Psycho-Babble Medication Thread 383681

Shown: posts 1 to 15 of 15. This is the beginning of the thread.

 

Waiting for Parnate to kick in

Posted by krisanon on August 29, 2004, at 13:22:05

I've been at 40 mg of Parnate for a week and still no results--and of course my doctor is away like every other psychiatric professional in NYC in August. Any answers about what dosage I'll probably need to go to to combat my severe chronic depression? Parnate is sort of a last resort med so I'm getting nervous that it won't work either. If an MAOI can't help me and all the many other meds have failed me, I'm really feeling scared and hopeless. Any feedback on MAOI response is appreciated.

 

Re: Waiting for Parnate to kick in » krisanon

Posted by chemist on August 29, 2004, at 13:53:44

In reply to Waiting for Parnate to kick in, posted by krisanon on August 29, 2004, at 13:22:05

> I've been at 40 mg of Parnate for a week and still no results--and of course my doctor is away like every other psychiatric professional in NYC in August. Any answers about what dosage I'll probably need to go to to combat my severe chronic depression? Parnate is sort of a last resort med so I'm getting nervous that it won't work either. If an MAOI can't help me and all the many other meds have failed me, I'm really feeling scared and hopeless. Any feedback on MAOI response is appreciated.

hello there, chemist here. give it some time, and be prepared to go up to 60 mg/day (divided). i personally have had success with parnate (at the 30 mg/day dosing) and many folks here report a more favorable yet equally powerful punch from nardil. choose your poison, as it were, and give it some time. like death and taxes, the efficacy of MAOIs in lifting depression is pretty much a sure thing. there are exceptions, of course, yet you need to give it a try for more than a week (my metric is 6 to 8 weeks before i throw in the towel, but that is just me). please do report back, and all the best, chemist

 

Re: Waiting for Parnate to kick in » krisanon

Posted by dreyfus on August 29, 2004, at 15:07:44

In reply to Waiting for Parnate to kick in, posted by krisanon on August 29, 2004, at 13:22:05

When I began taking Parnate in 1988, my doctor at the time, who was a psychopharmacologist, told me that if I didn't feel any beneficial effects within a few days, it probably wasn't going to work. As it turned out, I noticed some improvement almost immediately, although it was a couple of weeks before I really felt well. I remember this quite vividly since I was deeply depressed at the time.

Michael

 

Re: Waiting for Parnate to kick in » krisanon

Posted by cubbybear on August 29, 2004, at 22:22:45

In reply to Waiting for Parnate to kick in, posted by krisanon on August 29, 2004, at 13:22:05

> I've been at 40 mg of Parnate for a week and still no results--and of course my doctor is away like every other psychiatric professional in NYC in August. Any answers about what dosage I'll probably need to go to to combat my severe chronic depression? Parnate is sort of a last resort med so I'm getting nervous that it won't work either. If an MAOI can't help me and all the many other meds have failed me, I'm really feeling scared and hopeless. Any feedback on MAOI response is appreciated.

Glad I saw your post--I don't look at this board as often as I used to. As Ace is to Nardil, I, cubbybear am to Parnate. Have been taking it for 20 YEARS. There were a few times when I stopped it, but don't do that any more, since I know that I will surely relapse. Almost without fail, it kicked in for me after 2-3 weeks at 40 mg; on a couple of occasions, it kicked in faster. The hardest part is hanging in there, while every minute seems like years, but this med. has been my lifesaver. Good luck and hang in there.
cubbybear

 

Re: Waiting for Parnate to kick in » krisanon

Posted by King Vultan on August 30, 2004, at 12:08:06

In reply to Waiting for Parnate to kick in, posted by krisanon on August 29, 2004, at 13:22:05

Parnate is regarded as one of the faster acting meds, but even so, it might take longer than a week for some people to notice results. In my case, I started Parnate last Tuesday at 10 mg/day, went to 20 mg/day Wednesday and started definitely noticing some changes by Saturday or Sunday. Don't think I'm saying my depression has completely abated, though, because that is very far from the truth. I am also experiencing some fairly bad insomnia and am waiting for this to abate a little before I go up in dosage.

I don't know how you're taking the Parnate, but you will get more efficient MAO inhibition by splitting the dosage into at least two parts, say, in the morning and the afternoon. This is true of any MAOI with a short half life, such as either Parnate or Nardil.

Todd

 

Re: Waiting for Parnate to kick in

Posted by ron1953 on August 30, 2004, at 17:14:19

In reply to Waiting for Parnate to kick in, posted by krisanon on August 29, 2004, at 13:22:05

Krisanon:

I can really empathize with your fear that the Parnate may not help. I just started it yesterday after years of trying just about everything else. Parnate seems like a last-ditch effort to combat a lifelong depression problem, which has been very serious for the past 15 years. We have no choice but to try our best to be patient in the early stages of the trial. Best of luck to both of us.

 

Re: Waiting for Parnate to kick in

Posted by gardenergirl on August 30, 2004, at 21:39:45

In reply to Re: Waiting for Parnate to kick in, posted by ron1953 on August 30, 2004, at 17:14:19

Good luck to both of you. I'm on Nardil, and have been for almost a year now. The S/E's can be annoying at times, but Nardil has been the only AD that has remitted my atypical depresison. I hope you have similar results.

gg

 

Chemist -- re your Parnate dosage.

