Posted by Budgie on August 5, 2003, at 16:11:41
Hi All, this is my first time posting, thought I'd add to the on-going Effexor debate...
I successfully weaned myself off of it (from 225) over 3 weeks & have been free for 2 weeks now. It was rough, but I seem to be symptom free now. Here's what I think helped me: 1.Bendryl and dramamine for their respective symptoms. 2.Vitamins, healthy food and exercise for general health and stress relief. 3.I've been taking a very small dose of Zyprexa for about 8 months, and I really think it helped me when I was feeling the most "unstable" during the withdrawal (I realize this isn't an option for most people, though). 4.Support and patience from loved ones (and comfort from psycho-babble posts), plus the feeling of hope I have for starting a new med (the reason I stopped the Effexor) were the intangibles. In short: It's very possible to do, but I wish everyone the best of luck who's trying, nonetheless.
Now, I have some questions re MAOIs. First, has anyone with social anxiety and/or atypical depression symptoms tried both Parnate and Nardil? If so, which worked better and how? I'm going with P. simply because I can't stand being sedated for another semester, like I was with the Zyprexa. Second, is there any reseaon why Zyprexa (I still find it helpful in some ways) shouldn't be taken with an MAOI, since Z. has a serotonergic effect? Third, is there any connection between Parnate and mania, like some of the SSRIs? Over my E. withdrawal, I began having the FREAKIEST nightmares- I would start out "feeling" (these were very intense sensory dreams) euphoric and numb, but then quickly descending into what I can only explain as a "bad trip," where I would just lose control, crashing around the room like a madman. First of all, what could this be? I'm not manic at all (quite the opposite), but I could imagine from my dreams what absolute berserko-mania would be like. Any thoughts?
One last thing: If MAO is responsible for breaking down tyramine, does that mean that if a normal person (not on an MAOI) were to eat tyramine-rich foods, his or her MAO would be busy metabolising the tyramine, rather than the monoamines? Basically, would the person feel a slight "antidepressant" effect??
Sorry for the long post. Hope this contributes somehow...
poster:Budgie
thread:248327
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030802/msgs/248327.html