Posted by malcolm664 on June 19, 2007, at 17:59:49
In reply to Re: Advice from Parnate (insomnia) bye bye Parnate, posted by missjulie on June 19, 2007, at 15:46:57
> Hi Sophia, please let me know what you try next. I have just started Parnate, been on 30 for a week, and am also totally disillusioned. I haven't slept for 7 nights, have dry mouth, and feel totally flat. No relief of depression whatsoever, and certainly no energizing effects. This is SO DISAPPOINTING, I thought this would be the magic bullet. I too have been through everything, this was the last resort before ECT. Are you thinking of trying Nardil, or are you done with MAOIs?
> best wishes-JulieI would caution you against giving it up so quickly. For one thing, 30 mgs is not even near the theraputic dose. And you also need to be on it for at least 4-5 weeks before the med really starts to kick in.
I've been on it since April 23rd and it took at least about a month before I started to notice any AD effects (Like you, I started on 30 mgs but slowly went up to 60 mg, and just yesterday, my doc told me to go up to 80 mgs/day).
On the downside, yes Parnate definitely wipes you out and causes insomnia. (I actually fell asleep at a traffic light while driving on the way home today). But that can be counteracted to a large degree with coffee (you just have to remember not to let the fatigue stop you from actually making or buying a cup of coffee - the fatigue is that strong).
And yes, I know that caffeine is contraindicated while you're on Parnate, but I've been making pretty strong cups and haven't had any trouble, so I think that the danger is a bit inflated).
And there's another Parnate user on the board who says that even the fatigue tends to diminish with time.
And ever since I've started taking Klonopin and Lunesta, insomnia is no longer a problem.
But I would definitely not give up after just a week, especially since you're only on 30 mgs. That's not enough time for you to evaluate a med, especially an MAOI which tend to take a while for their full effects to become noticeable.
Malcolm
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thread:760318
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