Has anyone tried Namenda (Memantine) yet? I know it’s one of the newer drugs but just curious if anyone had any experience with it.
My doctor has suggested this as an option as well. At the moment, I’m hesitant to try any new medicines, just because I’ve been on so many already and am having lingering side effects, which I can’t even tell which medicine caused them at this point! So I want to try to go a few months without meds if I can, but whenever I’m ready to try something new, it’ll most likely be Namenda.
I’m interested in it because it’s at least something a little different than most of the commonly used meds that I’ve already tried without much success (I’m sure you know the drill – antidepressants, anti-seizures, calcium channel blockers, beta blockers). So I think it’d be good to try something from an entirely different category of drug.
If I ever do decide to try it, I’ll post about it. Please do the same, and let us know how Namenda goes for you, if you ever decide to give it a whirl. Good luck!
I just started on Namenda this weekend. So far I feel slightly more dizzy than normal and a little tired & spacey (kind of like taking alot of cold medicine) but that’s it. This is one of my best starts to a new med. I hope that’s a good sign. I have also tried alot of other meds in the past & was interested in this one because it’s totally different & the side effect profile is low. I had trialed 4 different drugs in a row over the summer & decided to take the last 2 months off letting my body recover & return to baseline. I would recommend taking a break if you can. I think our bodies need it. I think it is hard to tell what is the side effects of the new med & what is the withdrawal from the last drug when you try them one right after the other. I felt so much better the past 2 months without meds that I hesitated to start another drug but I know I still need something to get me back to where I can function normally. So I took the plunge! I guess time will tell if this was the right decision!
Hi dzzygirl,
Good luck with the namenda. I really hope it works for you. Since you said namenda had less side effects so far for you, I was wondering which meds you tried in the past and how they affected you if you don’t mind me asking???
Keep us posted!
Thanks,
Lisa
Wow, Dizzygirl, you sound a lot like me, as far as the issues w/ trying new meds vs. giving the body a break. What you explained is exactly the thought process I’ve been having. I totally agree that with all these meds right after one another, it’s hard to tell where one ends and the next one begins! Plus, after being on so many meds for so long, it gets to where I forget what it feels like to be on NO meds, so it’s impossible to tell if the med is even making a difference!
Thanks for sharing your update on Namenda, and I hope you’ll keep us posted on how you’re doing on it. I’d love to hear about your progress, and I really hope Namenda finally does the trick for you!
MAVNY–In the past I was on nortriptyline for about a year which helped significantly but had to go off due to a side effect (rapid heart rate). Then beta blockers which made my blood pressure too low & gave me constant heart palpitations but also helped significantly with the MAV. The past 4 months I’ve tried neurontin, effexor, zoloft & atacand and had to stop each within 4-6 weeks because of side effects that didn’t go away. None had started to help in that time frame. I would say that the namenda start up has been better than all of the above so far.
Alwaysmoving–I really had to think twice before starting a new med. The 4 months of med trials made me SO sick & I couldn’t believe after coming off of the meds how much of my problems were actually side effects and not the MAV itself! I felt so much better after a few weeks. I still struggle in stores with fluorescent lights & crowded places though and in the past that got significantly better with meds so here I go! I’ll keep you posted as I increase my dose.
dizzygrl - sorry to hear that you had to go off of helpful meds because of side effects. Just wondering what dose of nortriptyline helped you. Thanks.
I saw improvement on 20 mg on nortriptyline. I ended up increasing my dose twice as my body kept adjusting to the med & my MAV symptoms would begin to return. When I was on the 40 mg dose I ended up with the rapid heart rate & had to go off of it.