Posted by Tomatheus on December 19, 2005, at 21:03:32
In reply to maoi questions, posted by platinumbride on December 19, 2005, at 11:41:59
Platinumbride,
Based on your post, it seems to me that the decision between Nardil and Parnate is basically a toss-up in your case. As you mentioned, Nardil tends to be better for anxiety, Parnate tends to be a little better for motivation issues, and Nardil tends to lead to more weight gain. So, in your case, I wouldn't say that there's an obvious choice one way or the other. I think it's also important to remember that MAOIs, like all drugs, sometimes work differently in reality than they're supposed to "on paper," and they also have different effects on different people. As effective as Nardil (for example) tends to be for depression (especially "atypical" depression) and anxiety, some depressed and anxious patients do not repond very well to Nardil. There is also a significantly sized group of patients who responded remarkably well to Nardil for decades and then became disabled by their depression and anxiety when Pfizer changed the medication's formulation two years ago. And finally, even though Parnate is typically thought of as being activating, some patients find it incredibly sedating, especially in the afternoon. So, given the complexity of the situation, I think it might just be a matter of picking one of the two drugs, giving it a full trial, and then switching to the other MAOI if you're not satisfied with it. I wish I could suggest something more definitive, but in reality, I don't think it's possible to make a clear determination as to which drug would be better for you.
Also, I have a slight suspicion that your current medications might be at least partially causing the anxiety and motivation problems that you've been experiencing. Before you started taking medications, did you have the same anxiety and motivation issues that you have now? If not, I think it's possible that the lithium might be triggering your anxiety and that the Neurontin and Klonopin could be contributing to some of your motivation problems. From my personal experience, I can say that anxiety was never much of a problem for me before I started taking meds (and during most med trials), but I sometimes felt unbearably anxious when I was on lithium. So, while I'm not necessarily saying that your anxiety and motivation issues are being caused *completely* by the meds that you're taking, I think you and your doctor need to examine whether or not it might be a good idea to change your current med regime to try to alleviate your anxiety and motivational symptoms.
Tomatheus
> Hi all,
>
> I have finally found a doctor who isn't afraid to treat depression aggressively. I have an appt. coming up in a few weeks. On the phone we discussed maois.
>
> I have read a lot of posts about them here. I see that nardil is better for people with anxiety issues (me), but parnate is better for motivation issues (me also).
>
> I have read that nardil causes weight gain in many cases while parnate is less likely to.
>
> I am a 5'2 female weighing in at 208, so my weight gain fears are not frivolous. I'm in my early 30s and getting a lot of problems that obese people get : (
>
> But I am also terrified of MORE anxiety, which is barely kept in check with klonopin and neurontin.
>
> I feel as if my anxiety calls for nardil but my weight and amotivation call for parnate....
>
> I feel inclined to try parnate - maybe it's just a silly gut feeling, but I am scared. Are my fears founded?
>
> Any chance that I won't be at 300 lbs if I try nardil?
>
> Or maybe I need to look at marplan. Anyone here want to vouch for it? I haven't seen anything great about it posted.
>
> And what do people on maois with bad sinus conditions do without sudafed???
>
> Thanks a bunch,
>
> Diane
>
> 4800 mgs neurontin
> 4mgs klonpin
> 900 mgs lithium
> 1000 mgs metformin
> sudafed every day
> allegra
> tramadol or vicodin when I am self-medicating because I need to find motivation to get to the grocery store or clean my apartment : (
poster:Tomatheus
thread:590357
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20051211/msgs/590521.html