Posted by SLS on February 12, 2005, at 12:32:17
In reply to Why the washout between MAOIS?, posted by anodyne on February 12, 2005, at 11:19:35
> I was wondering if anyone knew why it was neccessary to have a washout between Parnate and Nardil.
I don't.
> It seems like they have almost identical methods of action.
Yes and no. Although both drugs occupy a spot (not necessarily the same spot) on the MAO enzyme that serves to irreversibly (for the most part) disable it, they possess additional properties. It might be that these additional actions would produce an exaggerated negative reaction should they be introduced while a MAO blockade has already been established rather than having both establish together during a gradual titration.
10mg is such a low dosage and produces such a small percentage of MAO blockade, it probably wouldn't matter much if you were to wait 14 days or 1 day. However, I am not going to recommend that you do that because, like your doctor, I wouldn't want to be responsible for the sequalae were I to be wrong.
As an aside, the elimination half life of Parnate is 2-3 hours. However, its effects in the body will persist for the period during which the system can manufacturer enough new MAO to replace that which has been disabled by the drug. This period is probably variable from person to person and depends on the magnitude of the percentage of MAO inhibition established. My guess is that it takes 10 days ± 3 to regain normal levels of MAO activity from a therapeutic dosage that has resulted in 80% or greater inhibition.
- Scott
>
> I am on day 5 of a washout from a very low dose (10mg) of Parnate and anxiously counting down the 2 weeks my doc recommended I wait before starting Nardil.
>
> Thanks
poster:SLS
thread:456763
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050212/msgs/456782.html