Is Anybody Being Prescribed Scopolamine For Depression (Page 2) (Top voted first)

is anyone being prescribed scopolamine off-label for depression? the NIMH is doing clinical trials for same and apparently it works, however my p-doc won't prescribe it for me.

REPLY

REPORT

Why would anyone use scopolamine for depression? It's a very old drug that was used for many years during labor and delivery. Why? Because it's an amnesic drug that prevents the brain from recording memory so the mother's don't remember the pain. It caused women in labor to act so "wild" the use of scopolamine was discontinued and rightly so. I hope anyone looking to use this drug for depression will wait a very long time until a lot more research is done.

REPLY

Was this helpful? 1

david you are 100 percent correct... I have been using scopolamine made at a compound pharmacy for 7 years it is a miracle for me. Others should really do their research!

REPLY

Was this helpful? 1

I have tried my first patch. I am taking wellbutrin XL as well as B12 and magnesium and I am almost all the way off of Effexor XR - which i weaned off by opening the capsule and dumping bit by bit - the only way that has worked for me with no side effects. I had been "ok" then I had 4 days of not getting out of bed and lots of crying...I thought it could be attributed to PMS though, as I do get severe symptoms. I decided to slap a patch on because of it though, and I wore it for 3 days - just removed it today. The only side effect I've had is almost complete lack of appetite, which I haven't seen mentioned anywhere else? Other than that I just feel even keel, not "happy" but relaxed and not worrying and obsessing like I was...maybe a bit disassociated...but I tend to be anyway. I'm not really anymore motivated to do anything, just not sad about it like I usually am.

REPLY

Was this helpful? 1

I 70 years old bipolar with moderate cronic pain, probably from a small spinal lesion cord between C2 & C3. I have periods of depression lasting years. Over the years I have educated myself very well on these subjects and regularly read the literature in several related fields.

Ketamine has been cropping up in chronic pain for some time. When it popped up for depression I dropped my psychiatrist of 17 years a line. As the patient that has been with him the longest by several years our discussions or open and honest. He brought up Scopolamine as a saver and easier to get drug. The Norvis Transderm Scop patch with 4 1.5mg patches gives blood levels of Scopolamine similar to several of the intravenous studies being done. The levels are delayed 8 hours.

A box of 4 costs me about $50 bucks and insurance doesn't cover it. I have used it twice about 3 months apart. Looking back it should have probably been ever 6 weeks.

My doctor tells me he has tried the scpomien patch on 8 people and had good results on 6 of us. One more initially had good results but relapsed in a week and the second patch didn't have good results.

In the past Webutrin and Efxor have had short term positive results. Sleep deprivation is the best treatment as long as only get 4 to 5 hours sleep a night. That worked until old age caught up with me and my heart start skipping beats unless I got more sleep. ATCH & steroids work very well for about a month before rage sets in. Vioxx seemed to help as do any anti-inflammatory drugs that really work. That may just be I am in a better mood when I hurt less.

Nothing but sleep deprivation has really worked. Fortunately I didn't require much sleep when I was younger. As a farmer I worked 16 to 18 hour days from the middle of May to the middle of September some years. When I work on computer program I work 16 hours a day 7 days a week so I don't get distracted by something else. One time I tried working 20 and sleeping 10. I got more work done but interacting with the outside world was difficult.

REPLY

Was this helpful? 1

Please don't commit suicide, my Father did about 20 years ago and it still hurts me to this day. You can't imagine how hard life is for those of us left behind unless you have been in my shoes. Everyone who cares for you will love with survivors guilt and depression for the rest of there lives. I will pray for you but PLEASE finda different alternative. Hang in there and God bless you.

REPLY

Was this helpful? 1

I did the patch and it did nothing for me, a little crankier, same as Riluzole. But then again, I was in a clinical trial using Ketamine infusions and experienced 'the miracle'. So nothing can compare to that.

REPLY

Was this helpful? 1

I don't get around to often. my pdoc is finding the scopolamine works very, very well to get rid of suicidal episodes. It is much less effective with the long term effects of depression.

As an alkaloid scopolamine can cause some really wild side effects nausea, diarrhea, hallucinations, etc. Don't get any in your eyes after you put on a patch.

scopolamine is available over the counter in 1.5 & 2.0 mg Transderminal patches for
$22.50 NZD or $18.50 USD for 2 ea or $9.25 each
I pay about $55.00 USD for 4 ea.
Novartis 1.5mg Tradrmial patchs.
Add in $4.95 shipping and the New Zealand patches are $ 11.25 USD 81% the cost of a Novartis patch going down to 2/3d's the cost in lots of 5 boxs of 2 patches at $9.11 USD ea.

