Snri Vs Ssri?

[s-pot]

I may have stumbled on something that may help me meds wise with POTS. Wud appreciate some knowledge from those who understand more than I do on this one!!

I had a serious florinef headache that nothing wud touch and the docs gave me zydol this morning (im in hospital with a flare)

It killed the headache but also I felt GREAT after taking it. I cant describe exactly but just felt like my body running right!

Briefly looked it up inly to find tramadol/zydol mimics the action of SNRI drugs.

Now I tried lexapro in the past for treatment and it had no effect...bt I gather this is a SSRI?

So my ques for you wise folk is

If a norephidrine uptake drug helps what does this mean with regard to my POTS i.e why would an SNRI be more effective than a SSRI? From what I read SSRIs have been found to be more effective which is why I tried thta route last time.

Im thinkin of askin the doc to reduce my florinef back to 0.1 in the morning and possibly start an SNRI n see what it does?? (double dose has done nothing only increase headaches)

Any ezperiences on this would be great folks!

[dkd]

I'm curious also. I took an SSRI (lexapro) and did not like it at all. Another dr. gave me cymbalta which is an SNRI, but I've been afraid to take it. I discussed it with my neuro and he told me not to take it.

I guess it wouldn't hurt to try it, but I haven't had a day that I can stay in the house all day and see how it affects me.

[Guest Alex]

S-pot,

Glad to hear you had such a positive outcome with the tramadol, but sorry that you ended up in the hospital.

To my knowledge, tramadol is an analgesic and it also affects both the serotonin and the norepinephrine levels. Before POTS I ended up in the ER after taking tramadol (it was prescribed to me for headaches) with serotonin syndrome. At that time the ER dr said I was the only patient he ever saw with such a reaction to tramadol and that I should never take tramadol again, but didn't mention that I should also avoid any other med that can potentially change my brain serotonin or norepinephrin levels. I've learned that on my own when I have tried SSRI's for POTS (Celexa and Lexapro). I have found them to exacerbate my symptoms (increased HR, labile BP, agitation, insomnia, etc). I never even considered an SNRI.

There are some on this forum who had very good results with tramadol, SSRI's or SNRI's so hopefully they will chime in.

Best of luck and keep us posted.

Alex

[kayjay]

I've taken Lexapro, and Cymbalta. I wouldn't be afraid to try either one with your doctor's ok. Neither worked for me potswise but Cymbalta was helpful for fibro pain.

I'm sorry that I can't be helpful about any others. My only suggestion would be is to consider taking a small dose at first. You can always increase as needed.

For many drugs I require a smaller dose. My neuro told me that this is typical for pots patients.

[Joann]

Alex,I had the same reaction to Lexapro and Celexa. I am hyper pots and am afraid to try anymore anti depressants. Each time I had terrible symptoms and ended up in ER.