Posted by g_g_g_unit on November 18, 2009, at 23:31:18
In reply to Re: calling all armchair psychs » g_g_g_unit, posted by conundrum on November 18, 2009, at 22:40:12
> Was there much of a time lapse between when you first took prozac and then Remeron? Its possible you are cognitively responding to the 5 HT2C antagonism of both drugs.
no, i think there was about a week's lapse. the problem is that my cognition was okay prior to the whole Remeron thing. i had never really sought to treat my OCD - i basically just lived on my nerves. i was a lot slower in certain areas - it took me forever to finish books, etc. but i don't feel like my higher thinking abilities were really compromised. the fogginess i experience now (a kind of full-brain sensation - blurry vision, cottonwool head, etc.) is exactly what i had after i came off Remeron. when i took Prozac, i remember everything 'clearing up'. other SSRI's made it worse. i don't think Remeron caused brain damage or anything drastic like that, but i just wondered if like too much stress is placed on the frontal cortex, it can shut down or something? Remeron just felt like the nail in the coffin i guess.
>A human being is a complex organism.
i know. i feel really naive for even trying to find a throughline in this whole mess. but it's not like any doctor i see has proven anymore useful. they just keep trying to treat the 'original disease' (i.e. OCD) which has never really worked out - stamping out the OCD always seems to come at the expense of something else (drive, motivation, etc.).
my head feels like a complete mess now - i still ruminate, but i also feel like i have full-blown ADD, so it's like my OCD thoughts never reach a full crescendo (which is good), but i also can't focus on anything productive to save my life. it's totally depersonalizing, because i can never really finish my thoughts or engage in anything that requires sustained thinking (i was working as a writer, so that's incredibly important). my parents wants me to see a neurologist, but i don't know how much more help they'll be?
i'm not necessarily looking at trying to rid myself completely of my problems, but i want to get to a point where i can go back to work. i would rather treat the executive dysfunction over the OCD now.
like i say, low dose Memantine (where it's primarily a D2 agonist i think?) worked well, but was almost *too much* clarity. so i'm wondering if a little D2 agonism might be useful without pushing it too far... i also wonder if i can really get away without using an SSRI ..
so maybe low-dose Geodon, which i know psychobot is using with some success?
low-dose prozac (5mg?), where at least there's a little SRI action. is this working out okay for you conundrum? also, do you find low-dose buspar at all useful for cognition?
memantine + stimulant - though aside from the difficult of getting this prescribed, i wonder if it might just turn me into a logic-driven robot.
i also have some SAM-e which i might try experimenting with.
poster:g_g_g_unit
thread:924919
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/neuro/20091104/msgs/926199.html