Posted by Crazy Horse on May 30, 2006, at 11:22:57
Well, after about 5 months on Parnate i am now off the drug that i once believed was the best of the best. What went wrong? ...I was doing so well. I believe there were 3 major problems that contributed to me choosing to go off of Parnate.
1. Severe Insomnia. This started from the very beginning, and lasted and even worsened throughout my Parnate experience. The problem (i believe) is that my pdoc didn't treat my insomnia agressively enough. Ambien and Lunesta didn't work, so he insisted on useing Trazodone. For me Traz wasn't strong enough for Parnate induced insomnia..at least 2 nights a week i couldn't sleep at all. My doc wouldn't even consider trying other drugs such as Seroquel, halcion, or even chloral hydrate...he said the insomnia would lessen with time, it didn't!
2) Terrible daytime fatigue. This occured even after a good nights sleep. It was as if something was sucking every ounce of energy out of my body..Ugh! Many days it was almost paralysing, i couldn't get any work done and i felt useless! Again, my pdoc said, "This will pass with time." It didn't..it got worse. He wouldn't even think of trying a mild stimulant like provigil...so i was just supposed to accept this?? Well, i have a wife, 2 children and a home, i can't just stay in bed all day...i have responsibilities.
3) My dose was way too high. This was partly my fault. Because of studies and articles i had read i convinced my pdoc to take the dose up to 150 mgs. Some literature/studies make claims that doses in the 120-150 range has many benefits over lower doses, including reduced insomnia, and the elimination of daytime fatigue. Well, not true for me, the higher we went the more side effects i had..duh! But even when we went back down (slowly) to 60 mgs. a day the side effects remained. So, unable to even function like this anymore i (with my docs support) decided to taper off of parnate altogether. Being off Parnate now for one day is the best i have felt in about 1.5 mos.
As most of you know, Parnate can be very stimulating. For me, that stimulation was becoming uncomfortable, it was still a strong lift in the morning but after 2 hrs. it dropped me flat on my *ss...this even at 60 mgs. It was no longer a good feeling for me, it actually became annoying..almost too strong.
Anyway, i learned some lessens here, especially the fact that less is sometimes more. And I plan to be more agressive with my Pdoc, after all i am paying him and quite well i might add. Parnate will always be an option (at low dose of course) in case i get very deeply depressed and suicidal, so not all is lost. My plan now is to give EMSAM a try, and yes i will take things very slowly this time i promise! From what i have been reading i think EMSAM will be a better fit for me than Parnate was...i sure hope so anyway. In the meantime i am going through a wash out period and should have EMSAM on board in approx. 2 weeks. Please wish me luck and thank you for listening.
Monte
poster:Crazy Horse
thread:650434
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060530/msgs/650434.html