Peppermint sounds a bit intriguing. I have an unopened bottle from Nature's Alchemy (also the brand of my lemon oil), and I think I may try that next. Another person on the net who favored both lemon and lavender also favored peppermint for its energizing effects.
As for lemon balm, I read some conflicting reports about its harmine content. It seems to have a lower content than passionflower (I wonder what passionflower essential oil is like, must be powerful). I'm also concerned over it blocking nicotine from binding to receptors. Since I vape on a regular basis, I wonder where the excess nicotine would go? Lemon balm tea gave me uplifting yet relaxing effects. Hard to explain, though vaping didn't seem as pleasurable at the time. It synergized well with lavender, as the examine.com article stated (a very high synergy and binding to benzo receptors if I am recalling correctly). I have my doubts whether lemon balm acts as anything but a very weak MAOI, though it certainly appears to block the breakdown of GABA. Unfortunately all I could find in reference to lemon balm and MAOI are several references from forums discussing shrooms and DMT. From a post:
Melissa officinalis also contains 1-octen-3-ol, 10-alpha-cadinol, 3-octanol, 3-octanone, alpha-cubebene, alpha-humulene, beta-bourbonene, caffeic acid, caryophyllene, caryophyllene oxide, catechinene, chlorogenic acid, cis-3-hexenol, cis-ocimene, citral A, citral B, citronellal, copaene, delta-cadinene, eugenyl acetate, gamma-cadinene, geranial, geraniol, geranyl acetate, germacrene D,isogeranial, linalool, luteolin-7-glucoside, methylheptenone, neral, nerol, octyl benzoate, oleanolic acid, pomolic acid, protocatechuic acid, rhamnazine, rosmarinic acid, rosmarinin acid, stachyose, succinic acid, thymol, trans-ocimene and ursolic acid.
Also found this, and it's interesting how harmine is a fluorescent molecule that attracts bees to pollinate: http://www.jofsr.com...icle/view/30/21
There's also mention of smoking it for the MAOI content of harmine (though it doesn't appear to have the other harmala alkaloids), though I haven't come across anyone who has had success for this purpose with using it in the form of an essential oil. I have my doubts that inhaling lemon balm itself would provide a substantial MAOI effect and clash with other medications (I'm not on any, but I'm slightly concerned about diet/nicotine conflicting with its MoA). Any thoughts?
I decided to try lemon oil for the second time today. Two inhalations, and the effects were more subtle but still pronounced for me. My perspective seemed a lot sunnier, and I was singing to myself after about 10 minutes. The usual stress didn't affect me, and I was highly talkative. I had two friends try it, and one person noted an uplifting feeling (he had just awoken from a nap when I arrived). I observed them both, and found them to be more social and humorous. I brought it into work with me and five coworkers tried it. I observed their behavior for the rest of the evening, and I found them laughing more than usual, dancing around, and hyped up. Nobody had any complaints, and several people wanted to inhale more. One person noted the entire one side of his head was tingling after inhaling it for the second time, much like the sensations I encountered after my first, large dose two weeks ago (5-6 deep inhalations). So while the effects may be subtle, especially if you're not looking for effects, they definitely produce behavioral changes from an objective point of view. Still not scientific, but I think science has already ascertained that the effects of lemon oil are anything but spurious.
Alex, perhaps a diluted (1-5%) topical application of the oil would create more substantial, uplifting effects for you? I believe lemon oil is phototoxic, so if it's applied to the skin it should be in an area where sunlight doesn't hit it. I'm also not sure how dosing this way would interact with parnate. I experience enough effects from inhaling it that I have no desire to use it topically, but I imagine those effects would be more pronounced.