Posted by SLS on January 8, 2007, at 7:58:10
In reply to Re: Nardil + nortriptyline is working - AGAIN!, posted by stargazer on January 7, 2007, at 22:53:10
Hi.
> Happy to hear the Nardil is working so well.
Thanks. The improvement is mild at this point, but I expect it to grow gradually over the course of months, not weeks.
> My choice was to try Nardil again, but my pdoc wanted me to try EMsam first so thats what I'm doing. Initially I had alot of energy on Emsam but not feeling like I did when Nardil and Marplan worked in the mid to late 80's.
This is exactly what I have observed with others who have tried Emsam.
> That was a normal person type of feeling, where I would never think about what I was doing and wouldjust be living anormal, productive life.
Yes!
> All the years on the other meds (SSRI's, etc.) I may have not been depressed
How do you know that you weren't still somewhat depressed? Often, there is some residual depression after medication that just doesn't feel as bad as before medication. This is often confused for a lack of interest, laziness, lack of desire to socialize, etc.
> but I was still thinking about how I was doing and how I really wasn't comfortable in my life and my relationships with others. It's hard to explain the difference but I'm sure anyone who has TRD knows the difference.
Yes. Responses to medication can be very incomplete.
> I'm glad it is working for you but I don't understand how the combination works.
That's ok. I'm sure very few people would. I don't. Discovering the drugs that work is partly deductive, but mostly empirical.
> and is Trileptal an antiseizure/mood stabalizer?
Yes. I think it's a good drug. It is almost free of cognitive side effects compared to its sister drug, Tegretol. I found that it had a mild antidepressant effect.
> Can you say what each one adds to the formula in terms of symptom control?
Not really.
:-)
All of the drugs possess mild antidepressant effects for me. However, I think the real magic lies in the combination of Nardil + nortriptyline. However, that magic might not exist at all without some or all of the others.
nortriptyline
Nardil
Lamictal
Topamax
AbilifyNortriptyline + Lamictal provides a stable, mild improvement where each alone does little or nothing. Adding Abilify gave me a mild improvement in mental energy and motivation. Adding Topamax provided some further improvements, although mild. However, it gave me hints of something special that I can't put into words. Adding Nardil has produced a more social demeanor, more mental and physical energy, an improvement in anhedonia, interest, motivation, cognition, and memory. Food tastes better. Music sounds better. Stuff like that.
> God bless whoever is handling your psychopharm management.
It has been a combined effort. I am happy that I have a doctor who has been willing to work with me and act on the ideas that I present to him. I am especially grateful that he encouraged me to restart the Nardil. I had been undecided about it.
> It is an unusual mix but very customized so hope it keeps you out of trouble, I'm keeping my fingers crossed...SG
Toes and eyes too?
Thanks.
:-)
- Scott
poster:SLS
thread:714163
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20070107/msgs/720375.html