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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 5 of 5. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by gardenergirl on December 6, 2003, at 12:07:07
I have been on Nardil for atypical depression for a little over 3 months. Before the med I was sleeping excessively, often until 11:00 am or noon on weekdays. On weekends it could go as late as 5 or 6 pm! I have always had some trouble getting to sleep at times.
Now that I have been on the Nardil, I have been waking up around 5:30 am. This has been great, as I make it into work and school on time, but it seems to be getting earlier and earlier! This a.m. (Saturday) I woke up at 4:00 and couldn't bet back to sleep. What's up?
Posted by enola on December 7, 2003, at 0:14:26
In reply to Nardil and insomnia, posted by gardenergirl on December 6, 2003, at 12:07:07
Hi,
I too have had problems with insomnia from Nardil. I am recently adjusting to a new doseage because of the switch from old to new Nardil (which one are you on?) and last night I woke up and was awake enough to go for a run around the block, except for how it was 2:30am! This has happened to me in the past, usually under the following circumstances:
- after missing a few days of Nardil if I have run out of pills or whatever, the way I can usually tell it is kicking back in is with an insomnia episode. This usually stabilizes within a day or two.
- once I made a big lifestyle change and went on a big diet/exercise program that tweaked my metabolism or something in such a way that I was having insomnia episodes almost every night, waking up at 3 or 4 and being unable to go back to sleep. My doc recommended decreasing my dose a bit, which did the trick.
If I were in your situation, I would think I was getting a little more Nardil than I needed and cut back a little bit, keeping careful tabs on my mood to make sure no depression or anxiety broke through. I have no idea whether the cause of your insomnia is the same as mine (i.e., a little too much Nardil), but if this goes on for more than a week or two almost every night, I might talk to your doc about reducing your dose ever so slightly.Another option to consider is what time of day you take Nardil -- if you take it before bed, consider taking it sometime in the morning or early afternoon. Maybe then you'd get that kick of energy at a time you could actually use it! Another thing to discuss with your doc, assuming he/she is knowledgeable about the ins and outs of taking MAOIs (they seem to be somewhat rare!)
Hope this helps ;)
Posted by gardenergirl on December 7, 2003, at 8:03:01
In reply to Re: Nardil and insomnia, posted by enola on December 7, 2003, at 0:14:26
Your post was very helpful, thank you. I believe I am on the new nardil. It's a burnt orange type color (yes I loved my crayolas in grade school), and it has the letters and numbers inscribed rather than stamped. I have been on this one since the beginning. I am on 45mg, which I take in 3 15 mg doses approx. 8 hours apart. At least that's the goal. I'm sometimes late on the firs dose, depending on when I eat breakfast. The last dose is usually at about 11:00 pm.
I have been wondering at some point, since I am doing so much better, if lowering the dose slightly, perhaps to 30 mg, would be a good maintenance level. It's hard to talk to my doc about this as he had to look up MAOI's. When I asked him about them, he started to prescribe me a tricyclic. Scary! Good thing I knew what I was asking for. He also did not think it was necessary to wash out the the Wellbutrin (which needed to be tapered) and the Celexa. Again, good thing I knew what I was doing.
I may just experiment with going to 30 mg and see what that does to my mood. Of course I also need to get back to my yoga, as I stopped for awhile while I was healing from some painful dental work.
Thanks again!
Posted by Tepiaca on December 8, 2003, at 21:41:05
In reply to Re: Nardil and insomnia » enola, posted by gardenergirl on December 7, 2003, at 8:03:01
> When I asked him about them, he started to prescribe me a tricyclic. Scary! Good thing I knew what I was asking for. He also did not think it was necessary to wash out the the Wellbutrin (which needed to be tapered) and the Celexa. Again, good thing I knew what I was doing.
>are you serious?
what kind of doctor is that ?
why dont you look for a more experimented doctor?it sounds like he does not have the idea of what he is doing or giving to you.
Posted by gardenergirl on December 8, 2003, at 21:45:28
In reply to Re: Nardil and insomnia, posted by Tepiaca on December 8, 2003, at 21:41:05
> are you serious?
> what kind of doctor is that ?
> why dont you look for a more experimented doctor?
>
> it sounds like he does not have the idea of what he is doing or giving to you.
He is a primary care physician. I definitely have my issues with him and always say I will look for a new doc. But I just never think about finding a new one until I need to see one. And then it just seems easier to see this one. But I definitely have to provide my own oversight!
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