Posted by SLS on February 1, 2003, at 14:48:35
In reply to Re: Social Anxiety, about to go on Abilify- questi, posted by utopizen on January 31, 2003, at 23:57:23
> Oh- well so many drugs were being thrown around as possibilities- he must of meant trying Zoloft separately.
> But he did want me to try Nardil plus an antipsychotic. He was concerned that my paranoia from Gabitril (and by paranoia, as in I thought I was either going to die that night or be committed for the rest of my life) indicated I might get too activated on Nardil, and the antipsychotic would help to slow that down. But at a very low dose.
I don't know what is the rationale of your doctor to connect your reaction to Gabitril to a possibly similar reaction to Nardil. He might be right. It seems like a bit of a stretch to me upon reading your post, though. Although both Gabitril and Nardil raise levels of GABA, they do so through different mechanisms and perhaps within different structures of the brain. Other drugs that potentiate GABA include Depakote, Topomax, Sabril, and Neurontin - all of which are also anticonvulsants. I don't think I have ever heard of a bad reaction combining any of these drugs with Nardil.I have heard of a term called GABA-overload. Perhaps this is the basis of your doctor's concern. However, lots of people have reacted badly to Gabitril, experiencing altered cognitive states, delirium, over-activation, insomnia, and anxiety. Gabitril might not be a valid index of one's relative sensitivity to Nardil.
Mechanisms for increasing GABAergic tone:
Gabitril (tiagabine): GABA reuptake inhibition
Nardil (phenelzine): GABA transaminase inhibition
Good luck.
- Scott
poster:SLS
thread:138642
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030130/msgs/138758.html