Hi.
I'm sorry that you haven't received any responses to your post. You ask a lot of great questions. I don't know how to best answer them, though. People's reactions to Parnate are quite variable. It would be difficult to predict how you as an individual will respond to Parnate.
> Does anyone have any advice before I go on it? What's it like? Any experiences? Can it cure my apathy/low libido?
Your symptoms are often treated succesfully with Parnate. However, if you fail to respond to Parnate, that does not mean that you would fail to respond to Nardil as well.
> So far I've tried many, many meds, and they have almpst all felt like sugar pills. Do you actually FEEL normal on it? Or do you feel better, but in a different way?
It has been my experience that when I respond well to a drug treatment, I feel completely cured. I feel well in every way.
> I heard that initially it feels like a stimulant, but that goes away after a few days,
This is true.
> then it feels like an antidepressant.
Hopefully. However, it can take 4 weeks or more to respond to Parnete once you reach the right dosage. The key phrase is "once you reach the right dosage". It might take your doctor a few months to hunt for the right dosage. Personally, I think that most people with a biologically-driven depressive disorder respond to a dosage range of 40 - 80 mg/day.
> I'm afraid that after the stimulation goes away, that "antidepressant" feeling will disappoint me, because on other meds that "feeling" has been nothing at all.
>
> I don't know, anyone have anything to say about it?
You might consider that your illness has a bipolar component, even if you have never experienced mania. This would open up a different approach towards treatment that would include the use of mood stabilizers.
Does mental illness exist in your family? If so, what diagnoses have been assigned to different family members?
How old were you when your condition first appeared?
- Scott
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