![[dr. bob]](/dr-bob-sm.gif)
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 5 of 5. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by willyee on August 5, 2005, at 19:50:40
I head to my doc soon again,and am running out of options to try and augment parnate.Ihave some partial success with Nuerotnion,but weird it changes parnates effects.
Anway im thinking topamax,is there any chance anyone tried a topamax/parnate combo,or can anyone give me a quick difference of what topamax feels like or does opposed to nerontion.
Also any suggestions on whether its a good idea to shoot for or not are welcome!
Posted by med_empowered on August 6, 2005, at 3:30:37
In reply to For my Doc, posted by willyee on August 5, 2005, at 19:50:40
hi! What exactly are you trying to accomplish by augmenting? Topomax might be a good call, but keep in mind that its not all that well studied and b/c of the side effects (especially the cognitive ill-effects many experience), its usually reserved for more hard-to-treat cases of bipolar disorder...its best used as a second- or third-line treatment option. Neurontin, by the way, **sucks** as a mood-stabilizer...a number of studies have shown it to have no better efficacy than a placebo. Trileptal would be a good option, but you might have to adjust your Parnate dose (Trileptal makes your body metabolize meds very efficiently, so you need higher doses to achieve the same effects). Lamictal might work...its got nice anti-depressant effects and *might* have some anti-anxiety properties. Keppra might be a good idea, too....its a "novel" anti-convulsant; it works like nothing else on the market. Anyway, so far it appears that Keppra might be useful for mood-disorders AND it seems that it doesn't have the negative effects on cognition that some other meds do (this suggests that it won't cause the drug-induced apathy and depression so many other meds can). Good luck!
Posted by willyee on August 6, 2005, at 8:14:32
In reply to Re: For my Doc, posted by med_empowered on August 6, 2005, at 3:30:37
Very informative,thank you.And yess the neurontion is also said to aggervate some ocd symptoms,i like what u recomended ill look into it.
As far as what i need,i dont know,at times a stimulant helped parnate work better,other times a sedative,its just not giving me the relief i need and i cant use ssris so i dont see many options for another primary med,but thank u.
Posted by Racer on August 6, 2005, at 11:45:53
In reply to Re: For my Doc, posted by willyee on August 6, 2005, at 8:14:32
>
> As far as what i need,i dont know,at times a stimulant helped parnate work better,other times a sedative,its just not giving me the relief i need and i cant use ssris so i dont see many options for another primary med,but thank u.Have you tried any of the other anti-depressants? TCAs or the newer ADs like Effexor, Cymbalta, Remeron, Wellbutrin, etc? If Parnate ain't cuttin' it, there are other options that you could explore...
I've just been going through the whole Merry-Go-Round, and it's frustrating and frightening. Yesterday I broke into tears in my pdoc's office, nearly going into that choking fear state, when he said that he really wasn't sure what to do for me. You can imagine, so I won't belabor the point. :-P I'm just trying to let you know that I'm not being *too* simple in writing that, I do know how awful it can be.
Since the MAOIs are so hard to combine other drugs with, though, maybe trying one of the other options would give you a bit more flexibility in augmentation strategies?
Good luck.
Posted by willyee on August 6, 2005, at 16:14:43
In reply to Re: For my Doc » willyee, posted by Racer on August 6, 2005, at 11:45:53
No offense to your suggestion,but half of the meds u mentioned got so bloody worse!I wouldent go within 10 feet of an effexor capsule,brought me hell and everything but a anti-depressant effect.
All ssris agigitated me to the point of walking circles in my room like a madman.Remeron aside from sedation dident do much.
I personaly feel ssris are totaly toxic for ME,parnate still provides much needed benifit,just doesent hit all corners of my symptoms like it once did.
6 years of various ssri combos doses adjustments etc brought me to parnate,its the only drug i stayed on longer than a month or so,4 years to be exact.
So in short (too late) changing to any other class isnt an option.
I do have high hopes for the Maoi patch if it ever comes out,thanks.
This is the end of the thread.
Psycho-Babble Medication | Extras | FAQ
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.org
Script revised: February 4, 2008
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/cgi-bin/pb/mget.pl
Copyright 2006-17 Robert Hsiung.
Owned and operated by Dr. Bob LLC and not the University of Chicago.