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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 8 of 8. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by KimberlyDi on December 15, 2003, at 11:52:13
When high blood pressure caused my pdoc to reduce my Effexor dosage from 300mg a day to 150mg a day, I was close to panicking. My moods were fluctuating wildly and I was crying all the time. She started me on Imipramine, 50mg a day, because 1) I hadn't tried it and 2) we wanted something that would help with anxiety w/o weight gain like Remeron. After a month on 50mg, I didn't feel anything, zero, zilch. BUT, when she upped it up to 100mg a day, it was remarkable. Only complaint is that is keeps me sleepy and yawning. But I'm thinking clear, few side effects, no withdrawal with a missed dosage, and my sleep at night has improved dramatically.
So, those having problems with the SSRI-type medications... remember there are other options to choose from. Plus the older medications have generics to choose from.
THankful for a sane life,
KDi in TX
Posted by Bill LL on December 15, 2003, at 12:54:44
In reply to Surprising success w/an older Med-Imipramine, posted by KimberlyDi on December 15, 2003, at 11:52:13
I have never tried Imipramine but I have read of others who have had a lot of success on it. I think that the reason docs prefer to try SSRI's before tricyclics such as Imipramine is that if someone wants to commit suicide, it's harder to overdose on SSRI's than on tricyclics.
Posted by jay on December 15, 2003, at 15:22:32
In reply to Surprising success w/an older Med-Imipramine, posted by KimberlyDi on December 15, 2003, at 11:52:13
Excellent you are doing well with it! Many people still seem to write-off how great the tricyclics can be. Are you on a combo w/ Effexor, or just Imipramine by itself?
Thanks...and best...
Jay
Posted by psychlover on December 15, 2003, at 21:00:17
In reply to Re: Surprising success w/an older Med-Imipramine » KimberlyDi, posted by jay on December 15, 2003, at 15:22:32
Yeah, I have read other people talking about surprising success with the TCAs, like Parnate, for example.
Does this mean you have to be careful not to eat wine or cheese or else you could die? That would suck! <:-o
-psychlover
Posted by DSCH on December 15, 2003, at 22:00:37
In reply to Re: Surprising success w/an older Med-Imipramine, posted by psychlover on December 15, 2003, at 21:00:17
> Yeah, I have read other people talking about surprising success with the TCAs, like Parnate, for example.
>
> Does this mean you have to be careful not to eat wine or cheese or else you could die? That would suck! <:-o
>
> -psychloverYou are confusing the tricyclics with the (irreversible) monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs)
Imipramine is the oldest of the tricyclics, and a 'teritary-amine' one. The side effects tend to be less severe with the newer 'secondary-amine' ones.
Parnate is a MAOI. MAOIs are the meds with the "cheese effect" (and a slew of contraindications with other medications).
I wrote a guide to the major classes of meds not too long ago you might find helpful (I didn't get the MAOI discussion quite right, so I added follow-up postings).
http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030923/msgs/263264.htmlAnd SLS maintains an extremely detailed chart on psychoactive medications (trade name, real name, intended use, half life, class, and supposed method of action).
http://sl.schofield3.home.att.net/medicine/psychiatric_drugs_chart.html
Posted by psychlover on December 15, 2003, at 22:03:32
In reply to Mixing up your med types » psychlover, posted by DSCH on December 15, 2003, at 22:00:37
Posted by DSCH on December 15, 2003, at 22:09:49
In reply to Thanks, DSCH! (nm), posted by psychlover on December 15, 2003, at 22:03:32
A confession: I've been guilty of confusing imipramine (the first TC) with ipronazaid (the first MAOI) while reading about all this stuff.
Posted by KimberlyDi on December 16, 2003, at 16:10:19
In reply to Mixing up your med types » psychlover, posted by DSCH on December 15, 2003, at 22:00:37
I transferred the information from the AD's that I've taken, rated those AD's on effectiveness, and color coded the properties. Helps me to see similarities on the ones that worked and the ones that bombed.
Thanks!
KDi in TX> > Yeah, I have read other people talking about surprising success with the TCAs, like Parnate, for example.
> >
> > Does this mean you have to be careful not to eat wine or cheese or else you could die? That would suck! <:-o
> >
> > -psychlover
>
> You are confusing the tricyclics with the (irreversible) monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs)
>
> Imipramine is the oldest of the tricyclics, and a 'teritary-amine' one. The side effects tend to be less severe with the newer 'secondary-amine' ones.
>
> Parnate is a MAOI. MAOIs are the meds with the "cheese effect" (and a slew of contraindications with other medications).
>
> I wrote a guide to the major classes of meds not too long ago you might find helpful (I didn't get the MAOI discussion quite right, so I added follow-up postings).
> http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030923/msgs/263264.html
>
> And SLS maintains an extremely detailed chart on psychoactive medications (trade name, real name, intended use, half life, class, and supposed method of action).
> http://sl.schofield3.home.att.net/medicine/psychiatric_drugs_chart.html
This is the end of the thread.
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