Posted by Ron Hill on December 6, 2007, at 13:21:51
In reply to Re: My Deplin Trial Failed » Ron Hill, posted by clipper40 on December 5, 2007, at 0:40:02
Jan, Elanor R, C40, Star,
and All PB interested in Deplin;Hey, good news. During my week long depression, I thought my problem was Deplin. But, I kept taking my usual 15 mg/day. Duh!
Yesterday (12/05/07), for the first time, I cut my Deplin dosage down to 1/4 of a 7.5mg tablet (= 1.875 mg). This morning my depression is gone. I will not know for sure until the end of the day, but it would appear that my depressive episode is over.
I do not plan to throw the Deplin baby out with the wash. Instead, these results indicate to me that I was taking too much and I need to hunt around via trial-and-error to find my optimal dosage which remains sustainable over the long-term.
Was remission due to placebo? No way. I did not even remotely think that the one day reduction in Deplin dosage would terminate my depression.
Was the timing of my Deplin dose reduction and the time when I came out of depression merely coincidence? Nope. Whenever I'm about to cycle out of depression, I always start to feel some relief the evening before. However, yesterday I was depressed all day and all evening right up to bedtime.
So yippy, skippy; I'm good to go. I feel great; motivation and energy are good, mood is good, outlook on life is good, and etc. Now, I can get back to working on my projects just in the nick of time. Winter is coming and I do not have my outside work done for the year. Time to get hoppin'.
My wish is for all in PB-land to find wellness, and yet I know how difficult the path can be for those who cannot find relief. My heart goes out to each of you who find yourself in the unrelenting pain yet again today. We're all pulling for you, and cheering as you continue the fight to find wellness and simultaneously endure today's pain.
Jan, Elanor, Clipper, and Star; a special thanks to each of you. In the mist of my depression, your words brought a smile to my face, a warm feeling in my heart, and moisture to my eyes. Thanks for being there!
For all interested in Deplin, please look at this study (hopefully you can pull these links up without a password):
http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/full/84/1/156#F1
In particular, all I want us to look at is Figure 1 and Figure 2 from the above study:
http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content-nw/full/84/1/156/F1
http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content-nw/full/84/1/156/F2
It is not the point of this article, nor the point of these graphs. However, I observe that, for a constant dosage (0.416 mg/day) of [6S]-5-methyltetrahydrofolate, which is another name for L-methylfolate (i.e.; Deplin), the red blood cell folate concentration (Fig 1) and the plasma folate concentration (Fig 2) continue to increase over the 24 week period shown.
Put more simply, as I continue to take the same daily dosage of Deplin, the folate concentrations continually raise in my red blood cells and in my plasma.
So even though I kept my Deplin dosage constant, internal folate levels continued to increase over time. Could this be part of the reason I became depressed while continuing to take the same daily dosage (15 mg/day) that worked so well for me in the beginning of my Deplin trial?
And further, does this mean that all of us on Deplin should consider reducing our daily dosages as our time (i.e.; weeks) on the Deplin progresses? The one fly in the ointment in all this is that the graphs are not showing actually brain cell levels of folate. However, as I understand it, red blood cell folate concentrations are fairly well correlated with brain level concentrations.
What da-ya-think? Are my observations of the graphed data all wet?
As a final note, I do not, nor have I ever, anticipated Deplin would stop my rapid cycling. There are no research data to support it. Instead, my hope has always been that it would reduce the severity and perhaps the duration of my ultra rapid cycle depressive phases.
-- Ron
dx: Bipolar II, with ultra rapid cycling (15 days for one complete cycle), and mild Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder (OCPD)
600 mg/day Trileptal
200 mg/day Lamictal
875 mg/day Keppra
90 mg/day Nardil
1.9 mg/day Deplin
poster:Ron Hill
thread:784893
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20071204/msgs/799135.html