- This topic is empty.
-
Posts
-
I saw the post below over at the AM forum. I haven’t heard of melanotan and doing a search see that it hasn’t been discussed here before. Anyone with info. or an opinion?
“Longish post concerning problems with low libido (most likely due to low dopamine levels) even after testosterone is fixed.
Quick history on me. I’m taking medication for hypothyroidism and low testosterone levels. My thyroid numbers have been good for a couple of years now. After a year or so of trying Androgel, then HCG alone, then testosterone cypionate alone, then testosterone cyptionate + HCG, I think at least my testosterone and estrogen numbers are balanced. Yet another blood test in less than a week will confirm whether this is the case.
One thing that hasn’t really changed is seemingly low or mediocre libido, sex drive, etc. It’s better than it was when my testosterone levels were below range, but probably still low for a healthy, fit 40 year old, and I’ve had associated ED problems off and on for a couple of years. These issues haven’t been great for relationships. I’ve tried Viagra and similar drugs, but they only affect the vascular system to increase blood flow to the penis, and then seemingly only if testosterone and estrogen levels are okay. They don’t do anything to increase libido, which is centered in the brain and nervous system. Consequently, results were not always great with the blue pill and equivalents.
About a year or so ago I had a blood test that measured various catecholamines:
norepenephrine: 345 pg/mL [range 0-399]
epinephrine: 44 pg/mL [range 0-99]
dopamine: <10 pg/mL [range 0-142]
catecholamine: <399 pg/mL [range 0-642]Clearly dopamine is quite low. My doc had me try cabergoline for awhile, but I didn’t see much (if any) effect, so we stopped that to focus on straightening out testosterone levels. My understanding is that low dopamine levels adversely affect sex drive.
I recently became curious about whether Melanotan II or Bremelanotide (PT-141) might be of benefit, so I ordered some Melanotan II and started injecting at 0.5 mg/day at bedtime (I’m 6’2″ and weight about 190lbs). I experienced greatly enhanced sex drive within a few hours, in addition to much firmer and consistent morning erections. I was actually concerned about the duration of the erection when I woke up at 2:30am the first morning, so I stuck a flexible cold pack in my shorts to ensure blood had a chance to circulate.
The increase in sex drive was sufficiently distracting to lower my Melanotan II dosage level to 0.35 mg/day. Around the same time I had to start taking Prednisone (steroid based anti-inflamatory) for a minor nerve impingement problem, and Prednisone’s myriad side effects seemed to counteract the Melanotan II benefits. However, after tapering off of the Prednisone over the past few days, my sex drive seems to be back in high gear – – – sufficiently so that I might lower my Melanotan II dosage level again.
I seem to have a very dramatic response to the Melanotan II at a very low dosage level, at least compared to other people. I’m wondering if that has anything to do with my low dopamine levels? I have a technical background, but it’s not in chemistry or biology, so I don’t really know what mechanisms are at work here.”
@wondering 2312 wrote:
I saw the post below over at the AM forum. I haven’t heard of melanotan and doing a search see that it hasn’t been discussed here before. Anyone with info. or an opinion?
“Longish post concerning problems with low libido (most likely due to low dopamine levels) even after testosterone is fixed.
Quick history on me. I’m taking medication for hypothyroidism and low testosterone levels. My thyroid numbers have been good for a couple of years now. After a year or so of trying Androgel, then HCG alone, then testosterone cypionate alone, then testosterone cyptionate + HCG, I think at least my testosterone and estrogen numbers are balanced. Yet another blood test in less than a week will confirm whether this is the case.
One thing that hasn’t really changed is seemingly low or mediocre libido, sex drive, etc. It’s better than it was when my testosterone levels were below range, but probably still low for a healthy, fit 40 year old, and I’ve had associated ED problems off and on for a couple of years. These issues haven’t been great for relationships. I’ve tried Viagra and similar drugs, but they only affect the vascular system to increase blood flow to the penis, and then seemingly only if testosterone and estrogen levels are okay. They don’t do anything to increase libido, which is centered in the brain and nervous system. Consequently, results were not always great with the blue pill and equivalents.
About a year or so ago I had a blood test that measured various catecholamines:
norepenephrine: 345 pg/mL [range 0-399]
epinephrine: 44 pg/mL [range 0-99]
dopamine: <10 pg/mL [range 0-142]
catecholamine: <399 pg/mL [range 0-642]Clearly dopamine is quite low. My doc had me try cabergoline for awhile, but I didn’t see much (if any) effect, so we stopped that to focus on straightening out testosterone levels. My understanding is that low dopamine levels adversely affect sex drive.
I recently became curious about whether Melanotan II or Bremelanotide (PT-141) might be of benefit, so I ordered some Melanotan II and started injecting at 0.5 mg/day at bedtime (I’m 6’2″ and weight about 190lbs). I experienced greatly enhanced sex drive within a few hours, in addition to much firmer and consistent morning erections. I was actually concerned about the duration of the erection when I woke up at 2:30am the first morning, so I stuck a flexible cold pack in my shorts to ensure blood had a chance to circulate.
The increase in sex drive was sufficiently distracting to lower my Melanotan II dosage level to 0.35 mg/day. Around the same time I had to start taking Prednisone (steroid based anti-inflamatory) for a minor nerve impingement problem, and Prednisone’s myriad side effects seemed to counteract the Melanotan II benefits. However, after tapering off of the Prednisone over the past few days, my sex drive seems to be back in high gear – – – sufficiently so that I might lower my Melanotan II dosage level again.
