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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 11 of 11. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by UgottaHaveHope on March 24, 2008, at 3:10:26
Let's just get right to the point: I have been on Nardil for almost a year now, and I am posting just to share my experiences in hopes it may help provide some insight for others thinking about or currently taking Nardil.
I have been "challenged" by anxiety and depression for 10 years. SSRIs never did anything for me but make me worse. I got a little help from Seroquel (100mg) alone for a brief period, got a little help from the Emsam patch for a brief period, but Nardil has most definitely helped me the most out of all the 40+ drugs I have tried over the past decade. As you know, it takes a special pdoc to prescribe MAOIs because most of them don't know about them, don't care to know about them, and others reasons I'll just not say but have been repeated on this board a million times. Your best hope for MAOI trial is going to a university or research hospital.
BACK TO THE STORY: Nardil is a miracle drug for me, but it is NOT a cure-all drug for me. I still have life challenges all the time. The most important thing Nardil did for me was to take me to an emotional state of being where I could better deal with life's challenges or "cope." Do you remember the first time you rode a bike? Perhaps as an analogy, Nardil helped me get up on that bike and take a few pedals, but it had to be ME and my thought process to keep me up on that bike and moving forward.
It hasn't always been a smooth ride on the Nardil bike over the past year. When I first started it, I felt so good on 45mg that I began taking 30mg. And then 15mg. When some life stressors hit me, I had a downward spiral. However, I started taking Nardil again at 45, and just like clockwork, as strange as it sounds, it kicked back in right around 9.5 or 10 weeks, just like the initial time.
I currently take 45mg of Nardil, 25-100mg of Seroquel (for sleep) and 0-2mg of Klonopin (less rather than more, lately).
ANYWAYS: The purpose of this post is to encourage you to NEVER GIVE UP HOPE.
There were so many times that I never knew if I was going to make it through the next day, or even the next hour. I got as low as you can go. But I never gave up hope. A lot of it had to do with posting my thoughts on this message board Dr. Bob, with others in here sharing their own experiences and offering encouragement. Those same people are here to help you, too, so please keep posting and be as real as possible with your deepest, darkest thoughts.
Got to go to sleep, be back later on. Thanks to all, Michael
Posted by Bob on March 24, 2008, at 11:33:23
In reply to One year on Nardil, posted by UgottaHaveHope on March 24, 2008, at 3:10:26
Thanks for that Nardil update, it was very useful. I have a couple questions though.
Do you take the Klonopin to help you sleep, or for some other reason?
Has Nardil effected your sleep cycle? I've heard of some people who can't sleep at night and then are sleepy all day on it. Oddly, I've seen posts on here saying that it is a very activating drug, and others saying they didn't have enough energy and were prone to sleep.
What major side effects are you dealing with, weight gain, sexual problems, other?
Posted by Phillipa on March 24, 2008, at 12:27:01
In reply to Re: One year on Nardil » UgottaHaveHope, posted by Bob on March 24, 2008, at 11:33:23
UGotta it reminds me of what another person I know said. 25% is the med, a lot is cognitive therapy or some other type, and a lot is you just pushing yourself. Hence the each day put one foot in front of the other and carry on and sometimes pretend all is well and that may help too. So glad the nardil has allowed you to do this. You've always been a great inspiration to others here. Congrats. Love Phillipa
Posted by Phillipa on March 24, 2008, at 12:27:07
In reply to Re: One year on Nardil » UgottaHaveHope, posted by Bob on March 24, 2008, at 11:33:23
UGotta it reminds me of what another person I know said. 25% is the med, a lot is cognitive therapy or some other type, and a lot is you just pushing yourself. Hence the each day put one foot in front of the other and carry on and sometimes pretend all is well and that may help too. So glad the nardil has allowed you to do this. You've always been a great inspiration to others here. Congrats. Love Phillipa
Posted by 4WD on March 24, 2008, at 17:46:51
In reply to One year on Nardil, posted by UgottaHaveHope on March 24, 2008, at 3:10:26
Thank you for your encouraging post. I am a new Nardil user and it gives me hope for the future. I have only been on it 2 and a half weeks but I can tell a small difference in depression and a major difference in anxiety already.
What kind of "blips" have you had?