Posted by Piquet on August 31, 2004, at 6:46:12

In reply to Re: Waiting for Parnate to kick in » krisanon, posted by chemist on August 29, 2004, at 13:53:44

> > I've been at 40 mg of Parnate for a week and still no results--and of course my doctor is away like every other psychiatric professional in NYC in August. Any answers about what dosage I'll probably need to go to to combat my severe chronic depression? Parnate is sort of a last resort med so I'm getting nervous that it won't work either. If an MAOI can't help me and all the many other meds have failed me, I'm really feeling scared and hopeless. Any feedback on MAOI response is appreciated.
>
> hello there, chemist here. give it some time, and be prepared to go up to 60 mg/day (divided). i personally have had success with parnate (at the 30 mg/day dosing) and many folks here report a more favorable yet equally powerful punch from nardil. choose your poison, as it were, and give it some time. like death and taxes, the efficacy of MAOIs in lifting depression is pretty much a sure thing. there are exceptions, of course, yet you need to give it a try for more than a week (my metric is 6 to 8 weeks before i throw in the towel, but that is just me). please do report back, and all the best, chemist.

Hi Chemist,

It would seem to me that you responded at a fairly low dosage, and I was wondering what the outcome of Parnate therapy was for you... if you don't mind discussing that. I'm taking 60 mg with reasonable therapeutic results at day 54. My pdoc (who specialises in trd) says that he would go to 90 mg, but that anything over that gives bragging rights and little else. I'd be interested to hear your view on the above. Take care,

Piquet.

 

Re: Waiting for Parnate to kick in

Posted by Piquet on August 31, 2004, at 7:00:16

In reply to Waiting for Parnate to kick in, posted by krisanon on August 29, 2004, at 13:22:05

> I've been at 40 mg of Parnate for a week and still no results--and of course my doctor is away like every other psychiatric professional in NYC in August. Any answers about what dosage I'll probably need to go to to combat my severe chronic depression? Parnate is sort of a last resort med so I'm getting nervous that it won't work either. If an MAOI can't help me and all the many other meds have failed me, I'm really feeling scared and hopeless. Any feedback on MAOI response is appreciated.

Hi there.

The MAOI class of AD is the last refuge for many of us, so you're not alone in that regard. Two things to remember are that you need to be on a therapeutic level of the drug -- and that can vary between individuals -- and you need to be at that level for long enough for the drug to provide you with a therapeutic response -- again, there's variation between individuals. What you don't want to do is to give up before you were taking enough of it or before you were taking it for long enough, then go through an unpleasant washout period prior to trying something else, and later find yourself wondering whether Parnate just might have been the right drug had you given it a chance. This is early days for you and although I understand your impatience, I'd urge you to hang in there for at least a few more weeks.

Two more things to think about: Parnate isn't the only MAOI, and MAOIs can be -- and have been -- successfully augmented. I really hope that Parnate works for you, but it isn't your last chance. Good luck.

Piquet.

 

Re: Chemist -- re your Parnate dosage. » Piquet

Posted by gardenergirl on August 31, 2004, at 9:19:41

In reply to Chemist -- re your Parnate dosage., posted by Piquet on August 31, 2004, at 6:46:12

I'm afraid you'll have to wait for a response. Chemist was blocked for 4 weeks. :(

gg

 

Darn it! Thanks gg :) (nm)

Posted by Piquet on August 31, 2004, at 15:01:38

In reply to Re: Chemist -- re your Parnate dosage. » Piquet, posted by gardenergirl on August 31, 2004, at 9:19:41

 

Re: Waiting for Parnate to kick in

Posted by Pryor8 on September 1, 2004, at 11:50:53

In reply to Re: Waiting for Parnate to kick in, posted by ron1953 on August 30, 2004, at 17:14:19

Hi krisanon and ron1953 -- any luck on parnate yet? what doses are you on? I just hit a week at 40 -- hang in there! (that's what I'm trying to do; a little benefit so far, I think, but nasty afternoon fatigue side effect)

 

Re: Waiting for Parnate to kick in

Posted by rg51 on September 1, 2004, at 22:01:16

In reply to Re: Waiting for Parnate to kick in, posted by Pryor8 on September 1, 2004, at 11:50:53

I'm at day 4 and just upped dose to 20mg. No signs of improvement but it's too early in my trial to reasonably expect anything. Only "side-effect" was EXTREME droopiness yesterday morning. I suspected that the effect of my nightly Klonopin was increased somehow by the Parnate. I halved the Klonopin dose and that did the trick. Will keep y'all posted as events occur.

 

Re: blocked for 2 weeks » rg51

Posted by Dr. Bob on September 1, 2004, at 23:32:43

In reply to Re: Waiting for Parnate to kick in, posted by rg51 on September 1, 2004, at 22:01:16

> I'm at day 4 and just upped dose to 20mg...

When you're blocked, you're not supposed to post, so I've extended your original block by 1 week.

Bob

 

Re: Waiting for Parnate to kick in

Posted by krisanon on September 7, 2004, at 16:59:59

In reply to Re: Waiting for Parnate to kick in, posted by Pryor8 on September 1, 2004, at 11:50:53

Well it is now two weeks at 40. I think that my baseline, so to speak, is a little better, but still having concentration and energy problems as well as several daily depressive episodes that last an hour or two. Seeing the doc on Thursday, hopefully going up to 50 and then the waiting starts again. SO frustrating. I just focus on the idea that these meds almost always work--I just need to find my dose. Good luck to you too.


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