Subject: Re: Yohimbe and antidepressants..?

From: [email-masked] (Majkszak, Mark)
Date: Mon, 7 Aug 1995 13:26:59

>A book I referenced says the Physician's Desk Reference cautions against
>the use of yohimbine in psychiatric patients or in conjunction with
>antidepressants or other mood-modifying drugs.

This is true the Physician's Desk Reference does say not to use Yohimbine with 
antidepressants or other mood-modifying drugs.  After having both Rx'd to me I 
asked my Medical Doctor about this.  He researched it for about 3 weeks and 
came back with "I can find no reason to have this disclaimer.  Go ahead and 
take both and see if anything happens." Will I did and nothing did, no 
problems for over 4 months now.  Of course, it could just be my AD (Norprin) 
which is not a problem and there may be a problem with other ADs so the bottom 
line here is ASK YOUR DOCTOR IF HE/SHE THINKS IT'S OKAY TO MIX THE TWO DRUGS.

This has been my $0.02

Magic

---

From: <[email-masked]>
Date: 11 Aug 1995 22:35:09 GMT

[email-masked] (New York Theosophical Society) writes:
>Torrey Peacock ([email-masked]) wrote:
>: This is a misconception that somehow got widely circulated.  Yohimbine is
>: *not* an MAO inhibitor, and will not cause the "cheese reaction."
>
>	A couple of the "Legal Drugs" books of the early-mid 70's pegged 
>it as such.
>
>	Bart Lidofsky
>

Not all MAO inhibitors cause quite as bad a reaction with cheese etc as the
pharmaceuticals do. St Johns Wort is quite potent at inhibiting MAO types
1 & 2 - but it doesn't cause problems with cheese. I've tried it 
experimentally. It does however block metabolism of amphetamines very 
effectively - including those produced as a result of metabolising 
compounds in plants such as Fennel. As a result, you wind up with toxic
effects and hallucinations at normal dose. These are unpleasant!!!

Yohimbe is, as far as I recall, an MAO inhibitor. I think I've got the data
somewhere but can't put my hands on it. It is also an alpha-2-
adrenergic antagonist. Excessive doses or use can trigger depression.

Kevin Jones