Posted by blueboy on June 2, 2008, at 12:03:36
In reply to Does Nardil Make You Dumb?? hurt creativity?, posted by Klinefelter Dimaggio on June 1, 2008, at 21:46:22
> I was hoping that some fellow babblers might divulge on their experiences with Nardil(positive ones preferably), in particular the cognitive side effects they've encountered. I am a fictional writer so creativity, intellect, verbal ability is extremely important to me. It's how I make a living and crippling this will simply exacerbate my severe depression(although being depressed is hardly helping my writing either).
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> I also suffer from extreme social anxiety, OCD, and agoraphobia. I can't even leave the house to meet with my editor as of late.
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> I'm only 26 years old, and though I currently have no sex life, I'm still deeply concerned about the sexual side effects and weight gain I may incur? How have people managed this inevitable aspect of Nardil? Viagra?
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> Finally, I've been on Zoloft for about six months with little success. How long must I wait before starting an MAOI. Is one week sufficient?
>Okay, I hate to sound like a broken record, but if you are engaged in a creative occupation and have problems with depression, make SURE you are not bipolar before you start taking any anti-depressives. Your symptoms sound very similar to mine, and I spent decades of unsuccessful therapy with antidepressants before finally a specialist told me that, the main reason they weren't working was that I was Bipolar II.
As for Nardil: In my case, it threw me into a state of more-or-less permanent hypomania. Which means that the effect was just the opposite of your fear. If anything, it made me more creative.
The side effects for me were awful. Chronic insomnia, sex difficulties (and Viagra won't help if the problem is difficulty with ejaculation/orgasm), and weight gain, plus a dozen others that came and went. But it was still a heck of a lot better than depression :)
Also, while I'm at it, Nardil didn't help me much with agoraphobia and social phobia. Maybe just a little, I dunno'.
Oh yeah, one other thing. Don't screw around with the drug interaction. I know you're impatient and suffering, but I'd wait longer than the minimum suggested after getting off Zoloft to start Nardil. They are both very powerful drugs and they don't like each other one bit. Try to think about where you'll be in three months.
poster:blueboy
thread:832431
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20080528/msgs/832500.html