[Phill]

Recently i had a complete breakthrough with my eyesight disorder or derealization. My main ailments are ocd and tourette's syndrome. The doctor said the dr is due to anxiety. Been on a low dose antipsychotic and the antidepressant Anafranil for many years now.
I'm wondering if anyone has a vision disorder where colours appear lighter, and distances look different and trouble focusing. Well if there's anyone with these symptoms and ocd a med called Benztropine might help you with the visual derealization.
It was originally given to me more than ten years ago to help with side effects from the antipsychotic i was on. It's also used for other things.
Recently the drug has worked wonders for me. It's brought me back to the world, and i'm feeling so alive, like i was before i had dp/dr. So if anyone has similar symptoms to what i described above, Benztropine may be of some assistance to you. If it helps 1 person, i know this post will be worth it.

 

[Synapse]

Having been on antipsychotics long term I too was prescribed an anti-cholinergics drug, procyclidine, to help with the side effects of the anti-psychotic.

Anti-psychotics work by reducing the level of dopamine in the brain and when it is too low it causes parkinson-type side effects and to counteract this procyclidine increases the level of dopamine.

When I was depersonalising a lot procyclidine helped by atering my mood and keeping my thoughts positive. However, my psychiatrist wanted me off it as he said I was abusing it for it's mind-altering effect. It is not addictive as such but has been abused widely by psychiatric patients in the past. The doctors comment these days that atypical antipsychotics don't have side effects therefore no need for anti-cholinergics.

 

[Synapse]

I am currently experimenting with the naturally occuring L-Tyrosine from the health food shop which is a precursor to dopamine.

http://www.healthy.net/scr/Article.asp?Id=1975

Tyrosine is easily made in the body from phenylalanine and is very important to general metabolism, as it is a direct precursor of both adrenaline (as well as norepinephrine and dopamine) and thyroid hormones, all stimulants to metabolism and the nervous system. Folic acid, niacin, vitamin C, and copper are needed to support tyrosine metabolism into these and other important substances, which also include melanin, estrogen molecules, and the enkephalins (natural pain relievers). Tyrosine may stimulate growth hormone and can act as a mild appetite suppressant. It may also be useful in the control of anxiety or depression. Tyrosine is known as the "antidepressant" amino acid. It has a mild antioxidant effect, binding up free radicals (unstable molecules) that can cause damage to the cells and tissues, and is useful in smokers, people with stressful lives, or those exposed to chemicals and radiation. L-tyrosine has also been used, usually in a dose of 1?2 grams a day, for low sex drive, Parkinson's disease, and in programs for drug problems or weight loss. As an antidepressant, 500?1000 mg. of L-tyrosine can be taken two or three times during the day. Since tyrosine has a more stimulating antidepressant effect, taking 1000 to 1500 mg. of L-tryptophan (which is more tranquilizing) at night for sleep may be a good therapeutic combination to help in mild to moderate depression.

 

[Guest]

My mouth has been watering lately over the prospect of drugs that might work....

I have the exact visual symptoms you have...in fact my vision is the worst aspect of my dpdr and i'm almost positive that if i were to get rid of those problems, all my other symptoms would lift.

As for OCD...i very often get intrusive thoughts which have become progressively more illogical and I find it almost impossible to distract myself from my visual nightmare around me...maybe I should call up my wank doctor and tell him what to do once again, because hes an incompetent asspoop.

 

[university girl]

Benztropine........what class of drug is this?

 

[gimpy34]

Looks like benztropine is an antiparkinsonian drug. The visual part of DP/DR, what I usually consider the DR part, is what kills me and is by far the most troubling part of my DP. If I could get rid of that, I think I'd be sittin' pretty.

 

[gimpy34]

benztropine has anti-cholinergic and antihistamine effects. obviously it affects the CNS if used in parkinson's

My doctor has lately been pretty open to any suggestions I have since I have tried about everything but it might be hard to convince him to put me on this one. I did try selegiline, an MAOI used in parkinson's and depression. at a low dose, it doesn't require dietary restrictions so I gave it a shot. it works by increasing dopamine in the brain, like most other antiparkinsonian meds. worked alright, kind of reminded me of wellbutrin at a low dose. since I didn't want to have the dietary restrictions of an MAOI, I opted for wellbutrin. Benxtropine works differently so maybe i could get a different result. I have tried tyrosine, too. It is kind of like a milder wellbutrin, increasing dopamine and norepinephrine.

Actually, my doc has let me try selegiline and naltrexone (opioid-antagonist) so it's possible. If I tell him about a guy here who has been on an anti-psychotic and AD and had a breakthrough with this, he might go for it.

 

[gimpy34]

Synapse, what other meds have you been on? It could help in talking to my doc.

 

[Synapse]

Currently I am taking 20mg of Celexa, 400mg of sulpiride. Many years ago I was on a low dose of flupenthixol. HTH.