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Better libido with Parlodel (bromocriptine)
By Serge Kreutz
Version 4.3, July 2010
Bromocriptine has been the first dopaminergic medication I have been using for sexual enhancement. And indeed, bromocriptine can be a definite enrichment to the sex life especially of a novice user. The main disadvantage of bromocriptine is that it will only work well for sexual enhancement for 20 or 30 times. Already after the 3rd usage, the effect wears off.
In this respect, bromocriptine is at a clear disadvantage to tongkat ali, which has become my favorite sexual enhancement product after I stopped taking bromocriptine.
While bromocriptine will probably work well for almost every novice user, there are some important points to observe when using the medication for sexual enhancement. They are covered in member articles.
I am aware that certain people make it a principle to never pay for information on the Internet, even though they readily purchase tangible products. As an author, I am disappointed with this kind of attitude. I am not selling bromocriptine, or, for that matter, any other medication or tangible item. It would compromise my integrity as a writer. I don't have tangible products that I would laud simply because I want to sell them. You can get that kind of worthless writing at many sites selling health supplements. They promise you sex in heaven if only you purchase their muira puama, or their damiana, or their wild oats.
How to use bromocriptine for sexual enhancement
At the time of this writing, bromocriptine has become my favorite medication for sexual enhancement. I have switched to bromocriptine from the previously favored apomorphine. The two dopaminergic drugs apomorphine and bromocriptine replaced my usage of yohimbe / yohimbine. I have used yohimbe / yohimbine for several years, and I wouldn't want to miss the experience.
However, yohimbe / yohimbine have their downsides. The worst downside for me is the interference with sleep, even in small dosages. Another downside is the development of tolerance for the herbal and the drug. After years of use, I have taken dosages of more than 50 mg, while initially, 10 mg would have been the maximum I could stomach. Small dosages of yohimbine reliably deny me any sleep for some 20 hours, but now do little to enhance my libido, performance, or orgasm. (For more details on yohimbe and yohimbine, please see my domain yohimbe.org)
Several years back, I have first experimented with bromocriptine (before I got to know yohimbine, and well before Viagra was on the market). At that time, I took during several days a very small dosage, just a quarter of a 2.5-mg tablet. The first few times, the effect was a real revelation: a marked increase in sex drive, and because of this, in performance and enjoyment. However, the effect of a quarter of a 2.5-mg tablet waned quickly, and when I tried higher dosages (still just half a 2.5-mg tablet), nausea largely replaced libido.
Because I felt I needed an alternative to yohimbine, I became interested in apomorphine, which is an approved drug for the treatment of erectile dysfunction in several countries of Europe. Alas, the approved brand, "Uprima" (sublingual tablets), is prohibitively expensive.
I then bought my apomorphine through an agent of Sigma-Aldrich (sigma-aldrich.com), which was quite affordable.
I have read a clear recommendation that apomorphine should be taken after a meal, so I did consume my sublingual apomorphine after eating.
I started searching for alternatives to apomorphine when my appetite for the stock I had was disturbed by the fact that the Sigma-Aldrich apomorphine is not pharmaceutical grade. I don't doubt that the purity of the Sigma-Aldrich product is much better than that of street drugs, or even better than that of the fake drugs that make up a good portion of what is sold in pharmacies throughout Asia. Nevertheless, I would prefer a pharmaceutical grade product.
As pharmaceutical grade apomorphine was difficult to obtain at that time, my attention turned again to bromocriptine, which is available practically anywhere around the world, and usually really cheap, often less than a dollar per 2.5-mg tablet. (Please note that I meanwhile know a source for low-price pharmaceutical apomorphine. See apomorphine.org for further research.)
By the time I had purchased the new bromocriptine, I was inclined to take any dopaminergic agent only with a full meal. I did notice only then that a bromocriptine package insert recommended to take the medication with food. I surely had read this before, but did not pay attention.
The recommendation is not emphasized in the package brochure. It should be.
For bromocriptine, it makes a big difference whether it is taken with food or not. Food is a much better preventive measure against nausea than domperidone, the drug sold anywhere around the world to treat dopamine-dependent nausea. And apart from that, my own experience of combining bromocriptine with domperidone is that the mix diminishes the pro-sexual effects of the bromocriptine.
I only know one agent, which in combination with bromocriptine brings upon an additional enhancement, and that is Viagra. The Viagra dosage should be as small as possible, to avoid interference with orgasm strength. 2.5 milligram of bromocriptine plus 25 milligram of Viagra is my standard dosage.
There are more particularities to observe with bromocriptine for sexual enhancement. Bromocriptine is a slow acting drug. I myself don't feel anything yet two hours after ingestion. The effect typically kicks in after some two-and-one-half hours and reaches a peak between the third and fourth hour after ingestion.
Viagra, on the other hand will reach its peak considerably earlier, and it doesn't need to be combined with food. The best schedule will therefore be to take bromocriptine approximately two-and-one-half to three hours before sex, and Viagra one-and-one-half hours after the bromocriptine.
I have also tried again combining the bromocriptine with yohimbine, and even with yohimbine and Viagra. In each case, I can avoid that bromocriptine induces nausea if I take it with a generous amount of food.