(((22.50)*0.82)/2)
[1] 9.225
(((22.50+4.95)*0.82)/2)
[1] 11.2545
(55/4)-(((22.50+4.95)*0.82)/2)
[1] 2.4955
100-fpercent(2.4955,13.75)
[1] 81.85

By 5 to get the price over $100 NZD making it:

(111.12*0.82)/10 # 0.82 coverts NZD to USD
[1] 9.11184 cost each nz patch
55/4
[1] 13.75
(55/4)-((111.12*0.82)/10)
[1] 4.63816
100-fpercent (4.63816,13.75)
[1] 66.27%

For me it does have an effect on depression that's hard to explain because it hard to notice. I just see things a little differtly after Iuse a patch. Even the style of the code I write a bit diffent and usuly better.

He related to me he had one elderly lady called him on a Friday in emanate threat of suicide near end of life but not really ready to go and more willing to kill her her self than go the hospital route. He prescribed a Scopolamine patch. She didn't call his 24 hour emergency line over the week end so he called her on Monday. She told him her depression wasn't better but she no longer thouht of suicide.

Since I knew 2 great grand mothers and great grand father born in the Civil war, my grand mother lived to be 104, mother made to 80 on cigarettes, whiskey and hardly eating, and dad died at 97 and had been ready to go for 3 years I expect suicide is a likely option for me when I can't care for myself. But it not a concern today.

My bother killed himself but a better choice in a wife makes life much better for me. Suicidal thoughts are a very good indicator of depressions for me as well.

Good luck
Red

REPLY

Was this helpful? 1

Ive been reading ab the ketamine studies for years but knew they would not be affordable. It didn't take much to convince my Pdoc to write the script for the patch. I've had horrid experiences in the past with SSRIs & absolutely no help from Lithium. I just recently wore the patch for three days after living in a black hole pretty consistently the last two years & I noticed a difference in my mindset within 48 hours. I did experience the blurry vision when attempting to read & the constipation factor. Rather than focusing on negative outlooks I've noticed myself reaching out & seeing possibility across the board. My question is how often should I do the three day stint of wearing the patch. Fortunately when I removed it yesterday I did not have any nausea or headaches. Any & all insight is appreciated.

REPLY

Was this helpful? 1

One more question... This stuff ain't cheap. Anyone get it online from Canada where it's more affordable? It definitely works so I need some in reserve at all times.

REPLY

Was this helpful? 1

Hi, I'm a female, age 50 who's suffered with atypical depression (dysthymia to MDD) since my teen years. I've tried multiple meds. Just tried ketamine infusions with Dr Glen Z Brooks in Manhattan (I highly recommend him), but did not respond. Does anyone have any experience with Scopolamine infusions? Dr Maura Furey is doing research at NIMH on this, but I'm not sure if anyone else is using this method.

REPLY

Was this helpful? 1

I know this is slightly off topic, but it may provide a little more hope for you, as it did for me. There is a new type of mental-illness-related gene testing being conducted by the company Genesight. Supposedly the gene tests provide info about what medications are most likely (or unlikely) to benefit you based on your unique genetic profile.

I just read about these tests and have not yet taken any, so I cannot comment about their cost, effectiveness, or conduct. I can only say that they SEEM very interesting considering the frustrating trial and error nature of seeking effective treatment. If you're suffering from depression/anxiety you might explore the Genesight Psychotropic test and the Genesight MTHFR test (MTHFR relates to folic acid dynamics tied to depression). Some of you might consider the ADHD test and/or the Analgesic test. For more details check out the website: assurexhealth.com

This seems like a very supportive community. Best of luck to you all.

REPLY

Was this helpful? 1

Thank you, Kev! I'll check it out

REPLY

Was this helpful? 1

This is off-topic, but just wanted to throw out another possible idea that may help someone. If you search "nicotine for depression" you will find info on a study that was done by Duke U that showed nicotine did help symptoms. I have been an occasional smoker off/on, but only when I drink maybe once a week. I am not recommending anyone smoke (and I think I am going to stop again because my throat is getting sore even from ultra-lights and I don't want cancer), but I went and bought nicotine gum (2mg) as a test. Today I felt really depressed for unknown reasons. An ultra-light cig is about 0.5mg of nicotine. 1/4 piece of gum did nothing, neither did a 1/2. Then I tried a whole piece...it made me kinda jittery, but I also have anxiety, so if you do as well, this may not be good for you. I can't say I feel less depressed except for the fact that it sort of "woke me up" a tad (I also have CFS and fibromyalgia so I never know how much of my fatigue is mental vs physical). Anyways, my point is maybe try the 2mg gum or lozenges and just see if it helps. They come in 20ct for about $13 at CVS or Walgreens. Might be worth it if it got you out of a real funk or suicidal situation, but due to addictive potential, may not be a good idea to become reliant on it. Also, I read some people (former smokers) who ended up using it too much (10+ pieces a day) and eventually ended up with hair loss and other negative side effects.

