Moclobemide for bipolar depression?

Hello y'all,

just back from my weekly pdoc visit (I got a special card today -- five weekly visits in five coming weeks, I am now officially a regular!) and I got moclobemide added on top of my valproic acid. I took moclobemide before and it gave me my hypomania, then threw me into mixed state, but my doctor thinks it's good for me anyway. What do you think of that? Anybody here been on moclobemide for bipolar depression?

Big hugs,

Oliveira

I've never taken a moclobemide. I looked it up on wikipedia, which doesn't show that it's used to treat bipolar patients. Since I trust every word of Wikipedia (hint of sarcasm here), I wonder if it's a good idea.

What suprised me Oliveira is that you have weekly visits with the pdoc. It sounds like a good idea, but expensive and time consuming. I have a visit every 3 months to make sure my unusual treatment (med free) is working ok. I still see my doc because of my security clearance, but it doesn't hurt to know that I have a doctor to go to if I run into trouble.

I guess it's because it's the initial treatment phase -- I've been diagnosed 10 weeks ago and they are fiddling with the meds weekly, and only this week has my blood level finally been in the correct range. I guess I won't be seeing the doc weekly once I get a bit more stable!

Only you can decide if a medication is right for you or not. I would definitely allow time for each medication to work in your body, but don't wait so long as to end up in a full blown manic episode.

I also have never been on moclobemide as I reside in the US and it is not approved for use here. I have been on a different MAOI and had success with it for my bipolar depression. It did bring me a little too high, but I combined that with risperdal at the time which evened me right out to a nice medium point.

I'm not normally in this forum, I don't have a formal diagnosis of BP. I have been prescribed Moclobemide, have been taking it for about 10 weeks (600mg, with the look to put it up to 1200mg), and I've gone from a catatonic depression with a suicidal planning to what the psychiatrist refers to as a manic state. I've had severe depression for at least the last 8-10 years, so its been good that that has lifted, however, since taking Moclobemide, I have had this possible 'manic state', which has resulted in a lot of uncharacteristic emotionality and risky hyper behaviours. So Im going through this Moclobemide thing, but I've started a lot of personal stuff (highly uncharacteristic for me being AvPD), which I query whether its exacerbating the manic state, and if that just settles down, then the Moclobemide will be fine. After 6 weeks I reduced the Moclobemide to 300mg, which has settled some of the insomnia and nightmares Id been having, and has done a little for the 'manic' behaviours, but not enough to make me feel safe. Im hoping perhaps to add a mood stabiliser to help, but I have paranoia about weight gain/acne, so trying to find one both I and the psychiatrist agree on that doesn't exacerbate my issues too much will be the task.

Anyway, sorry for rambling. I hope things start going okay soon, please keep us updated, Id be interested to see how people go with this med.

Hey Unknown_1, thanks for your post!

I have been given a green light for moclobemide four days ago. And it took three HOURS to work me up from mild depression into hypomania. I found that a bit unsettling, and so did my psychiatrist, but she says I shouldn't worry and I should continue, perhaps lower dosage if I decide to do so. (I am on 300 mg, combined with depakene and seroquel.)

I don't know if it is the right med combo for me. On one hand, depression is gone at a snap. On the other, I like feeling that I am invincible and immortal, but I can't stop realising that actually I am not, which makes me feel a bit crazy. Hopefully all this will even out a bit soon.

MAOI's can be a godsend for some people as they often work when nothing else does. Moclobemide is a reversible MAOI and thus has much less food and drug interactions then say Parnate which is a irreversible one. It is generally less effective then the older MAOI's like Parnate but i would definitely try it. It is indicated off label for bipolar disorder but since it does effect serotonin you have to watch the risk of mania.

Oliveira, just wondering how things are going on the Moclobemide? Also, whether the mania has subsided at all? I hope things are going well for you.

Im becoming increasingly low again, and am not sure whether to up it to the full 600mg again as the psychiatrist suggests because of the hypomania that comes with it (and some of the side effects are hindering my ability to function) I dont know which is worse, the depression or the hypomania.

Im hoping some others might also have experience with Moclobemide, to get an idea of whether or not it is a viable med for longer-term treatment of severe depression or whether it really is just too likely to continue to exacerbate hypomanic episodes.

Thanks.