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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 14 of 14. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Sunbath on August 27, 2009, at 6:53:41
just wondering.. is the chance of gaining really much weight compareable to amitriptyline or less likely? How much gain is common?
If anyone has some data regarding this it would be very helpful!
Also if someone happens to know a country inside the EU where it's available..Thank you all and have a nice day ;)
Posted by jms600 on August 27, 2009, at 7:20:24
In reply to How bad is weight gain with nardil?, posted by Sunbath on August 27, 2009, at 6:53:41
I believe Nardil is more likely to cause weight gain than amitriptyline but I don't think it's in the same league as drugs like Zyprexa.
Nardil is available with a prescription in Britain. If you don't have a prescription it can be legally imported for personal use but if you do that make sure you go for the branded stuff.
Sorry I can't be of more help!
Posted by atypical on August 27, 2009, at 8:14:18
In reply to How bad is weight gain with nardil?, posted by Sunbath on August 27, 2009, at 6:53:41
I don't have any data for you, but I can tell you from personal experience. I am a fit person, 152 lbs (before Nardil). I have taken many medications over the years. Only Nardil has resulted in any weight gain. I am 160 lbs. now. HOWEVER, this has been two months on Nardil. As my body gets used to it and I divide the doses the right way, I feel I am now beginning to drop the weight I initially gained. I have more energy now and my physiology has sped up enough to burn more calories even while not exercising.
> just wondering.. is the chance of gaining really much weight compareable to amitriptyline or less likely? How much gain is common?
> If anyone has some data regarding this it would be very helpful!
> Also if someone happens to know a country inside the EU where it's available..
>
> Thank you all and have a nice day ;)
Posted by Phillipa on August 27, 2009, at 11:44:09
In reply to Re: How bad is weight gain with nardil?, posted by atypical on August 27, 2009, at 8:14:18
I think it depends on the person some gain none and some gain a lot of weight. Phillipa just from my reading.
Posted by stargazer2 on August 27, 2009, at 20:55:40
In reply to How bad is weight gain with nardil?, posted by Sunbath on August 27, 2009, at 6:53:41
I originally had the side effect of swelling in my feet and ankles, then that subsided and overall I have gained 15 to 20 lbs. I don't care too much about weight gain anymore. It was either risk gaining weight or checking out, so those were the choices. I was always fairly slim without a weight issue but I also turned 50, so that probably played a factor in weight gain too. I'm not fat now but I'm not a spring chicken anymore. You have to be discipined with watching what you eat and working out if you gain. Just a fact of Nardil life.
Posted by Girlnterrupted78 on August 28, 2009, at 15:15:57
In reply to How bad is weight gain with nardil?, posted by Sunbath on August 27, 2009, at 6:53:41
I was on Nardil for a whole year, switching between 60mgs, 75mgs and 90mgs. Mostly I stayed on 60mgs. I did gain around 25 lbs in that year. This was very unusual for me because my weight affects my self-esteem (and depression), so as soon as I gain even 5 lbs or so, I run to the gym to lose them.
This wasn't possible for me on Nardil. I did go to the gym and I felt I wasn't burning calories, as I could not exercise to my fullest. It was a strange feeling of lethargy and lack of energy. I don't know if most of the gain was due to the metabolic changes caused by Nardil, or the fact that I was overeating (I had terrible carb cravings on Nardil and was constantly snacking on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.)
So this is my story. Nardil didn't work for me anyway. I stayed on it a whole year because I have treatment resistant depression and I had my highest hopes for it. I also had a terrible pdoc at the time who refused to augment Nardil with anything, so I stayed an additional 6 months on it while I tried to find someone who would agree to augment.
Before I could find anybody, my weight got so high that I quit it completely. The 2 weeks after I quit Nardil, I literally couldn't eat. I felt disgusted by food and immediately started shedding the pounds. Within a few weeks I was back on my normal weight.
Hope this helps
Good luck
Posted by Sunbath on August 29, 2009, at 2:29:36
In reply to Re: How bad is weight gain with nardil?, posted by Girlnterrupted78 on August 28, 2009, at 15:15:57
Thanks a lot Girlnterrupted!
If big weight gain is such a probability I won't touch it so soon..I wish you good luck and all the best with your Parnate trial!! :)
Posted by Sunbath on August 29, 2009, at 2:30:52
In reply to Re: How bad is weight gain with nardil?, posted by Phillipa on August 27, 2009, at 11:44:09
Posted by Girlnterrupted78 on August 30, 2009, at 4:35:03
In reply to Re: How bad is weight gain with nardil? » Girlnterrupted78, posted by Sunbath on August 29, 2009, at 2:29:36
Hello Sunbath,
> Thanks a lot Girlnterrupted! If big weight gain is such a probability I won't touch it so soon..
My pleasure. But I wouldn't rule it out so soon. It does work for a lot of people and everyone gains weigh differently.
