Posted by PCH on July 9, 2004, at 17:46:44
In reply to Re: Marplan Dose Info - Please, posted by bobbiedobbs on July 4, 2004, at 4:48:56
Sorry to be so late with my reply. I have been having difficulty w/ this med and felt with a few more days I could provide more information as to how it is working for me.
First I am Atypical and have had this depression for over 20 years. I have tried it all. My best response was to Parnate. This lasted for nine years. I had to stop the drug as I was approaching the doseage outer limits at 220 mgs. Even at this dose I was taking Wellbutrin and dexedrine.
After parnate I experienced only partial responses from dozens of other med trials.
As you noted, Marplan is somewhat of a hidden drug. There is information to be found on it though most of it is old. Some good information can be found on this site by doing a goggle search.
The most current studies suggest the best dose to be above 50mg. 60 is max recommended on the insert though I have heard of 80 and above not being uncommon. Suggested titration is 20mg. first week than adding 10mg. every week or so.
Normally I am very sensitive to ALL meds. With Marplan I ramped up to 60 in less than two weeks with mild side effects. After staying at this level for about a week I started to feel over medicated. Confusion, Memory problems, etc. I dropped 10mg and within 1 day noticed a clearing of side effects and began to think I was on to something positive.
After four or five days on a steady dose I would again feel over medicated and drop another 10mg and start to feel better in a day. This trend continued down to 15mg. I dropped to 10mg. and after 4 days I now find myself back in a deep depression.
As I had some positive results with this drug I am not yet giving up on it. I have worked myself back up to 20mg. over four days. Depression has yet to lift though no feelings of over medication. Hoping for a breakthrough in the next couple of days or I'll have to consider moving on to something else.
Ok, bottom line, my experience seems to be a bit bizzare. There has been enough response where I feel the drug is worth working with. I was amazed to see some results at the low end even for a few days. I would suggest you consider it. If it works the side effects seem to be minimal except for my feelings of being over medicated at times. The restricted diet is not a problem for me though it seems to be bothersome for others.
Some people swear by this med. and it is the only one that works for them. Of course as always, some are unable to tolerate it or it simply does not work for them. So far for me it has been a "teaser".
I spread my dose out over the day though I am told it can be taken all at once.
Sorry to make this such a long post though I hope it has been helpful. Phil H.
poster:PCH
thread:362342
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040704/msgs/364501.html