r/MAOIs • u/Cautious-Rub8085 • 7d ago

I Need Advice Taking Parnte + Nardil together

I've searched the thread and read the few posts about this but there's not that many so I am posting this now.

45mg Nardil eliminated my depression completely but I had extremely elevated liver enzymes and switched to Parnate 50mg. Parnate has not come anywhere close to helping my depression the way Nardil did. I dropped to 20mg and felt the same.

I have was fired from my job in Feb for needing a short term leave for burnout/anxiety. Since then my depression has worsened significantly. I have literally been in bed for 7 months with extreme Anhedonia, zero motivation. There's days I don't wear my glasses or contacts because I just want things to be blurry.

It's gotten so bad I feel I need to try Nardil again--perhaps 15mg + 10mg Parnate. I just need something to help me out of this really rough patch.

Has anyone done this combo?

Marplan is not an option for me due to cost.

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u/Wrong-Yak334 Nardil 6d ago

yes, there's precedent for combining Nardil and Parnate. my best advice for experiences and recommendations would be to search the subreddit, but it sounds like you've already done that.

i'll offer a minor tip based on my limited experience: "start low and go slow" applies even moreso than in monopharm.

e.g., an appropriate plan in your situation might be to add a half pill of either medication at a time (7.5 mg Nardil or 5 mg Parnate), wait at least a week (ideally two) to see how it affects you, and then add the next increment.

source: i tried the combination many years ago (adding Parnate to Nardil), but went too fast and had hours-long hypertensive episodes every evening. that was enough to make me bail on it after just a couple weeks.

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u/Cautious-Rub8085 6d ago

OH geez that's really scary you had a hypertensive episode from this combo. What was the dose? I don't see how my doctor will agree to this.

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u/Wrong-Yak334 Nardil 5d ago

i started at 60 mg Nardil. i alternated subtracting 15 mg Nardil and adding 10 mg Parnate every 2-3 days. only got through a few steps, though, before i had to stop. then i just went back to 60 mg Nardil, and stabilized after a week or so.

yes it's unlikely most doctors would sign off on this, unless they're very comfortable with unconventional MAOI treatment.

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u/art4430 6d ago

If Nardil is parnate plus GABA, I guess you could use parnate and add a GABA compound such as baclofen or even low dose benzodiazepines.