Posted by steve12 on September 8, 2004, at 20:15:38
In reply to Seriously considering MAOI's....please read, posted by becksA on September 8, 2004, at 19:47:20
MAOI's get a bad rap in the US. They are great for anxiety and have few side effects (like sexual side effects), but have one big drawback: if you eat certain foods, you can have a hypertensive crisis (but you can have emergency meds to counteract it). The foods include red wine, cheese, and fish. Recent research suggests that the food restrictions need not be as severe as once thought. Unfortuantely, it is unlikely that a "safe" MAOI will be made due to the unique mechanism in which they act (for a good oveview, see Julian, A Primer of Psychoactive Drugs). The real problem with MAOI's is finding a doc to prescribe them as they have a notorious reputation for the reasons listed above and they are ***generic*** and the drug companies don't fly the doc's out to Palm Springs for "educational conferences" ;)
> I read a few things about Nardil, and am seriously considering it as my SAD has gotten bad, and nothing else seems to be working. I have a few questions...
>
> What is there about MAOI's that makes it have so many restrictions? In other words, what is stopping them from creating a med that does the same thing, without all these.
>
> What about the side effects? Upon reading all the food interactions, I have the feeling that it's a very serious drug, leading me to also believe that at the beginning it has certain serious side effects. Is this the case? If so, what are most common...Some I cannot deal with.
>
> What about the success rate? If I'm going to go and try this, I would hope it would be helpful to me, as nothing else has been in the past, and it is very discouraging.
>
> Thanks
poster:steve12
thread:388325
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040904/msgs/388348.html