Posted by naughtypuppy on May 13, 2006, at 13:39:52
In reply to Re: Dang! Dang! Dang! Moclobemide + rash » naughtypuppy, posted by Meri-Tuuli on May 13, 2006, at 11:54:19
> Hiya!
>
> > I had a similar experience on Parnate when I developed a nasty rash that started in my belly button and got little bumps that I thought were bug bites when I got out of the shower.
>
> Wow, thats interesting. Thats exactly what my rash looked like - little red bumps that could be easily mistaken for insect bites (like midges - dunno what they're called in america).
>
Ok, you asked for it! Well, maybe you didn’t but here goes anyway! “How Parnate bugs ate me alive, The Motion Picture”. Last summer, about a month after I started Parnate, I noticed that when I got out of the shower, my chest was red and I was starting to get these little bite marks that went away after a few hours. As time went on they got worse and started to spread further over my body. Something must be biting me, I thought. I started examining my arms with a magnifying glass and found these little red puncture marks that looked like a junkie with a really bad aim. I then did some research on the entomology sites and determined that they must me some sort of mite. The red marks are where the little buggers bite and their digestive juices dissolve the skin, then they suck it up. I went to my GP to confirm this and he said “Yes , you’re definitely being bitten by some sort of mite, but they aren’t one of the ones that usually bother humans such as scabies” and gave me a prescription for hydroxyzine. It’s amazing how little is known about how animal parasites affect humans! Well the hydroxyzine didn’t go well with the Parnate, and made it so I couldn’t sleep so I stopped it. In my research, I figured it must be some sort of bird or rodent mite that had set up shop in my house so I started spraying everything in sight. I went through I don’t know how many cans of spray and over 2 liters of malathion, the big gun of insecticides. I’m surprised that I didn’t go into convulsions inhaling all that stuff. I was washing the laundry with the hottest water possible and running it through the dryer twice. I even shampooed the carpets (and myself) with it, but nothing seemed to help and the problem only got worse. The whole house was being treated like a level four biohazard lab! I was going absolutely crazy with the thought that these things were crawling all over me, but were too small to see. Nothing shoed up on the tape traps that I had set up. I then started developing a oozing rash that started in my navel and spread from there. At that point, my pdoc said to stop the Parnate. He had seen the rash happen before but couldn’t find it documented anywhere. During the next month we both independently discovered the thing about N-Methyltranferase and MAO inhibitors. After I stopped the Parnate the problem was reduced. In retrospect, I figure that the mites were probably Cheyletiella or walking dandruff a highly contagious little critter that is sometimes found on house pets. I was spending nearly every day at that time at my girlfriends, painting her condo and she has a cat. These mites don’t bother cats very much and don’t show up because they groom themselves so often, but they really bother dogs and humans. They are light colored and so small that they can go right through fabric, so it is no wonder that I could never find one. They supposedly can’t exist on humans very long (entomologists don’t really seem to be sure) so the house wasn’t really infested, I just kept getting reinfested. It seemed to improve when I went to bed. I thought that was because of me washing every day, but it was probably because of the antihistaminic effects of the trazodone I took to sleep (Which I got very little of). So you can imagine all the fun that I had with this little adventure on top of a primarily anxiety disorder.> >I think it is cause because some MAOIs inhibit N-Methyltransferase which is the bodys natural antihistamine.
>
> I didn't know this.
>
> >Do you have particularly sensitive skin, soap allergies etc?
>
> No! I'm totally not allergic to anything, except it seems, pysch meds :(
>
> >A lot of meds give me a rash. If youve found something that is working for you, instead of stopping it, get your doc to prescribe a potent antihistamine such as hydroxyzine or low dose doxepin.
>
> Thats very interesting. But how do you know the difference between a rash caused by the inhibition of N-Methyltransferase, and a proper hyersensitivy to the medication, or a true allergy??
>
It's really a process of elimination. The rash (Uticaria or hives) affects the mast cells of the skin and can take quite a while to go away. I've still got bumpy areas after a few months.> >Unfortunantly after I thought of the strong antihistamine trick the Parnate didnt work for me the second time around and it was the best AD I have tried so far! Neeedless to say I am now very reluctant to stop a med that shows promise if I can tolerate the side effects. Just started Nardil yesterday, so I hope it doesn't do the same thing
>
> I hope so too! One last thing, do you find that you get alot of the side effects of meds, and that you need the lower end dosages? I seem to be particulary 'med senisitive' and only need pretty low dosages to get quite bad side effects etc. And when I get the side effects, I seem to get most of them listed!!Same here. Paxil was the wost. I had every one in the PDF.
>
> Its a real pain isn't it!? Good luck with the Nardil.Thanks, I just hope the Nardil doesn't do the some thing, The study I read they used Parnate, but I was under the impression it was a MAO inihition thing.
poster:naughtypuppy
thread:642503
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060510/msgs/643511.html