# Nardil VS. Parnate



## fraidycat (Oct 29, 2004)

I know there might be a thread about this somewhere...

i've been wondering if anyone's ever taken nardil and switched to parnate or vice versa. I'm thinking of replacing nardil with parnate. I've been on nardil for 5 months at 75mg and nothing. It helps with one major physical symptoms...but depression, anxiety still there. I'm going to try slowly move it up to 90mg and see what happens. so any experience with switching guys?

and which did you find better when you did?


----------



## Dagon (Jun 28, 2008)

I never switched but if 75mg Nardil didn't work 90mg probably won't either. Then again if you aren't having any bad side effects give it a go.


----------



## fraidycat (Oct 29, 2004)

I'm not having the most horrible effects. bowel problems and weight gain. ok, that one really pisses me off cause i have the worst sweet tooth and USED to have the best metabolism. Anyways, i've changed my diet accordingly. I'm going to give 90 a shot and see what happens. If not..i might have to go on parnate. The weight gain is getting on my nerves. It's helping w/one symptom but not a majority.

for those that have switched to parnate, did you find the side effects, sedation , weight gain, bowel, insomnia etc..better?


----------



## Dagon (Jun 28, 2008)

fraidycat said:


> I'm not having the most horrible effects. bowel problems and weight gain. ok, that one really @#%$ me off cause i have the worst sweet tooth and USED to have the best metabolism. Anyways, i've changed my diet accordingly. I'm going to give 90 a shot and see what happens. If not..i might have to go on parnate. The weight gain is getting on my nerves. It's helping w/one symptom but not a majority.


The metabolism slow down is really annoying. I exercise now more than I ever have in my life and I am just holding steady or slowly losing the 8 pounds I put on so far. I don't have the sweet tooth everyone talks about. My diet is impeccable.

My bowel problems are starting to go away after 2 months and so is my insomnia. I read that the side effects do eventually go away sometimes.

Just wondering is all the weight you gained in your gut?


----------



## Weston (Sep 23, 2006)

I've taken both and had good results with both. Parnate has an additional stimulant effect, which you would think would go badly with anxiety. However it seems the opposite is true in most cases. With parnate I felt a much quicker improvement than Nardil which took about 5 weeks and 75mg. I would agree that if it's not working ar 75 for the duration tou've been taking it 90 may not help. Parnate I felt a positive effect in a couple of days, probably from the stimulant effect. Parnate also has less side effects and no weight gain issues.


----------



## fraidycat (Oct 29, 2004)

Weston, how long did you wait before switching nardil to parnate? how were the symptoms as your switched over? and although it seems to make you motivated (which i don't quite feel w/the nardil) were you able to become less anxious, did your physical symptoms or negative feelings go away? Right now, the nardil seems to have more side effects then positive ones. BUT it has help with an extreme effect of mines (breathing). I used to have breathing problems and now it's pretty subdued, but then i have sedation (which does go away) and the horrible weight gain and i think sometimes lower cognition. *Does anyone feel this way, i forget what im about to say/do sometimes.*

yea,Dagon, unfortunately a lot of the weight goes to my stomach too. What's your exercise and diet regimen if you don't mine sharing. I've never worked out a day in my life..lol..now im experimenting with different combos. I have nothing but fiber (oatmeal, raisin bran, fruits, rice cake in my house). Only thing is i can't stop eating. It's like someone has to wire my mouth. I recently came across this article about appetite suppression http://www.aolhealth.com/diet/basics/ap ... ppressants

anymore experiences with nardil parnate switch overs?


----------



## Weston (Sep 23, 2006)

fraidycat said:


> Weston, how long did you wait before switching nardil to parnate? how were the symptoms as your switched over? and although it seems to make you motivated (which i don't quite feel w/the nardil) were you able to become less anxious, did your physical symptoms or negative feelings go away? Right now, the nardil seems to have more side effects then positive ones. BUT it has help with an extreme effect of mines (breathing). I used to have breathing problems and now it's pretty subdued, but then i have sedation (which does go away) and the horrible weight gain and i think sometimes lower cognition. *Does anyone feel this way, i forget what im about to say/do sometimes.*
> 
> yea,Dagon, unfortunately a lot of the weight goes to my stomach too. What's your exercise and diet regimen if you don't mine sharing. I've never worked out a day in my life..lol..now im experimenting with different combos. I have nothing but fiber (oatmeal, raisin bran, fruits, rice cake in my house). Only thing is i can't stop eating. It's like someone has to wire my mouth. I recently came across this article about appetite suppression http://www.aolhealth.com/diet/basics/ap ... ppressants
> 
> anymore experiences with nardil parnate switch overs?


