Posted by JadeKelly on November 28, 2008, at 16:09:43
In reply to Re: Need advice! Nardil switch to Parnate!! » JadeKelly, posted by Nardilstarted 2007 on November 26, 2008, at 13:19:23
> Hi Jade. Heres a lil of my story..
> I was on Nardil for almost a year. at the begining I had very very low Blood pressure and couldnt stand up without blacking out (had to rise very slow) I had bad constipation, I had bad anorgasmia, I could barely walk because I was sooo weak, some insomnia (some nights it felt like it was kicking in) Nardil did not work much but better then everything else ive tried in the last 6 years. alcohol made it work as usual (still dont know why. most all side effects abated except anorgasmia, weight gain. I was at 90mgs a day I tried 105 at my last resort then quit cold turkey because it just had no antidepresant/antianxiety effect. I started Parnate the next day at 30 mgs, the next day i did 40mgs, and the third day i did 50 mgs. That wonderful initial feeling sent me manic at fifty mgs so I went back to forty for some weeks. nothing happened except my libito came back and i had insomnia. I went to 50 mgs after 3 weeks or so and i had that great feeling for about 3 days, then nothing. I waited at 50 mgs for 3-4 weeks and felt nothing. I went to 60 mgs and felt great for 3 days then felt nothing. I was taking 1/2 in morning and 1/2 at noon doses. I felt much insomnia and it was easy to get angry. I did like doing stuff more but it still had no positive effects. after 2 weeks at 60mgs a day (30mgs in morning 30 mgs at noon)I all of a sudden felt the AD kicking in! I started laughing and i had very little anxiety I wanted to be out with friends and my old interests came back. Ive now been on 60 mgs for 6 weeks. I still feel it workin good. I just started taking ALL 60 mgs in the morning, it makes my heart race for about 2 hrs and i sweat. my blood pressure is fairly stable except when i eat the odd thing. Im lucky that my BP is not much of a problem, I do have a monitor. Instead of me getting high blood pressure, my heart races a 100 miles an hour when i eat something wrong or at dosing time, I will probably brak my dose in halves again.
> Insomnia sucks.. reallly sucks and i am trying to work that out now. its tough and i dont have an answer how to fix that yet. Dreams are crazy. I dont find Parnate sedating or activating. (neutral for me). I believe I had very few side effects at the begining (like blood pressure) because I was on Nardil just the day before I switched so my body was used to the maoi thing. If you slowly go up in dosage, waiting 2-4 weeks before increasing you will sooner or later feel the "real AD effect kick in" sucks like everything else that you gotta wait. My mornings are still emotional because of parnate and my afternoons are filled with happyness. I have bad sleeps. Im VERY glad that I have a good sex life with Parnate (its the only AD that has ever made me happy while keeping my sex life).
> Its a tough battle trying to cut out the side effects but I will keep using it as long as I can.
> I take Parnate 60mgs, Lamotrigine 200mgs, Hydrochlorosizide 20mgs (its a diuretic and is usually used for high blood pressure, I use it for maoi induced fluid retention, maybe that is why my blood pressure stays fairly good), I take .75mgs of clonazepam a day. thats all my meds. Soon I hope to be just on Parnate and use benzos occasionally and have that blood pressure medication like you have for emergencies. Yes I think your energy will come back because you will be out of depression and Parnate is not very sedating at all.I know that the more you weigh the more Parnate you may need. I think its somewhere around .75mg/kg of body weight. I dont follow that because my brain is so messed up anyway. I DO know that you need 80% or more Monoamine Oxidase inhibition for it to work, so what ever dosage inhibits the oxidase that much should work. WHat is your current dose? for how long? how do you feel?Hi Phil/Parnatestarted2008?? ha
So, its been 6 weeks remission? Thats great! Sure hope that lasts, cause I'm following your lead almost exactly. A few days ago (probably cause of talking to you) I called PDoc and asked him to up my dose, 1st increase btw, from 30mg to 40mg daily. Was on 30mg for 6.5 weeks, on 40mg now for few days. So total 7 weeks. What's my ETA Phil? I know, you don't have a crystal ball. As far as kg, don't know. (Also, the only thing my brain is messed up from is depression, no drug/alcohol abuse) I weigh 125lbs. What dose should I be on? Based on your EXPERIENCE? (which is all I listen to any more) I know it varies some, but that would give me an idea how much longer.....
Is your 60mg low or high (didn't know which you meant) for a guy/your weight? I take it in one dose in the morning. Almost as soon as I increased it I got that great feeling again, not euphoric, just me in a good mood. Last night during dinner with family (14 people) I just sort of panicked and after dinner went to another room with my dad. Came home and went to my room to hide, haha. Then this morning, feel good again, now too, expect that around dinner time it'll be back to my room. Pathetic, I know. This would be the 3rd day of feeling good, and the third eve of feeling like retreating as usual. But I'll take what I can get! I think next time I increase (to 50mg) I will split doses, as I also get that racing heart thing AND maybe then I will feel the same all day instead of crash and burn at 6/7pm. I'm expecting what you told me, and trying to get as much done as I can before it(depression) hits again. But SOOOO glad you responded to my posts as I know this is all normal. I'd be spending my days trying to figure out what the heck is going on!!
So that stinks about the insomnia. I, too, take clonazapam but want to get off it. I was only on it for a neck/nerve injury. I forget to take it half the time. But what gets me a really good sleep, is the clonazapam, plus 6mg melatonin. Try it. I think you'll be surprised. Maybe not, but hey :^)
I'm curious, you said I think a couple of other meds worked for you? Do you mind telling me about those: Med name, how long till it worked, dose, how long till it stopped working, or why did you d/c, what you augmented with it, etc. If Parnate stopped working today, what med would you go back to?
The reason I ask, is that a poster, Scott, (SLS), came up with the theory that if you were to make two lists, one of meds that worked (for any amt of time), and one list of meds that were complete duds, you could work up a pretty good profile as to what neurotransmitters you are "low" in, and which ones you should leave alone. Like when I tried SSRI's a few times, they freaked me out so bad I had to stop in a matter of days. I couldn't look people in the eye. And I usually don't suffer from anxiety. So if PDoc even brings it up I shut it right back down. I've come to the conclusion that I need dopamine type a/d's. But even those I'm learning, if not delivered in the right way, won't work. Like Wellbutrin, not stong enough delivery. But combined with another dopamine med maybe perfect. Again, theory. But sounds right to me.
I thought that my initial "great" response to MAOI's meant that they were the only answer for me, and the response unique to my type depression, and that may still be true. But I think anyone who had a rush of NE/epinephrine would be feeling pretty good, right? So, the fact that your depressive symptoms were a lot like the ones I have, and you are now in remission, means??? That I will be in remission soon too!!!! Aren't I brilliant? haha
Hope to hear from you soon,
~Jade
poster:JadeKelly
thread:863385
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20081123/msgs/865631.html