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Hi, I'm a 43 yo guy who's been severely depressed since I was 19 and I'm amazed I'm still alive. Antidepressants (and there's very few I haven't tried, including the popular combos) either do nothing, make me more depressed or help partially for a few weeks and then poop-out. I've never had mania/hypomania (other than a period on Abilify). After my stay at an inpatient psych ward in February, a young PDoc added Lithium to my Nardil (which, incidentally has been my most successful med to date but now does nothing) on the hunch that I might be BP2-ish. Whilst I can't say I went "WOO I'M FIXED", the Lithium certainly had a positive effect for a couple of months. Which has since just waned and stopped. So now I'm desperately depressed again. I'm seeing my PDoc soon to discuss alternative BP2 treatments. Top of my list of suggestions (since he is malleable in his dispensing) is Lamictal. But should it be? I read a lot of positive feedback on it's effect on depression but the data says it's poor. Should I perhaps be aiming towards an alternative? There are so many it's quite bewildering and I'm relatively new to the BP2 scenario. Any tips are most appreciated. Pete

Has anyone has experienced weight gain with Emsam, at about 6-9 mg? I've been on antidepressants since I was about 12 (am now 45) and have taken essentially everything under the sun with mixed results. I'm interested now in trying the Emsam patch, but I am terrified of gaining weight. I gained a lot on both Nardil and Parnate, so I am leery any MAOI that claims to be "weight neutral". Water retention is a concern as well...I'm hoping that given that it's a patch and enters directly into the bloodstream, chances of water retention or an effect on glucose or metabolism might be lower. Does anyone have experiences to share? Any insight would be appreciated!

Anyone been on Nardil or other MAOIs? I'm not real excited about the diet and potential side effects but I'm willing to try anything at this point. I've tried tons of ADs, AAPs, mood stabilizers, just about everything except tricyclics, plus a failed round of TMS. Really hoping Nardil is the answer. any experiences or tips are appreciated!

Hi everybody! A while ago I asked about switching to MAOIs from tricyclics. I ended up switching from imipramine to clomipramine instead with (surprise!) no results. Now I'm actually making the switch from clomipramine to Nardil/phenelzine. I just wanted to know of anybody who has been on Nardil, what side effects they had and how they found it, especially those suffering from severe or treatment resistant depression. I have a history of serotonin syndrome which worries me a bit but I'm going up slow (15mg a week) with a seven day washout. Hopefully, since my SS is usually caused by combinations of tricyclics with Pristiq, I will be okay but I'd like to know if anybody else has had problems and what helped/didn't. I am scared but I always hate switching meds and I'm pretty miserable at the moment as well. If anybody wants to talk to me that'd be great. I'm exhausting myself worrying and just want concrete information, be it good or bad, to arm myself against the fancy conjured by my imagination. Thanks gang.

Hi, Recently I have read about a combination of Nardil and Bioperine (regarding the problem with the current version of Nardil and its absorption into the bloodstream): "Nardil was changed in late 2003, due to a complete reformulation by Pfizer, who removed many of the excipient ingredients, including the hard coating. It is possible that the current version is not surviving the stomach acid content and therefore not as much is being absorbed into the bloodstream." I wonder, if anyone here has tried this combination yet ? and if so, Have you seen any improvement in regards to Nardil ? I have also read (in a link I posted above), that it is best to take Nardil on an empty stomach and take it with alot of water (no food and no juice) just water! and then give a Nardil a good 45mins in your stomach with only water...then you should probably see a positive difference in effect. I also wonder, if anyone here has tried this trick ? Thanks, Mike

Hi, I am just taking 75mg of Nardil and with 25mg of Valdoxan(agomelatine) and l am planning to go up to 50 mg. My doctor assumes that this combo would help me better sleeping and also help to raise/improve my low blood pressure and also he believes that agomelatine to get me the same stimulant effect as on beginning of treatment. It would supposedly help me to activate and get me back energy feeling, because at 75 my Nardil therapy stopped working I wonder, if there is any psychological study/research about possibility of treatment option with Agomelatine + Nardil ? And then, Can you tell me again if there is any official study-research which does invalidate or prove success/effectiveness of this MAOIs (Phenelzine + Tranylcypromine) treatment option ? I am asking on this because my doctor recently has even mentioned about the possibility to get me on this combo - Nardil with Parnate. I have researched almost all the psychiatry sites with original articles but until now I have not found anything official. Now I am trying to get some informations from these sites : -http://archpsyc.ama-assn.org -http://search.psychiatrist.com -http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed -http://www.druglib.com ... Thank you in advance for any advice or help! P.S: Sorry, my English is not very good, I already slowly forget what I have learnt from english :/