Posted by Questionmark on May 4, 2013, at 0:41:40
In reply to Re: Memantine: Remarks and Questions » Questionmark, posted by g_g_g_unit on May 1, 2013, at 4:46:21
It's an exTREMe pity, and disappointment. Maybe for some it can be beneficial for OC-type problems though, I don't know.
Reg. your question, it's difficult to answer. These things are so complicated. ... I mean, in some ways there is sort of an inverse correlation for me between depression and my perfectionistic, OCD/OCPD-type problems (at least behaviorally, if not psychologically). When my depression is worse, I care less about things, have less desire -- things like that -- and therefore my perfectionistic compulsive behavior is reduced in many ways. I have major problems with "all-or-nothing" thinking and behavior, and so the more depressed I am the more my behavior shifts to the "nothing" end of the spectrum.
Anyway the point is, Nardil was profoundly helpful for my depression overall, and as a consequence I started caring a lot more about things, and so my compulsive behavior in many ways increased (say, getting ready for the day and trying to make my appearance "good enough" for example, rather than being too depressed to spend as much time & energy on that).
But Nardil is very serotonergic feeling and just very beneficial mood-wise, so it does also help me care much less about many things that would otherwise deeply bother me. Or i.e., my disappointment/bother when things are "imperfect" is also greater when depressed, and vice versa.So it is really difficult for me to say one way or the other how Nardil is for OCD and O-C perfectionistic problems. And I have analyzed this question quite a bit over the years. (My issues are so complex and multi-dimensional and overlapping though, so maybe another person with more straightforward OCD (so-to-speak) could answer better.)
Nardil is *much* better than Parnate for anxiety though, in my opinion (or for me and I would guess most people), so I would definitely consider giving it a try. Parnate and Nardil are very, very different drugs, despite unfortunately being lumped together so often since they're both MAOIs. Nardil is much more serotonergic, and also has the moderate GABA increasing properties (from its metabolite) that Parnate lacks.
But you know, hypothesizing based on pharmacology only goes so far. With something novel, one has to try it to really know how they will be affected. I really saw this again with my memantine trial.But I will say this. Sadly, nothing has really helped my hyper-perfectionistic OCD-type problems significantly (without just making me nonfunctional otherwise of course-- like say being sedated or something). Nothing.
Nevertheless, Nardil was a wonderful gift. .. Far from perfect obviously. It doesn't take away the problems of life -- which are many. And the side effects can be quite bothersome, libido side effects especially. But it can be *profoundly* helpful.
With responsible caution and measured expectations, I would strongly recommend it to anyone who has serious mood and anxiety problems.
> No problem. It's kind of a pity, since Memantine seems to be testing so well for OCD and OC-spectrum type disorders (at least if the scattering of studies on Pubmed are anything to go by). I was really hoping it might be my silver bullet. Being an outlier sucks.
>
> Just out of curiosity - I also suffer from a rather severe perfectionistic streak (in addition to out-and-out OCD) and have been contemplating a Nardil trial. I was on Parnate for 6 months last year and it helped depression and cognition, but worsened my anxiety. Has Nardil had any beneficial impact on your condition?
poster:Questionmark
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URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20130501/msgs/1043162.html