REPLY

Was this helpful? 1

How would you cut the adhesive off. I am looking at my patches and wonder how t do that? I am an RN too! I am allergic to the chemical in the adhesive too. I didn't have a reaction until patch #5....weird.

REPLY

Was this helpful? 1

I can't see any way to cut the adhesive off, you'd probably end up taking the medicine off with it. It totally sucks...these patches truly did help me but the rash was not worth it and the pills had no effect for me :(

I wonder if you could crush a tablet, make into a paste and put under a bandage? Would it absorb that way?

REPLY

Was this helpful? 1

I would be really cautious about cutting the patches. The active medication is Scopolamine. If too much is taken at one time it does have a serious effect on the body. I know it can effect your vision and at high doses it causes hallucinations. It has also has ties to being used as a Date Rape drug. I've read an article that NASA Scientist came up with an liquid oral form to help the Astronauts but it has not cleared FDA approval.

REPLY

Was this helpful? 1

Hey Journo!

Just getting ready to start oral compounded Scopolomine 2x 0.4 mg every three days for 4 doses over 12 days.
I have had some minor depression which i say is SAD because it always comes in late October and start to get a bit of relief in March and is gone by summer.
Had some High blood pressure issues a year ago and one of the 7 pills prescribed was Lorazepam. All the pills made me a depressed zombie..so in March i slowly got off them all. Metoprolol was 2.5 months and hard to get off...palpitations and anxiety...so i started taking more lorazepam 1.5 mg per day and then when i got off the BP meds i decided to get off the lorazepam until i had horrible withdrawals symptoms and researched it to find out i am addicted to them and had bad symptoms...saw a specialist and he switched me to Valium in August...was great for about a month but dropped too fast and got another withdrawal spanking.
By October i was feeling really sedated and feeling the SAD come on more than normal.
Just talked to my Dr the other day and he said it sounded like depression and since he is a specialist and on the cutting edge he recommended Scopolomine in pill form by a compounding pharmacy to see what happens and get me feeling better so i can continue to taper off the Valium.
I am a little nervous about taking it as i now am a doubter of prescription drugs.
I have researched this drug a bit and am willing to try it as i want off the Valium ASAP.
I'll let you know what happens. I do coaching and therapy so i am pretty good at making distinctions of others and myself. Sometimes to my detriment...lol

REPLY

Was this helpful? 1

I wish you luck. I tried Scopolamine oral (went up to 2mg) and sad to say, it did basically nothing for me. The patches did help, but I am allergic to the adhesive in the patch, which was so disappointing :( I would get a major itchy red circle when I removed it that would take forever to go away. Wasn't worth it :(

REPLY

Was this helpful? 1

Anticholinergic meds were popular when tricyclic were in vogue. They are similar to truth serum Rx's in some ways. Tricyclic Rx's have a unacceptable mortality and morbidity.

REPLY

Was this helpful? 1

Emily's Mom, look at Juvenile Bipolar Research Foundation (JBRF) website.... Offers new perspective on bipolar-like behavior/mood symptoms. Look for their description symptoms for the "fear of harm" phenotype....it may match what your daughter is experiencing? They also report children with this particular group of symptoms tend to be resistant to treatments used for depression/ anxiety/ bipolar, etc. The research group is conducting clinical trials on intranasal ketamine.
Maybe there is hope???

REPLY

Was this helpful? 1

I've been reading, and posting about Adderall, specifically Amphetamine Salts vs. Amphetamine IR. I think I need to ...

5 REPLIES

My ex is telling everyone at my work (Hannaford) that I'm prescribed suboxone. If they fire me for that how can I su...

9 REPLIES

I am being prescribed methadone for opiate addiction been of all other drugs for 4 years I'm in the process of tryin...

47 REPLIES

I used to get hydrocordone in white oval shaped pills. Now they come in peach color with a V on one side and 3605 on the...

2 REPLIES

I had back surgery a few months ago for two ruptured disc pushing on a nerve. Now I'm physically addicted to the opi...

6 REPLIES

## What is Cispin? ## Cispin is a common misspelling for the antidepressant called Zispin SolTab. Active Ingredient: Mir...

3 REPLIES

My Son went to the Dr. for anxiety and depression, pristiq created more problems for him, panic attacks, insomnia, loss ...

13 REPLIES

I'm getting terrified after reading some Chantix horror stories and people who report never being the same after tak...

1 REPLY

IS ABILIFY SAFE TO TAKE FOR DEPRESSION/ANXIETY IN A 15 YR. OLD GIRL MY 15 YR.OLD DAUGHTER WAS TAKING LEXAPRO 20MG ONCE D...

1 REPLY

My doctor just prescribed Navane for me, but I do not have Schizophrenia. I have major depression disorder. I am worried...

1 REPLY