I make a little notation each day on my calendar at work of what my Nardil dosage was that day. When I took my calendar down today and marked my weekend dosages, I flipped back to February and was astonished to realize that I have not even been on Nardil for two weeks yet. (It'll be two weeks tomorrow.) Why is it so astonishing? Because I feel so much better - amazingly better. I can't believe that a drug has done this in less than two weeks. I can't wait to see what the next few weeks bring!
Zoloft, Effexor, and Wellbutrin all gave me results that were, at the very best, half as good as what I've experienced on Nardil. I absolutely cannot believe that more people aren't prescribed MAOIs for depression. So I can't eat bleu cheese anymore - who flippin' cares?! Am I honestly going to say that being able to eat cheese is more important to me than feeling this good?
For the record, I have eaten loads of chocolate with no problem. I have eaten a small (very small) amount of cheddar cheese, and I know it did raise my blood pressure, so that's one I'll have to be careful with - and I'm not even going to touch bleu cheese, which makes me sad - I've loved it for years. But, again - bleu cheese vs. happiness? Yeah, this is not a tough call. I don't drink coffee, but I have had caffeinated sodas (Mountain Dew and Coke) and have found that I can handle one a day - any more than that is too much. I can just tell because I start feeling strange and agitated. I've had pizza several times and am not concerned at all with mozzarella being a problem. I don't drink wine or beer.
The fact that I don't consume wine, beer, or coffee might make things a little easier for me than others. Really, the only thing I have to watch now, that I consumed often before, is cheddar cheese.
I'm more talkative, more confident, more assertive, have more self-respect, and am far less depressed. Again - it just blows my mind that more doctors don't prescribe these drugs. I understand the reasons why, but it seems to me to be an incredible disservice to make a severely depressed or anxious person waste their time on an SSRI when an MAOI is available. I have not felt this good in years, in some respects, and, well, EVER in other respects. I am so grateful that I looked past the myths and the fears and seriously looked into an MAOI.
Your mileage, of course, will vary, and what's right for me may not be right for you. But I really encourage anyone who's curious about an MAOI to do more research and find out if it's right for you. If I'd started this drug 10 years ago, my life would be completely different now. That makes me a little sad - but better late than never.
Zoloft, Effexor, and Wellbutrin all gave me results that were, at the very best, half as good as what I've experienced on Nardil. I absolutely cannot believe that more people aren't prescribed MAOIs for depression. So I can't eat bleu cheese anymore - who flippin' cares?! Am I honestly going to say that being able to eat cheese is more important to me than feeling this good?
For the record, I have eaten loads of chocolate with no problem. I have eaten a small (very small) amount of cheddar cheese, and I know it did raise my blood pressure, so that's one I'll have to be careful with - and I'm not even going to touch bleu cheese, which makes me sad - I've loved it for years. But, again - bleu cheese vs. happiness? Yeah, this is not a tough call. I don't drink coffee, but I have had caffeinated sodas (Mountain Dew and Coke) and have found that I can handle one a day - any more than that is too much. I can just tell because I start feeling strange and agitated. I've had pizza several times and am not concerned at all with mozzarella being a problem. I don't drink wine or beer.
The fact that I don't consume wine, beer, or coffee might make things a little easier for me than others. Really, the only thing I have to watch now, that I consumed often before, is cheddar cheese.
I'm more talkative, more confident, more assertive, have more self-respect, and am far less depressed. Again - it just blows my mind that more doctors don't prescribe these drugs. I understand the reasons why, but it seems to me to be an incredible disservice to make a severely depressed or anxious person waste their time on an SSRI when an MAOI is available. I have not felt this good in years, in some respects, and, well, EVER in other respects. I am so grateful that I looked past the myths and the fears and seriously looked into an MAOI.
Your mileage, of course, will vary, and what's right for me may not be right for you. But I really encourage anyone who's curious about an MAOI to do more research and find out if it's right for you. If I'd started this drug 10 years ago, my life would be completely different now. That makes me a little sad - but better late than never.