Memantine immunosuppression

[Catecholamine]

Hi everyone, I have been prescribed memantine for ADHD and, for the most part, I really like it. However, there's one extremely disruptive side effect, namely that I get sick every couple weeks whenever I take it. Apparently, it "causes a profound depletion of CD45RO+ T-cells" in vitro: Immunomodulation by memantine in therapy of Alzheimer's disease is mediated through inhibition of Kv1.3 channels and T cell responsiveness
And my experience taking it seems to show that it does something similar in vivo.

Anybody know any ways to counteract or avoid the immunosuppression?
Barring that, anyone have any recommendations for other medications that may have the same advantages as memantine (working memory, situational awareness, "get up and go"-ability without sacrificing sleep) but without the immunosuppression?

Thanks!

 

[ThinPicking]

Precision Medicine Care in ADHD: The Case for Neural Excitation and Inhibition

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that has become increasingly prevalent worldwide. Its core symptoms, including difficulties regulating attention, activity level, and impulses, appear in early childhood ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

[Psycho- and immunomodulation properties of baclofen] - PubMed

Psycho- and immunomodulator activity of GABA(B)-mimetic drug baclofen was studied on Wistar-line rats with the cyclophosphamide-induced immunosuppression and lypopolysaccharide-induced immune stress. It was established that the stimulation of GABA(B) receptors in animals with the immune system...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Baclofen could be worth a try. It's practically an immunostimulant, dose is tiny, action is short, it's mostly excreted unchanged. Gives you an opportunity to take periods of time off and try more naturopathic/functional/dietary solutions.

Note, I'm not a clinician and I don't have ADHD. I'm just familiar with this substance and can see how the state of mind it brings might help the ADHD type.

 

[ThinPicking]

I'm also curious. Were you ever prescribed a more conventional DRA for your condition, did you ever experience tolerance and have you found Memantine to be a shortcut in reversing it?

I'm only asking for recovery from occasional kicks. I shouldn't be

 

[satsumass]

Hi everyone, I have been prescribed memantine for ADHD and, for the most part, I really like it. However, there's one extremely disruptive side effect, namely that I get sick every couple weeks whenever I take it. Apparently, it "causes a profound depletion of CD45RO+ T-cells" in vitro: Immunomodulation by memantine in therapy of Alzheimer's disease is mediated through inhibition of Kv1.3 channels and T cell responsiveness
And my experience taking it seems to show that it does something similar in vivo.

Anybody know any ways to counteract or avoid the immunosuppression?
Barring that, anyone have any recommendations for other medications that may have the same advantages as memantine (working memory, situational awareness, "get up and go"-ability without sacrificing sleep) but without the immunosuppression?

Thanks!

Hi everyone, I have been prescribed memantine for ADHD and, for the most part, I really like it. However, there's one extremely disruptive side effect, namely that I get sick every couple weeks whenever I take it. Apparently, it "causes a profound depletion of CD45RO+ T-cells" in vitro: Immunomodulation by memantine in therapy of Alzheimer's disease is mediated through inhibition of Kv1.3 channels and T cell responsiveness
And my experience taking it seems to show that it does something similar in vivo.

Anybody know any ways to counteract or avoid the immunosuppression?
Barring that, anyone have any recommendations for other medications that may have the same advantages as memantine (working memory, situational awareness, "get up and go"-ability without sacrificing sleep) but without the immunosuppression?

Thanks!

Can you data a bit more about your experience with memantine? What dose did you really feel the effect…I know it has some weird escalation effects, but curious if it’s benefits were long lasting as I have used it in the long ago past and am considering trying again, but the escalation is a real commitment…I agree it’s a good drug but it’s very hard to do a A/B test given the extremely long half life.

Do you take it twice a day? How does it effect sleep? If I recall, that was an issue for me ….

 

[Catecholamine]

Can you data a bit more about your experience with memantine? What dose did you really feel the effect…I know it has some weird escalation effects, but curious if it’s benefits were long lasting as I have used it in the long ago past and am considering trying again, but the escalation is a real commitment…I agree it’s a good drug but it’s very hard to do a A/B test given the extremely long half life.

Do you take it twice a day? How does it effect sleep? If I recall, that was an issue for me ….

I started feeling it at 5mg, although I have regularly taken doses up to 20mg (10mg twice a day). The benefits were subtle, basically better working memory, situational awareness, and taking initiative to do the things I needed to do. It wasn't a cure-all, but there was definitely an effect, and if not for this one extremely disruptive side effect, it would be my favorite ADHD medication by a wide margin.

I'm also curious. Were you ever prescribed a more conventional DRA for your condition, did you ever experience tolerance and have you found Memantine to be a shortcut in reversing it?

I'm only asking for recovery from occasional kicks. I shouldn't be

I had previously been prescribed Adderall at one point, and dextroamphetamine at another. Those stopped working after a while and I didn't like them that much anyway, too many side effects, often disruptive to my sleep, and generally felt like I was "on something," which wasn't the case on memantine. I did not use memantine to reverse the tolerance to other drugs (except maybe caffeine, but I never really noticed a difference with caffeine on vs. off memantine), I used it by itself.

 

[satsumass]

I started feeling it at 5mg, although I have regularly taken doses up to 20mg (10mg twice a day). The benefits were subtle, basically better working memory, situational awareness, and taking initiative to do the things I needed to do. It wasn't a cure-all, but there was definitely an effect, and if not for this one extremely disruptive side effect, it would be my favorite ADHD medication by a wide margin.

I had previously been prescribed Adderall at one point, and dextroamphetamine at another. Those stopped working after a while and I didn't like them that much anyway, too many side effects, often disruptive to my sleep, and generally felt like I was "on something," which wasn't the case on memantine. I did not use memantine to reverse the tolerance to other drugs (except maybe caffeine, but I never really noticed a difference with caffeine on vs. off memantine), I used it by itself.

Interesting…so no other psych meds “on top”, or overlapping?? I am really having issues with over focusing, getting “stuck” to screens etc. — not necessarily the right thing to focus on at any particular time—it’s worse the higher the dose of stimulant I use but also bad if I am under-dosed with low arousal—at this point the range is very narrow and I’m on 200mg bupropion SR plus 50-100mg modafinil… really feel like I need a total washout reboot! How long did it take for you to get to 10mg bid and any sleep effects?

 

[Catecholamine]

Interesting…so no other psych meds “on top”, or overlapping?? I am really having issues with over focusing, getting “stuck” to screens etc. — not necessarily the right thing to focus on at any particular time—it’s worse the higher the dose of stimulant I use but also bad if I am under-dosed with low arousal—at this point the range is very narrow and I’m on 200mg bupropion SR plus 50-100mg modafinil… really feel like I need a total washout reboot! How long did it take for you to get to 10mg bid and any sleep effects?

I don't remember how long it took me to get to 10mg the first time I took it, maybe a few weeks. Maybe a mild, transient sleep disruption at the beginning but nothing too major. I think I had more vivid dreams though, but that was also transient.