I seem to have a very dramatic response to the Melanotan II at a very low dosage level, at least compared to other people. I’m wondering if that has anything to do with my low dopamine levels? I have a technical background, but it’s not in chemistry or biology, so I don’t really know what mechanisms are at work here.”
It is an interesting compound that has not yet been approved by the FDA.
Looks like the studies for using it to improve sex drive have ended – for some reason – perhaps due to adverse effects.A good starting point is to read information on the website: http://melanotan.org/
Here is an abstract from Medline:
Int J Impot Res. 2000 Oct;12 Suppl 4:S74-9.
Melanocortin receptor agonists, penile erection, and sexual motivation: human studies with Melanotan II.
Wessells H, Levine N, Hadley ME, Dorr R, Hruby V.Section of Urology, The University of Arizona College of Medicine, Tucson, 85724, USA. hwessels@u.arizona.edu
We review our experience with Melanotan II, a non-selective melanocortin receptor agonist, in human subjects with erectile dysfunction (ED). Melanotan II was administered to 20 men with psychogenic and organic ED using a double-blind placebo-controlled crossover design. Penile rigidity was monitored for 6 h using RigiScan. Level of sexual desire and side effects were reported with a questionnaire. In the absence of sexual stimulation, Melanotan II led to penile erection in 17 of 20 men. Subjects experienced a mean of 41 min Rigiscan tip rigidity>80%. Increased sexual desire was reported after 13/19 (68%) doses of Melanotan II vs 4/21 (19%) of placebo (P<0.01). Nausea and yawning were frequently reported side effects due to Melanotan II; at a dose of 0.025 mg/kg, 12.9% of subjects had severe nausea. We conclude that Melanotan II is a potent initiator of penile erection in men with erectile dysfunction. Our findings warrant further investigation of melanocortin agonists and antagonists on penile erection. International Journal of Impotence Research (2000) 12, Suppl 4, S74-S79.
PMID: 11035391 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]
Here is another description from a peptide website:
elanotan II is an analog of the peptide hormone alpha-melanocyte stimulating hormone (a-MSH) that induces skin tanning. Melanotan II has the additional effect of increasing libido and has also exhibited the potential to decrease body fat mass and reduce food intake.
This formulation was developed at the University of Arizona. Researchers there knew that one of the best defenses against skin cancer was a natural tan which has been slowly developed over weeks. They hypothesized that an effective way to reduce skin cancer rates in people would be to induce the body’s natural tanning system to produce a protective tan prior to UV exposure.
After synthesizing and screening hundreds of molecules, the researchers headed by Dr. Victor Hruby, found a peptide that after trials and testing seemed to not only be safe but also approximately 1,000 times more potent than natural a-MSH. They dubbed this new peptide Melanotan. Since their discovery, numerous studies dating back to the mid-1980s have shown no obvious toxic effects of Melanotan. Melanotan II is a cyclic heptapeptide analog of the alpha-melanocyte stimulating hormone.And here is another abstract of a broad review of Melanocortins from Medline:
Curr Drug Targets. 2003 Oct;4(7):586-97.
Melanocortins and their receptors and antagonists.
Voisey J, Carroll L, van Daal A.The melanocortins are a group of small protein hormones derived by post-translational cleavage of the proopiomelanocortin (POMC) gene product. The known melanocortin hormones include alpha-melanocyte stimulating hormone (MSH), beta-MSH, gamma-MSH and adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH). Five melanocortin receptors (MCIR through to MC5R) have been identified and most of these show tissue-specific expression patterns, as well as different binding affinities for each of the melanocortin hormones. The central melanocortin system consists of alpha-MSH, agouti-related protein (AGRP), MC3R and MC4R. AGRP and alpha-MSH are believed to be the natural antagonist and agonist respectively of MC3R and MC4R. This central melanocortin system is thought to play a fundamental role in the control of feeding and body weight. Knock-out mice models and genetic studies have pointed to the importance of the melanocortins in complex human pathways such as pigmentation, lipolysis, food intake, thermogenesis, sexual behaviour, memory and inflammatory response. Recently the melanocortins and their receptors have been the target for drug-based treatment of human physiological processes. MC3R and MC4R are likely targets for controlling body weight; MCIR may be used in the treatment of inflammation and MC2R for the treatment of glucocortical deficiency. A role for MCSR still remains unclear, but the evidence suggests an exocrine gland function.
PMID: 14535656 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]
The melanocortins are a fairly new set of peptide hormones with their receptors, which are new to research, which control multiple physiologic processes which are desirable targets for treatment including: sexual function, skin tanning, diabetes, weight loss, inflammation, memory, etc.
We’ll have to see where this road heads. It is interesting.
There is a caveat: http://www.bmj.com/cgi/eletters/338/feb17_2/b566#209418.
It was noted in the British Medical Journal that some people who used Melanotan had changes in their moles. Some developed malignant melanoma – a serious skin cancer. Thus they warn against the use of drugs which haven’t been fully studied and approved.In regard to dopamine tests, it is difficult to determine brain dopamine levels from a lab test. With the plasma catecholamines, the dopamine is mostly leakage from the norepinephrine secreting cells. It doesn’t reflect nervous system dopamine signaling.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.