harmine - 7-methoxy-beta-carboline

harmaline - 3,4-dihydro-7-methoxy-1-methyl-beta-carboline

(many other prescription medications as well)


this is something you never hear about on the street.  just about
every drug you'll come across except thc in marijuana is an amine,
meaning that it contains an active nitrogen somewhere in the molecule.
the body's primary way of dealing wik amines and getting rid of them
involves two enzymes, mao-a and mao-b.  mao stands for monoamine
oxidase, and a maoi (pronounced like the hawaiian island maui) is a
monoamine oxidase inhibitor.

so what happens if mao is inhibited?  the body cannot break down some
amines, and those amines begin to accumulate.  for example, the
neurotransmitter serotonin can build up in the synapses in the brain.
as discussd in the ecstasy section, increased serotonin levels relate
to more positive mood, and for that reason maois were used for a while
as antidepressants.

so, you might think that taking a maoi would make your drugs stronger
because they would stay around in your body longer.  in part, this is
true.  but you need to realize that what you're doing is inhibiting
the body's defenses against chemicals it's trying to get rid of.  you
cannot be sure that you will not cause damage by letting those
chemicals linger around.

futhermore, you need to consider what other amines might be floating
around, either on their own or as a result of taking the drug.  too
much tyramine, a common amino acid, can cause a hypertensive crisis,
which can easily be fatal.  many foods contain tyramine, so if you are
using a maoi you must be very careful what you eat.  foods like aged
cheese, processed meats, fermented foods, fish and a multitude of
others can be dangerous. look at
http://www.erowid.org/chemicals/maois/maois_info2.shtml for a list.
ecstasy causes a massive release of serotonin, and if that serotonin
isn't immediately mopped up by mao, it can cause a hypertensive crisis
plus serotonin syndrome, which is almost certainly fatal.

therefore: do not ever take any other drugs if you have taken a maoi!
research this point in excrutiating detail before you decide
otherwise.  note that none of the recreational drugs we've mentioned
in this pamphlet are maois - but some recreational drugs are, and a
number of prescription drugs are.  also take a look at
http://www.erowid.org/chemicals/maois/maois.shtml

as an aside, you may remember that recently the "fen-phen" weight-loss
drug combination was pulled from the market when a number of its users
developed heart valve problems.  Well, fenfluramine is a mild ssri
that increases serotonin levels, and phentermine is a mild stimulant
and maoi.  they each worked well on their own for weight loss, and
together they worked great.  but no one realized that one increased
serotonin levels and the other was a maoi.  guess what one symptom of
exccessive serotonin levels is... heart valve problems.  sometimes
even the professionals make the dumbest mistakes.