New Medication Strategies for Non-responsive Depressed Patients

by mark holscher | August 22, 2012 7:54 AM EDT

i read an article on a trial of N acetyl cystiene at a dose of 1000mg bid in TRD patients over one month who had a >90 % response rate in those patients that was noted to wane when the supplement was stopped.
i checked with a pharmD and others about the safety of this supplement. there did not seem to be any obvious risk or reported negative reactions to this supplement.
i decided to try it on one of my most difficult patients who was currently on parnate and depakote for TRD and BP2 for 40 years. he was started on 600mg once daily then increased to 600mg bid in 1 week. i did not tell him what to expect but to call with any problems and to report back to me in 2 weeks for follow up. '
he reports a gradual improvemnt in most of his sypmtoms over the two weeks. namely he has bettter mood a calmer affect clearer thinking and less social sensitivity. he is still on the same dose and continues to do well. since he has only been om this for one month it will be interesting to see if the benefits will continue at this dose.
if he continues to do well i plan to try this on some of my other more difficult trd patients.
what a blessing if this supplement costing 15.00 a month could truely relieve some of these patients disabling symptoms and improve their quality of life. thank you.