Moclobemide for chronic tension headaches

[edge2054]

I apologize if this is against the forum rules and if so please delete this thread.

I've been suffering from chronic tension headaches off and on for over a year. I've noticed that for a few days after taking Ayahuasca that they're gone. The first episodes coincided heavily with quitting tobacco. I've had a couple of smoking relapses and my tension headaches would be less frequent during these periods.

My headaches have been mild to severe and continuous since August, which was when I last quit smoking. Recently I relapsed again and again noticed that my headaches subsided. I don't want to keep smoking as the other side effects are quite severe.

I'd heard of Moclobemide so researched it a bit today as I thought it would be a good alternative to talk to my Doctor about. Currently I'm on Valium and while it helps some it's not helping with the underlying depression that I think is causing, and being feed by, my headaches.

As I live in the U.S. I quickly discovered that this medication is not available for prescription here. However as it is not scheduled I can order it from Canada legally without one.

So the short of it is that I'd like to treat my depression with Moclobemide along with therapy but don't know the appropriate dosage I should be looking at. I figured this might be one of the best places to get some advice.

 

[anrchy]

In the same boat, except im not taking any prescription drugs. A friend found trigger points in my neck and was able to relieve the headache for about a week. Tension headaches are often created from neck issues. Have you looked into that at all?

 

[concombres]

you could talk with your doctor. Some doctors may not be open to it, but i've read several occasions where someone asks about moclobemide, & their doctor writes a prescription & has the medication shipped to their office with valid prescription & you can pick up from there.
The doc could also help you out with dosage. I think though moclobemide only comes in 150mg & 300mg tablets.
Maybe start with 150mg & see where it gets you, then talk to your doc about upping the dosage as needed throughout the day.

 

[edge2054]

@anrchy

Yeah, it's definitely localized in my neck. I've tried exercise, stretching daily, drinking more water, spending less time on the computer, icing it, all of which certainly helps. I haven't been doing as much of that lately as a large flare up at the beginning of the summer was very frustrating as I felt I was doing everything 'right' and I got pretty depressed about it.

When I initially talked to my Doctor I was hoping to get a muscle relaxer for it as I was convinced it was muscle related. But I haven't had any neck injuries and I told him that it was aggravated mostly by stress, hence the Valium.

Right now I feel like I've been stuck in a positive feedback loop for the last four months or so with my headaches feeding my depression and anxiety which feeds back into my headaches. I try not to take the Valium often but it and Ibuprofen do help.

@Tryptamine420

That's encouraging I was considering broaching it with my Doctor but he's my families GP and I feel weird going into my reasoning why I feel Moclobemide is the right medication for me, especially the Ayahuasca use. I'm also not sure he'd be familiar with it offhand. He's offered to refer me to a neurologist so I may try that route.

 

[anrchy]

Heres a couple examples, im usually able to lessen the headaches by applying pressure on the correct trigger point (should feel pain) and massaging the muscles around the trigger.

Most people have neck issues, many reasons why the muscles are causing the headaches. Muscle relaxers are only bandaids for this issue if thats your problem.

 

[corpus callosum]

If I was the OP I would seek to get a proper diagnosis because the term 'chronic tension headache' has very specific features in the history. A proper neurological exam is very important here too in order to rule out/identify any physical signs.

MAOIs have very little role in headache treatment, and it doesn't necessarily follow that aya use with benefit equals a corresponding effect with moclobemide. A couple of studies have shown moclobemide to have a prophylactic action in migraine and chronic tension-type headache but the numbers were small and the study design was a retrospective analysis rather than placebo-controlled and blinded. Phenelzine (sometimes with a small dose of tricyclics) has been used in small numbers of resistant migraine patients with some beneficial effects but phenelzine inhibits both MAO-A and B non-specifically and the trials were open-label. I very much doubt a family doctor would be justified in prescribing moclobemide for these indications as the accepted recommendations suggest several other treatments before even considering MAOIs and this would need to be done by a neurologist.

The myofacial pain conditions ,whilst having some commonalities in treatment with migraine and tension-type headaches, also has a number of additional options including nerve block injections and Botox.

 

[edge2054]

Thanks corpus. I was hoping to get a response from you when I made this thread. I'll get an appointment scheduled with a neurologist.