If I had to do it all over again, I'd still probably do it. However, I'd do two things differently: From the getgo I'd get a doctor who WOULD be willing to augment/potentiate Nardil with another medication. This is one of the reasons I had to stay on it for so long without receiving any benefits from the med while also gaining weight, because I couldn't find a doctor who would potentiate it, and my doctor at the time refused to. It was just my bad luck, or maybe lack of preparation. I never thought my pdoc would refuse, it was shocking actually.
And second, you might not need a whole year to give it a fair trial like I did. Give it some 3-4 months with the highest allowed doses. (or whatever your pdoc recommends, it would most likely be a lot less than a year...) If it doesn't work, augment it. If augmentation doesn't do anything, (or maybe it does??) then you can quit it, and that would be probably less than a year and less weigh gain. And you will likely drop the weight immediately after discontinuing the Nardil.
But if the medication turns out to work for you, you'd just have to decide if whatever weight you put on bothers you more than the depression Nardil could be successfully treating. You can also try to keep the weight down by exercising and controlling yourself. I had a hard time doing that, but who knows, I've read of some people who have been able to do that.
> I wish you good luck and all the best with your Parnate trial!! :)
Thanks a lot. Have you considered Parnate? My first choice for an MAOI was Nardil, but strangely and unfortunately it did nothing for me. I didn't augment it, and that was probably a mistake, but I had bad luck with that doc.
Now I'm giving Parnate a trial and keeping my fingers crossed. And this time I have the right doctor who will augment the med with anything that we can get our hands on!
All the best,
GI
Posted by SLS on August 30, 2009, at 6:55:37
In reply to Re: How bad is weight gain with nardil? » Sunbath, posted by Girlnterrupted78 on August 30, 2009, at 4:35:03
> Now I'm giving Parnate a trial and keeping my fingers crossed. And this time I have the right doctor who will augment the med with anything that we can get our hands on!
Do you guys have a list of candidate drugs to use as adjuncts to Parnate?
For the most part, you can take just about anything that does not block the reuptake of serotonin. These serotonergic drugs would include:
SSRIs
SNRIs
imipramine
clomipramineI'm not sure about Remeron.
What drugs have you responded favorably to, regardless of time or magnitude of improvement?
- Scott
Posted by Girlnterrupted78 on August 30, 2009, at 17:02:29
In reply to Re: How bad is weight gain with nardil? » Girlnterrupted78, posted by SLS on August 30, 2009, at 6:55:37
> > Now I'm giving Parnate a trial and keeping my fingers crossed. And this time I have the right doctor who will augment the med with anything that we can get our hands on!
> Do you guys have a list of candidate drugs to use as adjuncts to Parnate?
I don't have a list, my pdoc probably does. He only mentioned Abilify to me as his first choice. At some point he also mentioned thyroid hormones, and when I asked about Lamictal, he said that could be a choice as well.
After reading this board, I also mentioned Nortriptyline to him, but he didn't seem to have much of a response. He didn't even seem to have that drug in mind. How did you guys come up with the nortrip? Is it documented to be superior as augmentor to Abilify and others?
> What drugs have you responded favorably to, regardless of time or magnitude of improvement?
I only have responded to Celexa (extremely good response, too good to be true--it tackled my social anxiety & depression very well,) and Zoloft (Mild response to it--didn't do anything for my SA, somewhat helped depression, and was extremely good at controlling some OCD tendencies I was not even aware I had. I became more productive, less obsessive, less compulsive on it.)
No response to: Nardil, Effexor, Wellbutrin, Paxil, Lexapro, and no response to Abilify, Thyroid and Lithium as SSRI augmenters.
Thanks for the suggestions, if you have any of those articles mentioned by ColoradoSnowFlake handy (about Nortryptiline being a good choice as an MAOI augmentor) I'd really appreciate if you could link me to it.
Thanks again.
Posted by ace on August 30, 2009, at 23:14:18
In reply to How bad is weight gain with nardil?, posted by Sunbath on August 27, 2009, at 6:53:41
> just wondering.. is the chance of gaining really much weight compareable to amitriptyline or less likely? How much gain is common?
There is usually weightgain, but it can be managed...! All I can say is that any weight-gain is offset by the wonderful effects Nardil provides!
> If anyone has some data regarding this it would be very helpful!
> Also if someone happens to know a country inside the EU where it's available..
>
> Thank you all and have a nice day ;)All the best!
Ace
Posted by Sunbath on September 2, 2009, at 17:15:39
In reply to Re: How bad is weight gain with nardil? » Sunbath, posted by ace on August 30, 2009, at 23:14:18
Posted by pedr on September 15, 2009, at 12:59:47
In reply to How bad is weight gain with nardil?, posted by Sunbath on August 27, 2009, at 6:53:41
> just wondering.. is the chance of gaining really much weight compareable to amitriptyline or less likely? How much gain is common?
> If anyone has some data regarding this it would be very helpful!
> Also if someone happens to know a country inside the EU where it's available..
>
> Thank you all and have a nice day ;)Sorry, I don´t know of any data on this, just my own experience which is that I have not gained a single pound in weight.
This could partially be down to my restrictive IBS diet but it´s not like my appetite has gone through the roof or anything.
Cheers,
Pete
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