6 replies to this topic

[xEva]

Hi guys I have a question regarding my unusual response to amantadine. 

 

I take it only occasionally, so far. It's because I'm cautious with new things. I have been playing with it for about a year and have consumed around 30 pills of the blister pack. Wiki says that  it supposed to give me

 

nervousness, anxiety, agitation, insomnia, difficulty in concentrating,

 

but it has the exact opposite effect. It makes me super-calm and clear-minded. This effect is unmistakingly strong, from just one 100mg capsule, and it lasts through the rest of the day. This week  I took two caps, one in the evening and one in the morning, 'cause I was exposed to flu and thought this may help. From two caps in less than 24h the calming effect was even stronger -- which made me wonder, why. Why this discrepancy? What does it say about my brain chemistry? I'd appreciate very much  your ideas. 

 

I confess that I don't know much theory about various brain receptors and substances that affect them, certainly not on the level of this forum. Far from it, for me, this is more of an experimentation.

 

I don't take anything regularly.  In the last couple of years I returned to taking selegiline, more or less regularly, about once or twice a week. In the last year or so, I added amantadine. I often took it on the same day, after selegiline. I don't swallow either.  I have always taken selegiline by dissolving it on top of the tongue, sorta pressing it into the pallet. Years later, on this forum I think, I read that some people dissolve it under the tongue. I gave this method a good try but then went back to my original method -- it seems to work better for me. I suspect this may be because, on the roof of the mouth, there are some receptors connected to the remnants of the  vomeronasal organ that lead directly to the brain -? 

 

And yeah, forgot to mention that I did not take selegiline in a week or more. So this time amantadine was by itself. Super-calm and clear-minded. Why? 

 

I know there are a lot of very knowledgeable people here. If amantadine has this effect on me, instead of making me anxious and agitated, what does it say about my neurochemistry? 

 

I hope this will help me better manage my... don't even know how to call it.. you know what I mean.

thanks

Edited by xEva, 10 March 2018 - 03:34 AM.

[jack black]

Maybe you have ADHD? there are studies on that.

I took it for a week and it initially increased my motivation and attention, but effects went away within a week.

[xEva]

Thanks for the suggestion. I don't know. Is it possible to develop ADHD well into adulthood? 'Cause I remember well that, from early teens through 20s, I could easily block all noise and commotion around and focus on what I was doing -- to the point that people would have to touch me on the shoulder to get my attention (calling my name was not enough). I thought that ADHD is something that first manifests during childhood and largely consists of being easily distracted by irrelevant to the task stimuli -- no?  It's been a while since I lost that ability. ..though I notice it depends on my current overall state. 

 

Also, when I posted the question, I was anticipating someone in the know to just say, oh! amantadine, of course!  it blocks this or that -- and then I would look up that "feedback loop" or whatever and figure out what's off and how to fix it. I'm really really not in the mood to start digging this in earnest. Seems such a can of worms, no?

 

Come on guys, give me some leads  

[Kalliste]

It has anti-viral anti-parasitic properties, no?.

It might be killing of some strange bug that is affecting your emotions (for example, toxoplasmosis affect psychological state of men and women, making women more extrovert, men more introvert)

 

Sometimes that is the true effect of substances that give weird result.

[Finn]

Wiki says that it supposed to give me nervousness, anxiety, agitation, insomnia, difficulty in concentrating,

 

 

It is not supposed to give those, those are it's possible CNS side effect

 

https://en.wikipedia...Adverse_effects

 

CNS side effects include nervousness, anxiety, agitation, insomnia, difficulty in concentrating, and exacerbations of pre-existing seizure disorders and psychiatric symptoms in patients with schizophrenia or Parkinson's disease.

 

 

https://patient.info...s-disease#nav-4

 

Only very common side effect (meaning affecting more than 1 in 10 people), for amantadine is  

 

Swollen ankles, red skin blotches

 

The side effects you listed belong to category: Common amantadine side-effects (these affect less than 1 in 10 people)

 

 

Not getting side effects that affects less than 1 in 10 people isn't aberrant response.

Edited by Finn, 14 March 2018 - 09:05 AM.

[xEva]

It has anti-viral anti-parasitic properties, no?.

It might be killing of some strange bug that is affecting your emotions (for example, toxoplasmosis affect psychological state of men and women, making women more extrovert, men more introvert)

 

Sometimes that is the true effect of substances that give weird result.

 

thanks for the suggestion. re antiviral I heard, but antiparasitic?

 

I do have some virus, like a persistent common cold, which goes up and down. Got it from my stepbrother, the day he moved in -- but I was fasting then (on my 5th day, and I believe this made me vulnerable). For the other member of the household, who never fasts, it took over a year to get this virus. And I suspect it comes with a bacterium that works together with it. I'm afraid it could be MRSA (he works in a hospital).

 

So I asked him, do you know what it is? He says it's "allergy". I don't believe in contagious allergies. On some days he goes into fits when he sneezes non-stop. For the rest of us it's on and off. Before he moved in, I remember how much we laughed when one of us sneezed -- it is very funny, when you hear it once in 2 years or so -- that's how often we sneezed before he moved in, iow, practically never. Now it's almost daily and a lot on some days. Not funny anymore. The damned thing also affects the eyes. So yes, I have some chronic virus, but I doubt just one pill can cure it, even for a day.

 

Re toxoplasma, I had the antibody test couple of years ago and it was negative.

[xEva]

 

Wiki says that it supposed to give me nervousness, anxiety, agitation, insomnia, difficulty in concentrating,

 

 

It is not supposed to give those, those are it's possible CNS side effect

 

https://en.wikipedia...Adverse_effects

 

CNS side effects include nervousness, anxiety, agitation, insomnia, difficulty in concentrating, and exacerbations of pre-existing seizure disorders and psychiatric symptoms in patients with schizophrenia or Parkinson's disease.

 

 

https://patient.info...s-disease#nav-4

 

Only very common side effect (meaning affecting more than 1 in 10 people), for amantadine is  

 

Swollen ankles, red skin blotches

 

The side effects you listed belong to category: Common amantadine side-effects (these affect less than 1 in 10 people)

 

 

Not getting side effects that affects less than 1 in 10 people isn't aberrant response.

 

 

 

Yes, you're right re "side-effects", but neither does it says anywhere that it supposed to make you very calm, as its intended effect.

 

And I looked up what people are saying who take it daily not for PD (apparently, it's also good for chronic fatigue and MS) -- and many, though not all, but most, l'd say-- complain of agitation and lack of sleep. No one said it made them calm, even those for whom it worked without side effects (those people report they don't feel any different, simply less tired).

 

But for me the calmness it gives is very pronounced -- that's why I asked.

 

never had swollen ankles or skin blotches -- maybe this happens with daily use.