As we have noted in several posts, the depressive pole of bipolar disorder is often the more challenging to treat. In most cases, conventional antidepressants may require three to four weeks or even longer to become effective. In addition, most if not all of the most effective antidepressants may push a person with bipolar disorder from a depressive cycle into a mania.
For these reasons and others, researchers are constantly on the lookout for new treatments for depression that provide faster relief and have a more neutral side effect profile. Some medications that show promise are already in use in other medical applications. Back in August of this year, we wrote about one of these promising medications, Ketamine – originally used as an anesthetic.
Another medication that has shown some promise is scopolamine, which traditionally has been used to prevent nausea and vomiting caused by motion sickness.
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Just an anecdotal experience to relate here. I have a history of depressive episodes post partum and eight weeks after my third child was born I needed to be put under for a biopsy and three weeks later surgery. I don’t know what they used at the biopsy, but I woke up feeling like a million bucks. They used ketamine at the surgery and I believe that it must have also had an antidepressant effect for me. Unscientific observations I know…