Posted by Jennifer on June 3, 2000, at 12:41:32
In reply to history - Jennifer, posted by Elizabeth on June 3, 2000, at 7:50:15
Nardil's use as an antihypertensive dates back decades to the original tx's for HTN. There were very limited choices in those days, and with the major side effects related to diet, tyramine breakdown, and hypertensive crisis, it wasn't well tolerated. Once new classes of drugs came about, Nardil went out of style, but the older MD's are still happy with their antideppresive effects. Many new MD's, due to lack of experience, choose not to rx Nardil. Mostly because they are afraid of the side effects. With all the new classes of Antidepressives out, why risk it? I remind them again and again...sometimes it's the only one that works! Jennifer
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> Nardil has always been used primarily for depression and anxiety. The first MAOI used for depression, iproniazid (Marsilid), was an anti-TB drug that was found to be a "mood elevator," which got people all interested in MAOIs as antidepressants. It was taken off the market because it tended to be hepatotoxic, but its cousin isoniazid (INH), which is not an MAOI of any significance, is still a first-line tx for TB.
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> There was an MAOI - Eutonyl (pargyline) - that popped up at some point and was used as an antihypertensive, but it's no longer available AFAIK.
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> BTW, I wouldn't necessarily trust anything a pharmacist said about MAOIs. IME, they tend to get a lot of things wrong, especially in regard to interactions; I pretty much feel I can count on them to parrot the PDR (though there are exceptions). I attribute this to a lack of real clinical experience.
poster:Jennifer
thread:34894
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000603/msgs/35853.html