Posted by jd on September 24, 1999, at 20:26:19
In reply to Re: Drug immunities (answer to Mike), posted by Laurie on September 24, 1999, at 14:15:10
Hi Laurie,
You're right that MAOIs are often used for atypical depression or in depression that hasn't responded to other treatments. These are actually two different things, though: "atypical" usually refers to depressions characterized by certain specific features like overeating, oversleeping, and a number of others. (There's much more complete information in some previous month's postings.)As you note, I'd be *very* careful mixing MAOIs with any medications whatsoever: they can be great meds for some people, but you do need to be very careful about your diet and other medecines if you take them. Some meds are OK to mix them, but many are definite no-no's.... From what you say about previous meds "pooping out" on you after several months, I might also suggest that you or your p-doc look into the opiate-blocking med called naltrexone as an additional option. Many people have tried it as an add-on medication to drugs like Zoloft in recent months, and it's apparently been very successful with some people who've had chronic problems that have never responded long-term to other treatments. See my mosting a few lines above, for example...
Good luck to you, whatever your and your p-doc's final decision,
JD> > Actually, I should've mentioned that I'm being treated for atypical chronic depression. In fact, I was surprised when I saw that these 2 meds were used for social phobia and/or anxiety. I suppose that some anxiety is included in my depression symptoms but I did read that these meds were also used for atypical (read unresponsive to traditional meds) depression. My problem in the past is that I build up immunities to drugs very quickly. A good example is how, while in labour with my child, I found the epidural wearing off too quickly (about 2 hours) and when they "topped it off" the second dose had no effect at all. (No exaggeration, honest!) They then used what the OB-GYN called "a block" so he could use forceps and that also had no effect at all. I'm the same with painkillers (demerol, codiene) and there hasn't been an antihistamine on the market that helped me for 20 years now. (I've usually gotten it by prescription before it went over the counter and it's lost any effectiveness by the time it was.)
> Zoloft was WONDERFUL!... for about 4 months. After that, even upping the dose did nothing. All my old p-doc did when I said that Effexor wasn't helping was reduce the dose and put me on Manerix as well, to no effect. If I can build up my immunities like this (it runs in the family, I even out grew a bee sting allergy) is there anything that I CAN take indefintitely?
poster:jd
thread:11894
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/19990914/msgs/12025.html