Posted by King Vultan on December 1, 2004, at 12:13:30
In reply to MAOi's vs Wellbutrin + SSRI, posted by Optimist on November 30, 2004, at 17:37:57
> I was wondering if anyone could give me some input on the difference in efficacy between the MAOi's(Nardil and Parnate) vs the combo of wellbutrin + SSRI(Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft, etc...)
>
> I'm currently taking 450mg Wellbutrin SR(last 4 months), 40mg of Prozac(one month) and 5mg of Adderall XR(last 3 months) per day. This combo is helping a lot in the energy, motivation department as all the meds are activating but they aren't seeming to do anything about my social anxiety. My main problems are depression (dysthymia, SAD), and social anxiety.
>
> Since the Wellbutrin/SSRI combo increases serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine, similar to an MAOi I was wondering if they could be similar in efficacy.
>
> If anyone has any experience to share, or suggestions regarding the comparing of the two I'd like to hear.
>
> I was thinking of giving Parnate a shot since I've heard it's better in regard to social anxiety.
The MAOIs would have much stronger effects on norepinephrine than an SSRI + Wellbutrin, and this is perhaps one of the keys to their effectiveness. Nardil reminded me in many ways of desipramine, which is a strong NE reuptake inhibitor, but I felt Nardil had stronger AD effects and considerably more ability to get me to go out and socialize. I found myself actually striking up conversations with people in situations where I probably wouldn't have done so otherwise.Parnate, OTOH, reminds me more of Wellbutrin in its ability to increase drive and motivation. It also seems to have made me much bolder and more self confident, which has been a real help for my social phobia, and I would rate Parnate superior to Nardil for my particular problem. However, I would still say that I was more outgoing and sociable on Nardil, if that makes any sense. Parnate does a better job of neutralizing the panic attack like symptoms that strike me sometimes in social situations, manifested by rapidly increasing anxiety and runaway, profuse sweating. Nardil was relatively effective at preventing this, too; it just wasn't as good as Parnate.
Todd
poster:King Vultan
thread:422508
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20041201/msgs/422862.html