Posted by Sherry on July 20, 2001, at 8:36:07
In reply to Re: Mirtazapine (Remeron), posted by Sherry on July 20, 2001, at 8:28:36
Hi All,
I'm sorry, but as you have all discovered by now the previous post was for Elizabeth and any one else who has had a similar experience with an antidepressant.Sherry
> Hi Elizabeth,
>
> I had the exact same experience with Parnate,(poop out within 6 months and a worsened imbalance). I'm getting ready to try Nardil after 2 years of not taking anything becuase of the fear of making things worse as with Parnate. I would love to hear of your experience with Nardil, and in what ways it made things worse for you.
>
> When Parnate pooped out for me,(BTW, it's the only thing that's ever even worked partially for me.) it took a toll on my cognitive abilities worse than anything. Since I have so little of my intelligence left( I used to consider myself slightly above average in certain aspects of my intelligence) and a short term memory that is horrible, I'm reluctant to try anything else.
>
> I feel like Parnate messed up my carbohydrate metabolism because I feel differently after every meal. I also feel differently depending on the level of carbos in my diet. Within 2.5 hours of eating, I can actually feel insulin levels go down because I lose the ability to thing clearly. For example, it's difficult to think about how to solve a math problem. I have difficulty finding words, etc., etc. On the other hand, after eating meals, I have difficulty concentrating. I can think clearly as long as I keep a fairly high level of carbs in my diet. I have Parnate to thank for this.
>
> Anyway, if you would share your experience with me I would really apreciate it.
>
> Sherry
>
>
>
> > > This is exactly why I do not subscribe to the popular practice of "giving it more time". In my experience, if there isn't some kind of hint of a good reaction in the first week or two, at least a hint, then I am quite willing to trash it and move on.
> >
> > I generally like that technique, at least for most drugs (more on that in a minute). One thing I'd add is that for antidepressants in general, you should give them two weeks at a dose that could reasonably be expected to work.
> >
> > > There is a perfect drug for everyone, but we'll never find it if we're forced to stay with something that isn't working out, or stay with something hoping it will work a month or two later.
> >
> > This theory (that there's a "perfect drug for everyone") I don't buy so much!
> >
> > > When a medicine is right, you'll know it without a doubt in a short amount of time.
> >
> > This technique does produce false positives at times, though perhaps not false negatives so much. (I'm thinking of when I started taking Nardil and it seemed to work miracles but stopped working after less than a year and made things *worse* in the long run.)
> >
> > I think that Buspar, for example (the subject of a couple of current threads), is a drug that takes longer to work even than most other antidepressants, and for which the recommended therapeutic dose range is too low. It has a reputation for being ineffective, but I wonder if that might not change if people started taking higher doses and giving it a longer time to work. That's an exceptional case, though; most of the time, I think you're right that
> >
> > One other exception I can think of is Effexor. I say this because it has such a wide range of possibly effective doses; some people will notice improvement after 2 weeks on 75 mg, but others need 400 mg.
> >
> > I'll be interested to find out whether the "JohnL Method" proves successful in my current trial (desipramine, which I've been taking for about 2 1/2 weeks -- though only about 7-10 days within the normal therapeutic dose range -- and which seems to be doing something already). Having tried so many exotic things, I would find it terribly ironic if the "right drug" for me proved to be a tricyclic!
> >
> > -elizabeth
poster:Sherry
thread:10400
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010720/msgs/71045.html