Posted by Sunbath on October 26, 2009, at 7:14:55
In reply to Re: Parnate distinct diff.effects,acute and long term? » Sunbath, posted by ColoradoSnowflake on October 24, 2009, at 16:30:12
Hi Gayle!!
Thank you sooo much for your extremely positive and very encouraging post!
It's really giving me hope!
Thank you so much that you care :)> I think this part doesn't happen to some people and that's great. It happened bad to me but I felt OK about it. I had this feeling that residues of all the other psychotropic drugs I have taken were getting cleared out of my brain. I felt it was a brain "housecleaning" period. A few times when I was asleep i had that whirring-shooting-buzzing thing in my head that I associate with coming off some drug. But I never felt anxious or suicidal. I went through that phase for a long time.
You really had a rough time! Amazing that you had the power to stay on it for so long and absolutely GREAT that it payed you off :)
You must also have a really good pdoc who motivated you enough to get through that time!Is he treating many patients with MAOIs? And how old is she/he?
I don't have a pdoc who is experienced in MAOIs, which isn't good, but I never had a better one and I really doubt that there were many in my country who are experienced..
>
> Now, I don't have any of that. I feel good all the time. I am very level. I am sleeping better and better. I have started dreaming a LOT.Really really great, I wonder if this feels a bit like the effects I already noticed or if it's totally different!
> I was taking all my 70mg Parnate in the evening. As I felt better I started taking some Parnate during the day. Now I am spreading it out over the day and that is working well. I sort of think at this point I could probably take it anytime and it would be OK, but keeping it more regular in my bloodstream seems like a good thing to do.That sounds like a good idea, does that feel any different to you?How much do you take at once?
For me it's 30mg when I wake up and another 20mg around noon.> One thing I have surprised about Parnate is that for me it is Pro-Sexual. I hadn"t taken any drugs that I thought were bad that way before, but Parnate is WOW. I would recommend it for that aspect by itself! Have you had that also?
Do I understand you right?You never took any SSRI/SNRI before? Or do you mean they didn't have any negative effects on you in that regard?
I know my ex girlfriend had MUCH lower sex drive on effexor and escitalopram and was quite numb.
I myself hate SSRIs because of that.
Parnate is totally different for me, but it also lowered my sex drive considerably. Especially at the beginning. It's much better now and still improving I guess. It feels different though and isn't as numbing as any serotonergic drug I've taken before!
I heard that so often already that Parnate was Pro Sexual, but all who told me were women I think. Could it be that it has this effect in women but the opposite in men? Would be very interesting to know, but I guess it's just the usual: everyone's so different :)> So I think at this point, 6 months for me, it is great. I feel what I would call "normal"!! It's really good!!
I'm so glad!! You are one of the very few who finally managed to have success and I'd be honored to step in your toes :D
If your story doesn't motivate others not to give up I really don't know what would!
Thanks that you are still posting!!> I kept increasing the Parnate every 5-7 days until I got to 80mg/day. I felt sort of "chemical" so I backed down to 70mg/day. I've tried 60mg and that just doesn't feel right. So I'm going to stick with 70mg.
You were increasing the dose so fast from the beginning? Wow! But how did you know for example that 40mg wouldn't suffice back then? Now you know what dose does work for you best, but when starting Parnate.. how did you know? That's something I'd like to find out for myself. I really DON'T know what should be my target dose, when to increase it and how long to stay on a certain level. Did your pdoc tell you to get up to a certain "higher" dose?
Sad enough I cannot rely on my pdodcs advice on that matter, because she simply doesn't know and she's sticking to the rules completely. These are for example: 40mg is max. Can be increased to a maximum of 60mg, but only for inpatients!
That's ridiculous of course given that so many studies done used higher doses especially in TRD and that researchers didn't find any increased risk for serious side effects on higher doses (no increased risk of hypertensive reactions...).
Also I think my pdoc is a bit anxious, because I was responding so fast (after 10 days) and so complete. I guess that's not so common if you use conventional meds only ;)
Maybe she thinks I could get addicted or was in a hypomanic state or something.
I'll try to get an "official" approval taking a higher dose in a few weeks again :P
I understand now that the first weeks/months will be rough! That's totally ok and I accept it. It's just so strange and hard to believe that what I felt after 10days was something else since I had a complete response. I don't want to accept that this was only some amphetamine high :(
Now that I am on 50mg (increased from 40mg) for a few days I'm again feeling much better.
I'm feeling good (physically) without the inner tension and anxiety I always had the last years! My body feels so good, as if I was suddenly lighter by many kilos :D
I absolutely hope that the final, steady effect parnate would give me would address this inner tension feeling too and that I would get rid of it for years!
It's as if I was finally awaken from a bad dream that lasted for 8years+. I had forgotten how a "normal" body feeling felt like long ago it seems.
And that are only the somatic problems parnate got rid off so far.. I have much more energy when I wake up in the morning and am motivated to getting things done and most importantly mood is good most of the time OCD is non existent so far and the overall anxiety level is near zero.There's still that afternoon drowsiness problem though and yesterday when trying to learn something for a course, I found out that even when I'm not tired I'm having some memory problems including difficulty concentrating. This isn't good of course when learning..
I also cought me unusually often forgetting what I was about to do, or telling people things twice because I had forgotten that I already told them a few days ago. Is this normal? Did you experience that too at the beginning?This and the tiredness were bothering me so much that I went shopping yesterday getting very expensive Provigil. The Adrafinil will take another week to arrive and I thought it would be good to be able to compare those 2..
I only took 50mg because I wanted to be safe and it was already early in the afternoon. It didn't do much, but I noticed an energizing effect as I wasn't as tired as normal at around 5pm.
Today I slept only 6hours and took 100mg.. well let's see..>
> Sunbath, and Maxime, too, I hope this part of it isn't so long for you guys. I think I'm quite a bit older and that has probably added to the adjustment period.Thanks! I also hope that ;) But also if not, I'll hang in there..
> I'm really glad I don't drink anymore. I had much more than my share during all those years of self-medicating with amphetamines and booze. The Parnate is doing a much better job!Big congratulations!That's something many people fail to get rid off..
That's true for me too and I really really hope that Parnate helps me stay clean except the occasional beer when going out with friends..
Since it's as you say an attempt to self medicate, to cope with social situations and to feel good, it might work out.. just need to stop now. I think drinking alcohol regularily might also prevent Parnate from working at its fullest?What do you think? I once stumbled across a study showing that drinking alcohol during therapy with Parnate was associated with poorer outcome, but that might be true with any antidepressant and depression as an illness in general and not some particular effect with Parnate I think, but who knows..Thank you Gayle for all your support and the nice words!
I'm glad you're doing so well!
Good luck to you too! All the best! Enjoy life!!
Sunbath
poster:Sunbath
thread:922198
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20091021/msgs/922559.html