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Yohimbe combined with bromocriptine, deprenyl, and arginine

By Serge Kreutz

Version 4.1, July, 2010

I have tried combining yohimbe with deprenyl and/or Viagra, as well as with arginine, and occasionally with bromocriptine. I tried these combinations over several weeks (though not every day).

Yohimbe plus bromocriptine

Bromocriptine in itself has a beautiful effect on desire. However, with small doses, the effect wears off after just a few uses - and for larger dosages, one has to know how to take it correctly for sexual enhancement. Otherwise nausea will eliminate any pro-sexual effect. My domain bromocriptine.com deals with the correct way to take bromocriptine for sexual enhancement.

While nausea can be avoided when taking bromocriptine alone or with Viagra, the trick does not work when combining bromocriptine with yohimbe. When on yohimbe, I have never managed to avoid the nausea caused by adding bromocriptine. If nausea occurs when using bromocriptine alone, I can usually escape the discomfort by going to sleep. After ingesting bromocriptine with yohimbe I may get to sleep more easily than on yohimbe alone, but sleep quality is nowhere near what it would be without the yohimbe.

I do not recommend combining yohimbe with bromocriptine.

Yohimbe plus deprenyl

I have also tried deprenyl (selegeline, Jumex) with yohimbe. Deprenyl is a MAO inhibitor, and I had read that MAO inhibitors don't go well with yohimbe, so I was careful with the dosages. I had previously tried deprenyl alone, and found it to have an amphetamine-like effect at dosages of more than 2.5 milligrams (half a standard Jumex tablet). I don't feel the amphetamine-like effect anymore with up to 5 milligrams. But for me, deprenyl also detracts from the yohimbe when combined with it.

I have always found deprenyl's pro-sexual effects overrated. It's a dopaminergic substance, and dopamine is, to a certain extent, responsible for sexual desire. But dopamine overstimulation strongly interferes with erectile function and leads to a (reversible) shrinkage of the male organ. That's why cocaine, and amphetamines may make you horny, but also make erections and orgasms more difficult to achieve.

Deprenyl is not as bad as amphetamine and methamphetamine in making erections more difficult. It may even be that a 25-year-old would not feel any erectile impediment. But for a man of about 50, the anti-erection effect is probably stronger than the pro-libido effect,unless there is a clear dopamine deficit (as with Parkinson's patients).

One can counterbalance the anti-erection effect of deprenyl with Viagra. In fact, I have been told that drug users now regularly mix cocaine with Viagra to avoid shrinkage.

But why combine yohimbe and deprenyl when this is no better than yohimbe alone (and definitely worse than the combination of yohimbe with Viagra)?

As deprenyl is an MAO inhibitor, it may possibly aggravate the negative side effects of yohimbe. Yohimbine is an alpha-2-receptor blocker; it frees systemic adrenaline and noradrenaline. Adrenaline and noradrenaline (epinephrine and norepinephrine) function as hormones and as neurotransmitters. The adrenaline and noradrenaline displaced by the yohimbe from alpha-2-receptors lead to mental agitation as well as increased heart rate.

This effect is countered by the enzyme monoamine oxidase (MAO), which breaks down adrenaline and noradrenaline, leading to relaxation after states of agitation. MAO inhibitors interfere with monoamine oxidase's capability to deaminate and destroy adrenaline and noradrenaline. In combination with yohimbe, this means that the agitated state lasts until the yohimbine has cleared from the alpha-2-receptors. With unimpaired monoamine oxidase, the agitation caused by the displacement of adrenaline from alpha-2-receptors should be countered by the breakdown of free adrenaline and noradrenaline.

Combining deprenyl with yohimbe will likely prolong the negative side effects of yohimbe, such as heart palpitation, nervousness, and sleeplessness, while doing little or nothing to enhance the pro-sexual effects.

What we would really like with yohimbe is increased MAO activity, not diminished MAO activity, so we could go to sleep after having enjoyed yohimbe's pro-sexual effects. Therefore, we don't want deprenyl, but some sort of 'anti-deprenyl' .

Yohimbe plus arginine

I have tried arginine supplements (as capsules and as powder) with and without lysine, and also with yohimbe. I don't feel any sexual effect from small doses of arginine, and large doses (several grams) make erections more difficult, not easier. So, when combining arginine with yohimbe, I didn't expect a sexual boost. But arginine and lysine combinations are said to be a good mixture for the release of growth hormone, and that is something I wish to achieve for non-sexual purposes. However, doses of an arginine/lysine mixture large enough for the growth hormone release (more than 5 grams of each amino acid) interfere with yohimbe in a negative way. I have always found that larger arginine doses (more than 5 grams) result in weak erections. Erection firmness is one of the major advantages of yohimbe.

I have mentioned in other articles that herbs such as muira puama and damiana have slightly negative effects, and that pygeum and saw palmetto are outright erection killers. In spite of that, there are commercial preparations that combine yohimbe with those other herbs, as well as arginine.

Yohimbe plus Viagra

I know of only one substance that works well with yohimbe: Viagra. Yohimbe can produce bone-hard erections (though not reliably). For me, it always leads to more powerful orgasms. Viagra goes extremely well with yohimbe (at least in my case). Erections happen as easily as when I was 17 (more than 30 years ago), and are as hard as they were in the seventies.

For me, Viagra alone is not of great benefit. Viagra alone doesn't do anything for the quality of orgasms. A good erection with a weak finish is less satisfying than a bad erection with a powerful orgasm. So if I have to choose between yohimbe or Viagra, I'll take the yohimbe, thank you.

But the combination is just ideal.