Posted by pedr on August 11, 2010, at 14:43:03
In reply to Nardil is killing me - must find alternative! Help, posted by Enigma on July 24, 2010, at 13:01:13
Hi Enigma,
sorry you're feeling so horrible. My Dx is not dissimilar. I have atypical "treatment resistant" depression and OCD. On top of that I have chronic IBS-C which leaves me in varying degrees of pain and discomfort every day. I also have tried the standard groups of meds and cannot tolerate many (e.g. a tiny Paxil dose gave me daytime nightmares, like being in a Tim Burton film). I'm on 90mg Nardil and it has helped more than anything I've tried by miles. Still I go through periods of depression which typically last 5-6 days. I don't know why. I just sit tight and wait for them to pass.I was 150 lb when my IBS-C was bad (you become afraid of all food and so you stop eating it) but my "normal" weight has always been ~ 170lb. Now I am 200lb. Like you, nothing I seem to do touches it - exercise, diet and so on. I also look and feel pregnant with that weird big belly but lean limbs look. Makes my SA really difficult on the subway, I'm convinced that people are staring at me.
Here's your list of SE's (I get or have had all of them and more) with any advice I have:
Nardil causes
- fatigue,
--- have you considered adding Provigil? Some people report excellent results. Didn't do squat for me.
- insomnia (need 2-3 meds to sleep at night),
--- apparently melatonin can be taken with Nardil. The bottle says not, as do some websites. But my shrink thinks it's OK, and lots of people have tried it. Perhaps give it a go.
- constant overheating/sweating/uncontrollable body temp (too high/can't cool down - drinking coffee makes me sweat!), unbearable in humidity (I could ALWAYS tolerate it before Nardil),
- now crying spells (new, never had them until 1 year ago or 6 months ago - some severe crying spells - suicidal - uncontrollable crying - loud, severe. (not a side effect, I think it's pooping out. Nardil never caused this before - been on nardil for 2-3 years) - 75 mg.
--- have you considered 90mg or higher? or augmentation with Provigil?
- Max dose causes (blood pressure problems, dizzy spells when bending over, raising head back up, fairly bad. Hyptotension? I forget the term.
--- I used to get this but it has passed. Not sure why yours is persisting. Try 2 things: 1/ drink loads of water. This increases blood pressure. 2/ increase your salt intake (as long as your doc approves). This also increases blood pressure. I was able to play soccer as long as I did these steps beforehand.
- Anorgasmia
- Inability to regulate body temperature/overheating
- Severe fatigue
- Unable to lose weight, weight gain from eating little to no calories - very low carb diet
>> If anyone knows of anything that will help, please toss on your comments. Just looking in the mirror after a shower causes depression. Now I wear a beach/surfer shirt to hide my body at the pool/beach. :(Looking in the mirror can't cause depression directly. I know that you probably know that but it's true. It sounds as though body image is incredibly (excessively?) important to you. Don't get me wrong, I don't like looking pregnant either (and it's cost me a fortune in clothing) and I get anxious&down about it often, but since there's f-all you can do about it, the only thing left to do is change your attitude towards your body image. Accept that this is the way it's going to be whilst on Nardil. If you can make peace with the weight gain, the less it will get you down and the better you will feel.
Apologies if that came across as preachy-sounding, it wasn't intended to be, it's just my suggestion.
Pete
Treatment Resistant depression, anxiety, OCD: 13 years
IBS-C & GERD: 8 years
Current meds: 90mg Nardil, 300mg Zantac, 20mg Prilosec
poster:pedr
thread:955737
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20100811/msgs/958261.html