Posted by dragonblack on June 26, 2011, at 22:59:39
Hey Parnationals, global citizens, sentient entities, etc.,
I know these threads probably get tiresome, but I have so little else. Your 2 cents will be appreciated, and invested.
I'm treating BP II / GAD / PD. I also take Lithium, 600 mg, Ativan, .5 mg, and Klonopin, prn.
I have been at 60 mg Parnate for over 3 weeks now, and at best I've achieved a very partial response. I'm definitely better than I was, I have more "ok days," but I'm still hobbled by lack of energy, amotivation, anhedonia, etc. I've never really felt like it "kicked in" like back when Wellbutrin worked for me, where after a week I would come out of my depression in a very unmistakeable way. So, I'm trying to figure out some strategies. Going up in dose is probably not going to be an option.
Not to be overly simplistic and reduce my remaining symptom set to just a dopamine problem, but, well, that's kinda what I'm doing. Sexual sides are also a problem on the Parnate, so I had been thinking along the lines of a dopamine agonist, but I already suffer with tiredness so much that I've moved that down my list.
So now I think it's really between asking for a stimulant or an atypical. I already take lithium, and will likely be either reducing and augmenting it or replacing it, so I'm not really looking at mood stabilizers as Parnate augments at the moment. I just want to achieve a fuller antidepressant response. I'm worried about long term problems with stims, but I don't know that much about that. As for the atypicals, Abilify and Geodon are at the top of my list, but I'm a little scared of them, I must admit. I got uber sick from risperdal back in the past, but that's another story.
Any thoughts? If a stimulant, which one? One of the problems I have with Parnate is the short half-life - would an extended release stim take this out of the picture?
Thanks for all responses! Special thanks to Scott and Maxime for info posted re research on augmenting Parnate.
poster:dragonblack
thread:989548
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20110619/msgs/989548.html