7 replies to this topic

[anomalous3]

Summary: Personal experience: Rhodiola + Methylene Blue strongly potentiate the effects of Caffeine.

I'm fascinated by Methylene blue and the broad range of effects it has, particularly how incredibly low doses can have noticeable effects. I was drinking fairly consistently when I tried it in the past, and the MB seemed to give me a hangover from as few as 2 drinks a night, so I cut it out of my regimen. Additionally, while it did not cause an allergic reaction, it appeared to intensify my allergies to some degree.

I've used Rhodiola with my stack, without the Methylene Blue, but it's something that I have to cycle in order to acheive any real effects, and I'm much better at taking a supplement every day then I am at remembering when to cycle on and off.

Lately, however, I've cut down on drinking a lot, and added both of these back into my stack, with no other changes, and have noticed something rather astonishing:

My sensitivity to caffeine has profoundly increased. The last 3 or 4 times I've gotten a large coffee, I have found myself noticing the "caffeine effect" about 1/3 of the way through the cup, and, rather than gulping down the whole thing and wanting more, I have had to pace the rest of the cup out over about 2-3 hours. I've had to switch to smaller cups, and 12 oz is pushing the amount that's comfortable to drink, though I'm sure I'll get acclimatized soon enough.

This may be due to the fact that both MB and Rhodiola are MAOIs, but the syngergistic effects are far beyond what I've experienced with either one alone. Additionally, there is a very mild antidepressant effect (though it appears to be transient and fades fairly quickly). So now the real point of this post:

• Has anyone else had similar experiences with this combination?
  
• Is there any scientific data on the effects of low-dose weak MAOI combinations adding up to a reasonably strong effect?

 
For those who still have the attention span, my consistent stack consists of the following (doses are per day)*:

• 2g Piracetam x2
• 2g ALCAR x2
• 500mg Sulbutiamine
• 500mg ALA
• 2g Fish Oil
• Caffeine in the form of 1 large (16-20oz) cup of brewed coffee + 4 bags of green tea throughout the day (this should add up to somewhere around 400-450mg of caffeine total).

*There are a few other things that I have taken reasonably consistently but are either not nootropically relevant (i.e. 30 mg OptiZinc, 500mg Milk Thistle), that I haven't taken in a week or so (50mg Forskolin, may also not be nootropically relevant since cAMP agonist activity appears to be in Peripheral nervous system only), or that I take inconsistently (500mg centrophenoxine takeon only prior to workouts, as it makes me too aggressive otherwise).

Edited by anomalous3, 30 November 2011 - 11:32 PM.

[noos]

MB dose?

[anomalous3]

Ah, forgot to include it in the final draft...about 0.5mg/day. Miniscule but still seems to be noticeable. Also somewhat counterintuitively noticing a slight decrease in aerobic performance.

[gamesguru]

If Rhodiola Rosea potentiates caffeine, it's very mild. Rhodiola almost always makes me more clear-headed regardless of caffeine.

[whoknows]

goes nicely with caffeine...

[Raza]

Did you take either MB or Rhodiola separately in the past, and not notice any of this effect on caffeine?

Edited by Raza, 22 June 2012 - 09:10 PM.

[whoknows]

i meant Rhodiola.took both and had no problem. also took MB and coffein also no problems but i dont like MB.

[Junk Master]

I agree that MB does make me want less coffee. But the same effect is even more pronounced with sublingual Uridine.