Hi melotikaci.. I'm sincerely saddened by your friend's diagnoses, and even more so, repulsed by the two robotic and dispassionate responses you've received. I wish him well in his recovery. I will say though, that trying to heal depression with MAOI's, is like trying to heal an infected leg in need of amputation with hydrogen peroxide; it cannot be done. Creating an external dependency is a topical and temporary relief. Follow your intention to its solution, because there is one. Godspeed

Do your homework thoroughly please. Mixing benzos and MAOI can be very dangerous, resulting in hypertensive crisis.

I would consult a doctor if the depression is requiring medication. Perhaps they can adjust the medications for better results with the depression. Don't play doctor. Psychedelics can help but they can also make things worse.

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I have however, found remarkable success with addressing symptoms with psilocybin microdosing, in irregular regimens. Theres lots of info on that in the forum, search for it, it may be a better routine for your friend. And if they are interested, the same may help them obtain some answers that may ameliorate their pain. Of course, they arent as easy to obtain, but at the right times of year, with perseverance, one can pick their meds from the earth itself. Various types grow virtually all over the world.

Hi melotikaci.. I'm sincerely saddened by your friend's diagnoses, and even more so, repulsed by the two robotic and dispassionate responses you've received. I wish him well in his recovery. I will say though, that trying to heal depression with MAOI's, is like trying to heal an infected leg in need of amputation with hydrogen peroxide; it cannot be done. Creating an external dependency is a topical and temporary relief. Follow your intention to its solution, because there is one. Godspeed

...heal depression with MAOI's,...it cannot be done. ..

Hi melotikaci.. I'm sincerely saddened by your friend's diagnoses, and even more so, repulsed by the two robotic and dispassionate responses you've received. I wish him well in his recovery. I will say though, that trying to heal depression with MAOI's, is like trying to heal an infected leg in need of amputation with hydrogen peroxide; it cannot be done. Creating an external dependency is a topical and temporary relief. Follow your intention to its solution, because there is one. Godspeed

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I think Melo is asking something along the lines of "Will Syrian Rue (or possibly other medicines) assist my friend in clearing the heavy, black, fog blanket from his/her brain so they can begin to function again and heal themselves without using Benzos or SSRI's?"

Thumbs up for clearing it up. That's exactly what I asked.
His condition is temporary. Only thing that can really help him now is his doctor saying that cancer is gone and he is healthy. Hopefully chemo will be effective and his depression will disappear with the cancer.
And before that happens, only intention I have is to find a proper tool that will aid him in that condition without further damaging his health.

....His condition is temporary. Only thing that can really help him now is his doctor saying that cancer is gone and he is healthy. Hopefully chemo will be effective and his depression will disappear with the cancer.
And before that happens, only intention I have is to find a proper tool that will aid him in that condition without further damaging his health.

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Which cancer does your friend have?

There are many individual factors which need to be considered when prescribing anti-depressants particularly in patients with significant ailments such as a cancer. MAOIs are not considered first-line agents even in those patients who are otherwise 'well', and hence require greater thinking about before considering their use in such a patient cohort.

MAOIs do not present a risk with the benzodiazepines but Syrian Rue should not by default be necessarily regarded as 'safer' just because it is natural. In some ways the multitude of compounds which Rue contains makes it possibly more of a hazard than a single compound (which has been through phase 3 trials) especially in patients with major co-morbidities.

He's lucky to have a friend like you looking out for him! Good luck to you and your friend! That's some tough stuff to deal with.

Antineoplasm, antiproliferative and antioxidant effects
Since ancient times, P. harmala has been used by traditional healers to make various preparations in the treatment of cancers and tumors in some parts of the world.[13,55] For example, it has been so common in traditional medicine of Morocco to use powdered seeds of P. harmala to treat skin and subcutaneous tumors.[56] The seed extract of P. harmala is the main component of a very common ethnobotanical preparation used against different cancers and neoplasms in Iran, namely Spinal-Z.[57,58]
The antitumor activity of P. harmala and its active alkaloids (mainly beta-carbolines) have also drawn attentions of many researchers worldwide that has led to various pharmacological studies regarding this important effect of P. harmala.[23,56] Various authors have reported cytotoxicity of P. harmala on tumor cell lines in vitro and in vivo. In one study, the methanolic extract of P. harmala reduced significantly proliferation of three tested tumor cell lines (UCP-Med (a tumor cell line), Med-mek carcinoma, and UCP-Med sarcoma) in all concentrations. This anti-proliferative effect was produced by the alkaloid fraction of the extract in the first 24 h of the treatment. A cell lysis effect was observed in the next 24 h and thus, resulted in complete cell death within 48 to 72 h.[56] The same results were observed with the


