Posted by psychobot5000 on December 15, 2006, at 21:53:52
In reply to Re: MAOIs Reversable vs. Non » becksA, posted by Quintal on December 15, 2006, at 20:01:37
I think Quintal's response is right on the money. As I understand it Nardil is generally considered the best MAOi for anxiety, and social anxiety. It does also seem to me like it's GABAergic effects would help with benzo withdrawal. Marplan is very similar, and though, as mentioned above, it may not be quite as strong, some say it's better for side-effects.
>"I would recommend Nardil over Parnate, as Nardil has a metabolite called phenylethylidenehydrazine (!) which studies suggest boosts GABA levels in the brain, thereby supposedly exerting the main mechanism behind Nardil's anxiolytic effect. I guess this would come in useful during benzo withdrawal?"
___But I would like to add that the reason the unselective MAOis (with dietary restrictions) are used is that they are indeed more effective. Everyone responds differently, of course, but in one meta-analysis of antidepressants I read (which totaled over three thousand patients), the unselective MAOis achieved a better response than all other drugs, while moclobemide/manerix was THE ONLY drug to achieve (slightly) poorer results than the SSRIs. But I understand many in Europe still find it very useful.
To add, EMSAM is a version of another type of MAOi (the MAO-b selective type), that is probably more effective than moclobemide (though less than phenelzine, marplan, and parnate), but at low doses does not require dietary restrictions. But it's probably not as effective as Nardil for social anxiety.
Best of luck!
poster:psychobot5000
thread:714023
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20061212/msgs/714109.html