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Yohimbe with AD - caution!

Posted by Tony P on August 29, 2001, at 22:55:52

An earlier post re a bad experience with Sudafed reminded me of a very bad experience with yohimbe that I thought was worth sharing.

For those who may not be familiar with it, yohimbe bark or its active ingredient yohimbine are sometimes used to counteract sexual dysfunction from SSRI's - see some earlier postings this year - as well as for sexual (esp. erectile) dysfunction generally (not to mention recreationally < g >). Yohimbine is only available on Rx where I live (Canada) but I was surprised to discover the yohimbe bark in a health store a while back. BTW, some people have suggested that the whole bark is more effective than pure yohimbine - possibly other active ingredients.

I was on moderate dosage of Serzone (3-400 mg daily) and having some sexual problems - both with desire and execution. Serzone is not known for causing sexual dysfunction, but regardless of the cause I thought the yohimbine was worth a try.

Most herbs you can buy at your average health food store are pretty mild. So after minimal research on the web, on the basis of one person's suggestion, I brewed a tea from 5 rounded teaspoons of bark and 1000 mg of vitamin C (improves extraction). At the last minute a small amount of caution cut in and I only drank half - so about 2 1/2 generous tsp worth.

Within 5 minutes I knew I was in BIG trouble - feeling in the pit of my stomach like I'd just stepped off a 1,000 foot cliff. I decided to hang in for the ride. I have seldom in my life been so utterly consumed by anxiety and tension, and never in such a peculiar feeling way - hard to describe other than the Wiley Coyote/cliff analogy. Some of it felt like the descriptions I've read of serotonin syndrome - sweats, shakes, racing heart.

I lasted somehow through a movie with my wife, but then had to retire to bed (alone) and was off sick for the next two days. I probably protracted the recovery process by taking everything in the medicine cabinet to try and bring myself down - extra Serzone, Kava, Robaxin ... nothing helped more than a little, it was like going from extreme anxiety to merely high anxiety and stoned!

The ultimate irony was I had been planning a special night for our anniversary :-(

The problem with any whole natural herb of course is that you may have no idea what amount of the active ingredient you're getting. This was obviously good quality! I am also very sensitive to some kinds of stimulants, so 5 tsp might be OK for someone else - YMMV! Being a glutton for punishment, I did experiment a couple more times, MUCH more cautiously, and found I could tolerate 1/4 tsp.

The happy ending, though, is that my (very eclectic) MD and I have worked out a program of vitamin, herbal and DHEA (hormone) supplements that have largely overcome the problems I was having - without the side effects.

Tony P


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poster:Tony P thread:76914
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010828/msgs/76914.html