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From: dyer@spdcc.UUCP (Steve Dyer)
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: Re: Treating ANXIETY DISORDERS does any
Message-ID: <441@spdcc.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 22-Oct-86 09:54:43 EDT
Article-I.D.: spdcc.441
Posted: Wed Oct 22 09:54:43 1986
Date-Received: Wed, 22-Oct-86 22:47:32 EDT
References: <119@helm.UUCP> <9800028@uiucdcsb>
Reply-To: dyer@spdcc.UUCP (Steve Dyer)
Organization: S.P. Dyer Computer Consulting, Cambridge MA
Lines: 33
Keywords: Dramamine

>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