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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 9 of 9. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by becksA on July 9, 2004, at 17:56:52
Im starting up Pamelor for depression (and my pdoc says it also aids social anxiety sometimes)....I'm also weaning off Xanax XR and starting up Klonipin....but I was just wondering if people could tell me what they took PAmelor for, their experiences, results, side effects...Thanks alot
Posted by KaraS on July 9, 2004, at 20:00:17
In reply to Pamelor Experiences...., posted by becksA on July 9, 2004, at 17:56:52
> Im starting up Pamelor for depression (and my pdoc says it also aids social anxiety sometimes)....I'm also weaning off Xanax XR and starting up Klonipin....but I was just wondering if people could tell me what they took PAmelor for, their experiences, results, side effects...Thanks alot
I took Pamelor (nortriptyline) quite a while ago. I only took a small amount for a short while because it was too activating for me. It made my heart race and I had trouble sleeping. I was really sad to go off of it though because it gave me so much energy and motivation while also lowering my appetite. I could have taken something else for the sleeping but didn't want to introduce another medication at the time (and the racing heart was worrisome). On the otherhand, I've known of two people who found it relaxing/sedating and took it to aid their sleep.
Posted by zeugma on July 9, 2004, at 20:41:11
In reply to Re: Pamelor Experiences...., posted by KaraS on July 9, 2004, at 20:00:17
> > Im starting up Pamelor for depression (and my pdoc says it also aids social anxiety sometimes)....I'm also weaning off Xanax XR and starting up Klonipin....but I was just wondering if people could tell me what they took PAmelor for, their experiences, results, side effects...Thanks alot
>
> I took Pamelor (nortriptyline) quite a while ago. I only took a small amount for a short while because it was too activating for me. It made my heart race and I had trouble sleeping. I was really sad to go off of it though because it gave me so much energy and motivation while also lowering my appetite. I could have taken something else for the sleeping but didn't want to introduce another medication at the time (and the racing heart was worrisome). On the otherhand, I've known of two people who found it relaxing/sedating and took it to aid their sleep.
>
I find it activating and sedating at once. The sedation however does not kick in until a therapeutic dose is reached (50 mg and up).
You need to get your blood pressure monitored on this one. It's actually more likely to lower than to raise it.KaraS, your post made me think of my days of monotherapy. That was so many years and so many diagnoses ago...
Posted by KaraS on July 9, 2004, at 21:01:41
In reply to Re: Pamelor Experiences...., posted by zeugma on July 9, 2004, at 20:41:11
> > > Im starting up Pamelor for depression (and my pdoc says it also aids social anxiety sometimes)....I'm also weaning off Xanax XR and starting up Klonipin....but I was just wondering if people could tell me what they took PAmelor for, their experiences, results, side effects...Thanks alot
> >
> > I took Pamelor (nortriptyline) quite a while ago. I only took a small amount for a short while because it was too activating for me. It made my heart race and I had trouble sleeping. I was really sad to go off of it though because it gave me so much energy and motivation while also lowering my appetite. I could have taken something else for the sleeping but didn't want to introduce another medication at the time (and the racing heart was worrisome). On the otherhand, I've known of two people who found it relaxing/sedating and took it to aid their sleep.
> >
>
>
> I find it activating and sedating at once. The sedation however does not kick in until a therapeutic dose is reached (50 mg and up).
>
>
> You need to get your blood pressure monitored on this one. It's actually more likely to lower than to raise it.
>
> KaraS, your post made me think of my days of monotherapy. That was so many years and so many diagnoses ago...
>I can't remember what dosage of Pamelor I took.
Wish I could.Your post about monotherapy reminds me of how naive I have been in regard to these meds. I really didn't know until recently that taking several meds at a time was so commonplace (and I am no stranger to medications). I wish someone had told me a long time ago not to expect one magic bullet that would take care of everything after 6 wks and then last forever. OTOH, maybe I was better off not knowing what I was in for over the long-term...
Posted by zeugma on July 9, 2004, at 22:44:23
In reply to Re: Pamelor Experiences...., posted by KaraS on July 9, 2004, at 21:01:41
I wish someone had told me a long time ago not to expect one magic bullet that would take care of everything after 6 wks and then last forever. OTOH, maybe I was better off not knowing what I was in for over the long-term...
ah, the nostalgia for the days when we didn't know half of what was wrong with us.
Posted by nephron on July 10, 2004, at 8:37:04
In reply to Pamelor Experiences...., posted by becksA on July 9, 2004, at 17:56:52
Oops.
Posted by Sad Panda on July 10, 2004, at 9:50:05
In reply to Pamelor Experiences...., posted by becksA on July 9, 2004, at 17:56:52
> Im starting up Pamelor for depression (and my pdoc says it also aids social anxiety sometimes)....I'm also weaning off Xanax XR and starting up Klonipin....but I was just wondering if people could tell me what they took PAmelor for, their experiences, results, side effects...Thanks alot
>
>I've just started taking Pamelor myself, I swapped Remeron for it & I also take Effexor. It's very early days, but so far I like it better. It's alerting, anxiolytic & lets you sleep well.
Cheers,
Panda.
Posted by ravenstorm on July 12, 2004, at 23:49:15
In reply to Re: Pamelor Experiences...., posted by Sad Panda on July 10, 2004, at 9:50:05
ARGHHH! I'm soooooooo frustrated right now!!!
