kenny@uiucdcsb.cs.uiuc.edu (10/20/86)
/* Written 12:34 pm Oct 6, 1986 by dlbaer@helm.UUCP in uiucdcsb:net.med */
/* ---------- "Treating ANXIETY DISORDERS does any" ---------- */
I have read a book by Dr. Harold N. Levinson called PHOBIA FREE
and he practices out of Great Neck,NY. He does not accept MEDICARE and
he charges $750 for inner ear tests and then treats you with DRAMAMINE
and other antimotion sickness drugs.
/* End of text from uiucdcsb:net.med */
Sounds a trifle peculiar to me. Anyone out there have information about
this? I suspect that Dr Levinson is taking advantage of the sedative effect
of scopolamine (the active ingredient in Dramamine, Triptone, and several
other over-the-counter anti-nausea agents). I know that I have never been
able to use Dramamine; the sedative effect hits me more strongly than most.
I am totally zonked out before I have enough dosage to control motion
sickness (and being sedated and nauseated together is no fun at all!).
Fortunately, I haven't suffered from motion sickness since my astigmatism
was corrected. In any case, claiming that Dramamine is not psychotropic is
a lie.
Kevin Kenny UUCP: {ihnp4,pur-ee,convex}!uiucdcs!kenny
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign CSNET: kenny@UIUC.CSNET
``Don't worry; I'm a New Yorker!'' ARPA: kenny@B.CS.UIUC.EDU (kenny@UIUC.ARPA)dyer@spdcc.UUCP (Steve Dyer) (10/22/86)
>Sounds a trifle peculiar to me. Anyone out there have information about >this? I suspect that Dr Levinson is taking advantage of the sedative effect >of scopolamine (the active ingredient in Dramamine, Triptone, and several >other over-the-counter anti-nausea agents). I know that I have never been >able to use Dramamine; the sedative effect hits me more strongly than most. >... >In any case, claiming that Dramamine is not psychotropic is a lie. The active ingredient in Dramamine is not scopolamine, it's dimenhydrinate, an unusual salt of diphenhydramine (aka Benadryl) and 8-chlorotheophylline. Diphenhydramine is an antihistamine with pronounced sedative and anti-motionsickness effects. Why they don't sell diphenhydramine for motion sickness is beyond me; presumably the xanthine moiety was incorporated in dimenhydrinate for its stimulant effects a la caffeine. In any event, whatever stimulation the 8-chlorotheophylline contributes is minor, and Benadryl and Dramamine can be considered equivalent drugs when taking into account the amounts of diphenhydramine in each (50mg of Dramamine is roughly equivalent to 25mg of Benadryl.) Antihistamines like diphenhydramine as well as scopolamine are all thought to produce their sedation through anticholinergic effects in the brain. Although there's no doubt that they'll make you sleepy (in fact, diphenhydramine was recently approved by the FDA as an over-the-counter sleeping aid) there's a lot of evidence that they have litte, if any, effect on anxiety. Someone with a true anxiety disorder would probably feel very sleepy but remain anxious after taking one of these drugs. The sedation is not at all reinforcing; it does not resemble the euphoria produced by minor tranquilizers. -- Steve Dyer dyer@harvard.HARVARD.EDU {linus,wanginst,bbnccv,harvard,ima,ihnp4}!spdcc!dyer