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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 6 of 6. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by tina on August 19, 2000, at 18:49:41
Hey everyone: I'm sick and tired of these meds, the weight gain, the headaches, the nausea and everything else that goes with them. My question is this: Do I have to come off of an MAOI slowly or can I just quit cold turkey? Same question for lithium, slow weening or immediate stoppage?? I've only been taking 150mg of Li for 2 1/2 weeks and the MAOI for 7 weeks.
Thanks anyone who answers
Tina
Posted by Greg on August 19, 2000, at 20:30:05
In reply to Ween off Slowly or Cold Turkey????, posted by tina on August 19, 2000, at 18:49:41
Tina,
Here's a surprising answer for you, WEAN OFF SLOWLY! Bet you would never guess I would say that, huh?
Love ya,
Greg
Posted by JaneST on August 19, 2000, at 21:29:39
In reply to Ween off Slowly or Cold Turkey????, posted by tina on August 19, 2000, at 18:49:41
> Hey everyone: I'm sick and tired of these meds, the weight gain, the headaches, the nausea and everything else that goes with them. My question is this: Do I have to come off of an MAOI slowly or can I just quit cold turkey? Same question for lithium, slow weening or immediate stoppage?? I've only been taking 150mg of Li for 2 1/2 weeks and the MAOI for 7 weeks.
> Thanks anyone who answers
> Tina
T:Never, ever, cold turkey...not even if you take one aspirin per day...slowly...especially the MAOI...and listen to your mother~)
Jane
Posted by stjames on August 19, 2000, at 23:30:10
In reply to Re: Ween off Slowly or Cold Turkey????, posted by JaneST on August 19, 2000, at 21:29:39
James here....
You always should ween off any psycomed, just fro safe measure, but
as MAOI's are short acting compaired to other AD's
you want to avoid a sudden drop in blood levels. A slow weening is
required.james
Posted by mojoworkin on August 20, 2000, at 5:03:13
In reply to Ween off Slowly or Cold Turkey????, posted by tina on August 19, 2000, at 18:49:41
Talk to the doc first.
> Hey everyone: I'm sick and tired of these meds, the weight gain, the headaches, the nausea and everything else that goes with them. My question is this: Do I have to come off of an MAOI slowly or can I just quit cold turkey? Same question for lithium, slow weening or immediate stoppage?? I've only been taking 150mg of Li for 2 1/2 weeks and the MAOI for 7 weeks.
> Thanks anyone who answers
> Tina
Posted by JohnL on August 20, 2000, at 5:24:19
In reply to Ween off Slowly or Cold Turkey????, posted by tina on August 19, 2000, at 18:49:41
Tina,
Dittos to what everyone else has already said. With the exception of Prozac, just about everything else should be weened. That doesn't mean you couldn't just stop cold turkey, but it would be a bumpier ride if you did.
I would think you could dump the Lithium right away no problem. The dose is already miniscule to begin with. And the timespan on it is short. I see no problem with the Lithium. For all practical purposes, if you were weening off Lithium from higher dosage levels, you are as close to zero mg as you can get.
But to take it a step further....
I understand the side effect frustrations. That to me means the med choices probably weren't the right ones anyway. They just weren't agreeable with you. But how about the therapeutic effect? Did the MAOI work? Partially? Completely? Not at all? Based on the severity of the side effects, I would venture a guess that the MAOI didn't help much. Is that true?I'm curious, because there may be some clues here to help figure out where to go next. Perhaps increasing brain neurotransmitter levels is not the chemistry you need. Perhaps a totally different chemistry is involved, that won't require raising levels or enduring the resulting side effects.
When you get a chance, I'm just curious, how well did the MAOI work? What other meds have you already tried?
thanks,
John
This is the end of the thread.
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