Pharmacological and therapeutic effects of Peganum harmala and its main alkaloids
total extract of the plant in another study. The extract also showed cytotoxicity against artificially grafted subcutaneous Sp2/O cell- line in BALB-c (Albino) mice.[56] Administration of different beta-carboline alkaloids isolated from P. harmala showed inhibitory effect against Lewis Lung cancer sarcoma-180 or HepA tumor in mice at rates of 15.3-49.5%. Substitution of formate at R3 and aryl at R9 of the tricyclic skeleton respectively decreased neurotoxicity and increased the inhibitory effects of the alkaloids that made them ideal agents to be used as novel antitumor drugs with lesser side effects.[55] Several in vitro and in vivo studies have revealed that these cytotoxicity and antitumor effects of P. harmala are related to its interaction with RNA,[59] DNA and its synthesis,[56,60] and inhibition of human Topoisomerase.[58] In a study conducted in Iran, it was shown using the DNA relaxation assay that the extract of P. harmala inhibits human DNA Topoisomerase I. This effect was attributed to the beta-carboline content of the extract and potency of the alkaloids were determined as harmine >harmane >harmaline in a way that treatment with the total extract showed weaker inhibitory effect than treatment with every individual alkaloid.[58] Another study indicated that harmine and its derivatives have inhibitory effect on human Topoisomerase I activity but no effect on Topoisomerase II. Intercalation of several carbolines into eukaryotic DNA has also been reported by many authors.[58,61] This intraction of beta- carbolines cause significant structural changes in DNA and interfere with its synthesis.[56,61] The alkaloid-DNA binding affinity was ordered as harmine >harmalol >harmaline >harmane >tryptoline. There are also other suggested mechanisms for the anti-tumor activity of P. harmala alkaloids. In an in vitro study by Li et al., budding yeast was used as a model to investigate the anti-tumor activity of P. harmala. Results showed that DH334, a beta-carboline derivative and an anticancer drug, specifically inhibits cyclin dependent kinases (CDKs) and blocks the initiation of cell cycle at the G1 phase. It also inhibited the kinase activity of Cdk2/CyclinA (a member of the cyclin family) in vitro. This could be another possible mechanism for the antitumor activity of the drug.[56,93]
Many pharmacological studies suggest an antioxidant and free radical scavenging effect of P. harmala. This effect has been attributed to the increasing effect of P. harmala extract on E2 (17β-estradiol) level as an important antioxidant and reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenger.[12,62,63] In another study, the effects of harmaline and harmalol were tested on Digoxin-induced cytochrome P450 1A1 (CYP1A1), a carcinogen-activating enzyme, in human hepatoma HepG2 cells. These alkaloids significantly inhibited the enzyme via both transcriptional and posttranslational mechanisms in a concentration-dependent manner.[3] Ethanol and chloroform extracts of P. harmala showed

Pharmacological and therapeutic effects of Peganum harmala and its main alkaloids
protective effects against thiourea-induced carcinogenicity by normalization of neuron-specific enolase and thyroglobulin levels in animal models.[64] Other effects of the plant extract such as anti-proliferative effect on Leukemic cell lines,[65] inhibitory action on the metastasis of melanoma cells, inducing apoptosis in melanoma cells,[66] tumor angiogenesis inhibition,[13] and binding to RNA[61] have also been reported by various authors. In some cases, P. harmala showed a higher selectivity towards malignant cells than common anticancer drugs like doxorubicin.[57] All of these data suggest that P. harmala and its alkaloids possess the potential to be used as novel antioxidant and anti-tumor agents in anti-cancer therapy.

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My bold. There is much to admire in P. Harmala besides its MAOI activity...

Source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3841998

Repulsed eh? Care to expand on that? I won't take it personally. I would just like to hear more of what you have to say about it. If you rake someone across the coals there should be good reason to do so. Carry on...