Hello
Rasagiline. I'm taking it at the moment and thought I would make a log of my experience on the medication. This is partially due to encouragement from Chrono whom I've found to be an extremely informative poster, so here I am, putting something back into the forum myself.
From the manufacturer's prescriber information:
"...Mechanism of action: Rasagiline was shown to be a potent, irreversible MAO-B selective inhibitor, which may cause an increase in extracellular levels of dopamine in the striatum. The elevated dopamine level and subsequent increased dopaminergic activity are likely to mediate rasagiline's beneficial effects seen in models of dopaminergic motor dysfunction. 1-Aminoindan is an active major metabolite and it is not a MAO-B inhibitor..."
"...Absorption: Rasagiline is rapidly absorbed, reaching peak plasma concentration (Cmax) in approximately 0.5 hours. The absolute bioavailability of a single rasagiline dose is about 36%..."
I've lost the information on how long and to what degree Rasagiline inhibited MAO-B. If someone finds it, could you send me a copy ?
When I had this information, though, I came to the decision to take two 0.5mg doses spread out evenly over a week like period considering my previous experience with selegiline, and a comparison of the degree to which both compounds inhibited MOA-B.
The log:
(Disclaimer: I am literally typing in how I felt. My prose will be a bit raw as, a: I'm lazy and you shlubs can get what you will out of this and, b: I want to be as open as possible. You should know though that nothing of what I write here could be due to Rasagiline. Although I am taking it alone in order to isolate its affects, everything here could be my imagination or any number of I'm sure a million factors that influence human perception. Oh and I'll be using my 2 years of Selegiline experience as a base for comparison.)
Day 1:
This feels like a cleaner version of the "Selpryl" liquid Seleg. Cit. that I had been taking about 4 months ago. I can't be sure that it's due to the relative strength (or, of course weakness) of the dose I've taken, however.
My focus was a bit off. I felt a bit more social. The most striking feeling though was how stimulated I felt. I worked late into the late and was still alert. I feel a little bit manic. Manic but focused. Not too happy though :(.
Day 2:
Took another dose today (adjacent to day 1) which goes against my initial dosing programme. Similar feeling to day one in terms of stimulation but today I feel like I have a lot of emotional energy, and... I feel happier than yesterday. I feel stronger socially too. No aggressiveness, shortness of temper or afternoon sleepiness which is interesting.
27/10/10:
I have been feeling great over the last few weeks. I have a more positive attitude and I can feel some of my motivation returning to me.
When I quit Selegiline a few months ago it was because although it gave me motivation, it also enhanced my pleasure seeking to a point where it was hard to resist pleasurable procrastination and, I'm sure, the dopamine hit it would give me.
I am trying to be more disciplined now. I know that MOA-B inhibition will mean that that which I find rewarding will give me more pleasure, however, as that also includes activities that are unproductive, I have to be cautious.
The usual feeling of a higher catecholamine levels has returned. My sleep is disturbed, I am more irritable and much more alert. As these symptoms passed when I was on selegiline, I'm going to ignore them and push on with the hope that they will diminish.
I can't be sure so far if my concentration has improved. Socially I am better though. Talking to people especially is more rewarding and, when before I would become bored after speaking to someone for longer than a minute, and to continue the conversation would require an increasing amount of mental effort and concentration, I'm now more easily able to talk to someone, even about subjects that are not directly related or of interest to me.
Update 11 DEC 2010
Well... I definitely didn't update as much as I was hoping that I would.
The rasagiline is working. Increased DA saturation has been written about extensively before on this forum so I won't wax lyrical on it, but, I'm enjoying it!
I wish I knew why, but the feeling is definitely different to selegiline. This could however however have something to do with the high degree of MAO inhibition caused by my specific does of Rasagilne.
I've increased my dose to 0.5 mg everyday. I have no MAOI-A, or at least I don't believe I do as I've been consuming some pretty tyramine heavy foods lately and have felt no ill effect.
No bad effects to report as yet. I don't feel like building orphanages, but I still feel better than before I took it.
Edited by chrono, 10 December 2010 - 06:50 PM.
update
