Psychiatric Drug Side Effects

This is a vast subject, unfortunately, because psychiatric drugs can cause tardive dyskinesia, akathisia, neuroleptic malignant syndrome, weight gain, diabetes, a bad lipid profile, glaucoma, heart problems, the serotonin syndrome, sudden death, coma, interactions, hypertensive crisis, kidney damage, etc.

Intestinal stasis can be seen, which can be fatal. A good source on these matters is Volume III of the American Handbook of Psychiatry, edited by Silvano Arieti. This book is dated, so more recent books are needed for the atypical antipsychotics and the SSRIs.

MAOIs

These old drugs interact with SSRIs and thus can cause the notorious serotonin syndrome. In this terrible side effect the serotonin becomes too high. The MAOIs cause an increase in serotonin because it is degraded by MAO.

Although lithium can cause kidney damage and clozapine can cause seizures, agranulocytosis (which can be fatal), etc, I feel that MAOIs are worse because of the interactions. You can end up on dialysis from lithium, but you can end up in the morgue from MAOIs.

Interactions

The MAOIs not only interact with other prescription drugs, but they also interact with nonprescription drugs and certain foods. You have to be on a special low amine diet when on MAOIs. MAOIs interact with L-DOPA, dextromorphan (in cough syrups), etc. They interact with foods containing tyramines. The patient must be on a low tyramine diet or face possible hypertensive crisis. If the patient eats cheese, his blood pressure could go through the roof.

The Low Amine Diet

My view is that this diet may be good in general because amines can be toxic. They can cause headaches, etc. A toxic amine (DMPEA) is thought to cause schizophrenia. Thus MAO is a good substance, and probably should not be inhibited.

Foods high in tyramine include cheese, overripe aged fruit, fava beans, sausage, salami, sauerkraut, fermented foods, MSG, pickled or smoke fish; poultry; and meats, meat extracts, brewer's yeast, beef and chicken liver, red wine, etc. The liver is responsible for detoxifying amines.

Foods moderate in tyramine include coffee, chocolate, colas, tea, soy sauce, beer, alcohol-free beer, sour cream, avocados, eggplant, plums, prunes, raisins, spinach, tomatoes, and yoghurt. These foods need to be avoided or heavily restricted.

Conclusions

The drug-food interaction can cause hypertensive crisis, which is a blood pressure surge. My view is that these drugs are too dangerous. You should consider orthomolecular medicine, which has good side effects. The side effects include lowering cholesterol, anti-cancer properties, strenghtening the immune system, etc. Orthomolecular medicine uses good nutrition.

The information presented here is not new. It is mostly a rehash of standard psychiatric knowledge. The only part that is new is my condemnation of these drugs, which I feel are too dangerous and lack a logical rationale. My own recommendation is a diet very low in amino acids because my theory is that amino acids flood the brain cells. Such a diet would be vegan because animal products are high in amino acids. Psychiatry should not be like a religion. It should be open to new ideas. These drugs are sacred cows.