Just a little question! I have heard you cant take ayahuasca if are on prescription pills, is that right? In that case, why?? Can it be fatal, like it can with iboga? How much time do it have to be, after you have quitted?

What kind of prescription pills are you talking about?
Im gonna be taking ibogaine flood dose to get me off of prescription pain killers like roxiecodone and methadone, though from what I understand it dosent rememdy benzos

..yes, would have no know specific names of medications (chemical as well as 'brand' if possible).

also depends upon the dosage and frequency of ayahuasca drinking. more MAOIs is more dangerous.

some kinds of 'medication' would be safe in conjunction with moderate ayahuasca doses, others may not be...

thanks for your question

Thank you so much for your ansewers One of my friends use antidepressants and sleepingpills, she wants to quit it and she also have a lot of issues, that I was thinking iboga and ayahuasca maybe could help her with, so she can moove forward in here life.. I am joining my first ayahuasca cermony in the last week of july, at a spiritual healing retreet with a shaman, with three tea cermonies, and she would really like to join me there. They say that no people on prescription pills can take ayahuasca.. But they dont say anything about how long time before you have to quit... So how serious is it? How dangerous could it be mixing antidepressants and sleepingpills with aya? ( I can find out what her pills are called next time I talk with her..) How long time before do you think she would have to quit? How long time does it take before those kind of pills are totally out of your system? Oh, and do you gyes now, would it be okey to microdose on iboga while she is weaning herself of the pills, or would that only be harmful as well? If she cant do eather aya or iboga for a while, do you think it would be a god ide she smoke dmt then? You can mix that with pills, right??

..iboga could be considered a more dangerous substance than typical ayahuasca in larger doses - i.e chance of overdose/ heart complications etc.
Iboga is also much less studied than ayahuasca, so personally wouldn't want to give advice on it here. use in addiction treatment could be promising.

you would almost certainly not want to take an SSRI within a few days (+ or - ) of ayahuasca. Some medications have longer lasting modes of action than
others, so chemical name is crucial to answer your friends question..

vaped dmt (20-40mg) would be potentially 'safer' in it's shorter duration & lack of MAOI effects. still can be pyscologically/spiritually confronting...

1. Get an exact list of all the medications being taken
2. Look up each medication and gather the information on each. Google will have alot of sites that will tell you the interaction precautions on specific drugs. Get about 4 to 5 different references for each prescription.
3. Look up MAOI and find out the precautions and intractions with MAOI's.
4. Always be prepared for a medical emergency with a trusted sitter and a phone near by.

It's always good to know what medications one is taking and to fully understand as much as possible about the prescription anyway. Hope it helps.

I'm hoping this comes through in time. Nen888, I'm taking 20mg of Cipralex (Escitalopram) daily, and everything else I'm taking I can do without, at least the day of taking Ayahuasca. I respect the brew. I work with teas. This will be my first time. I believe it is the solution. I will be gone to meditate in the woods for one week as of Tuesday, the 6th of September, 2011. I hope that you can inform me of whether I need to pull back on the Cipralex, or stop altogether. I'm concerned because I'm always in emotional flux, and frankly the Cipralex and Lorazepam are not doing the job that a full spiritual reset can do. I "can not" do psychoactive substances anymore (pot, mushrooms, etc), but I know that Ayahuasca is a shamanistic substance, not a party substance (hell, I can hardly call it a substance, it is alchemy). I have a degree in neuroscience, but I'm not certain of how far my purge needs to go. This is something I feel I must do.

Thank you kindly. I only joined this site to message you.

Sean

It is very likely that you should quit taking any prescription pharms for a good period of time before & after using ayahuasca. Many psychiatric drugs can be fatal in combination with MAOIs. You will have to find out how long it takes to get these drugs out of your system before even thinking about drinking huasca.

The time period needed depends on the substances in question. Different people will take different amounts of time to fully expell any unwanted chemicals in the body. Drinking lots of water, vigorous exercise, saunas, and detox or chelating agents can speed this up somewhat.

Like the others have said. Do your research. Be careful. And, with any new substances, it is wise to start with micro allergy test levels and then slowly proceed. There is no good reason to do this all at once. Take your time & get to know your medicines as best as you are able.

Small doses of Tabernathe Iboga or Voacanga Africana are not likely to be a problem. But again... baby steps. Be aware that many psych meds can cause Serotonin Syndrome, especially when combined with MAOIs, RIMAs, or serotoninergic drugs.

Read this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serotonin_syndrome

Cipralex is an SSRI which could theoretically be fatal when mixed with ayahuasca. A quick g00gle search shows several cases of serotonin syndrome caused by this antidepressant even without adding an MAOI (one of the active ingredients in aya). If you want more medical advice regarding potentially fatal interactions or how long it takes for cipralex to leave the body I recommend consulting a professional doctor.

EDIT: I noticed some other useful information: the wikipedia article on cipralex says the half life is around 30 hours (!). So, you may need to back off from it for a long time, even weeks. Again, I suggest consulting a doctor about the wash out time. There is an erowid report where someone tries to mix small doses of cipralex with seligine, a pharma maoi, and they experienced intermittent serotonin syndrome episodes brought on by drinking a glass of tea etc. I'd say its very risky to mix cipralex with aya. good luck getting the medicine you need, but its serious business and some medicines just dont mix.

..PM'ed u the other day onemillionthmonkey,
to other readers i advise stay of all medication 24 hrs before and after ayahuasca...

I realize this thread is old by now but it seems to be the one most similar to our case. Me and 3 friends of mine are having a ceremony in a couple of days and we just found out that one of my friends is on Cipralex 10mg and his depression is severe and can not get off it completely. Would it be safe if he stops 2 or 3 days before? We're hoping the experience can help him shake the pills for good.

Stopping a SSRI like cipralex and then consuming RIMAs 2-3 days later is strongly not recommended for a couple of reasons:

1.The makers advise a 2 week wash-outt period before using MAOIs including RIMAs, and

2.If somone has been on cipralex for longer than 6 or so weeks then abruptly stopping it can cause some unpleasant withdrawal type effects.SSRI use for any length of time requires tapering down the dose over some weeks to avoid rebound/withdrawal effects.