Posted by SLS on November 9, 2008, at 14:21:09
In reply to Re: 'Miracle Drug' Questions for Scott » SLS, posted by JadeKelly on November 9, 2008, at 11:54:38
Hi Jade.
You always ask great questions. I only wish that my answers could be great as well. The practice of psychopharmacology can make idiots out of the most intelligent of people. We just don't know enough.
> Scott, just curious as I am on parnate (may have to switch to other MAOI, hope not)
Did you see my post to you regarding your hypertensive reaction to Parnate? It might be a startup transient effect that will resolve fairly quickly. I believe in the dosage range used by doctors who use MAOIs routinely to be 40-80mg. I really hope you can establish a Parnate treatment without side effects.
> How long have you been on this drug regimen?
I have experienced a significant response to my regime for over two years with Nardil as the MAOI. Having switched from Nardil to Parnate is producing a more satisfactory and stable improvement. I had plateaued on Nardil.
> Did it take a while to tweak individual doses before you got the response you have now?
Yes. I have demonstrated the need for each drug by tapering off of it, relapsing, and re-titrating back up. In this way, I found that I do better at 20mg of Abilify than I had at 10mg.
Take note of the drugs that helped you, even if only temporarily or producing but a partial improvement. I chose drugs to combine based on such a list.
> In your opinion, if I have to switch from Parnate, whats the closest MAOI to it?
The only two MAOIs that are connected so closely are Nardil and Marplan. Both are hydrazine derivatives. Marplan is often milder than Nardil regarding side effects and taxing the liver.
EMSAM is a propargyl derivative. In some ways, it is more like Parnate than Nardil. It produces amphetamine-like metabolites that are energizing. EMSAM can also help with social anxiety along with depression.
Thanks for the well-wishes. For those people who followed my story since I began posting in 1999, they would describe witnessing an intense and unrelenting depression in me. I think many of them would be surprised that I could get so well after such an odyssey. I was ALL BUT unresponsive to everything. I always looked at my reactions to medication as clues to what might eventually work for me - whether those reactions be good or bad.
I don't have the energy to tell the complete story as to how I came to take the drugs that are currently working. I wish I did, just to be able to give you more structure to work with.
Which drugs have you had any kind of positive response to? Which drugs made your core depression worse - not including side effects?
- Scott
poster:SLS
thread:861166
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20081106/msgs/861805.html