Posted by Annie on June 15, 1999, at 17:58:31
In reply to to Annie, posted by Elizabeth on June 14, 1999, at 20:08:07
Hi Elizabeth
Ok, I feel better knowing you've already tried something similar. The chance of any bad reaction seems unlikely. Desipramine is not my favorite TCA because of the side effects I experienced. Everyone's reactions are different and I was on 400mg which hopefully will not be necessary for you. :o)
I participate in the transdermal selegiline study at Univ of Penn. The dosage is 30mg daily for all. I've been using it for about 8 weeks and have noticed some positive signs in the last 2 weeks. My energy and motivation have improved somewhat. The constant "ideations" are on vacation for the most part. Obsessive thoughts and behaviors are almost gone, but they were minor anyway in the grand scheme of things. I am starting to be able to deal with major issues in therapy whereas for the last few years my T just concentrated on keeping me among the living. On the downside, I seem to be more easily triggered into deep depression and ideations by other peoples' comments, so I isolate even more than before. The good news is, I seem to bounce back faster to a more bearable level of depression. My "tolerance level" for people used to be about 3 hours, now it is about 1 hour and I'm outta there!
I'm going to continue in the study to see if there is more improvement in the next month or so. I talked to the doctor about Marplan or possibly some other combo including Naltrexone for post-study treatment. He would prefer the Marplan if it is available in the pharmacies around here, but said he'd check out the work being done with naltrexone and we'd talk about it next month. Sounds like a plan!
Persevere, Annie> Hi Annie, and thanks for your concern.
>
> I've added a TCA (amoxapine) to an MAOI before. I started getting cravings for sweets which was so uncomfortable that I ditched the amoxapine. (I'm not actually sure what was causing the "munchies," in retrospect.) I think I'd use desipramine if I were going to try it again.
>
> I hope I don't have to, though. I really don't like tricyclics (I've never been able to stay on one long enough to find out if they'd work for me).
>
> Marplan is seeming like a really nice idea right now, although my pdoc warns me that going off the Parnate would be a major step (and I do dread the waiting period).
>
> You're in the selegiline patch study? Which center? How is it going? Do you know what the dosage is that they're using? etc.
>
> I hope your pdoc appointment goes well...thanks again.
poster:Annie
thread:7320
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/19990601/msgs/7432.html