I found Nardil had alot of side effects. Taking 5 for an extended period without it working is probably maddening. Side effects gradually and partially subsided after a few months. If it actually started working for you ,you could reduce the dosage and that would help alot with the side effects. It took a few weeks to work, but when it did it was like a switch turning on. . You can't miss it. It's nothing like where your wondering if it's placebo effect or something. 
Like I said Parnate has a stimulating property which sounds scary if you have anxiety, but I found it had a strong benefit in reducing anxiety. I think you have to wait at least a couple of weeks to switch, but hopefully your doctor would know. Nardil was pulled off the market for a while and became unavailable a few years ago. It's hard to remember the exact time line for the switch. I've actually lost weight on Parnate and I would would say it's no worse than neutral as far as effect on weight.


----------



## shy-one (May 10, 2008)

> It took a few weeks to work, but when it did it was like a switch turning on. . You can't miss it. It's nothing like where your wondering if it's placebo effect or something.


I've heard many people on nardil also say this. Some say they literally woke up one day and felt a wave of happiness sweep over them.

I find it interesting that it kicks in so suddenly rather than gradually like most other antidepressants. Any ideas why?


----------



## bob25 (Dec 7, 2010)

I recently switched from Parnate to Nardil. The change-over period was just one day of nothing before . I had been on 80mg Parnate and reduced to 60mg due to possible high blood pressure. Even after the reduction I found that my anxiety was unbearable. My pDoc immediately suggested switching to Nardil and also prescribed some clonazepam (I think it's Klonopin in the US).

I am very interested in finding out how long it takes for Nardil to kick in because at the moment my depression and anxiety are pretty bad.

My biggest question is whether I can actually expect Nardil to work at all. I mean if Parnate was only moderately successful why would the Nardil be much of an improvement.

It is now my third day on Nardil and as expected no benefits yet. I was surprised to read that, although Parnate seems to work within as little as a week (or even less) Nardil can take a month or more to kick in.

It really sucks being back at square one. The parnate may not have been the magic bullet but I did see some progress. I hadn't needed a day off work for like 6 weeks or more.

This is an old thread so I expect you already have your answer but if anyone else comes across this I too would like to know if anyone switched from one MAOI to another with great success. Of particular concern is that most seem to agree that Parnate is the best so I'm more than a little worried about not having responded all that well on it.


----------



## leon21 (Nov 8, 2009)

bob25 said:


> I recently switched from Parnate to Nardil. The change-over period was just one day of nothing before . I had been on 80mg Parnate and reduced to 60mg due to possible high blood pressure. Even after the reduction I found that my anxiety was unbearable. My pDoc immediately suggested switching to Nardil and also prescribed some clonazepam (I think it's Klonopin in the US).
> 
> I am very interested in finding out how long it takes for Nardil to kick in because at the moment my depression and anxiety are pretty bad.
> 
> ...


So you just continue with Nardil without waiting at least 14 days?
What did your p-doc say?


----------



## ihateanxiety1 (Feb 8, 2012)

Parnate is good. Parnate is activating whereas I hear Nardil is more sedating. I think I might try Nardil as I need the sedation.


----------



## dsmack (Oct 9, 2015)

*Nardil*

Does anyone know how long Nardil takes to work?


----------



## 546617 (Oct 8, 2014)

I heard these 2 are the most powerfull drugs for social anxiety.. which one is better doe?


----------



## zeusko87 (Sep 30, 2014)

Nardil


----------



## UltraShy (Nov 8, 2003)

I take 90 mg of Nardil. It's more effective than Parnate, though not as user-friendly. Nardil causes SEVERE constipation, though that's easily dealt with using Miralax, Metamucil, and docusate.

I was on 120 mg of Parnate for a year and it's 2nd best. Totally devoid of side effects in my experience, even at doses up to 200 mg/day. Some say it's stimulating, though that's not my experience.

