Advise on a tyramine free diet on the playa

[Clive]

Hey yall,
So I got the depression and I take an MAOI
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monoamine_ ... _inhibitor
This means that a whole lot of stuff would be poisonous to me, and most of that stuff is preserved food. Like cheese, kimchi, jerky, over ripe fruit,etc.

http://www.dr-bob.org/tips/maoi.html

I really depend on eating very fresh stuff in my day to day life. How fresh can I expect to be able to keep stuff over the week and a half I will be there? (Probably gonna be on setup crew). Can you survive on nuts and other stuff? Is the kinda bacon people have at burning man usually tyramine laden?


As a side note.. how on guard should I be about getting, well, a little something extra in things offered to me out there? I have never run into the problem in the communities I run in, but I have no idea what will be like out there, this is my first burn. And extracurricular activity will give me a very very very bad day.

I know it seems like much ado about nothing, but this is my One Big Concern over the whole thing. Are there other people out there on MAOIs? how have you handled it?

[Bob]

Have you ever camped? Anywhere? It's pretty much the same at Burning Man, except more so.

Get good at using coolers, I guess. Buy good ones, empty your fridge into them, and practice ahead of time in your back yard.

[FeetOfClay]

there are some camps that offer a farmers "market" (gifting fruits and veg to burners while supplies last). head over to BMOrg site and check out the list of theme camps...search Black Rock Farmers Market.

not enough to live off all week, but u should find a couple items each day if you are resourceful. i am vegan, so i plan to seek out produce on the playa as well.

RENO has a Trader Joes and Whole Foods--if u are passing thru Reno on your way to BRC, buy as much you can of stuff u know u can eat. then, on playa, seek out camps gifting fruit and veg.

maybe volunteer to help at one of the fruit and veg camps--a way to say "thanks for the gift"

[Ugly Dougly]

Guess you need to do some research, Clive.

[Savannah]

Oo, interesting. Tyramine, or "the cheese effect", can lead to:

A hypertensive emergency (formerly called "malignant hypertension") is severe hypertension (high blood pressure) with acute impairment of one or more organ systems (especially the central nervous system, cardiovascular system and/or the renal system)[1] that can result in irreversible organ damage. In a hypertensive emergency, the blood pressure should be substantially lowered over a period of minutes to hours with an antihypertensive agent.

So Clive, your knowledge that this is possibly a risk for you means that asking us for advice is a dangerous game, because we don't know what is healthiest for you to eat, so you should talk to health professionals to brainstorm some menus first. For example, you ask if you should bring a selection of nuts. Well, I bring a bag or two myself and they're very handy for me, but you'll want to know for yourself--can you get away with 'em? We don't know. And should they be unsalted, for you? That's the part we can't answer for you.

Once you have a safe menu, then we might be able to tell you our successes with various items. In the meantime, it sounds like you'll need a good cooler and a trip to the ice station every 2-3 days, and back-up menu items in case of cooler failure. Or an RV with a fridge. If there are energy bars of some kind that your body actually tolerates well, definitely have some of those with you as backup. Look into whether those fruit cups with juice are something you can eat. Those are wonderful, chilled. But yeah, you're probably going to need some protein sources. I guess. Good lord, ask your doctor.

Try FeetOfClay's thread about produce to see success/failure on fruit and veg. There's lots of other threads here, too:

HARDY Produce for the playa?
viewtopic.php?f=276&t=55748

The Farmer's Market FeetOfClay mentioned (good call, FoC!) has at least one post towards the top of this thread:
viewtopic.php?f=283&t=54139&start=30

If you feel the possibility of health crisis is likely, have a medical bracelet or necklace with your issue printed on it and tell the people you're camping with. If you get sick on the playa, go to Medical just off the 9 o'clock Plaza or 3 o'clock plaza or near center camp or send a friend to them so they can come collect you. Don't be shy, it's free unless you're sick enough to be taken off the playa. (And if you are that sick, you don't want to be ON playa anyway.) You will also want to have ordinary over-the-counter medications for your GI tract (again, ask your doctor) in case the change in your diet makes you stopped up or the opposite.

The more radical self-reliance you demonstrate on this issue (it's a Burn principle) the better your Burn will be, & the easier it'll be to survive it. Good luck, & welcome to ePlaya!

