Parnate and High Blood Pressure: What Users Say

• lor...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• July 13, 2019

For Depression "I am 49 years old. I have bipolar II, ADD, fibromyalgia, social anxiety, and almost three years of agoraphobia. I started Parnate on January 10, 2019. I also take Temazepam for sleep. Anxious for relief, I increased the dose too fast, and as a result (I believe), on day 7, I had a hypertensive crisis. I did not go to the hospital or disclose to the doctor. I would rather die than be taken off Parnate without giving it a chance. On day 9, I felt great! Lots of energy, motivation and felt happy. I was able to go on errands, visit family, talk on the phone (big phobia). Despite the occasional cycling, Parnate saved my life and has given me some hope. I know I need to add a mood stabilizer, but I am afraid of messing with something that's 'good enough'. I am lucky that the food restrictions are unnecessary for me. I also went back on Adderall, despite the warnings, 40 mg per day, which has helped a lot. My blood pressure is normal. Check out research by Dr. Ken Gillman."

• bro...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• August 5, 2015

For Depression "Parnate is the second-greatest thing to ever happen to my brain, second only to ECT. I started it in the hospital. Before Parnate, I was spending about 22 hours per day in bed. Now I am in bed just at night. I have started to laugh again. I'm looking for work after being unable to hold down a job for over 2 years. My parents see the improvement too, and they are really pleased. Just be careful. Everyone talks about the food interactions, but you also got to be aware of the medication interactions, those can be deadly. I had a hypertensive crisis as a result of a drug interaction that nearly ended things. Before Parnate, I would have viewed that as a missed opportunity, but now I want to live again!"

• emg...
• September 12, 2016

For Depression "Have been on Parnate for over 20 years, use with Trazodone, and I take 40 mg Parnate, divided doses, and 250 mg Trazodone at HS. I had ECT treatments 20 years ago, but had battled major depression since high school. I do believe the Parnate has kept me on an even keel for many years. I have found with the list of everything else you cannot take with it, NutraSweet threw me into a hypertensive crisis, so heads up with that. Otherwise, I have never had any side effects with Parnate."

• pet...
• July 22, 2015

For Depression "I took Parnate in the hospital. It's the second most wonderful thing to ever have happened to my brain, after ECT. But it tried to kill me. But that was due to a drug interaction. Don't take a high dose of Parnate (60 mg) with more than 150 mg of trazodone. I did. I had two hypertensive crises. My BP was 208/163. It was extremely painful. But I would go back to Parnate in a second, just without the trazodone. Look up the drugs it interacts with before you take something with it. I felt cheerful, I started laughing again for the first time in years. Until the hypertensive stuff happened, my team was talking discharge. And I came in very sick. Parnate is great."

• ale...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• November 6, 2017

For Depression "After failing to get any improvement with a whole range of antidepressants (including TCAs and Wellbutrin), I was very much looking forward to starting on Parnate. Alas, unlike other pills that had literally zero effect, this one added some negative side effects: heartaches, high blood pressure, tense feeling in the chest, and even a visit to a hospital after I fainted (luckily nothing life-threatening). I envy people whose condition improved, though. Also not sure what to do next, as this is literally the last-ditch measure, and ketamine in my country is administered only to hospital inpatients."