# Anyone who's taking Moclobemide?



## butterz (Aug 8, 2013)

I'm thinking about trying this but I read that it's much weaker than real maoi which is a bit discouraging. 

That's why I wonder if people here take it and if it works for them.
And are there any diet restrictions or can you eat anything?

And if it works for you what exactly does it do?

And what are the side effects? Any major side effects one should know about?

And can you still take a benzo or z-drug when you're on Moclobemide?


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## Fruitcake (Jan 19, 2012)

Moclobemide seems to have a wide range of effects in different people. It's helped my depression a lot and alleviated my anxiety a little, I think. You can basically eat anything as long as you're not eating a huge amount of old cheeses or a few other things, but it would have to be a ridiculous amount to be dangerous.
"This medication may initially cause dizziness, nervousness, mild headache, trouble sleeping and nausea as your body adjusts to the medication. Other side effects reported include sweating, loss of appetite, dry mouth, anxiety or blurred vision."
I haven't had any side effects. Don't know about drug interactions, but they'll be online. Other people have written about it here: http://www.socialanxietysupport.com/forum/f142/manerix-moclobemide-maoi-84115/
and here: http://www.socialanxietysupport.com/forum/f30/anyone-have-success-with-maoi-moclobemide-90725/


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## butterz (Aug 8, 2013)

Hi are you still on it?

How fast does it kick in? Do you also have to take it very long before you can tell if it works?


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## Fruitcake (Jan 19, 2012)

Yeah I am. It took about a month for me. It says 8-12 weeks for maximal benefits... I don't know how long to know if it's working.


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## Mr Bacon (Mar 10, 2012)

I was on Moclobemide for 3 months of so. It did reduce my depression a little bit which was welcomed. However the effect was too weak to have any affect on my social anxiety. It didn't do much to alleviate my symptoms, and I was on the maximum recommended dosage.

However, coupled with alcohol, I'd go completely uninhibited on this med. As for the side effects, I only had the usual sexual ones.


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## ILOVEXANAX (Jan 22, 2013)

All meds suck except xanax.


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## Inshallah (May 11, 2011)

I found it a strange med to be on, producing way too much differences in my mood. Very inconsistent, I never knew what I was going to get. I think this is caused by its short half life.

If you're going to try it, I'd suggest spreading out your pills as evenly as possible in a 24h period. Otherwise it'll feel as taking a light stimulant for part of the day, followed by an off period for the remainder of the day. 

All in all, I give it a thumbs down, but you shouldn't let other people's experiences dictate your own decisions concerning meds.


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## Ben12 (Jul 8, 2009)

I'm taking 450mg of Manerix at the moment. It's working very well for me. I noticed an increase in energy after just 3 days of starting it. So it's helped me get back into things in a very short period of time. I feel more open and less nervous around people as well. There's not much in the way of side effects. Just the occasional headache. I'm a bit more sensitive to bright lights as well but it's not too bad. The manerix doesn't ameliorate much of the physical symptoms of anxiety for me but I don't mind it. I like having a bit of feeling to life instead of a looming feeling of emotional flattening that I've typically got from the SSRIs.


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## viper1431 (Jun 6, 2012)

Kinda worked for me but I had to take 2000mg for any decent effect.


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## Ben12 (Jul 8, 2009)

I'd say that if your taking a single dose of manerix at around 300-450mg and your not noticing anything, I'd switch medications.


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## A Sense of Purpose (May 8, 2011)

I was on it at 450mg a day. It was a sugar pill for me. No positive or negative side effects.


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## ChopSuey (Nov 5, 2012)

There's been a few positive studies showing improvement when it comes to SA. But the general consensus seems to be that it is very weak, I'd still take it any day over SSRIs though.


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## rockyraccoon (Dec 13, 2010)

I was on it and had insomnia for about 3 days so my doctor took me off it.


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## butterz (Aug 8, 2013)

What's the max dose you can take per day or at once? Isn't 450 officially the maximum?

And what about combinations with benzos or z-drugs? Possible or not allowed?


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## A Sense of Purpose (May 8, 2011)

butterz said:


> What's the max dose you can take per day or at once? Isn't 450 officially the maximum?
> 
> And what about combinations with benzos or z-drugs? Possible or not allowed?


From memory its about 600mg.


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## butterz (Aug 8, 2013)

I somewhere read that the normal doses are too low and that you needed to take like 2000mg per day for it to really work. Is this true?


