Posted by JaclinHyde on February 12, 2006, at 17:36:56
TylerJ had asked me in another thread what my MAOI experience was like so I thought that I would make it a seperate thread so that if anyone else was curious they could read it too. My experience was this class of drugs goes back over 25 years. At that time my only options were therapy, tricyclics or the MAOI's. I was suffering horribly with panic and depression with hypochondria and mild ocd thrown in. My therapist was a good guy but really didn't want to refer me to a shrink for meds. But the more he tried to fix me with just talking the more he could see that it wasn't working. The panic was so horrible that it was sheer torture to get from Brooklyn (where I used to live) to the docs office in NYC. So I got on the meds merry-go-round with the tricyclics. Horrible horrible things, imho. My heart was racing and skipping beats to the point where even the doctor said 'these are not the drugs for you.' Being a hypochondriac I had read all the textbooks about how dangerous the MAOI's were and so put off starting them even though they were my only other option (ect would have been the very last straw.) Knowing I had run out of options I finally decided to bite the Nardil bullet and start it. I can still remember going on week 8 with no relief. My doctor said to me 'well, how do you feel?' and I said that I felt the same except that my head would get these zapping feelings. He said 'well, that just shows that it is doing something inside of you...let's give it another week or so' to which I agreed, in tears. Two days later I went to bed feeling nothing different. On the morning on the 3rd day I opened my eyes and everthing was changed. It was that dramatic and it still almost brings tears to my eyes to remember it. I wanted to go out and do things. I was happy....no, I was overjoyed! I started a new life on that day with those wonderful orange pills. Fast forward many years and the SSRI's came out. New city, new doctor (hubby was in the navy so we moved around alot.) I was talked into trying these new and safer (haha) antid's. Figured OK, blue cheese dressing on my salad does sound good so I jumped on the merry-go-round again only to be disappointed over and over and over. Back on the MAOI's only this time marplan which was even better than nardil. No weight gain (for me anyway) and not overtly sleepy. I only had one time where it started pooping out so the doctor augmented it with neurontin which held it steady. I was told by another doctor since then that neurontin is a good choice for this purpose so that might help you too Tyler. Fast forward to about 1 year ago when I was diagnosed as mildly bipolar. Taken off the Marplan and tried on even newer drugs. No go. I said to the doctor "look I was told many many MANY years ago that serotonin wasn't my problem. The SSRI's and even the SSNRI's don't do anything for me. I read that Parnate is ok with bipolars so can we just go with that?" Having had a gastric bypass back in 1999 weight gain was not something I would settle for and parnate was a good choice in that respect too. I got my wish and have noticed a quick and so far steady climb back to normalacy. So that is my story up till now. I watch what I eat but always keep a tab of seroquel (a good sleep helper but normally used as an anti psychotic) with me in case I feel that nasty headache coming. I have had that happen once: I ate some sour cream that had been in my fridge too long. My god that hurt like hell. And I know I was very lucky. But when you consider the fact that up to that point I had been on this type of drug for about 20 years, that was a pretty good track record blood pressure wise. I believe it is important to wear a medical ID bracelet so that if you cannot speak the doctors will know NO DEMEROL. I was given a shot of demerol not long after starting Nardil with no adverse effects but that was sheer luck. My psych doctor went ballistic because my regular doctor knew I was on the MAOI. Morphine is OK. Also be careful when you go to the dentist because you really aren't supposed to get novacaine. They do make a version of it that doesn't interact with MAOI's and most dentists carry it. 'Laughing gas' is ok too. Hmmmm.....what else....oh gee well, just let me know if you have any other questions :-)
poster:JaclinHyde
thread:609018
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060212/msgs/609018.html