Marsha
Posted by Phillipa on March 24, 2008, at 19:00:44
In reply to Re: One year on Nardil » UgottaHaveHope, posted by 4WD on March 24, 2008, at 17:46:51
Marsha it's hitting the depression now? I'm really impressed. Can you drive and do what you like? Love Phillipa
Posted by Jedi on March 25, 2008, at 2:54:09
In reply to One year on Nardil, posted by UgottaHaveHope on March 24, 2008, at 3:10:26
Hi Michael,
Your cocktail is almost exactly like mine. I have lowered my Nardil from 90mg to 60mg to help with the side effects. I also take 2mg of clonazepam to augment the Nardil and increase GABA in my brain to help with my social anxiety. Then I take 25mg of Seroquel for the Nardil induced insomnia. Once in a while I will take 50. Like you, Nardil is the only medication that has worked for me out of 45+ combinations of medications.I have been on Nardil for the better part of eleven years. The last PDOC I saw would absolutely not prescribe Nardil. I really believe he would have watched me die before doing the logical thing. Nardil was the only med that had ever worked for my atypical depression and social anxiety. Seemed like a no brainer to me. I gathered all of the evidence I could find on PubMed about Nardil, atypical depression, treatment resistant depression, and social anxiety. I sent a letter to my new MD, and he has been prescribing it for me ever since.
Every time I have quit Nardil to try something with less side effects my major depression has returned. I am probably a lifer.
Be Well,
Jedi
> Let's just get right to the point: I have been on Nardil for almost a year now, and I am posting just to share my experiences in hopes it may help provide some insight for others thinking about or currently taking Nardil.
>
> I have been "challenged" by anxiety and depression for 10 years. SSRIs never did anything for me but make me worse. I got a little help from Seroquel (100mg) alone for a brief period, got a little help from the Emsam patch for a brief period, but Nardil has most definitely helped me the most out of all the 40+ drugs I have tried over the past decade. As you know, it takes a special pdoc to prescribe MAOIs because most of them don't know about them, don't care to know about them, and others reasons I'll just not say but have been repeated on this board a million times. Your best hope for MAOI trial is going to a university or research hospital.
>
> BACK TO THE STORY: Nardil is a miracle drug for me, but it is NOT a cure-all drug for me. I still have life challenges all the time. The most important thing Nardil did for me was to take me to an emotional state of being where I could better deal with life's challenges or "cope." Do you remember the first time you rode a bike? Perhaps as an analogy, Nardil helped me get up on that bike and take a few pedals, but it had to be ME and my thought process to keep me up on that bike and moving forward.
>
> It hasn't always been a smooth ride on the Nardil bike over the past year. When I first started it, I felt so good on 45mg that I began taking 30mg. And then 15mg. When some life stressors hit me, I had a downward spiral. However, I started taking Nardil again at 45, and just like clockwork, as strange as it sounds, it kicked back in right around 9.5 or 10 weeks, just like the initial time.
>
> I currently take 45mg of Nardil, 25-100mg of Seroquel (for sleep) and 0-2mg of Klonopin (less rather than more, lately).
>
> ANYWAYS: The purpose of this post is to encourage you to NEVER GIVE UP HOPE.
>
> There were so many times that I never knew if I was going to make it through the next day, or even the next hour. I got as low as you can go. But I never gave up hope. A lot of it had to do with posting my thoughts on this message board Dr. Bob, with others in here sharing their own experiences and offering encouragement. Those same people are here to help you, too, so please keep posting and be as real as possible with your deepest, darkest thoughts.
>
> Got to go to sleep, be back later on. Thanks to all, Michael
Posted by greenmtn on March 25, 2008, at 6:09:07
In reply to Re: One year on Nardil » UgottaHaveHope, posted by Jedi on March 25, 2008, at 1:54:09
What a great help your post has been to me.
Hanging in can be so hard sometimes. I Definitely need the meds but then I have to move forward.
Sometimes things can get so rough that you feel like you are in the middle of a war.
"The most vital quality a soldier can possess is self-confidence, utter, complete and bumptious" General George S. Patton.
Posted by greenmtn on March 25, 2008, at 6:43:07
In reply to One year on Nardil, posted by UgottaHaveHope on March 24, 2008, at 2:10:26
I would reword the Patton quote (my previous post) to apply better to us depression fighters as follows:
"The most vital qualities a depressed person should pursue are courage and hope: utter, complete and bumptious."
Greenmtn
Posted by 4WD on March 25, 2008, at 11:44:23
In reply to Re: One year on Nardil » 4WD, posted by Phillipa on March 24, 2008, at 18:00:44
> Marsha it's hitting the depression now? I'm really impressed. Can you drive and do what you like? Love Phillipa
Well, it's helping a bit with the depression. Mostly so far, though, it's helping with fear/anxiety. It hasn't been quite 3 weeks that I've been on it though. So i hope to see continued improvement with time.
Yes, I can drive and do what I like. Main problem is there isn't anything I like -- anhedonia. Nothing sounds like fun.
But I'm hoping that will improve with time as well.
Hope you are okay.Marsha
Posted by Phillipa on March 25, 2008, at 12:12:46
In reply to Re: One year on Nardil » Phillipa, posted by 4WD on March 25, 2008, at 11:44:23
I'm really impressed as no fainiting or the low BP? Wow!!!!! Love Phillipa
This is the end of the thread.
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