How to Treat Depression With MAOI Medication

Monoamine oxidase inhibitors, also known as MAOIs, are antidepressant drugs used specifically to treat depression. MAOIs tend to be very powerful, with potential for serious side effects, and are usually only prescribed when other types of antidepressant drugs are not effective. Your mental-health professional should help you decide whether taking MAOI medication is the best way to treat your depression.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• Mental-health professional, such as a psychiatrist
• MAOI medication

Treat Depression With MAOI Medication

1. Consult with your mental-health professional to determine whether you should treat your depression with MAOI medication. Generally, MAOIs, such as Marplan, Nardil and Aurorix are prescribed when tricyclic antidepressants are ineffective. While MAOI medication is usually not prescribed to patients who have never been on any type of antidepressant before, this practice is becoming more common.
2. Be familiar with the risks associated with taking MAOI medication. Side effects include hypertension, anxiety, high blood pressure, hallucinations and respiratory depression. MAOIs can cause adverse reactions to most other medications--especially SSRI antidepressants--as well as many types as food, such as cheese, liver and wine.
3. Try newer types of MAOI medication, such as Emsam (selegiline) and moclobemide, that are milder and can be prescribed in a patch form. This can help to eliminate many of the side effects that can occur in the gastrointestinal tract, such as adverse reactions to food and yeast levels in the stomach. There is some question, however, as to the effectiveness of these patch medications.
4. Avoid any type of cold medicine or analgesics while taking an MAOI medication, due to the possibility of an adverse reaction, such as hyperactivity, excitability and increased blood pressure. Natural supplements used to treat depression, such as St. John's Wort, may produce serious and potentially dangerous side effects as well.
5. Use caution when adjusting your dosage of MAOI medications or trying to wean yourself off of MAOIs. Withdrawal symptoms can be quite severe, with depression or even suicidal thoughts emerging within the first 24 hours of discontinuation of your medication. Make sure you are under the strict supervision of your health-care professional before you stop taking MAOI medication.

Tips & Warnings

• While MAOIs were specifically developed to deal with more severe cases of depression, it was discovered that these antidepressants are also extremely effective in helping people to quit smoking.