Posted by mtdewcmu on December 21, 2009, at 11:12:02
In reply to Swapping Parnate for Effexor., posted by SLS on December 8, 2009, at 10:29:39
> Is this as good as it gets?
>
> I don't think so. I won't settle for being barely employable and doomed to live an empty life. I want more. Parnate is not making it happen for me. It was nice in the beginning. However, even with the lithium added, I'm stuck. I believe that a greater improvement in the quality of my life is there for me to be had. I am not looking for perfection. Complete remission may not be in my future. However, I do expect to feel greater than a 50% improvement. I am stuck at 35%. That sucks. However, if that indeed is as good as it gets, at least I will have tried to move forward.
>
> Five or six years ago, I had been taking a combination of Effexor 300mg and nortriptyline 75mg. It helped, but was inadequate. The doctor should have tested my blood level of nortriptyline. He did not. In retrospect, we now know that I was significantly underdosed with nortriptyline. I predict that I will do better with the 150mg that I am currently taking when we combine it with the Effexor.
>
> I know that I can always go back to an MAOI if my planned treatment changes do not produce adequate results. Although making these changes is a gamble of sorts, I think it is a good investment of time to look for a better quality of life.
>
>
> - ScottAs long as you are piling on the meds, you might as well add a drug like Remeron, which will synergistically enhance the effects of the Effexor and Nortriptyline. Adding Serzone or an atypical would be other options for adding 5-HT2 inhibition. Why stop at only 2 or 3 meds?
poster:mtdewcmu
thread:928515
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20091217/msgs/930162.html