Class landing · MAOIs

Supplements and MAOIs.

The serotonergic and pressor supplements to avoid alongside phenelzine, tranylcypromine and the other monoamine oxidase inhibitors.

MAOIs (monoamine oxidase inhibitors) are the most interaction-prone antidepressants. By blocking the enzyme that breaks down serotonin and other monoamines, they turn several ordinary supplements into a real risk. This is the class where the hard exclusions are longest.

The serotonin-raising supplements are all off the table: 5-HTP, St John’s Wort, tryptophan, SAM-e, rhodiola and saffron can each combine with an MAOI to cause serotonin syndrome, a documented clinical emergency. Separately, tyrosine (which the body turns into noradrenaline) can drive a dangerous blood-pressure surge, and ginseng and yohimbe sit in the same pressor caution. If you take an MAOI, treat any new supplement as one to clear with your prescriber first.

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For adults over 18. This tool gives evidence-graded information, not medical advice. Always discuss changes with your GP, especially if you take any medication, are pregnant, breastfeeding, or have a serious health condition.

Your supplements

Add every supplement you take. Type a name and click each match to add it, as many as you like.

Your medications

Add all your medications, brand or generic. Type and click each match to add it.

Anything we should know? (optional)

Pick any that apply. We adjust the findings where context changes the answer.

I confirm I am 18 or over. This tool gives evidence-graded information, not medical advice; always discuss changes with your GP or pharmacist.

Add all the supplements and medications you take, then check them together in one go.

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How we decide

How we grade severity, choose what's in scope, and what we exclude.

Every call on this page is reasoned. We publish the full rubric for severity tiers, the medication inclusion logic, the evidence grades we accept, and what we deliberately leave out. About three thousand words. Worth reading once if you use this tool more than occasionally.

Read the full methodology

Your whole stack

Want this checked across everything you take?

This page checks the pairs you enter. The personalised Distil report goes further:

the same graded, cited interaction check across your whole stack, not just the pairs you thought to type in
where your current routine may be leaving you short of your goals
the evidence-backed compounds worth adding, and the ones worth dropping

It's a paid report: £79, or £49 for the first 25 customers. The interactions check is one section of it, and you can read a real one in full before you buy.

See a real sample report

Something missing?

If a supplement or medication you take isn't in our autocomplete, tell us. We go through what people flag every week and add what's missing.

Thanks, that's logged. We go through flagged items every week.

Distil's interactions database is reviewed and updated every quarter. We grade evidence transparently and publish our methodology, including every database change, at /about/methodology. This tool is information, not a substitute for clinical judgement. If you take medication and supplements together, your GP or pharmacist can review your full regimen against your medical history. If you want a full personalised stack reasoned against this same database, the Distil report is the next step up.