Posted by missliz on July 21, 2002, at 0:10:34
In reply to Cybercafe chocoholic: re. MAOIs, posted by Vanessa on July 20, 2002, at 17:31:49
MAOIs are great, at least for me. I'm BP II and like an anti depressant and a mood stabilizer; Nardil was a wonderful thing for me. It's amazing to wake up one day and realize that this is what life is like for the normal people...
Most anti depressants have an insulating rubber bumper effect- MAOIs do not. You will have to deal with lifes rough edges without that detachment and not everyone is up to it. I prefer it, as I also get the full effect of all the wonderful things too. I didn't gain weight on Nardil because I got over my social phobia and spent all my free time in the gym or on the road with my cycling club.( Or going dancing!) It does make you want your desert though.
It kicked back on me, and I tried Parnate. It was fantastic, once I got past the first few rough weeks. MAOIs want to rewire your brain into their own matrix and they can be a rough adjustment for some of us although totlly worth it. I had to quit the Parnate because of cardiac arrythmias- this isn't a listed side effect, but everbody's different. It metabolises into amphetamine and methamphetamine, I lost 30 pounds but got the scare of my life. (I'm fine since I stopped the stuff)I'm titrating up on selegiline now, and it's going well so far.
MAOIS are not "dangerous drugs" as some textbooks say. You do have to be concious of your diet and any drugs you take for interactions, but this is not as rough as the diabetic lifestyle. No shots. You'll be going out for chinese instead of pizza, and I promise pizza is a small sacrifice for feeling better.
Your pdoc can find a ton of info on MAOIs, as they're used plenty. Theres a lot of myth about the diet still- it was re researched and cleared up. Look at J Clin Psychiatry 1996;57:99-104. There are also drugs you shouldn't take. If your pdoc can't get a patient info packet for you call the consult guy, he should set you up. It's a lifestyle, and you give things to get things with these drugs. You won't miss any of them.Bonne chance
Miss Liz
By the way, there are new novel antidepressents set to come out over the next year. If Marplan doesn't work for you, there will be something else to try down the road. Don't feel boxed. I'm out of mood stabilizers that don't give me serious physical side effects so I'm eating disgusting fish oil pills until we think of something.
poster:missliz
thread:112159
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020718/msgs/113105.html