Posted by jsarirose on April 2, 2003, at 0:15:39
In reply to Re: MAOI diet short list and Zyvox , posted by cf on April 1, 2003, at 19:48:07
> Hi I have cystic fibrosis. I've been on many antibiotics all my life practically. I have resistant bacteria in my lungs that doesn't go away it just dies down a little then flares up again. My dr's started putting me on zyvox antibiotic over the last couple of years. When I first went on them nobody told me it was an maoi, not that I new what that was till recently. I don't remember any adverse reactions to this med the first time I took it( I didn't take any dietary precautions). Now, after doing research on websites(webmd.com,discoveryhealth.com)I've found out a whole list of things I can't eat. My pharmacist only told me to avoid cheese and wine, thats it. My dr's didn't know that zyvox was an maoi and asked me to bring in my research from the web. I keep getting bad headaches and my blood pressure when I check it is high. It's gone as high as 151/100, I normally have normal blood pressure. Having cf also means I have to take albuterol nebulizers which I recently read on the insert that taking albuterol with maoi's may potentiate the albuterol. As well as, my dr's were going to put me on allegra-D but I asked them to give me plain allegra because pseudoephidrine makes me jittery normally. I didn't want to take it with the zyvox which also make me jittery and nautious sometimes. Why wasn't my doctor aware of the fact that zyvox is an maoi?
>
>Wow! That's terrible and potentially very dangerous! MAOIs require a strict diet - the diet isn't too bad, but the repercussion of eating the wrong thing can potentially be life threatening. The MAOI diet isn't as simple as your doctor mentioned as I'm sure you've realized. Here are some basics:
Fresh cheeses are fine, for example: mozzarella, Muenster, Chevre, Montrachet, parmesan, cottage, ricotta, Feta, Gorgonzola, Brie (rind removed), etc. The aged cheeses, cheddar, bleu, etc. are the ones to avoid.
Wine is fine in moderation, alcohol is fine in moderation, beer is fine except tap beer.
You want to avoid aged items like prosciutto, some salamis (some are fresh, some are aged), old chicken livers - fresh are okay.
Basically, if it's been sitting around or there is danger of mold - throw it out.
Here is a good site to take a look at:
http://www.vh.org/adult/provider/psychiatry/CPS/19.htmlLet me know if you have more diet questions. Feel free to email me: jsarirose1@attbi.com
I've been on Parnate for about 1 1/2 years and have a pretty good handle on the diet.
You may also want to talk to your doctor about an 'emergency pill'. There are a few pills you can take that will bring your blood pressure back down if you have a hypertensive crisis. I take Thorazine (Chlorpromazine). I only take it in the case of a crisis (no side effects of regular use). It's also safe to take if my blood pressure isn't elevated but I think I'm in crisis. The symptoms are usually the onset of a severe migraine, flushed face, warm, clammy, sweating, etc. I've only had three attacks since I started. One was from smoked, canned clams in a stew, one from anchovy paste (shrimp paste, etc. are not allowed), and one from a beer on tap (just being stupid). All three times the Thorazine brought my blood pressure back down. You still feel crappy for a good while, but you're not in any danger.
Anyway, those are some of the details. As to the fact that they didn't inform you that you were taking an MAOI - well, that's amazing to me and very dangerous. I would question your doctor quite thoroughly about this.
Good luck,
Jessica
poster:jsarirose
thread:75408
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030329/msgs/215324.html