Posted by quasimotor on July 30, 2012, at 3:38:21
I'll attempt to brief(ish).
My symptoms would best be described as atypical or agitated depression with GAD, panic disorder and agoraphobia. Definitely not the can't get out of bed depression. Panic attacks, suicidal ideation, anhedonia, etc. but also extremely restless, can't ever sit still, racing thoughts, doing pushups and chainsmoking and walking laps around my house first thing out of bed until three am. Add to that, recovering IV heroin/cocaine addict (two years sober) as well as a recovering bulimic/anorexic (about a year abstinent). I'm a psych dream/nightmare (obviously).
Horrible reactions to meds. Tried all SSRIs and SNRIs; would reduce panic and sometimes depression but would just increase my general level of restlessness and agitation with disastrous consequences. Same with TCAs. Remeron was awesome for anxiety but exacerbated depression and not exactly the best drug to give to a bulimic. APs did nothing more than give me horrifying side effects and make me gain weight with no real reduction in main symptoms. Benzos were okay for agitation and anxiety and I never abused them, but because of past history they are just a bad idea (and klonopin withdrawals pretty much ruined my life a few years ago). Mood stabilizers (depakote, tegretol, lamictal) were useless. I take neurontin (I'm supposed to take 900mg three times a day, usually take a third of that because it seems like a fairly powerful placebo).
I'm about to start taking Parnate (20mg I believe). I am at the tail end of the washout period from Nardil 60mg. It's been a long two weeks. Nardil worked great in a lot of ways. Unlike all other ADs it actually calmed me down a bit and I enjoyed things a lot more, suicidal ideation almost completely disappeared, could focus and interact with people. Very good drug, unfortunate it is rarely prescribed anymore. Most side effects were tolerable and the diet etc was no big deal (I will gladly give up sausage and benadryl to not want to kill myself). The problem was the appetite. Increased appetite sucks for anyone but for a recovering bulimic it's very dangerous.
Thus, the switch to Parnate. I have hopes but honestly the more i read about it the more frightened I get, mainly because it sounds so stimulating. I do not need stimulation. I (sort of) understand the basic psychopharmacology behind the two drugs and their supposed differences, but then again it all seems like alchemy to me sometimes too.
So, has anyone (especially anyone that can identify with my particular set of symptoms) done this switch? Are they really that different? And has anyone who suffers from my particular brand of crazy had luck with any other meds maybe I didn't mention?
Thank you if you took the time to make it this far. I sincerely hope you all find some relief from whatever ails you, however you do it.
poster:quasimotor
thread:1022406
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20120718/msgs/1022406.html