Posted by bigcat on October 24, 2005, at 22:27:24
In reply to Re: Nardil Woes- PLEEEEESE HELP!!!! » bigcat, posted by Declan on October 24, 2005, at 14:34:28
Ed and Declan: First off, I want to thank you for always responding with informative and supportive posts. You guys are what make this board great, and I appreciate your experience, wisdom, and remarkable dedication to helping others. Yes, I'm in the U.S., and clearly I have nothing to lose by trying the Plasmin Plus option. From what I understand, you crush up the Nardil and put it in empty plasmin(??) encapsulations. Is this type of encapsulation available at my local pharmacy, or do you have to order it online?
I've tried the Nardil with Dexedrine (which worked great for a while), and with Marplan, believe it or not. I felt good on the Marplan/Nardil combo, but I'm almost positive it was the Nardil doing it's thing, and that the Marplan was extraneous. However, I should also mention that after trying the Marplan maybe five times, on the sixth trial it suddenly and strangely kicked in immediately, and I had a couple good months on it by itself. I took the dose quite high, but for economic reasons I couldn't really give it too much time to see if I would gradually improve with super-high doses.
I understand that most types of depression have similar symptom profiles, but since ya'll seem to be very knowledgable about the chemical basis of various manifestations of depression, antidepressants, and what medecines or augmentation strategies target certain receptors resposible for this or that part of the illness, I wish to include the following:
My depression is chronic, severe, and predominantly treatment-resistant (including fruitless ECT sessions). It has gradually worsened over the past ten years (I'm 24 and have been trying antidepressants since age 18). The first symptoms to appear were OCD-related, and I never had a moment free from debilitating worry. I currently have positively no energy whatsoever, and a brand of cognitive impairment that prevents me from being able to express myself, and worst of all, withholds my natural inclination to display love and affection. I believe my horrid social anxiety is a direct result of my mind being asleep (except for racing anxiety and patterns of obsessive self-loathing and worrying), and thus I can't think of anything to say, don't even have the energy to smile, and my timing is lethargic and totally off- I'm on altogether the wrong frequency, wholly exiled from regular human interactions. I can't even sit still to read a book or play my guitar, and I go months without conversation, only responding with "yes and no's" to those closest to me.
The Dexedrine/Nardil combo allowed me to express myself with calm, confident composure and creative insight. I didn't have to futilely "plan" my fragmented, flailing sentences and responses; words came out naturally, and I became an "effective" person for a while. Basically I returned to being bright, as I was as a child before the depression struck so powerfully.
I apologize for including what may be wholly extraneous information, but I have read many of your posts and wanted to give you as much material as possible to highlight anything which may key you in to possible options to combat these symptoms.
Ed, I think it was you who posted a while back concerning a chemist friend of yours who explained how you could isolate the active element of Nardil using common ingedients. I would be very interested in learning more about this. My email is mlieb@wesleyan.edu if you care to discuss this further. I've always been undeterred by negative press or purely speculative risks in trying "unheard of" options to combat this exhausting depression.
As far as what I've combined with the Nardil, this list is rather short. Lamictal and Lithium are pretty much all, and of course the Dexedrine. I'd like to run some of my ideas past you to get your opinion:
(1) Add Wellbutrin
(2) Add Adrafinil (generic Provigil, right?)
(3) Stimulant juggling (work with and switch between dexedrine, desoxyn, adderal etc., since I'll probably work up a tolerance to each).
(4) Flip back and forth between the Nardil and Marplan, giving each maybe two weeks so the other med has some vacation time before switching back to it. (Sounds crazy, right?)
(5) I had a great initial resonse to Serzone recently, which after a week or so, left me worse off when I started, so I discontinued it. I do still wonder if had I stayed on it, the exacerbated, panicky depression would eventually pass and I would gradually find some sort of relief.These ideas may be far-fetched, but Nardil has been such a brilliant (and ultimately devastating/frustrating drug for me), that I'd consider ANYTHING, including natural supplements or alternative treatments to augment or keep the Nardil working effectively. My doctor is quite agressive as I've mentioned, and would be willing to combine Nardil with other classifications of antidepressant, going very slowly to guard against possibly dangerous interactions.
Wow- that was extremely long-winded, but I felt the need to put everything on the table to give you crafty fellows as much material to work with as possible. If you have any other questions about my med history or how I've reacted to different medications, please ask. Unfortunatley my memory is very poor, and I'm often totally confused about how I responded to trials of this or that. Most drugs did nothing or made me worse.
Finally, I'd like to express my admiration and loving appreciation for your commitment to sharing what you know in an effort to educate others, and provide hope and crucial information that could potentially lead to the relief we all seek so desperately. This is a selfless dedication and instinct you possess, and I often feel guilty that despite my years of med trials, I feel that I have so little to offer on this board, as I can't seem to add anything up into some type of consistant insight, or helpful recollection of my experience.
I remain in awe of your relentles efforts to educate yourselves and come up with new, hope-inspiring ideas and options to fight this horrible illness with all your might and power. Thanks once again, and I look froward to hearing from you.
Your Bud,
Matt
poster:bigcat
thread:571150
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20051024/msgs/571580.html