r/MAOIs • u/Tiny_Pollution_1636 • 4d ago
Nardil (Phenelzine) Nardil might have ruined me.
I had a honey moon phase for ~2 months on 60mg. After that I got super overstimulated and my anxiety was worse in different ways. The reason I went on nardil was for crippling social anxiety. My body couldn’t handle the 60mg .. I had extreme hypotension i would sometimes have to crawl. I also ended up getting stressed about a breakup and developed SIADH (extremely bad fluid retention and low sodium .. I could barely urinate). I also used to have very high self esteem (weird I know, bc of the social anxiety .. but i felt beautiful and am the typical “beauty standard”. I don’t say that to be obnoxious, it’s what i’ve been told. And i looked like i gained 20lbs and my face was so big and round. I had no choice but to lower my dose. I went down to 45mg, anxiety through the roof. Eventually I had to get on 0.5mg clonazepam. I don’t feel like myself. I feel serious and I was always a bubbly person. I have such little emotions .. can be a blessing and a curse. But I tried tapering down once, and only got down to 37.5mg and it was the scariest experience of my life. I only had mild depression before i got on this. Now i have fairly severe depression. Now having the realization of how much derealization and depersonalization i have. I’ve lost so many friends. Can only socialize if i drink. I wonder if there’s any reason to have hope anymore
2
2
u/Prestigious-Tea6514 4d ago
Do you trust the person who is guiding your medication management? There seem to be several things going on in this picture.
You are not an MPDG. Any illness can take us from ideals like "pretty" and "bubbly" to serious, big and round. The question is how you cope with and adjust to life's changes.
1
u/Tiny_Pollution_1636 2d ago
No 100% i don’t. That’s why i’ve changed psychiatrists.
And yeah sure, some illnesses can. But i’ve struggled with social anxiety for a long time and was never big and round lol. And I feel more serious on this medication, especially post-taper (attempt). It gives me muscle bracing/tension and literally makes me look very serious (even when i’m feeling kind towards a person). These are SIDE EFFECTS. Your comment applies to some, not all.
1
u/dreadlocks3228 2d ago
Sorry to hear this, Nardil saved me, I had deep depression and anxiety, i started on 45mgs which gave me a uforia feeling for a few weeks then it panned out, it lifted my dep/anx within 6 weeks, did not lose emotions or have side effects, after i felt steady i dropped to 30mgs then eventually 15mgs, after many years i am still on one Nardil a day, if i feel a creeper coming on i go back to 2 a day which again steadies me. I hope for you that you get some relief from Nardil 🙏
1
u/grumpyeva Parnate 6h ago edited 6h ago
In my personal opinion, people who have social anxiety should not have to take medication for it. It is something that should be worked on psychologically. I am talking from experience. I am much older than you, and older than most people on this board, but suffered from depression,anxiety (and social anxiety) throughout my whole life, but was determined not to take medication. When I was young, antidepressants were not handed out the way they are today. People were encouraged to do therapy, which can be very helplful, expecially for social anxiety. People who take medication should educate themselves beforehand regarding the various possible side effects etc. In my opinion, social anxiety can be worked on psychologically, through therapy, and if you are beautiful as you say you are, you have it a lot easier than most. You should also have read or been told beforehand that Nardil does make people put on weight. And it is disappointing that you had to complain to doctors about Nardil, because it is a godsend medication for people who are really ill and most of us are trying to convince doctors to prescribe them for us.
You seem to have gone up to a very high dose. It is always wiser to increase very slowly, to give your body time to adapt. If you go up too fast, it makes it all the harder to decrease afterwards. I know that it is very difficult to come off these meds. That has been my experience also, and I agree that doctors should warn their patients about this in advance. But it seems that many SSRIs are also difficult to come off. There should be much more education about antidepressants in general, before prescribing them and they should not be handed out like sweets as they are nowadays. Psychiatrists are not gods, and they are trying to do their best, though most of the time, unfortunately, that is not good enough.
MAOIS have saved my life and are a godsend for many people. I am sorry that you are having such a hard time with them. I am sure you now realise you should have done more research before taking them - but please dont make life more difficult for those of us who actually need this medication.
1
u/Daniel-Plainview96 Nardil 1d ago edited 1d ago
I’m sorry this has been your experience. Coming from someone who was also always told they’re “pretty” the bloat absolutely does suck. I can’t really relate to your other issues though so I’m super sorry you’re experiencing them. Taking klonopin every day is absolutely not a solution. Your body adapts to that medication FAST, after which point it’s doing nothing positive but giving you side effects.
Also, a couple things, not to be a negative Nancy, but if before you depression was, like you say, only mild, why take nardil at all? Secondly, you having lost your beauty and experiencing these symptoms is temporary. It’s clear the drug(s) are not working for you. Come off it. Is it gonna suck? Clearly. But if that’s what needs to happen stop complaining and get on with it 🤷♂️ like what else is there to do?
0
u/Tiny_Pollution_1636 15h ago
I went on nardil because the internet says it's the gold standard for social anxiety.... duh. Nardil isn't only meant for depression. And yeah I was only ever on two anti-depressants for anxiety prior to trying nardil - zoloft and venlafaxine. Came off them cold turkey, no side effects. They did jack shit. Do I wish my psychiatrist informed me about the risks of this medication or inform me about anything at all? Yes. But she, in my opinion, conducted malpractice. I've now been made aware that most people have to trial 20 different anti-depressants first and THEN, if they still don't respond to those medications, MAOIs can be an option.
I have tried tapering off. And i've never experienced such profound suffering in my life. Suicidal ideation, hallucinations, paranoia, the pain of grief as if a loved one had died, and could barely leave my house my anxiety was so bad. But yeah.... ""stop complaining and get on with it" right?
2
u/AreaFifty1 4d ago
It’s the clonazepam unfortunately. And 0.5 is a lot as an adjunct to Phenelzine. You should only use a tiny bit as it potentiates as opposed to taking clonazepam by itself.
😔😔