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Harmala alkaloid conversion in processed tobacco (a theory)

xapken

Greenlighter
Joined
Mar 31, 2012
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16
I'm a tobacco smoker who makes my own pipe tobacco from natural leaf. In the last 6 months I've picked up a chronic essential tremor. I hadn't put these two together until I read about essential tremor being induced in rats by injection of harmine* (an alkaloid in tobacco).

I read here about conversion of harmine into tetrahydroharmine (THH) which (according to this) has significantly less MAOI activity (anecdotal report about 33%). I'm wondering if it also has less effect on the mechanism that drives these tremors (I think it's a GABAA benzo site inverse agonist).

There's a technique in tobacco processing called stoving, that is somewhat antique. The intent of such (boiling tobacco in water, and reintegrating the extraction back into the tobacco) is to accelerate aging of the tobacco producing the desired result of smoother smoke.

I'm thinking that the harmine to THH conversion** might be accidental in historical context given that THH hadn't even been discovered until later, and that this conversion resulted in reduced side effects from harmine ingestion.

Long story made short, I'm going to try stoving a batch of tobacco and see when that batch is being consumed if my tremors subside. A couple of posts mention acidity, but I've never heard of acid used in stoving so I'll skip it in my first test.

Could it really be that my tobacco is so strong on harmine that I'm getting side effects from it? I don't smoke very much, about the equivalent of a half-pound (same as 1 carton of cigs) in a months time.

* edit: also harmaline
** and possibly the breakdown of harmaline into other chemicals

note: I read that harmaline halflife in the body is longer than harmine. I'm wondering now what is the mechanism of metabolism. Looks like it could be CYP2D6... Bingo! Guess who takes diphenhydramine regularly for sleep, and it's an inhibitor. So fresh tobacco -> harmaline, diphenhydramine -> lowers harmaline metabolism, too much harmaline -> tremors. Stop the diphenhydramine, stove the tobacco, no more tremors? I hope so,
 
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Diphenhydramine has been known to cause tremor in some individuals, you should try removing that first.
Harmala alkaloids are not present in very high levels in tobacco, I don't think... nicotine alkaloids predominate.
 
Why don't you try taking a break from tobacco use, and wear adequate protection equipment (nitrile gloves and maybe a respirator) when processing the tobacco, and see if your tremor subsides. If you want to treat the essential tremor pharmacologically, propranolol is typically used with success.
 
You may want to ask your doctor to test you for metal toxicities.

I had toxic levels of antimony, lead, sulfur, ect from smoking and skoal, they caused tremors in my hands. After a year of chelating supplements they went away.
 
Just wanted to say ive drank syrian rue tea more times than ive smoked tobacco in the past few years and its never given me tremmor. Infact it can rather sedative.
 
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