Posted by AndrewB on December 6, 2000, at 10:24:57
In reply to Re: Calling Dysthymics-My recent diagnosis-Help-Long , posted by JackD on December 5, 2000, at 22:03:49
Shar,
Good move on getting an opinion from another doctor. That doctor you described in your first post seemed to neither appreciate the terrible loss dysthymia imposes on one's life or the potential for treating it.
Indeed dysthymia is very treatable. In the book, "Dysthymia and the Spectrum of Chronic Depressions" it was said that 70% of dysthymics showed improvement on medication. Dr. Akiskal claimed even greater results.
As has been pointed out above, MOA-Is are the standard treatment for (treatment resistant) dysthymia), and are generally quite effective. Being somewhat 'dirty' drugs though, they can have troublesome side effects.
There are other options, with less potential for side effects, that one might want to try first. Many people have, for example, found releif of their dysthymia with a low dose antipsychotic like amisulpride combined with an arousal agent.
However in your case, your initial good response to Zoloft, the following poop out, and the presence of major depression seems to call for a protocol different than that for treating just dysthymia.
I have been researching lately the implications of poop out to drugs like Zoloft lately and effective responses to such events (such as dopaminergic or NMDA receptor interventions). I hope in the near future I will be able to respond to a question such as yours with more specific suggestions.
AndrewB
poster:AndrewB
thread:49856
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20001130/msgs/50052.html