Posted by Sunbath on October 4, 2009, at 15:45:36
Hey Gayle!!
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> The big reason I didn't post for awhile was because I couldn't figure out how I felt. I knew I was feeling better and better overall, but specifically, even now, I don't have a clue! My friends ask me how I feel and I can't explain it. and it changes all the time.I think I can imagine that's indeed difficult. Your theory about those old drugs washing out of your system and your brain adapting back and at the same time adapting to the parnate, really makes sense!
I really hope you are getting more stable (on the right "side" though :) ) soon!> I asked my pdoc if I could take it all at night and he said to start dividing it between dinner and bedtime. Last night I went out to dinner with old friends, forgot about the Parnate, got home at 11:30pm and didn't know what to do. I took 40mg. plus the nortriptyline immediately, waited until 1:30 and took 30mg Parnate. I was kind of scared. I went right to sleep, up once at 3 or 4am (my usual), bathroom break, went right back to sleep until 10:am. Feel really rested. Wow.
Very nice!! And this with 25mg Nortriptyline only?
> I checked my BP and it was OK, a little high. But after I took the second dose I did notice my arms itched terribly! Like a big allergic reaction. (liver?) It was gone this morning.
That itching sounds strange, hopefully not some indicator for something serious?Is this a possible s/e of parnate?Thank god it's gone away! Let's really hope it's not the liver. What did your doc say about that?
> I took 100mg of Provigil and felt positively ready to face the day! I'll take another 100mg at noon.
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> Sunbath, the Provigil is very important to my feeling sharp. I would REALLY want it if I were in school!!!! Is there any way you could get it or something else stimulating? like Girl takes Adderall, someone else takes d-amphetamine?I really don't know how it's like to take a stimulant like Provigil or amphetamine! I think I might love it :D
Feeling tired and not sharp all the time even when off any meds.. maybe that would improve with something like that.
It's just that in my conservative country they take ANY stimulant very serious and treat them as if they were really addicting and if it was already to be considered abuse if ppl not SEVERELY ill (serious narcolepsy) would use them (i.e. "only" to get rid of brain fog).
So it's VERY unlikely that my pdoc would give one to me only to treat a side effect of some medication...
Also our docs are really conservative about treating side effects of drugs via other drugs.. They think if one's unable to take a drug because of its side effects, they'd rather switch drugs than try to treat those side effects :(Also it wasn't that easy to get Parnate over here in the first place. My doc (like nearly everyone in my country I suppose) obviously has no experience with MAOIs at all, so I brought papers with me to help me convince her. Thankfully she is a really GREAT doc in that she was really open to any suggestions. Also it wasn't so easy to BUY Parnate.. they had to import it from another country inside the EU and of course NO insurance here is covering it since it's not approved over here for anything and unavailable.
So prescribing Parnate -something considered as very exotic over here- was already quite the experiment for her I guess and it would be MUCH harder to try even more (in my country - )"unorthodox" treatments.
Also the provigil as you know is quite expensive and -again- no insurance would cover it without very strictly defined indications present.BUT because parnate isn't like any other drug and there aren't so many alternatives around when all the other more standard antidepressants have failed, I will really try as hard as I can to get a hold of some Provigil IF the daytime brainfog/sedation doesn't pass..
I COULD get it via a prescription of a friend of mine who is MD anyway, but I'd really not like to do that without my pdocs agreement!
BTW: I'd really like to know: how do you know the parnate is the reason for your increased energy and motivation and not the provigil? Because I don't know anything about stimulants I'd be afraid that I couldn't tell whether my condition improved because of the provigil or the parnate. Is this very distinguishable?
Also is the chance of getting dependent on Provigil high?> Maybe enough Parnate will do it for you. My pdoc said I could keep increasing my Parnate up to 80mg day without even checking with him. I am at 70mg/day which feels right. And I think in another month or two I will lower it to 60mg. It seems like it is doing a whole big bunch of long over-due "housekeeping" in my brain and that is what makes it so inconsistent.
Would you say that taking more Parnate would be more stimulating and less brain fog too?
So does taking more Parnate not also increase the tiredness/brain fog, but improve energy and attentiveness? Then I should go up faster maybe.Great that you found your effective dose! How long did it take you to titrate up to 60?
> I felt pretty terrible on it for a long time. I fell asleep like a narcoleptic! sitting up talking to someone, at the wheel of the car (eek), I just could not stay awake. And I was foggy, also. I had low low BP, I itched all over, my face, hands and feet were puffed up. It wasn't fun.
That's really tough! Sorry that you had to go through all of that!!! How long did this take to pass?> I can't believe how much better I feel all the time now. I'm older than you guys and I think it's taking my body longer to get rid of the old and build up the new. Sunbath, I wish you had another month at least until school started. Those feelings you describe I had also, they are gone. I'm much more up and outgoing and cheerful and funny and clear. I don't worry all the time. My old friends last night were amazed at how much I was like my "old self". My sleep seems to be of better and better quality as I go along, also. But then I'm in my 6th month of taking it. I wouldn't be surprised if you need a lot more Parnate! Maybe that would make up for not having a stimulant to add.
That's absolutely GREAT TO HEAR!!! :)
> It is surprising to be dealing with such fatigue when I thought I would be super-stimulated. Maybe that will come later and I wont need the Provigil.
Are you STILL dealing with the fatigue or did you mean past then when you started Parnate?
> I know it will work for you guys!! and it's worth it!!
thanks a lot :) I'll keep taking it and hope to fight the fatigue!
> Good luck!
Good luck to you too and keep up the cheerfulness :)
poster:Sunbath
thread:919688
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20091001/msgs/919688.html