"I have seen one article which says LSD may be slightly weakened with coadministration of an maoi. This is completely contridictory to my experience with mao-a inhibitiors like harmala alkaloids when mixed with LSD which neither increased nor decreased the effects of the trip."
PsychonauticResearch, 2025-08-02,
https://old.reddit.com/r/LSD/comments/1mfiqwp/would_piperine_have_an_affect_on_an_lsd_trip/
Sometimes I see people conveying confusion about whether or not MAOIs amplify or diminish the effects of psychedelics. Some people have caught wind of research stating that MAOIs diminish psychedelics and yet there are comments like these ⇩
"I have taken harmala before with mushrooms and it was a happening not to be reckoned with..."
Solipsis, 2014-04-13,
https://www.bluelight.org/community/threads/harmaline-dmt.719208/post-12271060
"…harder and longer." –Description of the effect of LSD taken with moclobemide (see the first post of this topic)
Here is some info that provides insight into this discrepancy. Also includes some insight into the difference between reversible and irreversible MAOIs.
Quote:
One class of medications that can have profound psychological effects on the human hallucinogenic response is that of antidepressants. A retrospective study showed that prolonged use (3 weeks or longer) of serotonin-reuptake inhibitors (such as fluoxetine (Prozac)) or MAO inhibitors (such as phenelzine (Nardil)) will significantly reduce or eliminate the hallucinogenic response to hallucinogens like LSD (Bonson et al., 1996; Bonson and Murphy, 1996). In contrast, prolonged use of lithium or tricyclic antidepressants (such as desipramine (Norpramine)) will produce an exacerbation of the hallucinogenic response, often to a very unpleasant degree (Bonson and Murphy, 1996).
See also: Serotonin
In contrast, acute (single-dose) administration of antidepressants does not appear to have the same effect. Acute administration of serotonin-reuptake inhibitors or MAO inhibitors, for example, seems to potentiate the response to LSD in humans (Bonson et al., 1996) and in rats (Fiorella et al., 1996). This difference in response, based on duration of antidepressant administration, seems to be related to adaptive changes in serotonin levels, receptors and neurotransmission.
Bonson KR, Buckholtz JW and Murphy DL (1996) Chronic administration of serotonergic antidepressants attenuates the subjective effects of LSD in humans.
Neuropsychopharmacology 14(6): 425–436.
Bonson KR and Murphy DL (1996) Alterations in responses to LSD in humans associated with chronic administration of tricyclic antidepressants, monoamine oxidase inhibitors or lithium.
Behavioural Brain Research 73(1–2): 229–233.
Fiorella D, Rabin RA and Winter JC (1995) The role of the 5-HT2A and 5-HT2C receptors in the stimulus effects of hallucinogenic drugs. I: Antagonist correlation analysis.
Psychopharmacology (Berlin) 121(3): 347–356.
Hallucinogenic Drugs. Katherine R. Bonson. 2012. doi: 10.1002/9780470015902.a0000166.pub2 [eLS. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.] (Interactions Between Hallucinogens and Other Drugs, page 6)
"The limited data suggest a neurochemical effect of MAO inhibition is as DMT- and LSD-blocker - when MAOI are taken chronically, as used medicinally, so that therapeutic, high serotonin levels are achieved in the brain, both the effects of intramuscularly-injected DMT and oral LSD are inhibited.(9,12)"
Jonathan Ott. Pharmahuasca: On Phenethylamines and Potentiation. MAPS newsletter, Volume 6, Number 3, Summer 1996, 32-34 emphasis added
Emphasis ⇩
"The biochemical effect of MAOI to elevate serotonin and norepinephrine levels occurs rapidly. However, the therapeutic relief of depression requires several weeks of daily treatment."
Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors (Kevin Happe) in xPharm: The Comprehensive Pharmacology Reference, 2007 (Introduction)
