Posted by King Vultan on April 14, 2004, at 12:47:14
In reply to Nardil sleep quality, posted by Questionmark on April 14, 2004, at 10:50:12
> Question: How does Nardil affect one's quality of sleep-- in terms of physiology and sleep phase durations? Also, which of Nardil's actions (specifically, which neurotransmitter effect) is responsible for which aspect(s) of change in sleep quality? (For example, i believe that increases in serotonin levels/activity result in decreased duration of REM cycles).
> Thank you kindly if one of you knowledgable peoples have any ideas on this.
It has some of the same negative effects of the SSRIs, as serotonin is obviously one of the neurotransmitters that MAOIs work on. Combined with that, there is also an insomniac effect from norepinephrine, which reduces the need for sleep in many people. My own experience from taking SSRIs, tricyclics, and Wellbutrin is that for me, in particular, serotonin causes the most problems, than norepinephrine, than dopamine. The worst drug for insomnia I had taken prior to Nardil was Effexor, which I would theorize to be because of its strong effect on serotonin plus its ancillary effects on norepinephrine. The insomnia I suffered on Prozac and Zoloft was nearly as bad; on Strattera, somewhat less; and on the tricyclics, even less, presumably due to their histamine blockades. Wellbutrin for me was similar to the tricyclics and wasn't much of a problem.Another thing I've noticed with the Nardil, which is unique among the 10 drugs I've tried, is that it seems to totally eliminate the ability to recall dreams, and I'm not even certain I'm dreaming at all. I know some of this is from its action on serotonin, but I don't know how much the other neurotransmitters have to do with it. I find it interesting to read that some people who take Paxil, which is an incredibly strong SSRI, have very vivid dreams. I'm afraid I don't have much of an explanation other than perhaps they don't go into a super deep sleep, and it becomes easier to retrieve experiences from the REM stage.
Todd
poster:King Vultan
thread:336279
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040412/msgs/336310.html