MAO Inhibitors

MAO inhibitors often start working within 2 weeks [33-35] and may demonstrate superiority to other treatments by 4-6 weeks. [36, 37] Response to MAOIs varying among the types of MAOIs and patients.

Other than mood disorders such as major depression and anxiety disorders, MAO inhibitors are also effective in treating narcolepsy [22, 23] and bipolar disorder with guidelines supporting their utility. [1, 26, 27]

Your provider will likely be able to manage and prescribe all of your medications relating to mental health.

At this time, we are not prescribing controlled substances including stimulants and benzodiazepines.

The most common side effects are difficulty falling sleeping and dizziness with standing. Both are short-lived, typically resolving in a few days to a few weeks at a given dose. Our providers employ simple and effective solutions to prevent and treat side effects.

Restrictions are relatively minimal as modern manufacturing has improved food quality. Often patients don’t need to change their diet or only need to eliminate 1 or 2 foods. Some MAOIs don’t have significant dietary restrictions & adding low-dose Desipramine or Nortriptyline to a MAOI can eliminate dietary restrictions. [38-42] 

Here are some common foods to avoid

There is a known risk of serotonin syndrome or serotonin toxicity when MAOIs are combined with certain medications and supplements when taken with MAOIs. Your provider will review these risks and ways to mitigate them.

We do not accept patients with any of the following:

• Are <18 years of age
• Have hallucinations or delusions
• Have thoughts of hurting themselves or others
• Have never tried another prescription medication for mood disorders or anxiety disorders
• Have a personal history or family history of pheochromocytoma
• Have poorly controlled diabetes and/or frequent hypoglycemic (low blood sugar) events
• Are pregnant or breastfeeding
• Taken a medication with significant serotonergic activity without a sufficient “washout period” or break before starting a MAOI (Feel free to contact us if you are unsure about your own medications)

Our patients live in all 50 states and we can send your prescription to a pharmacy in any of the 50 states. However, patients must agree to be in any of these states whenever talking with their provider: AL, AR, AZ, CA, DE, DC, FL, HI, IA, ID, IN, KS, MD, MN, MO, MS, ND, NE, NC, NY, OH, OK, SC, TN, TX, VA, WV

After your initial appointment, we will mail you a blood pressure monitor and send any prescriptions your provider wrote to your preferred pharmacy.