Posted by SLS on September 13, 2009, at 15:02:32
In reply to Re: Rhodiola and Parnate, posted by ColoradoSnowflake on September 13, 2009, at 13:30:49
Hi.
I can't make any guarantees of course, but one must sometimes give a dosage change a chance to settle in and allow side effects, both physical and mental, to dissipate. I strongly recommend that you get a test for the blood level of nortriptyline before you discount a dosage increase. Most people find that it takes 75mg to get the full antidepressant effect. In my experience, the addition of Parnate to nortriptyline does not somehow reduce the dosage needed of the nortriptyline.
Recovery from severe depression is rarely linear. It has peaks and valleys. I know it is difficult, but you may have to accept that there will be some down periods that punctuate the overall trend of improvement.
Having said all of that, you might want to try increasing the Parnate first, especially since you have been given the latitude by your doctor to do so. I would then get the nortriptyline blood test. If the level of nortriptyline falls below 50 ng/ml (range = 50-150), I would then look to increase the dosage if you remain dissatisfied with your progress.
- Scott
poster:SLS
thread:916735
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20090912/msgs/916915.html