Combining the bromocriptine (2.5 mg) with both Viagra (25 mg) and yohimbine (15 mg) produces a definite kick. (Oh brother, this gets you going.) But the yohimbine component could become critical. When combining the bromocriptine with both Viagra and yohimbine, the palpitations, which the yohimbine is likely to cause anyway, feel more uncomfortable than when on yohimbine alone. There doesn't seem to be an adverse effect on blood pressure, though. Yohimbine anyway is more likely to lower than to raise it.
Nevertheless, I do not recommend the combination of bromocriptine with yohimbine. While the yohimbine does provide additional enhancement, the combination of bromocriptine and Viagra without the yohimbine is already so much an enrichment that the additional yohimbine kick doesn't make worthwhile the endurance of the side effects it causes.
The Effects of Bromocriptine on Attention Deficits After Traumatic Brain Injury: A Placebo-Controlled Pilot Study.
Whyte J, Vaccaro M, Grieb-Neff P, Hart T, Polansky M, Coslett HB
From Moss Rehabilitation Research Institute, Albert Einstein Healthcare Network, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (JW, MV, PG-N, TH, HBC); Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (JW, TH); Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (MP); and University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (HBC).
Whyte J, Vaccaro M, Grieb-Neff P, Hart T, Polansky M, Coslett HB: The effects of bromocriptine on attention deficits after traumatic brain injury: a placebo-controlled pilot study. Am J Phys Med Rehabil 2008;87:85-99. OBJECTIVE:: To evaluate the effects of bromocriptine on a variety of aspects of attention, ranging from laboratory-based impairment measures to caregiver ratings and work productivity, in individuals after traumatic brain injury.
DESIGN:: Twelve adults with moderate to severe traumatic brain injury and attention complaints in the postacute phase of recovery were enrolled in a 6-wk double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study of bromocriptine, titrated to a dose of 5 mg twice a day. A wide range of attentional measures was administered weekly, including computerized and paper-and-pencil tests of attention, videotaped records of individual work in a distracting environment, real-time observational scoring of attentiveness in a classroom environment, and caregiver and clinician ratings of attentiveness. Data from these 12 participants were used to identify attentional dimensions suggestive of a treatment effect for independent replication.
RESULTS:: The effects of bromocriptine on 13 previously identified attentional factors and 13 individual performance scores were assessed via the Wilcoxon signed ranks test, using a relaxed probability cutoff of 0.20 to select those to be studied in a larger replication sample. Only two factor scores and one individual score met the cutoff, and all of these showed trends toward worse performance on bromocriptine than on placebo.
A more detailed investigation of bromocriptine's effect on divided attention was also conducted, but the previously reported finding of a beneficial effect on this domain was not replicated. Blood pressure was marginally lower on bromocriptine than on placebo. In view of the lack of cognitive benefit and the fact that several participants experienced possible or probable drug side effects, we did not pursue a larger replication at this drug dose.
CONCLUSIONS:: Bromocriptine in a dose of 5 mg, given twice a day to individuals with attentional complaints after TBI, does not seem to enhance attentional skills, and it may be associated with an excess of adverse events. It is not clear whether intermittent dosing or lower doses might confer benefit.
Dopamine-dependent nature of depression-like behavior in WAG/Rij rats with genetic absence epilepsy
Sarkisova KY, Kulikov MA, Midzyanovskaya IS, Folomkina AA
Institute of Higher Nervous Activity and Neurophysiology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, karine@online.ru.
WAG/Rij rats given placebo showed a depression-like state as compared with normal Wistar rats (lacking convulsive pathology); this was analogous to the state previously seen in rats of this line, with decreased investigative activity in the open field test, increased immobility in the forced swimming test, and decreased consumption and preference for sucrose solution (anhedonia). Chronic administration of the tricyclic antidepressant imipramine (15 mg/kg, i.p., 15 days) had therapeutic (antidepressant) effects on depression-like behavior in WAG/Rij rats. After withdrawal of antidepressant therapy, the behavior of WAG/Rij rats was not significantly different from that of Wistar rats. Acute (single-dose) administration of the selective dopamine D(2)/D(3) receptor antagonist raclopride (100 microg/kg, i.p., 15 min before the start of behavioral testing) increased the symptoms of depression-like behavior and suppressed the antidepressant effect of chronic administration of imipramine in WAG/Rij rats.
Raclopride had no significant effect on behavior in Wistar rats. Administration of the dopamine D(2)/D(3) receptor agonist parlodel (a therapeutic form of bromocriptine) cured the depression-like behavior of WAG/Rij rats and had no significant effect on behavior in Wistar rats, with the exception of a reduction in the duration of immobility in the forced swimming test.Imipramine and raclopride had no significant effect on the levels of total movement activity and anxiety in either WAG/Rij or Wistar rats. These results demonstrate the dopamine-dependent nature of depression-like behavior in WAG/Rij rats and show the possible involvement of dopamine D(2) receptors in mediating the antidepressant effect of imipramine on genetically determined depression-like behavior in WAG/Rij rats.