Why does amantadine reduce fatigue?

Symptoms and treatments
1

Hi, im new to the forum but have had an RRMS diagnosis for 3 years now.
After 2 relapses and also knowing that my sister was diagnosed with MS previously, myself and the doctors had a pretty strong idea what was going on.

So i started on tysabri infusions (now on to the much more handy sub-cut injections) and other than the use of vitamin D tablets, that was my only treatment and it seemed to be working fine.

Recently my fatigue built up to a level that made it impossible for me to keep working at the time.
I was recently prescribed amantadine for this and after a few weeks of use i feel a lot less heavy and tired.

(Ive seen studies and noticed a few people mention that amantadine is a placebo!! That is completly untrue and you would know that had you ever tried the medicine for yourself. Being a man who tried almost all illicit substances as a younger man, i know exactly what a change in demeanor looks and feels like.)

Other than mild constipation and a few ā€œout there/vividā€ dreams, there has been very little problem and the amantadine has done exactly what its supposed to do - but why?

Why is it so effective? It seems to make you more alert, less tired and generally need a lot less sleep.
I asked the Doctor if it was a stimulant and they said no, i checked the ingredients online and there appear to be no stimulants?

So i dont understand where the change is coming from!? I mean further investigation of the drug suggests that its also helpful for taking the edge off of ADHD ā€¦
Well the usual medical treatment for ADHD is usually rittalin/aderall wich is basically pharmaceutical grade amphetamines. (speed- a stimulant.)

I guess my whole point is, how is this medication able to ACT like a stimulant without actually being one??

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2

I have no idea and think there are quite a few medications that fall in the ā€˜some people find this helpfulā€™ category in which it seems to work but why is poorly understood. If it works, it works, and Iā€™m really glad that you are finding it beneficial.

3

Absolutely no idea! And I see that itā€™s not known why itā€™s effective in dealing with fatigue in some MS patients. I see that it was originally developed for use in influenza.

I havenā€™t seen anything at all about it being a ā€˜stimulantā€™ but there again - what do you mean by ā€˜stimulantā€™? There are probably thousands of drugs and foods that happen to have a mild stimulant effect but arenā€™t ā€™classedā€™ as stimulant.

As @alison100 says, if it works for you then thatā€™s good.

all part of the wonderful mysteries of the human body and MS! No one knows for sure what causes MS ,why some develop it but others donā€™t, exactly how the various and quite different MS treatments work, and e.g why drugs developed for Diabetes might be helpful in stimulating myelin repair. We arenā€™t quite back in the world of witchcraft and spells but MS remains a bit of a mystery!

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