Posted by Anonne on August 1, 2003, at 1:25:27
In reply to Re: Parnate...Why so dangerous » stjames, posted by cubbybear on July 31, 2003, at 21:17:32
St.James, thanks for linking my post.
I didn't include what had precipitated the hypertensive reaction in that post, so I might as well venture a guess here. (I did post about that in detail last year, or perhaps early in 2003, but I have to find it to link to it)
The 1st hypertensive reaction I had in 1990 is probably linked to a bagel with alfalfa sprouts, tomatoes, and a small (!) slice of Swiss cheese. Oops! Well, the cheese may have been quite aged, I don't know. I had been able to eat pizzas w/ cheese (mozarella?) and pepperoni, and drink small quantities of beer (not dark ales) w/ no problem.
The 2nd hypertensive event I couldn't wrap my head around; this was in 1998. I had Chinese food, take-out, w/ my family; supposedly NO MSG. It was "lemon chicken", w/ NO soy sauce, and white rice; a mango and some Haagen Daasz (sp.?) icecream (Dulce de Leche, yum!) for dessert. Monica Lewinsky was the topic of our conversation; it was quite funny, but the sudden scalp prickliness and shivers and heart palpitations were not. Within five minutes I realized what was going on, and to the ER we went. "Anxiety attack!" was the dx; mind you, Ativan or Xanax or Klonopin DO (or can) relieve the horrid headache; nothing was done about the Blood pressure, which was recorded there as 155/95 (my typical b.p. was 100/70, very low; plus I was taking a small amount of Aldactone (spironolactone), which further lowers blood pressure.
Event #3, last year: Indian food. Protein putrefication? Butter chicken and some kind of fish, also carry-out. Bad idea. I had eaten TONS of Indian food before w/ no ill effects. No one else got sick; the spices may have hid what was going on w/ the meat. Or else I got hypersensitive to tyramine. I don't know.
MAOIs can be life-saving; I LOVED my Nardil, although it did plateau out after a few years; the hypomania is something I don't get w/ Effexor XR or Remeron. I do wish I could have stayed on those little orange pills.
I am writing the FDA asking that MAO-I meds carry SPECIFIC instructions to E.R. and other health professionals, including instructions to patient on educating the health profs. Some ERs go by blood pressure figures alone; what may seem HYPERTENSIVE to me may not READ like a huge spike in numbers; however, the damage may be just as great.
If you do end up in an ER situation, DO DEMAND a head scan. Cerebrovascular accidents are apparently a great concern w/ hypertensive crises, or 'events'. Wish I'd known. Duh. Even my dx'ing psychiatrist NEVER suggested one, nor did he suggest a head CT. I was lucky the 3rd time.
I do not want to discourage others from taking these medications; I just want there to be uniformity in care, and precautionary tales for those who think it can't happen to them. It can, it may not. Do consider MEDIC ID bracelets, or some sort of ID. Do consider a WRITTEN EMERGENCY PLAN, along with medicine (Thorazine? Nifepidine seems to be hotly debated).
Do check out https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/medwatch/ for reporting adverse effects of drugs or medical devices.
> I recall the above posting well. It doesn't say why the patient suffered the hypertensive crisis; for all we know he/she ate one or more of the forbidden foods in excess. It is an anecdote from one individual and does not represent the experiences of Parnate users in general. There is only a small minority for whom Parnate has proven "dangerous." I'll stick with my original stance on this medication. I've been taking it for 20+ years, am careful about what I eat and what medicines I take, and never once experienced high blood pressure.
poster:Anonne
thread:245069
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030728/msgs/247252.html