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## Ben12 (Jul 8, 2009)

The max approved is 600mg. I've heard of people being on as much as 900-1200mg long term though. I don't think you'd need to go anywhere near 2000mg to get benefits.


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## butterz (Aug 8, 2013)

But you only take 150mg at once right?

How many hours space do you need between each dose?

What would happen if you for example took 2 doses at once or within just a few hours? Would the effect then temporarily be stronger?


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## Ben12 (Jul 8, 2009)

I've found that taking the full 450mg is much better than taking the 450mg in divided doses.


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## butterz (Aug 8, 2013)

Isn't this dangerous somehow and raise the risk of side effects or food interactions?

And when you take 450mg at once only 1 time every day then will you get 24h coverage? I'd assume not cause if 1 pill lasted 24 hours then why divide it into 3 servings?


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## butterz (Aug 8, 2013)

And what do you mean with better? Are you talking about getting a stim effect or better antidepression effect?


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## Ben12 (Jul 8, 2009)

The actual MAO inhibition persists for longer than the drug itself stays in the body. 

I don't find there's any side effects either. But I do feel a bit apathetic at times. When I started out the treatment I got some mild headaches but that has gone away now.


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## butterz (Aug 8, 2013)

Ok. And what kind of positive effects do you get when you take it all at once?

Can you also break the pills in half or are they time-released so that the coating must not be damaged?


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## Ben12 (Jul 8, 2009)

butterz said:


> Ok. And what kind of positive effects do you get when you take it all at once?
> 
> Can you also break the pills in half or are they time-released so that the coating must not be damaged?


Well, I take it all at once because sometimes I'll get this sedation effect for a couple hours, but from then on, there's a pretty consistent stimulant effect throughout the day. I tried taking it few times throughout the day for a couple days but decided just to stick to taking it once. It's not time released, and again the MAO inhibition effects last for quite some time. Also, ignore the half life of moclobemide as a way to interpret its duration of action. That's not how it works with MAOIs.


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## viper1431 (Jun 6, 2012)

Don't mistake it for the proper ones like nardil though where the inhibition effect does last a long time. The point of moclobemide is it's reversible, ie it doesn't kill the MOA, the inhibition is reversible unlike nardil and parnate.
That's why the official recommendation is multiple doses during the day.

That being said I also took it once per day as I was lazy, but I had to use the higher dose to make up for it.


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## butterz (Aug 8, 2013)

Thanks for your answers.

But there is something I also wonder. What if a person simply has too little precursors so that even when you take a maoi or reversible maoi you still won't get the effect cause there isn't enough material to produce new transmitters?


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## Ben12 (Jul 8, 2009)

Just because moclobemide is reversible, doesn't mean you necessarily need to take it multiple times a day. However I agree that for some people it may be advantageous to do so.


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## istayhome (Apr 4, 2012)

butterz said:


> Thanks for your answers.
> 
> But there is something I also wonder. What if a person simply has too little precursors so that even when you take a maoi or reversible maoi you still won't get the effect cause there isn't enough material to produce new transmitters?


This situation is highly unlikely unless 
a) you have a diet that is already dangerous due to the severe lack of protein and nutrition. You will know if this is the case and you will physically be on the brink of death

b)You have some severe Neurological problem which is causing your brain to really ***** up. Seeing a neurologist and getting a PET-CT, MRI scans, etc will help you figure this out.

Your fears are highly unlikely.


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## butterz (Aug 8, 2013)

I use protein powder and also amino acids pills which are made from egg protein so I doubt that I lack amino acids. 

But I also read in an old psychiatry book that they measured serotonin levels in the serum in suicidal patients and they found their levels to be low!

I thought that this isn't possible but if you can measure serotonin in the blood then why do doctors not do it? I really don't get it.


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## istayhome (Apr 4, 2012)

butterz said:


> I use protein powder and also amino acids pills which are made from egg protein so I doubt that I lack amino acids.
> 
> *But I also read in an old psychiatry book that they measured serotonin levels in the serum in suicidal patients and they found their levels to be low!*
> 
> I thought that this isn't possible but if you can measure serotonin in the blood then why do doctors not do it? I really don't get it.