Sorry. Its just that I've been taking 15mg of remeron for the last few months and I'm not thrilled with the side effects (TIRED, looking three to five months pregnant all the time, cognitively blunted and weak feeling) but I am happy to no longer be suicidal and have my anxiety under control after months and months of HELL.
I am upset because I want the med parade to be finished. I want to find a med that i will stay on for a good long time. Remeron will not be that drug due to side effects.
I took notrip. for only four days (at 10mg) and freaked out because of severe heart racing and the fact that my husband had brought home a book by some guy saying that all psych meds are evil and will hurt you etc etc (quite frankly I agree with him in terms of paxil). The fact that my husband would bring home such reading material when I was suicidal and clearly needed to be on medication still boggles my mind. It kept me too afraid to try drugs for more than a few days for fear I would be "trapped" on them (like paxil) and unable to get off.
Anyway, now I need to decide the following:
1) do I add wellbutrin to the remeron and then hopefully up the wellbutrin and drop the remeron (and possibly add something else for anxiety)
2)Wait until August to see if the stupid patch is going to get final FDA approval without food restrictions. Then if it dose get approval wait aroung for a bunch more months until itgets produced.
3) Try nortrip. again for a full trial, which will be a real risk because I will (hopefully) have tapered fully off the remeron before I know if the nortrip is even going to work or be tolerable and thus if it doesn't work and I have to go back to remeron I will have to go through all the start up side effects again (which took over ten weeks to dissipate--well, some of them still haven't dissipated!) Also, it took TEN WEEKS FOR THE AD EFFECT TO KICK IN
Finally, my real frustration is stemming from the fact/fear that remeron is apparently difficult for some people to get off of. I was trapped on paxil for years, but at least it didn't have these horrible side effects. If I'm trapped on a drug with this many side effects I'm going to be seriously pissed off.
The people having this difficulty are having the following problems even after a slow taper: severe bounce back anxiety, insomnia and nausea to the point that they started back on the drug because it still hadn't passed in four weeks.
I CAN NOT GO THROUGH HORRIBLE WITHDRAWAL AGAIN.
I wish to God my husband hadn't brought that book home in Decemeber and scared me off the nortiriptyline.
I will keep an eye on these nortrip/pamelor posts and see how everyone dose.
You don't have to respond to my above tirade. I know I have to figure this out by myself. I just hate trying to get on meds/go off them because I have the dreaded "side effect" gene and it all gets so freakin' messy.
Posted by Sad Panda on July 13, 2004, at 3:44:45
In reply to Re: Pamelor Experiences...., posted by ravenstorm on July 12, 2004, at 23:49:15
> ARGHHH! I'm soooooooo frustrated right now!!!
>
> Sorry. Its just that I've been taking 15mg of remeron for the last few months and I'm not thrilled with the side effects (TIRED, looking three to five months pregnant all the time, cognitively blunted and weak feeling) but I am happy to no longer be suicidal and have my anxiety under control after months and months of HELL.
>
> I am upset because I want the med parade to be finished. I want to find a med that i will stay on for a good long time. Remeron will not be that drug due to side effects.
>
> I took notrip. for only four days (at 10mg) and freaked out because of severe heart racing and the fact that my husband had brought home a book by some guy saying that all psych meds are evil and will hurt you etc etc (quite frankly I agree with him in terms of paxil). The fact that my husband would bring home such reading material when I was suicidal and clearly needed to be on medication still boggles my mind. It kept me too afraid to try drugs for more than a few days for fear I would be "trapped" on them (like paxil) and unable to get off.
>
> Anyway, now I need to decide the following:
>
> 1) do I add wellbutrin to the remeron and then hopefully up the wellbutrin and drop the remeron (and possibly add something else for anxiety)
>
> 2)Wait until August to see if the stupid patch is going to get final FDA approval without food restrictions. Then if it dose get approval wait aroung for a bunch more months until itgets produced.
>
> 3) Try nortrip. again for a full trial, which will be a real risk because I will (hopefully) have tapered fully off the remeron before I know if the nortrip is even going to work or be tolerable and thus if it doesn't work and I have to go back to remeron I will have to go through all the start up side effects again (which took over ten weeks to dissipate--well, some of them still haven't dissipated!) Also, it took TEN WEEKS FOR THE AD EFFECT TO KICK IN
>
> Finally, my real frustration is stemming from the fact/fear that remeron is apparently difficult for some people to get off of. I was trapped on paxil for years, but at least it didn't have these horrible side effects. If I'm trapped on a drug with this many side effects I'm going to be seriously pissed off.
>
> The people having this difficulty are having the following problems even after a slow taper: severe bounce back anxiety, insomnia and nausea to the point that they started back on the drug because it still hadn't passed in four weeks.
>
> I CAN NOT GO THROUGH HORRIBLE WITHDRAWAL AGAIN.
>
> I wish to God my husband hadn't brought that book home in Decemeber and scared me off the nortiriptyline.
>
> I will keep an eye on these nortrip/pamelor posts and see how everyone dose.
>
> You don't have to respond to my above tirade. I know I have to figure this out by myself. I just hate trying to get on meds/go off them because I have the dreaded "side effect" gene and it all gets so freakin' messy.
>
>
Hi Ravenstorm,Can you refresh my memory about your Paxil experience? Did it work? How was the side effects? Why did you stop it?
If Nortriptyline caused you heart problems at just 10mg, then I would say that TCA's are out of the question for you.
I don't think Wellbutrin or Remeron are effective AD's, but I do think they have tremendous value as addons to an effective SSRI.
Have you tried any other SSRI's?
Cheers,
Panda.
This is the end of the thread.
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