Posted by Elizabeth on December 27, 2001, at 21:59:53
In reply to Re: This combination may work. » Elizabeth, posted by svevo1922 on December 16, 2001, at 5:27:56
> I really like ripe bananas, red wine, smoked meats and some aged cheeses. My roommates are fond of all of these too. I wouldn't want to be in a situation where I was too depressed to go out, hungry and looking at a smoked salami.
I think you're ruling out a good option unnecessarily, but okay. Red wine and bananas are okay, BTW. And Parnate and selegiline don't usually cause weight loss, as I think I mentioned. Selegiline, especially at low doses, may not have as much risk of food interactions. For me the main hard part of taking MAOIs was not being able to take decongestants.
> I can't recall what dose of Remeron I was taking but I'm sure it was relatively low. I've heard that the weight gain problem lessens as the dose increases, too. But I wasn't going to wait to get that point.
Well, I started at 30 mg and never had any problems with side effects. I increased it rapidly to 60 mg.
> Since it's such an emblematically unilateral relationship, I can't say to them, have you ever been in this situation? How many times has that happened to you? How would you feel about facing it again?
I've actually asked therapists and doctors these kinds of questions myself. I find it helps to find a clinician who treats you as an equal, although that's easier said than done.
> I also think it's very unfortunate that most psychologists and psychiatrists are not required to go into therapy themselves.
All psychoanalysts have to go through psychoanalysis themselves. Clinical psychologists often (perhaps always) have "peer counseling" in grad school, as well as going through an internship where they're supervised by a more experienced psychologist.
Personally, I think psychiatrists ought to be required to take some of the drugs they prescribe!
> Were they to experience the personal vulnerability and the financial burden that many people experience in therapy, they might understand better how sometimes what they're asking is unreasonable, if not impossible.
Lots of people have experienced financial burdens, because of health care costs or school or trying to buy a home or whatever. You might try to get them to connect that to your problems.
> Your point about Prozac is interesting and I'll talk to my doc about it. I wanted to switch to Prozac because it was the only SSRI that I dramatically helped my mood. I took it years ago, but had to stop because of the side effects.
Well, you might want to check the clomipramine level if you're going to keep taking. I believe that much of clomipramine's activity is thought to be due to the active secondary-amine metabolite desmethylclomipramine (which probably has milder side effects), so it's not entirely clear what clinical effect the Prozac would have (the metabolism of clomipramine into desmethylclomipramine is what would be inhibited by Prozac).
> When I talk about wt gain, I'm exaggerating a little. I'm far from clinically overweight, but I don't like the way this weight looks on me. I've fallen into the habit of raising the alarm early before I got to a weight that actually was really too heavy.
That's probably a good thing (to a point, anyway). I never had weight problems in my life until I took Nardil, and I've gotten much more watchful but I still often forget to think about it.
> Re the dry mouth: I chew gum alot when I can although not all situations are appropriate to do that. I drink lots of water and swish it around my mouth before swallowing it. I like the ice because the chewing causes salivation and the cold
> deadens the pain a bit.I remember being in the hospital and eating lots of ice chips when I was on a NPO order. Very satisfying, and one of the few things I remember from that time!
> I was thinking of getting some Ambesol and trying that.
Ambesol -- isn't that for mouth sores (canker sores, e.g.)? If it's what I'm thinking of, I don't think it would help with the dry mouth although it might help relieve the irritation. Do you ever get those cracks on the edges of your lips? I've found that prevention is the best way to deal with those. I try to keep water or a sugar-free drink handy at all times and use lip balm (Blistex) when my lips start getting crunchy
> I had some Carmol lip balm around and I've smeared that over my lips and even over my gums a little since it's supposed to be good for cold sores.
Do you have actual cold sores, or just sores related to dry mouth? Because there are specific treatments for cold sores that you could try if that's part of the problem.
> I've tried the increased doze of benzo. Doesn't always quell the RLS, unfortunately.
Huh. There are other things that help with that, although I don't know much about it unfortunately.
> For th4e gastrointestinal problem which is not constipation, I've been told to take a stool softener. I do whenever I remember, whidh has been twice in two months. I am definitely resistant to feeling like an old person at this age having to take things like that.
It's not constipation but you're supposed to take a stool softener? Umm...I'm having trouble here. (If you don't want to go into it I understand, but it's hard to help if I don't know what I'm trying to help with.)
> And as I sd earlier, adhering to this mixture in the face of the s.e.'s is where willpower really comes in.
Yeah, that's the truth!
-elizabeth
poster:Elizabeth
thread:87023
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20011222/msgs/87996.html