Posted by Adam on October 27, 1999, at 18:59:22
In reply to Re: Drugs and Drugs, posted by Elizabeth on October 27, 1999, at 16:22:16
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> It's interesting that doctors never mention these interactions when prescribing meds to us, isn't it? I wonder why that is. The MDMA-MAOI interaction is pretty well known.It's not just interesting, it's frigging dangerous. I mean, how many people are as big an info-junkie as me? I don't even have a degree in the health field, why should I
know any of this stuff? And why should anybody else? Doctors, if you're reading, write out a big list of "bad things to do" and make your patients memorize it or something.Just as an aside, MDMA is a really interesting drug. I don't know weather to be fascinated or horrified by it. One thing is for sure: a depressive like me doesn't need
axonal damage to serotonergic neurons, even if they grow back. But I suppose if you're "healthy" and can deal with giving your brain a good pounding every once in a while,
(hey, you didn't really need all those brain cells, did you?) it sounds like fun. So long as you don't keel over or become hyperpyrexic or something. Rave on.>
> Really? I'm surprised by that. Which hallucinogens do you mean?
>
> LSD is generally rendered ineffective, or nearly so, by chronic MAOI use. Don't know of any case reports, but the same should presumably be true of psychedelic mushrooms. Mescaline might cause cardiovascular problems since it is related to amphetamine.
>
I actually didn't see anything referring to chronic use, so I can't comment on that. Most of the things I saw referred to the acute use of moclobemide or harmaline as a potentiator. In the case of alkaloids like psilocybin, fer instance, MAOI can't break
them down, so you trip longer, harder, and more vividly. I read one case where a combo of 'shrooms and moc. left a guy tripping for 18 hours straight, gave him terrifying visions the whole time, and left him feeling like he'd been psychically raped by
aliens. I only relay, I cannot verify. But, in the case of chronic use, I imagine this could lead to down-regulation of certain receptors that are responsible for mediating the effects of such drugs. Is this guess correct?> > I don't want to encourage drug use or discourage it.
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> Heh, doesn't that go on all the time here?
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> (There really isn't any specific pharmacological or chemical characteristic that distinguishes legal drugs from illegal ones, after all.)
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True, but Zoloft wouldn't really do much for a rave.>
> I don't know of any solid evidence to support this, but some people believe that a drug experience (often with marijuana, cocaine, or amphetamines (or MDMA)) triggered their panic disorder.
>
I saw precisely that in some references (with respect to MDMA). With only scattered individual accounts, who can say for certain?> On the other hand, it's well known that people sometimes use any of a number of "non-medical drugs" to self-medicate depression and anxiety. I'm thinking of alcohol, heroin, cocaine, and amphetamine in particular, but I've heard of people using LSD, high-dose dextromethorphan (another MAOI no-no, BTW), ketamine, and even nitrous oxide (I kid you not) to the same end.
Ketamine? I've heard being in the K Hole is really no fun at all. Of course praying to the porcelain god after a particularly debauched evening isn't a barrel of laughs either.
Anyway, I can't remember all of my sources, but one fun page is www.lyceaum.org. If only some pages on ADs were this informative.
poster:Adam
thread:13986
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/19991016/msgs/14035.html