[Roberto Dobbisano]

i know this sounds crazy, but isnt burning man about getting out of your comfort zone?


hell, it's only a week, why not mix things up a bit and have some fun. I have survived for more than three weeks on candy and prescription drugs alone.

and fresca.

and cigarettes.

[Savannah]

i know this sounds crazy, but isnt burning man about getting out of your comfort zone?


hell, it's only a week, why not mix things up a bit and have some fun. I have survived for more than three weeks on candy and prescription drugs alone.

and fresca.

and cigarettes.

I was going to think you were making it up until you got to the Fresca and cigarettes.

Oh, hey Clive--forgot to say: there are vegan and vegetarian camps out there, maybe there is one this year with a meal plan. You might Google for a camp like that, or search the 2012 Theme Camp forum here.

[theCryptofishist]

I don't know how to do this and the two eplayans I know who do this aren't on the board that often, so your search term is "Dry Cooler". Apparently, it takes maintenance, but it works. These are the people who have lettuce at the end of the event, so I'm guessing that it will work for whatever items you need. I"d have a supply of nuts and whatever canned goods you can use, milk in the little shelf stable cartons, stuff like that, so that if there is a problem you have enough to eat.

[trilobyte]

I think others have answered this well. You need to do a lot more reading to understand the conditions, and then you need to do the work necessary to make your diet work. Bring coolers full of food, keep them iced well... It's not that hard, though could get pricey if you don't manage your coolers for efficiency (ice is $3 a bag, and available during daylight hours through the event).

As for being dosed, it's never happened to me on the playa. Use your head, don't leave your drink/cup unattended in a group of strangers, if someone kindly offers you a beverage you can either watch them pour it into your glass. Or you can politely decline if you're not comfortable or feeling particularly paranoid.

[BBadger]

Is the kinda bacon people have at burning man usually tyramine laden?

Well, the last comprehensive, playa-wide BaconCensus determined that you should probably not bet your health on speculation on what kind of bacon people happen to bring.

[junglesmacks]

Is the kinda bacon people have at burning man usually tyramine laden?

Well, the last comprehensive, playa-wide BaconCensus determined that you should probably not bet your health on speculation on what kind of bacon people happen to bring.

I read that 63.7% of it is.

It's also a known fact that 77.3% of all statistics on the internet are made up on the spot.

[Token]

Hey yall,
So I got the depression and I take an MAOI
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monoamine_ ... _inhibitor
This means that a whole lot of stuff would be poisonous to me, and most of that stuff is preserved food. Like cheese, kimchi, jerky, over ripe fruit,etc.

... When MAOIs were first introduced, these risks were not known, and, over the following four decades, fewer than 100 people have died from hypertensive crisis. ...

I think we are way overdue for 101 ...

So, rather than have the armchair MDs here dish out medical advice, why not just post a list of foods you normally eat, which I'm sure you have handy, and let us grizzled desert dogs tell you what keeps, how it keeps and what doesn't.

[A-RockLeFrench]

Since your asking for advice...

Ditch the drugs and the shrink who prescribed them to you and address your issues in a more natural healthy way... It can and has been done.

Personally, not being able to eat pepperoni pizza and my home made kimchi would be enough to throw me into depression...

[Simon of the Playa]

Since your asking for advice...

Ditch the drugs and the shrink who prescribed them to you and address your issues in a more natural healthy way... It can and has been done.

yeah, mostly by Scientologists...


nice advice, tom cruise...

[A-RockLeFrench]

If you're interested in coming to a meeting... we'll give you a free run on the old e-meter. There's really not much we can do for your depression until you reach or exceed OT III, then you'll have the opportunity to rehabilitate the misplaced body thetans that are responsible for your sickness.

But we might show your our space ship...

[Bob]

Clive, did you forget your camp name was Golden CAFE?

CLIVE?

HELLO, IS THIS THING ON?

[CapSmashy]

i know this sounds crazy, but isnt burning man about getting out of your comfort zone?


hell, it's only a week, why not mix things up a bit and have some fun. I have survived for more than three weeks on candy and prescription drugs alone.

and fresca.

and cigarettes.

Yes, but you are some kind of high powered mutant, one of god's own prototypes.

[yumyumms]

I normally dont take MAOI's, but when I do,


I take them with DMT