Posted by g_g_g_unit on January 11, 2010, at 2:39:19
In reply to Re: questions for experienced Nardil users » g_g_g_unit, posted by jedi on January 11, 2010, at 2:16:14
> Hi ggg,
> I'm a long term Nardil user and have tried stopping several times because of the side effects. Over about 12 years I stopped the med about 6 times. Each time my major atypical depression returned. I do have some short term memory loss but I blame that on concurrent use of clonazepam for the same period of time. This benzo is quite noted for disruption of memory. Hard for me to say what Nardil would be like by itself because I have always augmented with something. The one time I raised the dosage up to 90mg in a couple of weeks the side effects were much more pronounced than when I went up slowly.
>
> I have never had the restless leg or myoclonic jerks from Nardil. I did have some jaw clenching, but that was controlled with the clonazepam.
>
> The side effects from Nardil are definitely time and dosage dependent. At high doses of 90mg and above (up to 120 in my case); I had pretty severe afternoon tiredness, insomnia, weight gain and delayed orgasm. On my current 60mg these symptoms are much milder. In the past 60mg would not control my major atypical depression. It seems to be doing the job now. I have always used something for sleep. Right now I rotate between 50mg of diphenhydramine hydrochloride(Benadryl) and 12.5mg of Seroquel. In the past I have used Trazodone. I am really sensitive to the histamine receptor medications.
>
> One thing about Nardil, it is the BOMB(IMHO). When the medication works it can be truly amazing. If your depression is atypical, Nardil can work when no other medication does. And when it does kick in, it is not subtle. For me it was like flipping a switch. I did have some hypomania at first. This is not the true antidepressant effect of the drug. It feels good when you have been depressed for a long time and many people will mistake this for the true antidepressant effect. However, the hypomania will soon go away. Don't try to chase it, you won't find it. In fact after being off the medication for up to nine months, when I started it again, the hypomania never returned.
>
> Just my experiences and we are all different,
> Be well,
> Jedi
>
>
thanks for your response. indeed i mistook the initial hypomania for an AD response, which i insisted on pursuing, despite the fact that higher doses provoked more anxiety in me. i think if i tried it again i would take it a lot slower this time, or at least hold out at a reasonable dose (60mg or so) before moving ahead. these days, i find euphoria kind of unpleasant (i guess because i don't have much to feel euphoric about?), so i don't think i'd make the same mistake.have you ever tried discontinuing your sleep meds, or is it simply not possible to sleep on the drug?
i guess my biggest concerns are its effects on cognition and sleep architecture, especially given my age. nardil's a hassle to casually trial, i found, given the SE's and withdrawal. i've made a tentative promise to myself that i'm going to stick with the next thing that works, even if it's only a 60/70% improvement over my current situation, so i'm trying to weigh things up more logically.
poster:g_g_g_unit
thread:933198
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20100103/msgs/933219.html