Try them both and see which you personally prefer. Both are fine choices.


----------



## zeusko87 (Sep 30, 2014)

UltraShy said:


> I take 90 mg of Nardil. It's more effective than Parnate, though not as user-friendly. Nardil causes SEVERE constipation, though that's easily dealt with using Miralax, Metamucil, and docusate.
> 
> I was on 120 mg of Parnate for a year and it's 2nd best. Totally devoid of side effects in my experience, even at doses up to 200 mg/day. Some say it's stimulating, though that's not my experience.
> 
> Try them both and see which you personally prefer. Both are fine choices.


Karl, how do you deal with weight gain on Nardil?


----------



## UltraShy (Nov 8, 2003)

zeusko87 said:


> Karl, how do you deal with weight gain on Nardil?


Buy a larger size.

Hard to tell if Nardil causes weight gain or not, since my weight started going up while I was on Parnate. I'm unable to detect a clear cause/effect relationship here.

It's not like Zyprexa or Abilify where they unquestionably caused massive weight gain. +25 pounds in 6 weeks on Zyprexa. +30 pounds in 3 months on Abilify.

Allow me to rant about the evidently psychotic MDs who hand out anti-psychotics as if they were candy. When one third of adults are obese and childhood diabetes is an epidemic, let's hand out pills that will make the problem worse. Hey, do you have some gasoline to throw on the fire?:roll

Nardil does have one stunningly powerful side effect that you can't mistake: it's *EXCEPTIONALLY* constipating. Last summer it had me chugging a bottle of magnesium citrate in the parking lot of a 24-hour Walgreen's at 2am. I spent most of the next day on the toilet, with much to be relieved of after not taking a crap in something like 10 days. In case you're not familiar with magnesium citrate it comes in a bottle and tastes like flat 7-UP and it's the ultimate colon cleaner. If it doesn't work, the next stop is the ER for treatment of fecal impaction.

After unloading 10-days worth of s*it, I kept things moving along with the use of Miralax, Metamucil, plus docusate. I'm rather plugged up right now and might be able to lose 5 pounds with one really good dump -- sadly, I'm not joking about that.

The other year I called Provigil the world's most powerful & expensive laxative. Well, you won't have a problem with that anymore if you take Nardil. I also take metformin, which also has a very potent laxative effect, but Nardil's constipating power is so strong it can overcome both of these drugs combined. Normally, 400 mg of Provigil + 1,500 mg of metformin would have you racing to a toilet for a bought of explosive diarrhea, but not when you're on Nardil.

What Karl really wants today is simply to have a good crap!


----------



## 546617 (Oct 8, 2014)

there was a site were a guy tested all the medications not sure how but he made the conclusion that 
*Clonazepam + Nardil was the best for social anxiety together.
*


----------



## UltraShy (Nov 8, 2003)

KurdishFella said:


> there was a site were a guy tested all the medications not sure how but he made the conclusion that
> *Clonazepam + Nardil was the best for social anxiety together.
> *


That would be an excellent combo that would be of great benefit to the vast majority of those with SA.

Though all benzos are substantially the same, so I don't think Klonopin is vital. Could just as well be Xanax, or Valium or name any other benzo.


----------



## 18 years of nothing (Jan 31, 2016)

How you guys trust research chemicals? What if they put into it different chemicals?


----------



## UltraShy (Nov 8, 2003)

leon21 said:


> So you just continue with Nardil without waiting at least 14 days?
> What did your p-doc say?


Somebody somewhere made up this 14 day rule. I have no idea who it was. I switched from Parnate 120 mg to Nardil with only a 3 day washout period, which IMO was 3 days longer than necessary.

I, of course, told my new pdoc a BS story that would keep him content. I told him I'd been off Parnate for 10 days such that he could write me a Nardil script immediately and by the time the pharmacy could special order it for me we'd be at the 14 days where I could "safely" start it.

Good fiction, isn't it?

I read one expert who said that leaving someone who's severely depressed unmedicated for 14 days simply isn't an option in regard to switching between MAOIs.


----------



## 546617 (Oct 8, 2014)

so Nardil is more effective for anxiety and Parnate gives you more of a ''high'' effect and treats depression better? Correct me if I am wrong.

also are there any other MAOI's? You only hear about these 2.


----------

