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  • BDD Moderators: Keif’ Richards | negrogesic

Selegiline Log

dorian_gray

Greenlighter
Joined
Nov 16, 2010
Messages
6
I started taking selegiline (Eldepryl/Deprenyl/Jumex) today. The initial response is pretty full-on, so I thought I'd keep a log on here - for my own benefit and for others.

Background:

I'm in the age group where life-extensionists recommend taking selegiline (late forties/middle aged :p):

1. I'm fit (5ft 9",/150lbs or 175cm/69kg);
2. I exercise 3 to 6 times a week (pretty intense cycling, running, weights);
3. I eat lots of raw and natural food, avoiding processed foods, sugar and refined starches like the plague.

I've always been fairly active, but in the last 5 or six years I've not done enough. Also tended to smoke cigarettes and drink alcohol (too) regularly (bottle of scotch a fortnight plus 2 glasses of wine on 3 out of 7 nights). Used to take 2.5 sugars in my coffee, 3 to 4 coffees a day, eat white bread and drink Coke.

By July this year I was not in great shape (80kg, depressed -yeah, suicidal even - and have had insomnia for more than 2 years).

On 1 July 2010 I took a long hard look at myself when I was diagnosed with high blood pressure (155/100) and the MD wanted to put me on SSRI's. I decided to sort my health out first, and have since become a bit of a health/anti-aging fanatic (a bit of bi-polar creeping in, maybe...).

Anyway, I can attest to the fact that the "metabolic syndrome" does exist and exercise and diet can cure it in 3 months, if you're committed. Blood pressure is now normal (115/55) and I'm averaging 8 hours sleep a night (4 hours of very poor quality sleep used to be the norm). I'm happy to share my experience with others - maybe in another forum - if there's interest.

Other Supplements

Most nights I take 50mg 5-HTP and 3mg melatonin. This works and I find I sleep really deeply with vivid dreams.

Most mornings I take 25mg DHEA and 50mg Pregnenolone to try and get my testosterone/libido back to where it was a year or two ago.

I take vitamins (multi plus D,E and C) and CoQ10 (antioxidant) as well, but these are unlikely to have much impact on the current experiment.

Why I'm trying Selegiline

I'm trying a number of things to improve my quality of life and to (hopefully) maintain that quality of life as long as possible. The aims are:


1. My short term memory has been pretty unsatisfactory since a stint on SSRI's in my thirties and I'd like to try and improve it or, at least, stop any further deterioration.

2. My focus and motivation also has been lacking in recent years (I have a master's degree in Engineering and my own consulting business, so I set pretty high standards on this front...). I'd like to be less easily distracted (more focussed) and also improve my motivation in both my business and exercise activities.

3. My libido seems to have evaporated since I went on my healthy lifestyle - most unfair! I thought the weight training and interval running would stimulate testosterone and I'd see an improvement - not lack of interest... I've never lacked in that department, in fact I've always been a bit over-sexed, I thought8). So, I want improve my libido.

Selegiline Dosage

My selegiline arrived today (a generic), it's 100 tablets of 5mg (oral).

I've decided to start with 5mg on the first day, as this seems to be a pretty commonly recommended dose for someone my age. I considered starting with a smaller dose and working my way up, but I was keen to experience the effects fully - sometimes small doses are so subtle you do wonder whether it's the placebo effect!

I'll decide, based on my response to the first dose, what I do on subsequent days...

To be continued...
 
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Day One: Definitely NOT Placebo

10:00AM: Blood pressure 117/68, heart rate (HR) 63bpm, body temperature (temp) 36.4 deg C

Pretty much normal statistics for me. I take my temperature using a very accurate Omron thermometer under the tongue. I have struggled to get my metabolism back to normal. In July my typical daytime body temperature was 35.2 degrees C (!!!) and on waking around 34.8 degrees. It has steadily come up to around 36.0 degrees on waking and 36.4 to 36.6 degrees during the day, but I'd like it to get to 37 degrees, especially on training days.%)

11:30AM: 5mg Selegiline with food

I got the Selegiline in the mail today and took my first tablet at 11:30am. I had a sandwich and big glass of water first to ensure maximum absorbtion/availability and then went back to work. Blood pressure and heart rate before taking tablet was pretty normal.

2:00PM: Blood pressure 141/73, HR 66bmp, temp 37.2deg C

I'm feeling a bit agitated/anxious. Systolic blood pressure (BP) has shot up and so has core body temperature! first time over 37 degrees since I started measuring...

5PM: Blood pressure 152/68, HR 64, temp 37.4 degrees

Blood pressure and temperature still going up - hopefully not time to get worried yet... If nothing else, the Selegiline has a pretty serious stimulant effect. I'm feeling good though. Happy and friendly. Have also been having occasional erotic thoughts this afternoon, accompanied by stirrings where I'd like them.

7:30PM: Blood pressure 138/74, HR 64, temp 37.2 degrees

Looks like the vitals are settling down. Still feeling quite happy and content. Wonder how the sleep will go tonight. Also thinking I might skip the 5-htp tonight to avoid complications...8o

7:54PM: Blood pressure 119/68, HR 63, temp 37.0 degrees

Well, blood pressure's dropped straight back down to normal, about 8 hours after administration...

