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Re: Qs about MAOIs for anybody who has taken them

Posted by europerep on May 4, 2015, at 10:31:12

In reply to Qs about MAOIs for anybody who has taken them, posted by Smoo on May 4, 2015, at 7:28:01

Hey Smoo,

I have been on two MAOIs (tranylcypromine and phenelzine), but they both made the condition they were supposed to treat (treatment-resistant depression) considerably worse, so I'm not sure in how far info from me would be useful for you. But I'll just answer some questions and say a couple of things that may be relevant.

The question of how difficult it was to get a prescription is a very important one. I had to actively seek out a psychiatrist who would prescribe an MAOI to me. This would make sense if certain characteristics of my disease suggested that MAOIs would be a bad choice, or if I hadn't been on a whole range of other meds before, but neither is the case. They said things like "no, we haven't been prescribing MAOIs anymore for twenty years" or even "I've never prescribed MAOIs to anyone". And those were specialists in university hospitals here in Europe. Older doctors are generally more open.

Side effects are important as well. I'm quite lucky to never have had big trouble with side effects on any meds, except MAOIs that is. MAOIs gave me pretty bad insomnia, particularly on higher doses. But when an MAOI works, the insomnia problem can usually be dealt with in some way. The food restrictions are important too, but their impact on my daily life was really minimal.

And, just a few other points. I don't know if you know Ken Gillman or have been to his website (www.psychotropical.com), but he's an Australian psychiatrist and researcher who has published quite a lot on MAOIs.

If you write your piece about phenelzine in particular, you want to take a look at atypical depression. This subtype of depression responds particularly well to phenelzine, and less well to most modern antidepressants.

Lastly, you can also look for publications from Stephen Stahl. He's an American psychiatrist and researcher who has done quite some work on MAOIs as well.

I hope this helps you a bit, and feel free to ask more questions if you have any.

ER

 

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