Selegiline is a monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI). MAOI inhibitors primarily increase serotonin. But they can also increase dopamine and norepinephrine. At low doses, Selegiline can avoid the dietary requirements of other MAOIs and high dose Selegiline, which are necessary to avoid excessive blood pressure and a stroke or heart attack. Selegiline is used in the treatment of Parkinson’s Disease since it can increase dopamine signaling significantly. For libido, perhaps Selegiline can increase libido via increasing dopamine. The problem is that it also primarily increases serotonin, may reduce libido by reducing dopamine production. If norepinephrine signaling is excessive, then the increase in serotonin may just be enough to reduce norepinephrine and restore dopamine production lost because of norepinephrine production. Thus on balance, perhaps libido would be restored. However, there is also a significant chance, via the serotonin increase that libido itself would be reduced. Clinically, I find Selegiline’s serotonin increase outweighing the other signaling changes it causes. Thus on whole, it suppresses llibido. But given the possibility it may improve it, it may be worthwhile to give it a try. I would still recommend the dietary changes at least in consideration since the point where tyramine and other substance in the diet can cause a stroke varies with people, though at doses from 5 to 10 mg a day of Selegiline, it seems save to have a regular diet for most people.

Given my 10 year history of poor to no libido, I decided on trying Deprenyl (Jumex) 4 years ago. After reading about it’s pharmacodynamic, I placed an order for Jumex. The literature says it’s a selective MAO-type B inhibitor >10 mg/day. I did bother about the dietary restrictions despite keeping far below the 10 mg/day dose.

On the first week I was on 2.5 mg twice a week (skipping days between doses). No improvement in libido was observed. Second week, same thing, and yet no improvement in libido whatsoever, although my focus and mood slightly improved. On the third week, I bumped up the dosage to 5 mg twice a week, still skipping days between doses. Still no libido improvement in sight. So I decided to quit taking it. The day after I went cold turkey, I inadvertently had a square of dark chocolate. 20 minutes thereafter, I started getting extrasystoles–I thought it was unrelated and went on reading the book I was reading at the time. But more of them came about, and my heart rate I could feel was going up. I went outside walking around my home thinking that it’d take my mind away from what I felt might be a self-feeding vicious circle of anxiety. However, my heart rate was going up more and more, that is, more BPM and pounding, so much so that I could feel my carotid arteries bouncing. I then started feeling nauseated. There, I picked up the phone, called up a nearby friend of mine telling him that I was driving to his place, for I wanted him to take me to the ER as I wasn’t doing well at all. When I reached his place, I felt awful and panicky quite a bit. I had never ever felt that bad ever and I really thought I was having a heart attack or that something terrible was taking place or going to take place.

Once in the ER, I had no choice but to tell the physician that it was because I took a course of Selegiline Hydrochloride. Clearly they did nothing but to keep me under observation for a while, and that’s ok. On admittance to the hospital my BP was 188 over 111 with a HR in the 130ies.

It turned out that what I had was a bad panic attack, which I initially thought was a hypertensive crisis. I had never ever even came close to experiencing such an event in my life. I had some anxiety just like everyone does, cause life just happens, but nothing of that kind. I had 5 more of those panic attacks until DPR cleared my system I guess, which IIRC has a long clearing time.

I haven’t had any other panic attack since.

Since DPR is known to be a sympathomimetic, and that dark chocolate contains both PEA and theobromine, I take it that they synergised to bring about excessive SNS activity. DPR if I recall correctly also potentiate PEA.

Moral of the story is : I’ve learned some lesson on that day.

Many have told me that DPR shouldn’t have produced such an adverse outcome given the low dose I was on. However, I’m already naturally stimulated, so DPR + dark chocolate likely only magnified what was already present.

I do not think I’ll ever go back on DPR.