Posted by Jedi on November 30, 2007, at 2:21:27
In reply to Parnate vs Nardil???, posted by bleauberry on November 29, 2007, at 18:35:50
Hi,
I've taken both Nardil and Parnate. Nardil works better for me because of the affect on GABA which helps reduce social and generalized anxiety. Parnate does not affect GABA.I have been on Nardil for most of eleven years. I have stopped it four times and each time led to a return of major depression. I always have a low level of depression (dysthymia) even while on Nardil. They call this double depression. I have tried over forty combinations of different antidepressants and augmentors. Nardil is the only one that has worked long term.
I recently had a 2nd trial of Parnate and I really wanted it to work. Parnate does not have the weight gain and delayed orgasm side effects of Nardil. You do have to be more careful with Parnate when it comes to tyramine and reactions to other meds. The medication was working fairly well for me when I had a very rare spontaneous hypertensive reaction. Maybe my dosage was to high, I don't know. I now take 90mg of Nardil, 2mg of clonazepam and 25mg of Seroquel for the med induced insomnia.
IMHO MAOIs should be the 2nd tier solution for atypical depression. If the SSRIs do not work, go right to the gold standard. So many people are in misery for so long while their doctor tries every med in the book before going to MAOIs. Some will even try ECT first and some will not use MAOIs at all. I had one psychiatrist who put me through 9 months of HELL, before I finally ditched him for a MD who would prescribe Nardil for me.
Take care,
Jedi
> It seems like most people here prefer Nardil as the king of antidepressants. At askapatient.com parnate and nardil are both rated much higher than other antidepressants. The people who stopped it did so due to side effects but not lack of effectiveness. Someone said if nardil and parnate had been invented after SSRIs they would probably be viewed as improvements, rather than dinosaurs. A doctor's website said MAOIs would be first line treatment instead of last choice for a close family member.
>
> Anyway, some questions:
>
> Why not much mention of Parnate?
>
> I know Nardil affects serotonin, NE, DA, and GABA. What about Parnate? Same or different? How do they differ?
>
> How do side effects generally vary between the two?
>
> My doc is talking antidepressants, and I figure if I am going to head into the world of side effects again, then I am at least going to get the most bang for the buck. No more fooling around with wanna-be-antidepressants.
>
>
poster:Jedi
thread:797677
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20071125/msgs/797770.html