Guinea Pig

Girl with her spirit animal

On Monday I have an assessment for a drug trial. I've already seen the professor heading it up and I meet the criteria, there are just 2-3 hours of tests to do. It's a trial for people with BPD, but very kindly the professor and research team use the term Complex Trauma Disorder; I appreciate this because it better defines the condition and separates it from the stigma attached to BPD. The drug is called Memantine, it's currently used in Alzheimer's patients but there's reason to believe it could be helpful in trauma cases. I may get the real drug or I may get the placebo, it's a double blind trial so the researchers won't know either. At the end I will have the option of being prescribed the real drug regardless of whether I was on it or the placebo. You may wonder how the trial benefits me and why I don't just ask my psychiatrist to prescribe it, I will tell you. First of all being in a trial isn't just about benefiting yourself, you're contributing to research which has the potential to help everyone with your diagnosis and beyond. Then there's the intense monitoring you're under for the duration (12 weeks on the drug plus some assessments prior) which will pick up on side effects and intolerances before I would normally click that there's something wrong; this will allow me afterwards to take the drug knowingly, even if I've been on the placebo I'll have information from the researchers about how other patients have tolerated it, what kind of benefits to expect and what could go wrong. Memantine works on a different chemical in the brain to your typical antidepressants, the thinking behind using this drug is because that chemical (cortisol) is disturbed in people who have experienced trauma in their youth, an antidepressant or antipsychotic won't address this.

I'll write another post in a day or two, I have more to write but I'd like to keep this post about the trial.

K