Posted by omegon on October 3, 2003, at 15:41:55
In reply to Re: has anyone tried senegine at a low smart drug » omegon, posted by loolot on October 3, 2003, at 11:43:23
Hi loolot,
More about selegiline: I did enjoy the stimulant effects - I'm a computer programmer, and it definitely helped with work; my thinking was sharper and more confident, and unlike with caffeine, it was easier to focus on what I wanted to. Caffeine tends to make me skip from one thing to another; I think fast, but not necessarily well!
Yes, I do have a problem with anxiety - my current diagnosis (in as much as the GP (UK doctor) has bothered to give me anything so formal) is depression with anxiety. With selegiline I was really more irritable than anxious. Do I have anhedonia, lack of energy and motivation? yeah; probably why I liked its dopamine effects. However, as I mentioned, some of the time it had weird effects on my thinking beyond the stimulant/focussing effect. I wouldn't go so far as to call it hypomania, but I found it somewhat uncomfortable. This was only a problem on the day of taking the 2.5mg and lasted for, say, five or six hours. The next two or three days the mood lift and improved concentration were still very noticeable, but the irritability was a lot less. There is no "comedown" at all, just a gradual return to "normal" mood over a few days.
I was using 1/2 Jumex 5mg tablets, QHI - appear to be manufacturer's original. I think it's very unlikely they were tampered with.
The main reason I stopped was the headaches, which were really very bad and lasted 10 hours plus. (I get very occasional migraine headaches, and the tyramine headaches were worse.) The anxiety/irritability/thought effects were tolerable, and easiest to manage by taking it after work; I'd then go out and see a movie or something (smart drugs go very well with cinema!) and be feeling "normal"-ish for work the next day, but still have improved mood and concentration; I don't like feeling "drugged" at work. Interestingly it never caused insomnia even taken 6 hours before bed, whereas caffeine does for me within 8 hours.
The only other "stimulant" I've used is piracetam, which works really well for a week and actually improves my anxiety, but then makes me edgy and depressed until I stop for a couple of weeks - weird, works best with very occasional use. Does not mix well with selegiline - much more irritability.
I agree that I seem to be very sensitive to this stuff - it's extremely unusual, from what I've read, to get tyramine headaches on such a low dose, or such a strong stimulant effect. There might have been some kind of interaction going on with whatever residual St John's Wort was left (note I had been on what I think was a fairly high dose of that for 5 months - hard to quantify), but the 5 week gap should have washed out most of it, from what I understand. I'm not about to take selegiline again to find out, though! I seem to be unusually sensitive to other stuff as well - paroxetine 20mg gives me heavy morning sedation and side effects even after 8 weeks, then anxiety in the afternoon as it wore off. My doctor is now switching me to venlaxafine XR; I'm hoping to find something with a smoother response.
I did seem to have a "crash" after a couple of weeks when I stopped selegiline, but I can't reliably distinguish this from the underlying depression. It was not a pleasant time in any case. I actually had similar withdrawals in the 5 weeks after (again, abruptly) stopping SJW.
Excuse me for rambling on; no sleep last night, I'm feeling a bit incoherent. I hope my experiences may help you! Anyway, be cautious; it's powerful stuff.
> Thanks so much for this information. The stimulating effects actually sound good to me. I am kind of spaced out and low energy. Do you have a tendency towards anxiety/stimulation or anhedonia, etc?
> What was the main reason you decided to stop the med? The headaches? Anxiety?
> Did you try liquid, pills or what? Could it be possible your meds were cut with an amphetemine? I have heard of this with overseas pharmacies. I think it is less likely with the liquid. Which pharm did you use?
poster:omegon
thread:264250
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030928/msgs/265276.html