# Has anyone had any luck with medication?



## Grahame (Dec 7, 2011)

Any medication? Has anyone found any success with them? Even a little bit? Or are they all just hell and ballache? lol


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## insaticiable (Feb 23, 2010)

Grahame said:


> Any medication? Has anyone found any success with them? Even a little bit? Or are they all just hell and ballache? lol


Lamictal (Lamotrigine), Klonopin (Clonazepam), Naltrexone/Nalaxone have been studied in DP research. Personally, no medication has given me any relief of DP symptoms, except for the first two days I tried a med called Nuedexta, which is primarily indicated for a neurological condition called Pseudo-Bulbar Affect. It stopped giving me any benefit after the first week though, and I just recently went off of it. Everyone responds differently to medications, take that in consideration as well.


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## Fluke93 (Nov 2, 2010)

Citalopram for me.


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## Visual (Oct 13, 2010)

Grahame said:


> Any medication? Has anyone found any success with them? Even a little bit? Or are they all just hell and ballache? lol


It depends on what your primary symptoms are.

Do you just have DP?

Or is it DR?

Or do you have visual disturbances like forms of HPPD?


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## Grahame (Dec 7, 2011)

I have a bit of DR, a bit of DP and occassional HPPD, with a general underlying anxiety. Pretty sure I can sort the anxiety the rest will calm down to a degree. Just very skeptical about medications. I hear to many horror stories and not enough positive feeback


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## Rebekah (May 16, 2009)

Xanax. It gives me the sedation without the depression.


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## Spectre (Mar 31, 2012)

The ONLY drugs that have ever made positive effects on my DP/DR include:

1. Suboxone (the most effective drug thus far, I assume the buprenorphine's high affinity to k-opioid receptor antagonism is the reason behind this). It worked great on me for about a week, but my supply ran out, I haven't been able to find a prescription to this unfortunately.

2. Piracetam (improves NMDA receptor neurotransmission).

3. Sulbutiamine (synthetic analogue of vitamin b1 that crosses the blood-brain barrier, noticeable improvement in brain function, not a long-term solution by any means though).

4. Deprenyl/Selegiline (enhances dopamine function, promotes vigilance to a degree, gave me only positive effects, but wasn't notably effective against my DP/DR unlike suboxone).

I'm currently taking a brand new regimen that I started this week. 10mg of naltrexone in the morning, 5mg buspirone 2x daily (for anxiety), 25mg lamotrigine at night (first time taking this medication, I have DPD co-morbid with bipolar disorder and ADHD), methyl-b12, and 2g of N-acetylcysteine. I've been extremely depressed for the past few months and nothing seems to be helping, I use cannabis occasionally on a need-only basis because it provides instant relief from my anxiety attacks and depression, but I don't recommend it solely because it can exacerbate DPD symptoms in a lot of individuals. I'd like to quit smoking completely, the short-term memory impairment isn't something I enjoy, but I've been having a hard time finding anything else effective for depression.

Suboxone has definitely been the most effective drug for me though, the effects were instantaneous and made me feel completely normal again. I'd like to get my hands on an irreversible k-opioid receptor antagonist, as I believe that could be the key to curing my DPD completely (my DP/DR was triggered by salvia divinorum and dxm use when I was a naive teenager, and my recent bout with oxycodone use definitely flared up the DP/DR symptoms. All 3 drugs have k-opioid receptor agonizing effects). Suboxone completely reversed the derealization I've been experiencing for the past 4+ years, but the symptoms slightly manifested themselves again (albeit to a lesser degree) once I quit taking it. I'm hoping naltrexone with lamotrigine provides relief, but I'm sure my naltrexone dose is too low to make an impact on my DPD symptoms. Any advice on my regimen would be appreciated though, my goal is to help everyone else going through this horrible disorder. Once I find a legitimate cure, I plan on opening up an alternative psychiatric clinic specifically for DPD, anxiety, and other dissociative disorders.


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## Guest (Mar 31, 2012)

Medicine has not done anything for me, except making me fat and giving me headaches. I will now try a period without anything and see.


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## kate_edwin (Aug 9, 2009)

I've probably been on atleast a dozen if not two since having dp, noung has changed it significantly, possibly naltrexone or memantine have done somethig small but not sure at all


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## Amelie (Jul 24, 2007)

Spectre said:


> The ONLY drugs that have ever made positive effects on my DP/DR include:
> 
> 1. Suboxone (the most effective drug thus far
> ...
> ...