10:30PM: Blood pressure 120/56, HR 54, temp 36.4degrees

Feeling sleepy and content. Body's winding down too. Libido definitely better!;)
 
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Hopefully everything works out for you. I'm kinda busy and couldn't read anything, but selegiline is an anti-parkinsons drug, so hopefully you're alright man.
 
Thanks mate

Hopefully everything works out for you. I'm kinda busy and couldn't read anything, but selegiline is an anti-parkinsons drug, so hopefully you're alright man.

Hey, thanks. I'm just experimenting with Selegiline - don't have Parkinsons.
 
Hey, thanks. I'm just experimenting with Selegiline - don't have Parkinsons.

O, that's good to hear.

My grandfather has parkinsons and it's a truly horrible disease. It's very sad to watch.

But since you don't have it I'm interested to see how your experiments with it go. I forget the names, but I've read some studies on parkinsons drugs and some of them seem to have interesting effects if taken by someone w/o parkinsons. I'll try to find them in my spare time.
 
O, that's good to hear.

My grandfather has parkinsons and it's a truly horrible disease. It's very sad to watch.

But since you don't have it I'm interested to see how your experiments with it go. I forget the names, but I've read some studies on parkinsons drugs and some of them seem to have interesting effects if taken by someone w/o parkinsons. I'll try to find them in my spare time.

Sorry to hear about your grandfather. Unfortunately many older people are affected by Parkinsons or Alzheimers (my grandfather, now long gone, also had it in the last years of his life).

I came across Selegiline while researching other health issues. It does seem to be a remarkable drug:

in low doses, deprenyl enhances life-expectancy, of rats at least, by 20% and more. It enhances drive, libido and motivation; sharpens cognitive performance both subjectively and on a range of objective tests; serves as a useful adjunct in the palliative treatment of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease; and makes you feel good too. It is used successfully to treat canine cognitive dysfunction syndrome (CDS) in dogs. At dosages of around 10 mg or below daily, deprenyl retains its selectivity for the type-B MAO iso-enzyme. At MAO-B-selective dosages, deprenyl doesn't provoke the "cheese-effect"; tyramine is also broken down by MAO type-A. Deprenyl isn't addictive, which probably reflects its different delivery-mechanism and delayed reward compared to inhaled tobacco smoke. In November 2004, Yale University researchers launched a study of deprenyl for smokers who want to quit tobacco. Whether the Government would welcome the billions of pounds of lost revenue and a swollen population of energetic non-taxpayers that a switch in people's MAOI habits might entail is unclear.
from the Good Drug Guide.

There's some interesting user experience feedbackon the web, including here on bluelight and at erowid
 
Day 2: Settling in Nicely

7:30AM: BP 120/58, HR 54bpm, temp 36.0 deg C

I slept ok - woke up three times but went straight back to sleep every time. Considering I skipped the 5-HTP that's pretty good for me. I don't think the selegeline kept me awake.

All vitals were pretty normal so I decided to take another 5mg this morning with food (protein smoothy with full cream raw milk, banana and teaspoon of coconut oil followed by big bowl of oatmeal with sultanas, honey and milk).

I feel good and I'm looking forward to the day. Bring it on!

I have to drive about 2 hours today to get to a client for a meeting and I'm going to break the journey with a nice mountainbike ride - loads of singletrack. I'm curious to see how I feel.

10:00AM: BP 126/67, HR 63bpm, Temp 37.2 deg C

I've arrived at the trailhead, ready for my ride. Looks like blood pressure is pretty normal - none of yesterday's hypertension. Body temp is over 37 degrees again :).

12:30PM: BP118/55, HR 75bpm, Temp 35.8 deg C

Had an awesome ride! Felt strong and cranked out 25k of pretty serious effort, in the rain. Felt on top of the world. Doesn't get much better than this! Had a big fall on the second lap but just rolled as I hit the ground, got up raced off again!

Core temp has dropped precipitously, contrary to my expectations, but I've been out in pretty cool weather (around 20 degrees C with drizzle) so I guess it shouldn't surprise me.

5:30PM: BP 110/58, HR 70bpm, Temp 37.4 deg C

Good: core temp back up where I want it and BP as normal as I could wish for.

Will take 5-HTP tonight at bed time.
 
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Adrenals and DHEA

Got test results for my "Adrenocortex Stress Profile" today. I had these tests done 3 weeks ago when my sleep was still pretty poor (lots of waking with anxiety attacks during the night).

I was not surprised to see high cortisol levels at 2am in the morning - indicative of low blood sugar. I feel like I've licked that problem to a large extent. The tests show that my DHEA levels were also quite low at the time (this was before I started supplementing with 50mg DHEA per day) so I'm on the right track there.

Morning cortisol was pretty normal (probably still recovering from the night-time peak) but it drops steeply during the day and is sub-normal by late afternoon. Comment on test result: "suspect adrenal fatigue. Suggest supplementation with DHEA and standard adrenal support."

Maybe it was the DHEA that improved my sleep? I have been sleeping better from about the time I started the DHEA. Will have to read up on "standard adrenal support". Any suggestions welcome!
 
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