Posted by ed_uk on December 22, 2004, at 17:18:57
Hi!
Have you had success with a calcium channel blocker for your bipolar? ... or did you try it and it didn't make any difference?
Calcium Channel Blockers are also called Calcium Antagonists. Examples include..... amlodipine, verapamil, felodipine, nimodipine, lercanidipine, lacidipine, diltiazem, nicardipine, isradipine, nifedipine etc. Verapamil has been studied in mania, its effectiveness is controversial.
Nimodipine may also be useful in bipolar disorder, especially for rapid-cycling................
Psychiatry Res. 1993 Dec;49(3):257-72.
Preliminary controlled trial of nimodipine in ultra-rapid cycling affective dysregulation.
Pazzaglia PJ, Post RM, Ketter TA, George MS, Marangell LB.
Biological Psychiatry Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892.
We report the initial results of the first controlled double-blind trial of nimodipine, a calcium channel antagonist, in the acute and prophylactic treatment of patients with treatment-refractory affective dysregulation. Active drug nimodipine (A) was substituted for placebo (B) in 12 patients. Patients were studied in a B-A-B design, with 3 of the 12 patients rechallenged with active drug in a B-A-B-A design (patients 9, 10, and 11). Five of the nine patients who completed the drug trial responded. One of three patients suffering from ultra-ultra-rapid (ultradian) cycling bipolar II disorder (patient 6) showed an essentially complete response; the other two ultradian patients (patients 4 and 9) showed evidence of a partial response on manic and depressive oscillations, one of which was confirmed in a B-A-B-A design. Only one of five less rapidly, but continuously cycling patients showed an excellent response (patient 10), and this was confirmed in a B-A-B-A design. The one patient who had recurrent brief depression (patient 11) showed a complete resolution of severe depressive recurrences, with response re-confirmed in an extended prophylactic trial with a B-A-B-A design. In the eight patients who completed self-ratings, nimodipine was associated with a significant reduction in the magnitude of mood fluctuations compared with the baseline placebo condition. Further clinical study of nimodipine, a calcium channel blocker with a unique profile of behavioral and anticonvulsant properties, appears warranted in patients with treatment-refractory affective illness characterized by recurrent brief depression and ultradian cycling.
poster:ed_uk
thread:433001
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20041217/msgs/433001.html