist with this information.
Linkadge
poster:linkadge
thread:1115713
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20210418/msgs/1115713.html