Stimulants and MAOIs: a 14-day gap is written into the amphetamine label as a contraindication
The Adderall label: contraindicated in patients taking MAOIs "or within 14 days of stopping MAOIs (including MAOIs such as linezolid or intravenous methylene blue), because of an increased risk of hypertensive crisis".
Reasonable evidence with real limitations. how we score evidence
Caveat on this rating: A contraindication states that the regulator considers the combination unsafe; no incidence figure is given and none was read.
ADHD stimulants and the MAOI antidepressants are both prescribed in psychiatry, and the combination is one of the few written into a label as an outright contraindication rather than a caution.
Significant findings
ADDERALL prescribing information (Teva, June 2024), Contraindications: "Patients taking monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs), or within 14 days of stopping MAOIs (including MAOIs such as linezolid or intravenous methylene blue), because of an increased risk of hypertensive crisis".
Drug Interactions: "Concomitant use of MAOIs and CNS stimulants can cause hypertensive crisis. Potential outcomes include death, stroke, myocardial infarction, aortic dissection, ophthalmological complications, eclampsia, pulmonary edema, and renal failure. Do not administer Adderall concomitantly or within 14 days after discontinuing MAOI".
The two non-psychiatric MAOIs named, linezolid and intravenous methylene blue, are the ones that catch people: an antibiotic and a dye used in surgery and for a rare blood disorder. The same two are named in every SSRI label read for this wave as MAOIs that make the antidepressant contraindicated for the same 14 days.
Worth asking
A 14-day rule cuts both ways: stopping the MAOI does not end the interaction, because the enzyme takes about two weeks to regenerate. If you take a stimulant and are ever prescribed linezolid or given methylene blue in hospital, the treating team needs to know about the stimulant, and the stimulant label is the document to point to. The same applies in reverse for anyone switching from an MAOI to a stimulant or an SSRI: the gap is the interaction.
Source
ADDERALL (mixed amphetamine salts) tablets: FDA-approved prescribing information, Contraindications and Drug Interactions — Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc.; US Food and Drug Administration (2024)
Regulator or national health body
How this was scored
- Study design
- Regulatory safety determination
- Funding
- Industry funded
- Published in
- Regulator or national health body
- Sample size
- not recorded
- Preregistered
- not recorded
- Conflicts disclosed
- not recorded
- Independent of proponent
- not recorded
- Retracted
- No
Read the full scoring rubric, including what it can't tell you.
Published September 21, 2026.
Questions
How strong is the evidence behind this?
veisund rates this source "moderate evidence". Reasonable evidence with real limitations. It scores 57 out of 100 on our published rubric. One caveat travels with that badge: A contraindication states that the regulator considers the combination unsafe; no incidence figure is given and none was read. The score is calculated from recorded facts about the source — study design, funding, publication venue, sample size, preregistration — not typed in by an editor.
What is the source for this?
ADDERALL (mixed amphetamine salts) tablets: FDA-approved prescribing information, Contraindications and Drug Interactions — Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc.; US Food and Drug Administration (2024). Published in: Regulator or national health body. The full source is linked on this page so you can read it yourself.
Who paid for this research, and does that matter?
Study design: Regulatory safety determination. Funding: Industry funded. Independence from the proponent is not recorded. Industry sponsorship is one of the most reliably measured biases in medicine, which is why funding carries real weight in the score rather than sitting in a footnote.
Is this medical advice?
This is information to bring to your prescriber, not medical advice and not a reason to change anything on your own. Nothing here is an instruction to stop or reduce a medication. If you are in crisis, call or text 988.
This is information to bring to your prescriber, not medical advice and not a reason to change anything on your own. Nothing here is an instruction to stop or reduce a medication. If you are in crisis, call or text 988.