Posted by Questionmark on April 10, 2003, at 1:20:00
Sorry, i know many of you are probably sick of answering all these MAOI-related questions, but... if you could answer some more it would be very appreciated. (i'm just gonna rattle em off as i think of them so there wont be much order, sorry). Oh, and a breif overview: i have major depression, inattentive ADD, anxiety problems (SP/SA), and, as i just recently learned, obsessive compulsive personality disorder. My appetite is dead and i need to gain weight. i've tried a number of med types but not MAOIs or TCAs. As far as prescription meds go, i want to be on nothing or an MAOI. im 22.
1) First, do you think an MAOI could be helpful for this crap without impeding anything else (as is always the case for me w/ any other med)? Is there salvation in a pill?
2) For those who have been on one a long time (multiple years), did it work well for you for all that time? i know they're often quite beneficial for awhile at first, but i wonder if there's some kind of brain adaptation or anything that can occur and result in "poop out" or whatever.
3) How about moderate dose Nardil with low-dose selegeline? You think that might be a good (and possible) combo?
4) How was your memory and cognitive faculties with an MAOI?
5) Here's an important one. If you were ever on awhile and quit, was the withdrawal pretty bad? How long were you on it, what dose, how long off?
6) What side effects remained even as time went on? What if any made you quit? Were there any subtle side effects that really bothered you?
7) Do you think they (esp Nardil or Parnate) might be bad for you-- particularly your brain? Do you think they might be neurotoxic at all, or hepatotoxic, or cause any permanent changes in the body?
8) Can one go on an MAOI for awhile and then quit without having to suffer from more severe depression and whatever else? I.e., how long do withdrawal-type effects last?
9) This concept never used to bother me much, but for some reason it really does nowadays... If i take a drug that makes me a happier person, a better person, a more hopeful and confident and naive person, and one who can be more easily satisfied with life, then this person is not really me then right? i become someone who i am not. Of course this is the case with things as simple as even caffeine, but still (i have been trying to really reduce psychoactive substance use, including caffeine-- and she was always my greatest love, and..) at least occasional, controlled manipulation of personality is not quite as severe as an overhaul that is daily (as w/ an antidepressant). But anyway, do you think this is ... wrong, i guess? Am i being untrue to myself if i become a different person? Funny how one can hate himself so severely and yet still care so much about this sh*t. But, what you say?
10) If they are irreversible inhibitors or MAO, why is it necessary to take it more than once a day? Does it make much difference if you just took it once/ day?
*** SO SORRY for how long this is. Even if you just answer some of this i thank you. Pleeease provide some input/advice though?. This tired drowning dog will be truly grateful.
poster:Questionmark
thread:218087
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030407/msgs/218087.html