Diagnosis' so far: Major Depressive Disorder, Social Anxiety Disorder, Agoraphobia & adult ADD. Waiting for a sleep study to commence (apparent hypersomnia).
So, I don't know if it's over yet, but the drought of Nardil (phenelzine) here in the UK meant I had to come off of it. The stress of finding enough supply to allow titrating down & off Nardil was terrifying! But at the same time, I was also relieved. I only went back on Nardil to see if it would work like the 1st time, but it never did. So I feel I've wasted almost 3 years when I should have been on it 9 months max. But I cannot write my own scripts and my doc was adamant it was 'working' despite it not 'helping'. Yes, fact. Of course it was inhibiting MAO and of course, it was having a gabaergic effect too, a well known unique effect of Nardil's. But I 'felt nothing'.
So I insisted I return to Marplan (isocarboxazid), another full MAOI. And after 9 days from handing in the script at the hospital, signed & stamped, then having to wait for it to be signed as 'dispensible' by some higher-up director of gawd knows what (crazy s***, the pharmacy were taking no risks... what risks??), today I finally picked up my Marplan. Popped a 10mg pill before I even left the building.
I feel ok. Bear in mind I also take dexamfetamine 5mg morning & late afternoon + 20mg lisdexamfetamine (Elvanse) morning & late afternoon (total of 21.8mg dex), I checked my blood pressure a few hours later. 133/90. According to several confusing charts I've looked at, for a 40yr old male (I'm forty in 13 days) that is a 'high-end of normal / pre-hypertension' reading. 90bpm pulse. And considering the stress, type 1 diabetes, vaping nicotine and taken shortly after returning from a shopping trip via walking AND hypoglycemia was on it's way, I'm not surprised it was high & it doesn't bother me. Should it? Need to cut out caffeine too and that's hard. I must use an average 400mg a day, often more. Probably average. I have a suspicion that the combined quetiapine is raising it too. The amitriptyline? I'm only on 25mg at night. Bupropion (Wellbutrin/Zyban) 300mg slow release? Was fine before when combined with 25mg dex and 10mg dex + 70mg Elvanse.
Now I've relaxed for a while it's dropped a bit. It now reads 120/81, pulse 96bmp. Normal BP, not sure about pulse though.
Not saying that the Marplan has 'kicked in' yet but it has definitely stopped the remaining withdrawal symptoms from the Nardil (brain zaps, vertigo & loss of appetite among others). All gone just like that. Now I have urinary retention & erectile dysfunction/anorgasmia to look forward too! But I'm 1 step ahead of the urine retention with an antidote - 2mg doxazosin, increasing to 4mg if needed. It's a high BP med also used for urinary retention caused by an enlarged prostate. If that fails theres bethanechol, another antidote which I've found helps that other side-effect too. All MAOI side effects fade with time, sometimes a long time. Depends on how high the dose and how quick the increase.
The plan initially was to start on 10mg Marplan for 1 week, 20mg for 2 weeks, 30mg for 2 weeks then 40mg/day until my next appointment. Bearing in mind I went up to 150mg when I was last on it! The 'official' top dose is just 60mg.
So that is what I will do, just delayed by over a week. At least I won't run out prematurely.
Bizarrely, last time while taking Marplan there was a drought on that too! But thankfully the suppliers were here in the UK. Because I took it on myself to sort things out, I was able to initiate a continued supply by contacting the supplier myself. Low and behold they had emergency stocks. (UK Nardil comes from China... yeah I know! Perhaps the ship sunk, or a dodgy deal went wrong!)
I am always sorting the system's responsibilities out for them. Always! I had to call today to see if my script had been ordered. I had already found out, by myself that the script had been 'okayed'. It was ordered, received and even packed ready for me to pick up! THEY were supposed to call ME as soon as it was ready to pick up. They virtually promised. I've learnt over the years how useless they are at keeping their promises, so I knew I'd have to call them. I wonder how long it would have been until they called to let me know the script was ready?
My main point here is to learn to stick up for yourself when it comes to your own health vs your National Health Service, whatever & wherever that might be. Too many people wait and wait and wait... I nag nag nag! And I get results. They don't communicate, have far too many patients to deal with, mix things up and make mistakes. So take some responsibility and take charge. They can't ignore you forever!
Omg idk what just happened 
What is it to become vulnerable and is it worth it?
Every 'No' feels like an insult or betrayal to me
Better from a distance. 
be nice to pharmacy workers :(
