Posted by Trevpr on July 14, 2013, at 22:38:57
Yeah, so I'm not really sure what to do anymore. I've posted several times talking a bit about my symptoms, so I'm sure some of you guys know what's up already.
It's just this emotional numbness/apathy/low libido and such... It's killing me! And sometimes I get severe anxiety and panic attacks. I try not to use too much Xanax (I use at most 0.25mg and that seems to work for an acute panic attack) only when necessary.
The anxiety comes and goes, but the anhedonia/not being able to fully enjoy things really affects my quality of life! (I'm sure you know what I mean)
Well, it's obvious that the Parnate isn't helping. When I first started taking it, for the first week or two I felt more motivated and chatty and my libido went way up (though it wasn't the "touchy feely" libido I like, it was more crude and like the disloyal lusty meth libido kind, lol). I liked the boost sort of, but it faded quickly. This was probably the dopamine increase which my body always grows a tolerance to very quickly (like with stimulants such as Ritalin or Amphetamine).
I was left with not feeling the "lows" of the depression, but still no effect on the "highs" that I should be feeling in life. I still felt flat. Now it doesn't seem to be doing much at all. I went up to 50mg and stayed there a while, then went down to 40mg, and now I'm at 30mg and just going to come off of it. It seems to just be increasing anxiety.
I think it is affecting me differently after 11 bilateral ECTs. Before, it wouldn't make me feel anxious, but not, I think that it might be contributing to anxiety.
Anyways, any advice/experiences about coming off of Parnate? Did taking Parnate help your libido, or did it just give you a temporary boost like for a week or two like it did for me, or did it worsen it in the long run? Does it numb your emotions or help them to feel more intense (in a good way)? How did you feel tapering off of it? Any info would be helpful!
I just feel like I'm playing whack-a-mole with these meds! One med might help a tiny bit, but then it will have all these other problems to deal with. I keep having to whack symptoms taking more and more meds! I feel like I'm going to go crazy, lol. I think I'm just going to wash everything out and start with St. John's Wort and ECT as needed (really, ECT and Ritalin have been the only things to have helped with the anhedonia/numbness/apathy/low libido at all the way that I wanted). Some things like Parnate had some effects which were sort of fun, but they weren't what I was looking for and didn't make me feel like myself at all...
poster:Trevpr
thread:1047192
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20130706/msgs/1047192.html