Posted by Bigdave on December 17, 2003, at 19:44:42
In reply to Re: MAOI diet short list, posted by cybercafe on July 22, 2002, at 13:29:19
I'm due to begin a trial course of Nardil in a few days and I've been researching as
much as possible about the MAOI diet restrictions. Unfortunately I'm having to self-
medicate myself as my doctor flatly refused to prescribe Nardil and told me it's unlikely
any dr will prescribe it me for treatment of social anxiety. Very unfortunate for me
since now I have to pay for the medication myself at a cost of £50 a month.My dr described it as a "dirty drug" and said it was no longer used! I wrote to my dr last
week to give him the 'good' news about me taking Nardil myself privately and he wrote back
to me saying "I strongly advise you not to take Nardil without supervision" and recommended
that he refers me to a specialist, a road which I've been down several times already.I've decided that Nardil is something I want to try and I'm sure if I'm sensible
and careful with the diet I'll be fine. That's really the reason for my post to get some
answers and hopefully put to together an overall diet guide. From the posts I've read here
I must say it seems very daunting and confusing with lots of conflicting and non-specific
information.One thing which particularly worries me is people saying that certain things which are
recommend to avoid, are ok, such as beers and wine and some food items. Surely
it's better to be safe than sorry and avoid these items, period? Afterall everyone is
different and what's fine for one person may produce a terrible reaction in another
person. Another reason for sticking to the list rigidly is that it's impossible to say
with any kind of accuracy what levels of tyramine may or may not be found in certain
types of food on the things to avoid list. How can you possibly know how much tyramine
is in a serving with so many different variations and other factors? I think if I start
gambling with this and experimenting I would become very anxious and worried that I'd
have a hypertensive reaction and that might bring one on anyway!If you stick to the guidelines then you're not taking chances is how it seems
to me. It doesnt seem majorly difficult to me to maintain a strict diet, certainly for
vegetarians anyway. The only real sacrifice for me will be cheese and beer which I enjoy
often.It's puzzling to me how since the diet restriction is such an important issue for people
taking MAOI medication, why there isnt a single authorative published list somewhere
on the web with very specific and detailed information which is updated regularly. Perhaps
maintained by the drug manufacturer?One point which is seldom discussed as well is that it's better to take your MAOI
medication sometime AFTER a meal which is likely to contain tyramine. I've read that
this can minimise the chance of a hypertensive reaction or make it considerably less.
This sounds like good sound advice to me and makes sense. Does anyone agree with this
and use this approach with taking MAOI meds?Bigdave
poster:Bigdave
thread:75408
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20031213/msgs/291091.html