Mixing MAOIs and Methamphetamine (meth)
Dangerous
An MAOI stops the body breaking down what meth releases, risking a blood-pressure crisis and serotonin syndrome for hours. Do not combine, and that includes ayahuasca and Syrian rue.
Methamphetamine releases noradrenaline, dopamine and serotonin; an MAOI prevents their breakdown. Hypertensive crisis and serotonin syndrome are both realistic, and methamphetamine's long duration means the exposure is sustained rather than brief. This includes ayahuasca and syrian rue.
The risk here is to the body — breathing, heart, temperature or organs. Set limits before you start, because this kind of harm does not announce itself in time to react.
Headspace vs physical riskWhat to do
- Say what was taken and how much.Responders need it, and in most US states Good Samaritan laws protect both of you from drug possession charges when you call for an overdose.
- Unresponsive: put them on their side, tilt the head back, and stay until help arrives.Never leave someone alone to “sleep it off”.
- Never Use Alone 1-800-484-3731Stays on the line and sends help if you stop responding.
- Full steps: what to do if it is already happeningOverdose signs, the recovery position, what to say on the call, and whether you can be charged for making it.
- Poison Control 1-800-222-1222Free and 24/7, for “is this bad?” before it becomes an emergency.
Can you mix MAOIs and Methamphetamine (meth)?
MixSafe rates mixing MAOIs and Methamphetamine as "Dangerous" — high risk of death or life-changing injury. Do not combine. Source: MixSafe research. Educational information, not medical advice.
- Methamphetamine
- Roughly twice as potent, and lasts three to four times as long
- MAOIs also called
- maoi, nardil, phenelzine, parnate, tranylcypromine, marplan
- Methamphetamine also called
- meth, crystal, crystal meth, ice, tina, shard
- The Main Molecular Mechanisms Underlying Methamphetamine-Induced Neurotoxicity and Implications for Pharmacological Treatment. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5994595/
- Neurobiology and Clinical Manifestations of Methamphetamine Neurotoxicity. Psychiatric Times. https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/view/neurobiology-and-clinical-manifestations-methamphetamine-neurotoxicity
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Checking more than two?
Combinations of three or more carry risks that no pair-by-pair chart can show. The checker rates every pair at once and flags the whole-mix ones on top.
Open this in the checkerRelated combinations
All combinations →Rated dangerous. Educational information only, not medical advice. Absence of a documented interaction is not evidence of safety.