Moclobemide (Anti Depressant/Anti Anxiety)

Therapeutic Efforts Pharmaceutical
#1

I just wanted to mention about Moclobemide. Its an anti depressant and anti anxiety drug and I’ve been taking it for a while and it has helped me get through things when I was at my lowest. I’m in a much better state these days and soon will not be taking the drug anymore, but I though it might be worth mentioning to people, especially if they are struggling.

The key thing is that the side effects are low and there are no noted side effects regarding sexual function which as we know is common with SSRI anti depressants. In fact this drug has a reputation for the opposite as the quote below shows:

“A concern of antidepressant adverse effects is sexual dysfunction; however, moclobemide has actually been found to increase the libido and also improve impaired erection, ejaculation and orgasm”

Although I cant say that I noticed anything significant in this regard this whilst I was taking it, but I have been having sexual improvements over the last 3 years. However I don’t think they are directly related to taking this drug.

Here is some more information about it.

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#2

Hey UKguy thanks for the information, I wasn’t actually aware there was any other antidepressants than Tricyclics or SSRIs because that’s all I’ve been offered by the medical industry here in Ireland for me.

I looked the drug up after reading this and learned it’s an MAOI, i read they’re one of the first antidepressants to be put into use but require some diet restrictions so you don’t overdose by artificially inflating your plzma levels or something? Just curious about how restrictive your diet is because I’d definitely be up for trying this, I told them I’ll never use another SSRI’s or Tricyclic again, do you know if there’s any MAOI that are also beneficial for OCD? That’d kill two birds with one stone for me in regards to mental health, could make dealing with the physical easier if my head’s not spaced out all the time.

#3

Hi Devolution, It hasn’t affected my diet that much. Your supposed to avoid soy sauce and strong cheese and red wine. I’ve not really had much alcohol whilst on them either. You can’t take certain medications too like strong pain killers like Codeine and decongestants, hay fever meds, but I been avoiding these because of pfs anyways. The only side affect I’ve really had is that it does make it harder to fall asleep and sleep is a bit less satisfying. When I was feeling really down over a year ago they did help settle my mind down, gives you kind of neutral feeling and toned down the anxiety.
To stop taking them you have to gradually over 6 months reduce the dose which I’ve been doing.

In the UK the gp’s don’t really want to prescribe them and so you have to ask them for it and I think they normally supposed to be prescribed by a psychiatrist. They just want to give you ssri’s. At the pharmacy they normally have to order them in, and usually takes a day as they not used very widely.

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#4

Thanks for the reply Ukguy, i don’t eat any of that stuff except the odd bit of cheddar or mozzarella cheese so that shouldn’t be an issue.

Has it helped make thing’s any more enjoyable for you? I just can’t really take the blandness anymore, everything feels the same, scenery, art, games, women, friends and all the stuff I used to like, i keep asking myself why did i like this stuff, i don’t see the purpose In many things anymore, that’s probably anhedonia I’d imagine so i guess im wondering if you’ve had that did it help in that way :thinking:

#5

I am very glad to hear that this drug has been helping you and that you are generally on a path of improvement, irrespective of the reason.

It appears that Moclobemide upregulates prolactin and PRL receptors:

Serum prolactin concentration had a trend to decrease with increasing dose and prolactin receptors in mammary gland were up-regulated.

Prolactin has been show to increase AR levels, so increasing AR levels could be a mode of action here. This hypothesis is further supported by:

A case is reported of a 34‐year‐old woman who developed diffuse hair loss after taking moclobemide 300 mg bd for 1 week, having previously taken 150 mg bd for 4 weeks without hair loss. Although the hair loss ceased 2 weeks after stopping moclobemide, her hair had not recovered at 6 months after stopping treatment.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/(SICI)1099-1077(199701/02)12%3A1<81%3A%3AAID-HUP836>3.0.CO%3B2-B

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#6

Hi mate,

When I was at my worst and on the full dose at 600mgs, It was kind of a weird feeling. Doesn’t make you happy as such, but gives you a nice neutral feeling and makes you not care so much about the bad things that are happening in your life. It did give me some new renewed drive to take trips away and engage more with friends and activities that I used to enjoy. I wouldn’t say that it fully gets rid of the anhedonia, but it definitely helped.

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#7

That’s really good to hear it gave you a little relief, I’m going to ask my psychiatrist about prescribing something like this or another MAOI if they recommend something that may be suitable for me, thank you :blush: yeah I don’t really care so much about anything right now so if it allows me to just push on and do something that’d be great, actually going to an open day for a small college course, just a thing that has others who’ve been thought mental health and physical stuff, a nice environment that may help me get somewhere, at the moment I’m in limbo so I’ll see what it’s all about and decide where to go from there, just sick of dying in my room i guess, even if life’s pointless right now, if i aim in the right direction and come out of this mess eventually, hopefully life will look up after that.

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