Posted by Gab2010 on January 12, 2011, at 17:45:51
In reply to Re: Advice please re. clomipramine/anafranil, posted by Brainbeard on January 12, 2011, at 14:42:41
Hi Brainbeard,
I can't thank you enough for your reply - it was very helpful to hear your experience. I guess your info re the prozac knocks out my other theory, which was to stay on the prozac while adjusting to the clomipramine to try to buffer the side effects. Still a bad idea? (I'm guessing my doc must have known this, which would have been why he just swapped over instead). I guess I was just trying to think of a way to switch meds without feeling like I'm white-knuckling it for two months, but maybe I'm a bit SOL.
I'm wondering what the (roughly) equivalent dose of Clomipramine would be to the 12mgs of Prozac that I was on? I would agree that I will end up needing more CL than this starting dose. I feel so torn because it took me a solid two months to stabilize after going on the prozac, and while I'm switching because of the cystitis issue, I just don't know if I can hang in there and deal with another two months of stabilization. I've also noticed a sharp increase in depression (could be induced by dealing w the added anxiety, though)... And since I've done the med-merry-go-round before, I feel like I don't have too many more options.
You said that the CL is superior - do you mean also as compared to Prozac? Have you experienced the difference between being on an SSRI and the CL?
I smiled at your brain fog comment as I have felt the same way - but rest assured, you seem awfully coherent and intelligence intact.
Again, can't thank you enough for your helpful info!!!
Best,
Gab
> Hi.
>
> Clomipramine can exacerbate anxiety and inner turmoil at first. The Prozac lingering on in your blood will inhibit the breakdown of clomipramine's noradrenergic metabolite, which can result in too much stimulation.
>
> You could get stable somewhere around the third or fourth week. For panic, only a little clomipramine can be enough. For everything else, you'll probably need more than 12(.5?) milligrams. The extra anxiety can reappear with every raise in dose. Dosage changes included, it took me at least two months to become stable on clomipramine. I have been as stupid as lowering the dose recently, only to have my OCD come back with a vengeance. I'm raising the dose again, but am still unstable.
>
> My main side-effects are dry mouth, orthostatic hypotension = getting very dizzy when moving from a sitting/lying to a standing position and trouble getting an orgasm. Oh yeah, and brain fog. Sometimes I wonder if it's the clomipramine or I'm really that dumb.
>
> Clomipramine is old-school, unmarketed, superior. Hope it can help you.
>
poster:Gab2010
thread:949082
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20101231/msgs/976638.html