Posted by Elizabeth on April 26, 2002, at 19:27:11
In reply to Re: don't freak out II, posted by Iago Camboa on April 25, 2002, at 4:47:33
> I shall begin by the end: I began to take amphetamine on a regular basis (during the said 3 weeks, which could have turned out to be 6 or more as well) because I was left with no alternative at the time...
Ahh -- for depression, then?
> I was at the time a heavy smoker and a heavy drinker and for me much alcohol and MAOIs always made me kind of aggressive (I'm pacific by nature in stead) which quality was perhaps further enhanced (or rather aggravated) by constant use of hypnotics: all things put together were like dynamite...
MAOIs can be kind of disinhibiting, and sedative-hypnotics are too, of course. I expect that's why you got aggressive on them.
> I must now explain that the drug (i.e. the MAOI) was regularly dispatched to me by my father by mail. (Hypnotics (and amphetamines) were available locally).
Where were you at the time, and where are you from? (I assume your father was in your home country?)
> Now a beautiful day, mail services somehow got 'kaput' and I was left without the precious chemical... And I could NOT 'afford' to have either a 'withdrawal syndrome' or a 'nasty depression'...
You did right. MAOI withdrawal symptoms can be very unpleasant, to say the least. I've often thought that amphetamine would probably be a good substitute in a pinch, too.
> I could not assemble my men and tell them: now, kids, you are going to stand by for a while and to behave properly while I'm having a little depression next door...
What do you mean when you say, "I could not assemble my men..." ? Were you in the military?
> For me nialamide was not very distinct from phenelzine (the only two MAOIs then available to me and the only ones I have ever taken) except in that it was even more powerful than the latter; but it diminished its power in less than 7 months or so and it was not the kind of drug which could be uped without all manner of nasty side effects.
Phenelzine and nialamide are both hydrazine MAOIs, so it's not surprising that they felt similar. When I took phenelzine, it started losing its effect after I'd been taking it for something between 6 and 12 months; I even started getting symptoms that I hadn't had before taking it. Increasing the dose didn't help. After I stopped, the new symptoms (irritability, agitation, impulsivity, etc.) didn't go away for many months. I thought maybe it was a dysphoric mania, but none of the several antimanic drugs that I tried during that time helped at all. (Also, I was usually feeling lethargic and slept a lot -- not exactly my idea of "mania.")
> But it was very easy to switch from the one drug to the other without any intervall (not even a single day) between the two...
If you're trying to avoid withdrawal symptoms, that's the way to do it. (I once switched from tranylcypromine to isocarboxazid with just two days in between -- risky, but my doctor thought that waiting would be riskier.)
> When nialamide's availability was discontinued in this country I imported it from Spain for a few more years; but that drug's star was an unlucky one: it vanished from Spain too and I suspect it vanished altogether. Perhaps Pfizer one day resurrects it...
I think it may still be used somewhere. If it is, though, it's not here (US) or Canada.
> As for dexedrine I continued to use it but only sparingly and always as 'sports medicine'...
What do you mean by "sports medicine?" (Recreational use, just for fun? Performance enhancement? Both? Something else?)
I'm glad to hear that you're enjoying the adrafinil. Have you every taken modafinil, and if so do you know how the two drugs differ? (While many people find modafinil useful as a stimulant or antidepressant, I've never heard anyone use the phrase "communion with all Nature" in describing it.)
-elizabeth
poster:Elizabeth
thread:103502
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020425/msgs/104241.html