Anyone know anything about MAIO's??
 

My psychiatrist wants to take me off alot of my meds and put me on an MAIO but I don't know much about them. So if anyone knows anything please enlighten me!!

Some stuff on wikipedia about them

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MAOI

Have you got any idea what medication they will be putting you on as they are all varied xx

Just as an overview:

MAOI = monoamine oxidase inhibitors

They work by preventing the breakdown of noradrenaline and serotonin, e.g's of these are phenelzine and tranylcypromine

common side effects: low blood pressure, dizziness, lurred vision, insomnia, tremor, sexual dysfunction

they have the potential to react with other medicines, foods containing tyramine and alcoholic drinks

Nardil I believe. The reason he wants to switch me is because I'm taking 3 different antidepressants and still having symptoms of depression. I'm not sure how good of an idea it is because I have to be off of my meds for 14 days. I don't really know what to do.

Well you can but try it hunny :-) It's best to be on as little medication as possible anyways because if you are on quite a few your more likely to have contra-indications, this is also probably why the doc wants you off everything for a couple of weeks, if you feel you are starting to struggle go to your docs and they may be able to offer you some support xx

I'm thinking about trying it. I'm jsut worried about the dietary restrictions. I mean it won't be the end of the world because most of the stuff I don't even eat. I'm also really worried about being off meds for 2 weeks.

hey

the reason your doc will want you off all your meds is that MAOIs don't mix well with other types of anti-depressants. I was on Phenelzine a while ago (nardil) The diet thing isn't so bad, cheese and red wine especially are the ones you have to avoid.
The main side effect problem I had was only when I took another medication with it causing low blood pressure and I would kind of lose the ability to stand up!

I'm on an R-MAOI just now and the diet thing is no big deal, I can have a wee bit of cheese without problems, most of the other stuff I wouldn't have usually (not a big wine drinker). They'll give you a diet sheet of stuff to avoid.

Give it a try and see how you get on, if it works it's all good, if not you tried it and there are plenty ofother options

X

I have been on three different MAOI's and found that they helped substantially more than any SSRI"s or Trycyclics. I had to come off them as I developed serotonin syndrome (becasue it was mixed with other drugs, and is also very rare so dont worry about this) One of them also made me manic, which was good but the Dr. didnt agree. If you havent had any luck with other anti depressants then this may be the way to go, everone is different though.
I was on Nardil for a while. As for the dietary restrictions, it isnt that bad. I still ate a small amount of cheese. It is however important to recognise the signs of the food interactions with the drug as it can potentially lead to very raised (life threatning) blood pressure etc.
Just give it a try, you dont have anything to lose right????/

As for being off meds, just try to take it each day as it comes, or each hour. Anti depressants generally stay in your system for a while (week or so) after you stop taking them anyway, so you could look at it as only being one week or so off meds. Also talk to your dr. explain this anxiety and I am sure that they will offer you extra support during this period should you need it.

Let us know how it goes