Posted by ed_uk2010 on March 21, 2010, at 17:51:05
In reply to NARDIL FOR SOCIAL ANXIETY, posted by mike0388 on March 21, 2010, at 16:36:09
Welcome to p-babble. Many people on this board have had success with phenelzine (Nardil) for severe social anxiety. You can search the Dr. Bob archives using the box at the bottom of the page. Nardil is also used to treat severe depression, treatment-resistant depression, various anxiety disorders and atypical depression.
Nardil frequently causes side effects, but it is a very effective drug for social phobia. You will need to have been off all SSRIs from a number of weeks before starting Nardil (5 weeks in the case of Prozac, up to 2 weeks for the others). Nardil is an inconvenient medication to take because of the dietary restrictions and multiple drug interactions. On the other hand, it can provide substantial relief to severely affected patients after other treatments haven't worked, so it remains a valuable medication.
Many psychiatrists have little knowledge or experience of MAOIs, often because they are young and have never used the older meds. If you haven't got one already, you will need a doctor who is comfortable using MAOIs. They are not as 'easy to prescribe' as the SSRIs. MAOI treatment requires a doctor who really knows what they are doing. Some doctors view the MAOIs as 'dangerous' without really knowing anything about them. Considering that they can help people when other treatments haven't worked, this is not a sensible point of view. You will need to become an educated patient... there are plenty of things to learn about diet and interactions with other medication. The more knowledge you have about Nardil, the safer it will be.
There are many newer antidepressants out there, but for some people only MAOIs prove effective. Anyone who claims that we don't need MAOIs anymore because we've got plenty of new drugs to choose from clearly doesn't know what they are talking about.
> Hello.
>
> I have a question for anyone whose taken Nardil for social phobia.
>
> I have tried many SSRI's with no luck for severe social phobia. I have no depression, but pretty severe social phobia.
>
> My question is has anyone experienced success with Nardil and does the help of the medication tend to wear off after a while?
>
poster:ed_uk2010
thread:940319
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20100318/msgs/940335.html