6.17.2008

anti-depressant history.

People speak of Prozac as being the dawn of anti-depressants, or if not that, the first anti-depressant that really worked, but in reality anti-depressants have been around since before the fifties, even Benedril was shown to have anti-depressant properties.
The most effective medicine in curing depression to date, Imipramine, was invented in the fifties. Imipramine is often used as the 'Gold Standard' against which other anti-depressants are measured against. It is rarely still prescribed today, except when other more modern medicines fail.
Where Prozac stands out is it was the first of its class of drug SSRI, which, while perhaps less effective, also has far less side effects, and isn't as easy to intentionally kill oneself by overdose.

I find this sort of information fascinating, and am sometimes surprised when reading books and articles how few people,, even sometimes doctors seem to be aware of this. It is interesting how something seem to become forgotten by the general culture.

2 comments:

carie said...

this is wierd. I just researched Benadril online the other day and learned these very same things. I haven't been sleeping very well, so decided to buy some Benadril. I took two last night and it made me have some crappy, scary dreams (or maybe it was because I had just watched No Country For Old Men.) It also made me really groggy. Maybe I should try some Ambien, but then I will unknowingly eat cereal in the middle of the night and spill milk all over the keyboard...

Chris Almond said...

Benadril, man, I've had some bad encounters with that. Remember when I overdosed on sleeping pills? The pills were actually Benadril, in your research you probably learned Benadril is marketed under many different names for many different uses.
So anyway, I took 60 Benedril, and was taken to the ER, had my stomach pumped was moved into the intensive care unit etc,. But my point in mentioning this is that nothing I have ever tried, Lsd, Shrooms, Etc, has even come close to having as powerful of hallucinations as Benedril. With those other drugs, you may see and think strange things, but you realize it isn't real. Only Benedril caused hallucinations I thought were real. I didn't even question their reality. Yet it was 100% negative. Nurses and doctors looked like demons. I hallucinated A judge sentenced me to life in Jail for my suicide attempt. I thought the hospital staff was torturing me and yelling at me. And, this is actually funny, before anyone in my family had been contacted, I had been hallucinating that Amy's husband Adam was already there for some reason.

Also, I once was given a medication that induced in me such an unbearable sense of agitation I was literally couldn't stop running back and forth in the house(This is known as akithesia). Jumping up and down. A friend drove me home in her car, where rolled upside down, my feet to the ceiling, constantly till I got out. I eventually persuaded my mom it was so bad I needed to go to the ER. you know what they gave me? You guessed it, AIDS. Well, actually HIV, the virus may cause Magic Johnson to AIDS.
I joke, they gave me Benedril. In an IV. I felt it burn from the vein in my wrist to my heart, but it instantly calmed the intense restlessness. I had to keep taking B pills for a week till the akithesia inducing medicine was out of my body. However, despite the benedril helping immensely, I was pretty paranoid the whole time on it. And I had to take enough I hallucinated mildly.

Two unnecessarily long anecdotes. The point being, Benedril can have some terrible side effects. I wouldn't recommend it for sleep. Nor would I recommend Ambien. It is very addictive, and its COMMON, for people to do weird stuff after they take it and have no memory. Melissa took it briefly and called me almost every night telling me embarrassing things she had no recollection of the next day.
I also wouldn't recommend Lunesta. Its less addictive, but has the same black out effects.
I like Trazadone a lot. It not only helps one sleep well while having zero abuse potential, it acts as an anti depressant and anti anxiety drug leaving one feeling calm and relaxed the next day.
Rozerem is another one I like. I've only tried it twice. But it also has no abuse/addiction potential, yet is extremely effective and causes fun thoughts while drifting and fun dreams while sleeping.
Man oh man, this has just been recognized by the Guiness book of world records as the longest, blogger comment response ever. Why am I so chatty? One word, Chatty. Also, Primatene. A medicine, containing ephedra supposed to open my lungs up for easier breathing, which it does seem to be doing, but more than anything is making me feel so amped wide awake going to 'Just Do It' a thousand times with my thoughts racing at 40 mph(joke. what would be a good way to measure the 'speed' of one's thoughts? I think with lazer pen, shown directly into the pupil)