Science a GoGo's Home Page Forums General Discussion General Science Discussion Forum Antidepressants don't help bipolar depression

"The swings in mood from depression to mania that afflict people with bipolar disorder can be tempered with drugs such as lithium, but adding an antidepressant drug to ease the depression component is not helpful, new research suggests.

Depressive episodes are the main cause of disability for people with bipolar disorder, formerly known as manic depression, according to the report in The New England Journal of Medicine."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070426/hl_nm/bipolar_depression_dc_1

Perhaps this is good news for some sufferers of Bipolar Disorder?

That proves what a difficult area of research this is. The same was being said decades ago. In the 1970s and 80s, as soon as "manic-depression" was firmly diagnosed it was usually treated with lithium carbonate. Although the level of lithium in the blood has to be checked frequently (to ensure maintenance of the therapeutic dosage) the results are generally very good - in fact quite exceptional for a psychotropic medicine.

More and more, it seems like the term antidepressantis a misnomer for this class of drugs. This morning I heard that they're now extending the age range where suicidal thoughts are a nasty little side effect, up thru young adulthood (18-24).

It amazes me what the governments allow people to take, and what they don't allow people to take for physical and mental ailments. It seems utterly capricious.

Lithium levels have to be monitored frequently to ensure the patient is not getting a dose that is toxic. Lithium is one drug that has a narrow gap between effective dose and toxicity. I know, I took Lithium for twenty years. It's very effective at controlling bipolar disorder, but the effects of long term Lithium therapy are not benign, which is why I'm no longer taking it. The medication I'm on now doesn't control the mood swings as well, but it is easier on the kidneys.

Lithium, ethanol, and cannibus; the only three drugs that are Nitrogen-free. Coincidence? I think not!

~SA

p.s.
... and thank goodness for the manicness. Where would we be without it?

Haven't tried lithium. Rose. Thanks for mentioning your history of bipolar medication. It brought out unusual emotions. I know virtually nothing about the condition although I knew a woman who had the same problem. She used to claim the cure was worse than the original problem. Hope you are coping well.

re: my comment about "the only three drugs that are..."
I certainly don't mean to equate the three, or more specifically, not trying to equate Lithium with the other two.

The main point is that most drugs have Nitrogen in them; and usually as a part of the active site! Lithium, as an element, is really in a class by itself; and of course it doesn't have Nitrogen "in" it. It probably would be more accurately described not as a drug, but as a trace nutrient (that some people need more than others: -genetics, etc.).

Speaking of pharmaceuticals, is anyone familiar with some of the genomic related work where they're creating thousands of different conformations of a 4 to 8 atom molecule against the neat little gene chips/gene well things? They're looking for some reaction of course, that can then be turned into something therapeutic. It's kinda like learning by studying the effects of knockout genes.

Terry! It's like I have a twin
re: "...used to know...."

I'm caught up on sleep now.
Later....
~SAM

Hullo, Terry.
I am managing pretty well. I am on some medications that help smooth out the ups and downs, though not as cleanly as Lithium. With Lithium, I was really in control. It's interesting that the medications I'm on now, Prozac and Zyprexa, have similar effects to Lithium, but not the same. Still, it evens things out so I'm not climbing the walls and scraping along the basement of Hell in turns. I still have mood swings, but they aren't as bad as with no medication, and I can manage the extremes, so I don't go out and shop when I'm high or think about death when I am low. That's a plus. Also, it controls the fine tremors I used to have before I started taking Lithium, which also stopped the tremors. I hate to think what my life would be like without the treatment. I have a pretty good idea, actually; I worked as a nurse's aide on a psych ward for a couple of nights. Not a pretty sight.

That's fairly good to hear Rose.

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