I'd never even HEARD of Suboxone being used for DP/DR, and you've totally piqued my curiosity. Considering its intended purpose is the treatment of opioid dependence, I see a number of potential problems, not the least of which is stated in its prescribing information: "There have been reported deaths of opioid naïve individuals who received a 2 mg sublingual dose." I'd be scared to take it! (Since I am an "opioid naive" person.)

Then there's the potential fallout from being prescribed a med that's meant for opioid dependence, even though you're not taking it for that reason. With all the exchange of personal/medical data these days, everyone from insurance companies to...I don't know, employers?, could find out and form an incorrect judgment. That's scary, too.

I'm also wondering how easy it would be to get a prescription for this since, again, its intended use is for opioid dependence--and I can just imagine the blank stares the typical physician would give if asked to prescribe it for a dissociative disorder.









From your description it sounds like a miracle drug--and after living with DP/DR for decades, I'd *LOVE* to find a miracle drug that could make me feel normal again, but I just don't know about Suboxone.


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## californian (Jul 24, 2006)

Grahame said:


> Any medication? Has anyone found any success with them? Even a little bit? Or are they all just hell and ballache? lol


I'm sure you've seen it on here before but Klonopin (Clonazepam) has shown the most effect for the most amount of people. It has helped me immensely. When I have bouts with it I no longer am crippled like I was before. I used to have to pull out of school or quit jobs, but it doesn't have that effect anymore.

Can you form dependence on benzos? Yes, but as another poster pointed out, people form pretty nasty dependence on SSRIs too. And benzos are extremely safe so long as you don't go celebrity and start mixing them with alcohol and opiates (seriously, I think 90% of celebrity untimely deaths turn out to have benzos mixed with other stuff).

The nice thing about Klonopin or Xanax is that you'll know within the first few days if it is helping. It doesn't take 2-4 weeks like SSRIs and such. And you really have to be taking heavy doses for a sustained period of time to have the serious dependence. I've been using klonopin for over 5 years on and off and have no problem quitting when I don't need it.

I have been intrigued by suboxone due to its k-opioid antagonism, but the problem is that it is extremely heavily regulated. I believe there is in fact a specific license that doctors have to get in order to administer it. My neurologist is awesome and wanted to give it a whirl, but he said he would have to hook me up with a pain management buddy of his due to this regulation. I never went through with it because it seemed like a hassle and the klonopin helps enough.


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## Visual (Oct 13, 2010)

Grahame said:


> I have a bit of DR, a bit of DP and occassional HPPD, with a general underlying anxiety. Pretty sure I can sort the anxiety the rest will calm down to a degree. Just very skeptical about medications. I hear to many horror stories and not enough positive feeback


I've had a lot of help with Sinemet.

For DP/DR following recreation drugs, you'll see the following under HPPD:

Klonopin - visuals and/or anxiety. Most successful but visuals usually require dosages of 2.5mg per day or higher.
Sinemet - many visuals, DR, brain fog, low libido. This is new to the list with response of about 70% improvement for 30% who try it
Keppra - low response but for some it gives tremendous results

After these 3, then it is sparse and seemingly random. Opioids and antiseizures being then most successful categories to try next.

Note about HPPD - DP and DR are among the list of possible symptoms for this disorder. Just because a person doesn't have visual symptoms of HPPD does not mean they won't benefit by trying these meds. Also, for HPPD there is a 50% recovery rate even if you don't use meds.

For DR without DP for unknown reasons (or TBI, allergic reactions, med reactions) - try the above

For DP:

If anxiety seems to be the primary cause, then addressing it may be all that is needed. Suggest trying a benzodiazepine such as Xanax or Klonopin. They work immediately at relieving anxiety. Use sparingly - just enough to cut anxiety back - this will help ensure long term effectiveness.

If past emotional issues seem to be involved, then counseling is most important.

Some report benefits from antiseizure meds such as Lamictal and there are a few reports of SSRIs helping. After these, response is sparse and seemingly random.

Relatively few suffer DP for a long time. Official diagnosis of DPD requires at least 6 months. Many member report miraculous cures for their DP which was self-diagnoses and only a few weeks duration.

Some get benefit from nutritional supplements but that is a long topic covered elsewhere.

Always get a neurological work up. Though it is very unlikely to reveal anything, sometimes there are neurological problems that are causing symptoms and must be addressed.

If symptoms are relatively new, often it will resolve on its own. Best not jump into meds unless it is truly unmanageable. In all circumstances (DP, DR, HPPD or just plain life) it is best to keep anxiety low - often anxiety is response to situations, not the situations themselves. Chronic anxiety makes life miserable and often shows up with additional emotional, physical, and/or neurological problems.

Hope this helps


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## miguelmalato (Jan 9, 2012)

Paliperidone for me (Invega) - 6,9 mg


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