Azilect (Rasagiline) is a once-daily product and one of the few treatment
options in the U.S. indicated for all stages of PD. It is an irrerversible monoamiine oxidase (MAO) type B inhibitor.
A potentially life-threatening adverse drug reaction that may occure following it's use and is called Serotonin syndrome, or serotonin toxicity, or "cheese reaction," and is due to excessive amounts of serotonin in the CNS. Although, Azilect generally does not cause such reactions in therapeutic
PD doses. It is recommended that patients avoid foods (sharp cheeses) and
red wines containing amines such as tyramine. Also, it is not recommended
to be taken with Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRI,s), tricyclic
antidepressants, amphetamines, cocaine, demerol (meperidine) and the
list goes on and on.
By inhibiting MAO-B, Azilect prevents the metabolism of dopamine, thereby
increasing the concentration in the synapse.
Another enzyme (cathechol-o-mthyltransferase [COMP])that metabolizes the precursor (levodopa) to dopamine is entacapone (Comtan).

John g
)))

Dear oldcow,
Thank you for your informative reply. Do you take Azilect and have you found it helpful?

Hi glama9,
No i don't take azilect, but I am thinking about it. I currently am taking Zoloft
(antidepressant) 50 mg per day. Teva, the mft. of Azilect states that the selectivity of
Azilect at inhibiting MAO-B in humans has not been sufficiently established . Therefor, it's
use is restricted with Zoloft. In other words there is a drug-drug interaction between the two. [ not stated very clearly ]. I thing its ok but I will have to run it by my movement specialist.
Take care.
John g

Teva is presenting the results of the Adagio trials tomorrow in Europe regarding the protective benefits of taking Azilect. Here's hoping for all of us!

I've taken Azilect since Jan - at first I didn't think it was doing anything and I still can't be certain - but a hardly ever have a tremor anymore - besides a gait issue which is unlike a PD gait my only PD symtpom is lack of arm swing. I take .5mg of azilect 1/d and 1mg of requip 3x/d