Psycho-Babble Medication | about biological treatments | Framed
This thread | Show all | Post follow-up | Start new thread | List of forums | Search | FAQ

Re: Nardil was bad - is Parnate worth trying? ECT? » PilledOut

Posted by SLS on July 31, 2016, at 15:32:20

In reply to Nardil was bad - is Parnate worth trying? ECT?, posted by PilledOut on July 31, 2016, at 13:37:20

Hi.
> Nardil didn't work for me

Is it that Nardil didn't work for you, or did you stop it because of side effects? How long did you take it for, and what was the dosage? What were the side effects that gave you the most trouble?

> Parnate and Nardil are both MAOIs. If Nardil was so bad for me, would Parnate even be worth trying?

Yes. Parnate is usually more tolerable. I guess it depends on what were your reasons for stopping Nardil. The drugs are different enough such that one can respond well to one and not the other. I must say, though, that your case profile is one that Nardil is tried before Parnate. There is also Marplan, a MAOI in the same chemical family as Nardil (hydrazine) that usually has mild side effects. However, this drug is often described as being a "weak" Nardil. Yet, there are people who do better on it than they do on Nardil.

> If I do try Parnate, should I take it in combination with other drugs to reduce side effects, improve efficacy, etc.?

One step at a time, of course. Patience is a virtue that I all but lack, but it can eventually pay off. Yes, there are remedies for MAOI side effects - even for Nardil. And yes, there are drugs you can add as adjuncts to a MAOI, but you really have to be confident that there is a need for one.

> Is brand name better than generic? Would one generic brand be better than the other?

I don't really know. Some people swear by Mercurypharma (formerly Goldshield). I take whatever type of tranylcypromine that the pharmacy gives me. So far, I haven't found a difference between manufacturers, including the original name brand.

> How about ECT? None of my pdocs have mentioned it, and when I bring it up, they don't take it seriously.

I had a course of 15 ECT treatments in 1991. It didn't work at all. Perhaps it has been improved upon since then. I would recommend trying intranasal ketamine before ECT. I don't know what you have tried, so I can't really offer any suggestions on what treatments to explore first.

How old were you when you first developed symptoms?

How old are you now?

Is there a history of bipolar disorder in your family?

Have you tried clomipramine (Anafranil) yet? It cannot be combined with a MAOI. Neither can SSRIs, SNRIs, nor any drug that is a serotoning (5-HT) reuptake inhibitor.

I have bipolar depression that very likely emerged as a result of a history of developmental PTSD (complex trauma). Social anxiety had been a big part of my overall condition. However, I think psychotherapy may have helped to reduce its magnitude, though.

This is what I currently take:

Parnate 80 mg/day
nortriptyline 100 mg/day
Lamictal 300 mg/day
lithium 300 mg/day
Abilify 10 mg/day
prazosin 30 mg/day

So, you see, medication regimes can get complicated. I am responding partially at this point. The nortiptyline dosage might be too low. I won't know for another week. The other drugs have proven necessary, and I am taking the lowest effective dosage of each one as has been ascertained through clinical experimentation. It took quite a few years to develop this treatment. If I don't respond fully to this combination, I might drop the Parnate and substitute it with Effexor at a minimum dosage of 300 mg/day.


- Scott


Some see things as they are and ask why.
I dream of things that never were and ask why not.

- George Bernard Shaw

 

Thread

 

Post a new follow-up

Your message only Include above post


Notify the administrators

They will then review this post with the posting guidelines in mind.

To contact them about something other than this post, please use this form instead.

 

Start a new thread

 
Google
dr-bob.org www
Search options and examples
[amazon] for
in

This thread | Show all | Post follow-up | Start new thread | FAQ
Psycho-Babble Medication | Framed

poster:SLS thread:1091024
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20160713/msgs/1091027.html