Posted by KrissyP on March 3, 2003, at 20:02:30
In reply to Re: Dopamine agonists » daizy, posted by medlib on March 3, 2003, at 18:15:32
okay. I don't get what you are saying here. please explain. In one sentence you say>"At high doses (300mg/day and up) it has a weak effect on dopamine", and in the next sentence you say this,"or quite high (where, supposedly, dopamine effects kick in)." a weak effect at high doses, but quite high where dopamine effects kick in? I do not get this. I am seriously interested in this as I take Effexor-XR and am wondering what this talk of Dopamine is all about. Please?
Anyone? LOL
Kristen:-)> Hi Daizy--
>
> Effexor is a weird drug--not an SSRI, but sort of a sequential TCA. At low dose levels E. affects serotonin reuptake. At mid-level doses it affects primarily norepinephrine-transmitting neurons, though it still retains significant serotonin action. At high doses (300mg/day and up) it has a weak effect on dopamine. Some docs feel that E.'s effect on dopamine is too small to be of clinical significance.
>
> From your reaction to E., I would guess that you're taking a mid-level dose (somewhere in the 150-275 range?) where the NE effect predominates. I haven't read the applications for E. as an anti-anxiety agent, but I would think that the recommended dose range would have to be quite low (where only serotonin is affected) or quite high (where, supposedly, dopamine effects kick in).
>
> Anxiety is not one of my multiple problems; but, if it were, and I was offered a choice between, say, Effexor and Klonopin for it, I wouldn't have to think for more than a few seconds before choosing Klonopin. Others on this board have posted some helpful links on SA; you might want to google the archives for them. Do let your pdoc know about your reaction to E.
>
> Hope you find something that works!---medlib, who's ridden musical meds merry-go-round too long.
poster:KrissyP
thread:205134
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030301/msgs/205638.html