Posted by Budgie on September 8, 2003, at 10:08:01
In reply to Parnate and spontaneous hypertensive episodes :( » Budgie, posted by mattdds on September 6, 2003, at 15:53:09
Matt,
That truly sucks, especially when it was doing you so much good. Maybe it'll just be a dosing issue- you've been taking too much at once or too close together. I definitely notice something (and to be honest, I don't know whether my BP is up or down. I really have to get a monitor) when I take my doses too close together. My heart starts beating really hard (not so much fast), I feel super light-headed, and I just lose all strength in my muscles. Walking up the hill to my house can be exhausting! Is this at all like what you experienced? I've only had these effects A. when I first started the med, and B. when I just increased the dose last week.
Would you still take the Klonopin with the Nardil? Do you think that would be really sedating? I think the thing I would miss about this med more than anything is the increased cognitive effects, the mental energy- it's why I was reluctant to try Nardil in the first place.
I really hope you get it all straightened out. It really bummed me when I read your message.
Good luck, though, and keep us posted.
Chris
Oh yeah, what is a "pressor" effect?
> Hey Chris,
>
> I had the lamest thing happen with Parnate this week. Just when I felt it was starting to work (and it became pretty obvious it was), I started getting spontaneous hypertension. This was not diet related, as I was strictly obeying the diet, and I would sometimes get these while fasting. But my BP would get up to around 170/105, which was pretty scary. It took a few hours to go down each night, and I would be taking my pressure every 1/2 hour to monitor it. It seemed to stabilize at that, so I never went to the ER or took nifedipine (although I do have some). Each time, it would go down without treatment. I wouldn't call these "crises", but perhaps "urgencies".
> Others that used to post here, I believe, have had similar experiences. It seems more common with Parnate than Nardil. It's really too bad, because it's a damn good med! It's not common for this reaction to happen, but not unheard of either. Some people think Parnate (or one of its metabolites) has an innate pressor effect. This would make sense, because the structure is very similar to that of amphetamine (although it does NOT get converted to amphetamine in the body).
>
> So I decided to scale down to 20mg and then to 10mg. I go to the doc on Tuesday to see what to do. Right now, I'm just taking one in the morning, as opposed to the four divided doses. Perhaps I ramped up too fast?
>
> I am really bummed. Parnate seemed to really be doing the job, but had that unfortunate, and somewhat alarming effect of spiking my BP.
>
> I hear Nardil is less likely to do this. So maybe I can get my doc to let me try it. Or even better, he may have some solutions to the BP problem with Parnate.
>
> Another weird note. Yes, HYPOtension is more common with this, and generally my BP would run significantly lower, especially the diastolic. But consistently for a couple hours each night, it would shoot up!
>
> I'm glad you're having success with it. On 40mg I was really starting to see a difference. I doubt you'll get the same reaction I did, it's rather rare. Consider yourself lucky!
>
> Best of luck!
>
> Matt
>
poster:Budgie
thread:257611
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030907/msgs/258038.html