Posted by indivmed on June 15, 2003, at 11:32:35
In reply to Re: nardil fainting wellbutrin » indivmed, posted by shrimp on June 15, 2003, at 10:35:06
> > Rick,
> I had somewhat of the same experience on Parnate,the side effects suck, same with the nardil. really bad exhaustion and lethargy. I remember on the parnate i was so weak, my muscles felt like noodles. However, with the MAO's, it can take up to a month for the side effects to disappear. I almost quit the Nardil after 2 weeks, but my pdoc convinced me to stay on it, and after the 4th week the side effects diminished dramatically. The wellbutrin (400mg.) also made me very speedy and agitated so i lowered it to 300, seems to be ok for now. I don't know about the hypertension, since i have the opposite problem. If i were you, I would give the parnate a full 4 weeks for the side effects to dissipate, it really does take that long with these meds, then you will have a truer idea as to whether or not you need the Wellbuttin. Or, if the wellbutrin is making you that speedy(it did with me) you could cut it down to 200. Starting two meds at once is confusing, because you don't know which aide effects are coming from each one, particularly this early in your treatment when side effects are the worst. I was already on the wellbutrin for a long time when i started the nardil, so maybe the anxiety was a result of combining the two. It was only for 3 or 4 days that i felt anxious, but it was well along into my treatment so i just dropped it 100mg to 300mg. have you tried nardil? My depression is of the tired, lethargic type too.
> >
Shrimp--I read my post from last night (which was around 2 pm after drinking red bull at a bar with some friends) and I think I'm going to stay away from it as I saw some severe signs of hypomania! Total flight of ideas and jumping from one subtopic to another!
Anyway, what you said has been a common thread with what I have heard from others--to give it a month and the side effects should dissipate significantly. I may drop the Wellbutrin after a month and see what happens--Wellbutrin is something that I've been taking since March but quit taking it for a couple of weeks--I always think it isan't doing anything then I wonder why I'm absolutely EXHAUSTED when I stop it! Psychiatric drugs are so subtle...at least when I was a substance abuser I didn't have to wonder if the crack was working! Totally kidding there by the way...:)
Anyway, something else you said about being weak really chimed with me--I've been going to the gym and sometimes my workouts are okay, but it is all I can do to go for a run or train in the pool (I'm a triathlete)--my legs quickly feel like lactic acid is already built up. Another thing is feeling totally exhausted walking up stairs and lifting weights--I'm sticking with it because it is something that makes me feel better about myself, but I will say it is a challenge...
One MAJOR problem I have is muscle soreness--I've always had such a constant level of anxiety that my muscles are always knotted up (I get daily tension headaches and I'm having to wean myself off of Advil right now--the Advil is causing rebound headaches)--clenching my jaw has been MORE of an issue on the wellbutrin and parnate (I've always done it to some extent). So I'm trying to stretch more but sometimes it's crazy how sore I am!!!!!
My pdoc decided I should take Parnate ("they're all the same she yapped") and not Nardil--I was really pushing the Nardil--she probably did it just for spite. Basically I hate her and am seeing a new pdoc on Thursday. Anyway, I like the fact that Nardil had GABA effects much like the Neurontin--so I was thinking I could stop taking the Neurontin and still get the effect. But I also heard Parnate was a little more of an "upper" which I thought may have indeed been the better choice since my depressions are of the no energy, "I can't deal with life today, let me stay in bed" type.
For me that is the most frustrating type of depression because it comes across as being VERY irresponsible and some of my friends take it personal when I don't call back or miss lunch and don't understand what I'm going through and my professors in college were OVER IT--I constantly missed class (did fine academically though) and with my job out of college (I taught high school), I was late everyday and got there just before the bell rang for 1st period. I almost got fired on two occasions for just not showing up period. That is NOT me--I am not like that when I'm my normal self, but when I am depressed, I come across as not only irresponsible as hell, but extremely inconsiderate and selfish. That's why I wanted them to break out the MAOIs...nothing else worked and I was tired of derailing my life due to a mental illness that pdocs seemed to not know what the hell to do with.
Okay...I guess I want to know how your "lethargic depressions" affected your everyday life and what changed once you were a month into taking Nardil.
Rick
poster:indivmed
thread:232905
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030614/msgs/234114.html