Posted by Sentience on July 28, 2007, at 20:18:13
In reply to Re: To Nardil or not to Nardil? » Sentience, posted by Jedi on July 28, 2007, at 15:07:02
Hey Jedi,
A few things. Firstly, You mention a rather rapid turn-around of discontinuing the Nardil & then commencing the Parnate, within 1 month. I can understand the reasoning for wanting to intervene before the depression took root. I guess many people could do that & experience no untoward reactions. However, in your case, I'm wondering if the hypertensive crises were due to an insufficient washout of the Phenelzine. MAOIs are known to interact and a minimum 14 washout is recommended. Just a thought, as you say, other than that you responded well to the Parnate.
Oddly enough for me, I'm experiencing increased appetite and a slight increase in weight gain, since tapering off Nardil began in February. I'm not on any other medications. Yet when I originally commenced Nardil back in 1991, I experienced considerable weight gain, which was actually a good thing for me back then, as I was able to exercise and converted most of it to muscle mass. I'm wondering if its not so much the Phenelzine per se, or whether it's due to some induced change in metabolism as a result of MAO inhibition .
Have you ever tried Omega 3 supplementation for the chronic low level dysthymia you mention? My understanding of how the Omega 3 tricglycerides work is that they basically exert their main effect by reducing the viscosity of cell membranes... In this instance the neuron membrane.
This occurs at two locations pertinent to speeding up our mental functioning:
1. Along the axon where the electrical ionic exchange of sodium & potassium ions during the nerve impulse occur.
2: At the nerve endings where neurotransmitters are stored in vesicles, to be released into the synapse, and also the receptors on the post-synaptic membrane.
If the nerve impulse can move along membranes more efficiently in a more fluid environment, then it may help alleviate that low level depression that you experience. I've been on 900 mg/day of marine triglycerides (EPA & DHA)for 9 months now, and I attribute my absence of depressive symptoms to that.
It's always good to learn that there are others out there who share similar stories & diagnoses. Good luck with your plan to tough things out before recommencing the Nardil again.
poster:Sentience
thread:772210
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20070719/msgs/772608.html