Posted by greywolf on July 30, 2006, at 16:47:18
In reply to Re: Remeron stories » greywolf, posted by purplesky on July 30, 2006, at 15:21:25
> > I would recommend thinking about Nardil. Don't be put off by the dietary restrictions, they're not very difficult to abide by. As the ADs went, Nardil had zero side effects for me, and proved to be more effective than any SSRI.
> >
> > Best of luck.
>
> I don't know a lot about MAOIs. Did Nardil help your energy levels, or was it sedating? How long did it take to see a therapeutic effect?
I didn't experience even the least bit of sedation with Nardil. And sedation is one of my primary problems with ADs, so that was a real relief. I experienced a therapeutic benefit after about 3 weeks, and it continued for quite some time thereafter. I cannot recall how long, though I was on it for over a year.However, Nardil is not a first-line treatment for severe bipolar. If you have BP dominated by depressive phase it may help, but my understanding from conversations with my doc and therapist is that a mood stabilizer is necessary to effect any positive long-term change in the BO. Nardil alone (or any other AD alone) won't cut it.
I am like you in that I've been through the pharmaceutical mill. As I have explained in past posts, during the past decade I've been on almost every AD you can name-- every SSRI and most of the SNRIs, NDRIs, trycyclics, MAOIs, a couple mood stabilizers. It got to the point where I was told the only recourse was ECT--which ain't gonna happen.
I gave up for awhile, but decided that the right thing to do for myself, my family, and my friends, is to keep working at it. So, I found a new psychiatrist, and a therapist who is well known for her work in OCD--and what a difference from the prior therapists I had who did not specialize in that illness!
Right now, I'm on Lamictal at a low dose until mid-August, when it will be ramped up. I've previously been on lithium and Depakote. I had some bad times with the lithium, but have really experienced no side effects from either the Depakote SR at 1500mg/day or the Lamictal. I'm off the Depakote because it wasn't doing enough for the depressive phase, and once I'm slotted in at the right level of Lamictal, they'll add in an AD before complementing the regimen with OCD medications.
I keep hoping and praying things will work out because the hills are getting harder to climb.
poster:greywolf
thread:671576
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060724/msgs/672063.html