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Amantadine for bipolar depression? It is a dopamine agonist.

Hi,
15 years ago, I took amantadine for a few years when I was given an unofficial dx of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. I don't remember whether it worked or what side effects I had. After a few years, the pdoc who was treating me for CFS and Bipolar discontinued it.
I wonder if amantadine would help now. The traditional anti-depressants are causing side effects.
I also wonder if my current pdoc/neuro would be willing to prescribe it for me.

M.

Here is an abstract about Amantadine for depression.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12598820

Int Clin Psychopharmacol. 2003 Mar;18(2):93-6.
Amantadine as augmentation therapy in the management of treatment-resistant depression.

Quote:

Treatment-resistant depression is an important clinical problem presenting a major challenge to clinical psychiatry. While several strategies have been attempted, including medication switch, antidepressant polypharmacy and various augmentative regimens, success remains limited. Amantadine (AMN), an agent traditionally used in the treatment and prophylaxis of influenza, is now known to exhibit prominent effects at the level of dopaminergic, monoamine oxidase and N-methyl-D-aspartate systems. The present reports on the efficacy of AMN as augmentation to standard antidepressant treatment in patients with treatment-resistant depression. Eight patients with treatment-resistant depression consented to receive AMN, titrated up to a dose of 300 mg, over a period of 4 weeks in a non-blinded fashion. Improvement in both depression and anxiety scores were observed from week 1, with patients exhibiting improvement of depressive scores of up to 49% by study completion.

Females appeared to exhibit a stronger response, and within a shorter period of time. Side-effects reported included dry mouth and sedation. AMN appears to demonstrate efficacy as a safe and effective augmentative agent in treatment-resistant depression. Further studies are clearly mandated to test these preliminary observations in a double-blinded manner.

Good questions and certainly worth talking to your current pdoc about your past experience and whether it might be useful for you now.

btw... have you ever been tested for Borna (Borna Disease Virus / BDV)?

(((hugs)))

~ waves ~

WOW, Waves,

That is very interesting.

I need to send for records / results from the three docs the internist had me see in the fall and then make an appt with her soon.
M.

Amantadine in depressive patients with Borna disease virus (BDV) infection: an open trial
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/1...3B4A7D0.d03t03

Quote:

Keywords:
affective disorders;amantadine;bipolar disorder;Borna disease virus (BDV);major depression;treatment response

Objective: Originally introduced into pharmacotherapy as an antiviral compound, amantadine was shown to also have multiple pharmacological effects on the central nervous system. In addition, only a few studies reported on certain antidepressive properties of amantadine. This effect was highlighted by the discovery of its antiviral effect on Borna disease virus (BDV), which is hypothesized to be an etiopathogenetic factor to subtypes of affective disorders. Therefore, the therapeutical use of amantadine in BDV-infected depressive patients was investigated. Methods: In this open trial, amantadine was added to antidepressive and/or mood-stabilizing compounds treating BDV-infected depressed patients (n=25) with bipolar or major depressive disorders. Amantadine was given twice a day (100–300 mg/day) for a mean of 11 weeks. Antidepressive treatment response was measured on the Hamilton rating scale for depression (HAM-D) and/or with an operationalized diagnostic criteria system (OPCRIT; version 3.31). Virological response was measured by expression of BDV infection parameters in blood samples. Results: The overall response rate of the amantadine augmentation in the BDV-infected patients with regard to depressive symptoms was 68% after a mean of 2.9 weeks of treatment.

Bipolar I patients improved faster and did not show any following hypomania. In addition, the decrease of depression tended to correspond with the decrease in viral activity.

Conclusion: Amantadine appears to show a remarkable antidepressive efficacy in BDV-infected depressive patients. The antidepressive effect in this open trial appeared to be comparable to standard antidepressives, possibly being a result of its antiviral effect against BDV as a potentially relevant etiopathogenetic factor in these disorders.

Yeah i ran into similar stuff... but so far have not found anything double-blind crossover controlled trials and nothing recent... most recent 2003, mentions need for these... :o

be nice to see an investigation as to whether it has primary antidepressive qualities independently of its action on BDV infection which.

anyway whatever, if your pdoc is on board, can't hurt (too much) to try i figure, 'specially if it worked before.

~ waves ~

Quote:

Originally Posted by OhKay (Post 765398)

Very interesting...

Yes. I wonder what my internist will say when I see her in a few weeks.

M.