Old psychiatry books are useless especially when suicide is concerned. To this day the vast majority of Neurotransmitters are still a mystery. 5-HT levels in the blood have absolutely nothing to do with 5-ht levels where they are needed as neurotransmitters in the brain. Furthermore anxiety, depression, etc. are complicated issues that cannot be explained based on how much serotonin is found in a given part of the body.

you have much to learn young grasshopper.


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## butterz (Aug 8, 2013)

Are you saying that neurotransmitters have nothing to do with depression or that trying to boost them may not work at all?

But if it's not neurotransmitters then what is it? Why do people have ocd,anxiety,depression if it's not because of neurotransmitters?


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## viper1431 (Jun 6, 2012)

Seratonin, noradrenaline and dopamine are used all throughout your body for many many things, so yes they can measure serotonin in your blood but it has nothing to do really with what is in your brain. Most serotonin from memory is in your stomach or digestive system ?

A slightly useful test can be done by sticking a needle in your spine and measuring levels/metabolites of those transmitters in your spinal fluid.. but it still means little because the brain is too complicated. You may have normal levels but it's the receptors that aren't working right for eg.. plus a lot seems to have to do with the levels in different areas in the brain.. they are still trying to work all these things out.


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## adamaus (Mar 24, 2013)

False. Cannot test for serotonin levels. End of discussion on thaqt topic.


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## viper1431 (Jun 6, 2012)

Right well you better go tell the pathologists that do that very thing every day, and the researchers that have ways new ways of testing the levels within the brain. *rollseyes* damn idiots trying to increase their postcount with garbage.

Here is the newest way>
"In a previous study, in order to better understand the mechanism of deep brain stimulation, we created WINCS, a new device that successfully measured such neurotransmitter levels as dopamine and norepinephrine on a second-by-second basis," says Kendall Lee, M.D., Ph.D., a Mayo Clinic neurosurgeon. "In this experiment, we wanted to try to measure serotonin, which is very important in the mechanism of depression and its treatment. This study shows that WINCS can measure serotonin with a technology called fast-scan cyclic voltammetry, which is an electrochemical method of being able to measure serotonin in real time in the living brain.""


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## butterz (Aug 8, 2013)

I guess this WINCS isn't available for normal patients right?


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## UKguy (Sep 30, 2013)

butterz said:


> I'm thinking about trying this but I read that it's much weaker than real maoi which is a bit discouraging.


I think I am about to start on Moclobemide in the next week or so. I've also been reading all the negative feedback and 'weakness' comments which I agree is discouraging.

Only positives seem to be the lack of bad side effects. I'm fairly sure I will give it a go - can't be worse than the SSRIs can it?


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## UKguy (Sep 30, 2013)

Oh and I also read that higher doses may work better - eg 900mg or more. Two problems with that though: 1) Only licensed for 600mg max, so the Dr would have to prescribe 'off label' or however you describe it. 2) At higher doses side effects and food interactions become much more significant, which kind of defeats the purpose of taking a _reversible _ MAOI in the first place.


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## butterz (Aug 8, 2013)

Are you sure it gets worse at higher doses? Where did you read this?

Maybe 600mg is also already enough to get an effect.


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## UKguy (Sep 30, 2013)

butterz said:


> Are you sure it gets worse at higher doses? Where did you read this?
> 
> Maybe 600mg is also already enough to get an effect.


Sorry I don't recall where I read it....not much help I know. I believe the info I read was referring to psychiatrists who may use significantly above the guideline ceiling dose of 600mg - and above that dose _may_ require a more restricted diet.

Worth remembering that even with non reversible MAOI not everyone is sensitive to tyramine even on those. Some people can get away with eating quite a lot of stuff they "shouldn't" where as others can even get random hypertensive reactions for no reason at all.

Moclobemide at normal doses I think is extremely safe... very similar in safety to SSRIs I believe.

Anyway, today I've been prescribed 150mg twice a day to start off. Have to wait for the pharmacy to order it in, so I figure it must be fairly unusual drug if they don't hold a stock!


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## butterz (Aug 8, 2013)

When I buy antidepressants they also have to be ordered I don't think that's abnormal.

Good luck with moclobemide, keep us updated.


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## riloal (Oct 22, 2011)

Hi, I started moclobemide two weeks ago, the first week I feel nothing, but the second week I feel sedated, with lots of fatigue, depressed, sleeping all day. I read it,s stimulating the moclobemide, anyone had this symptons? would be better to take it at night? Thanks


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