Posted by zeugma on February 17, 2004, at 19:47:03
In reply to Re: Nardil (Phenelzine) vs Parnate (Tranylcypromine) » zeugma, posted by Chairman_MAO on February 17, 2004, at 16:19:49
> This is what I have, heh, and I could rant on for at least 10 minutes straight about how frustrated I am that my doctor will not prescribe an MAOI, because aside from controlled substances, which I cannot have, they're really the only game in town for this (Wellbutrin is getting worse--at only 150mg--with the agitation every day, despite 900mg Trileptal).
I can't take stimulants either, but for a different reason: I weigh only 122.5 lbs. (at five foot seven) and every stimulant I have ever been on took weight off FAST. Strattera's caused me to lose weight ,too, but not as bad: I'm down from a maximum weight of maybe 125.
>
> Marplan is the "middle-of-the-road", but I am not familiar with it. However, if you can get benzos, just take Klonopin with Parnate. Parnate I'm sure is by far the best for ADD/anergic depression, and the Klonopin will help out the social phobia.I'm sure Parnate is great for ADD, but there is frustratingly little information available about this. I can get benzos (though don't ask what i had to go through to get them): I was prescribed 0.5 mg Klonopin to start with, and it worked GREAT for my social anxiety. Unfortunately, it set off my hypnagogic hallucinations/narcolepsy; I developed these the night I went on klonopin. prior to that, they had completely gone away. Strattera is a good drug for narcolepsy.
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> Contrary to popular belief, you CAN add a NE reuptake inhibitor to an MAOI, so another option would be Strattera + Nardil. This should help with energy somewhat and the Nardil will KILL the social phobia. If your ADD is mostly time management issues/memory and your focus is manageable when you are not depressed, you could try Nardil + acetylcholinesterase inhibitor (Aricept or Reminyl come to mind). A drug like this has a good chance of mitigating urinary retention as well as cognitive impairment.I'm afraid to take anything that increases ACh because that promotes REM and would probably set off my sleep disorder (narcolepsy). Parnate plus the tiny amount of clonazepam I'm on (0.25 mg) should be just as good for social anxiety as what i'm on now. Nardil plus Strattera? Well, if I did that, maybe I wouldn't have to take clonazepam at all, and I would like that, because as effective as it is, the weird electrical shocks/hypnagogic hallucinations I get from Klonopin when I miss any sleep are incredibly unpleasant. The only thing I would worry about would be Nardil's GABA effect; isn't this similar to Depakote or some other mood stabilizer, or even Klonopin itself? The selling point for Klonopin, for me, is that i can take a tiny dose, which keeps s/e to a minimum. (If it is Klonopin's effect on GABA that cause this side effect. It sounds suspiciously like SSRI/Effexor withdrawal, so I wonder if it is serotonergetic; in which case Nardil might not be so good.)
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> A killer combo might also be Parnate + Klonopin + Reminyl (galantamine), because they found in eastern europe that galantamine reverses the sedation and cognitive impairment of benzodiazepines. As a matter of fact, I am quite sure that if you tried this you would be IMPRESSED. It would take at LEAST three months to get all of the dosages right, if not six or more.Galantamine? Not familiar with that one. I would think that if I were on parnate, there would be no sedation problem at all. The problem is; it is FRUSTRATING how little info there is on MAOI's. If the Nardil did not aggravate my narcolepsy, that plus Strattera, plus something to help me sleep, might be the perfect combo.
Anyway, the meds I'm on (nortriptyline, Strattera, plus buspirone and a pinch of K) seem to work much better when I get out of the house. There's some kind of 'activation' which keeps me from sinking into the fog, so I shouldn't be complaining. Of course, it isn't the same as having a properly functioning nervous system. But then, there's no substitute for that.
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> Oh lord won't you get me an MAOI ...
>
poster:zeugma
thread:314394
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040215/msgs/314888.html