Posted by King Vultan on October 13, 2004, at 18:06:37
In reply to Selegiline Sexual Side Effects, posted by sfy on October 13, 2004, at 13:03:27
> Everything I've read seems to indicate that selegiline is supposed to increase libido. However, it seems to be having a paradoxical effect on me. Since I've stared the selegiline (5 mg at first and now 10 mg), my interest in sex seems to be somewhat dulled. It's also taking a bit more effort (under simulated conditions) to get an erection and climax.
>
> Has anyone else had this experience with selegiline? Does this effect point to some other approach I should try for my anhedonia/dysthymia? (Parnate is probably my next step.)
I think I would give it a little time and see if it doesn't improve. It could be stimulating dopamine autoreceptors and slowing down the firing rate. To my way of thinking, this effect should only be temporary if the autoreceptors are capable of downregulating. It might be stimulating some other kind of dopamine receptor also--I think there are 5 types. It's hard to know exactly what's going on, and I am not super familiar with the dopamine system.Parnate is a good drug and probably drastically underused, but selegiline is also capable of doing much the same thing, and selegiline is actually more dopaminergic. You have to go up to higher dosages of selegiline to activate its MAO-A inhibition, however, and this will then invoke the dietary restrictions. I have a reference listing 45 mg/day of selegiline as the minimum to be assured of having given the stuff a fair trial. That sounds like an awful lot to me. There seems to be a wide variance in how people react to selegiline.
Todd
poster:King Vultan
thread:402677
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20041012/msgs/402776.html