I have seen/ read at a few places Selegiline is good for longevity, is that the case? I thought it was a Parkinson’s drug — does it have any downstream effects on brain health?
It is a Parkinson's (and depression) drug which works by inhibiting Monoamine Oxidase B, which means it increases dopamine. All of those claims are based on lab animal lifespan though, which is tough to translate to humans. (There's not going to be any drug that will increase human lifespan by 30%)
Any effect it has on brain health should be dose dependent though. While it seems to have a neuroprotective effect in diseases like Parkinson's, slowing degeneration, large doses in a healthy person may not have the same effect. It can also have side effects that are detrimental to brain health, like insomnia.
In my view, at low doses it could be potentially useful to help prevent neurodegeneration of dopamine systems in aging people and keep dopamine levels high. Whether or not that will increase lifespan though, is unknown, despite potential improvements in quality of life.
Is there any mechanisms by which inhibition in the nervous system can lower testosterone / dht?
Still in puberty with a goal of keeping testosterone high but need to manage my nervous system
I struggle with insomnia / anxiety and so need heavy NMDA antagonism, and to modulate gaba / glutamate otherwise I risk relapsing into insomnia its bad
The stack I currently take daily is: 1.5g elemental magnesium, 3g agmatine, 1g carnosine and 4g inositol, this keeps me very calm, albeit focus is lowered and libido lowers a lot , along with aggression lowered ( which makes me fear its affecting my androgens). I've tried lowering dosages but anything less than this and I relapse into severe isssues
I do everything for high testosterone, nutrient dense diet, sprints 3x a week, fat intake, sleep / stress is good when aided by pharmacology, still get morning wood every morning, and exercise recovery is good but like I just still fear a lot with ocd / health anxiety that my hormones may be getting reduced due to the low libido / aggression / lowered focus.
I know testosterone increases intracelluear calcium, motor neuron firing, but would modulating these nervous system features directly affect T as a backwards mechanism. I search into google and see some studies stuff saying gaba can inhibit gnrh, but it seems very unclear.
Tldr: Happy to feel calm, low focus, lowered aggression, less stereotypically 'androgenic'; but would androgens still remain high keeping its affects on bone growth eg via androgen receptor.
The answer to your first question is technically yes, but It's not something I'd worry about in your case because it should only occur at extremes (blasting potent GABAergics for example), and I definitely wouldn't worry if you're still asymptomatic for low T. Regardless, the negative impact of severe anxiety/insomnia on T/DHT would far outweigh any impact of your current stack (which doesn't have much/any direct GABA action).
It may be worth to experiment with a different stack in order to combat insomnia/anxiety without reducing focus. L-Theanine and taurine are some obvious ones here to implement for some AMPA antagonism and light GABA agonism, respectfully, which may mean you can drop the agmatine dose and see if you can nail a sweet spot. Thought process there is to drop the direct NMDAR antagonism a bit, but combat hyperactivity in other ways that may lead to better behavioral outcomes. Regardless, it takes some experimentation to dial in a stack for individual optimal performance.
You also didn't mention light environment, which is going to be critical here for hormones and preventing insomnia. (block blue light after sunset, get sun in morning and throughout the day, etc.)
The only true way to know if your androgens are being negatively impacted would be bloodwork, but symptomology can give you a good idea. Being in puberty though, higher androgens should be easy mode. Dial the lifestyle factors like you mentioned, fix light environment (if suboptimal), and maybe adjust the stack to find a more desirable outcome.
If you feel like it's a true issue, speak with your doctor about symptoms and get bloodwork done.
Sweet thanks so much. Have noticed that l theanine gives me insomnia as well though, not sure why perhaps due to some glutamate / NMDA atypical stimulating effects? Glycine gives terrible insomnia for me as well so I think it is likely my NMDA receptors are completely dysfunctional? Great to here that the hormones are likely fine, so I'll try adding taurine to better manage agmatine dosage. I Also use NAC + gaba herbs in my system for control acutely.
Pairing theanine with a nice dose of magnesium seems to help the paradoxical stimulation that can happen at night for me and others, but if it still occurs it's obviously not worth it.
Check out my most recent post on GABA/Glutamate. It may be useful in your scenario.
I have seen/ read at a few places Selegiline is good for longevity, is that the case? I thought it was a Parkinson’s drug — does it have any downstream effects on brain health?
It is a Parkinson's (and depression) drug which works by inhibiting Monoamine Oxidase B, which means it increases dopamine. All of those claims are based on lab animal lifespan though, which is tough to translate to humans. (There's not going to be any drug that will increase human lifespan by 30%)
Any effect it has on brain health should be dose dependent though. While it seems to have a neuroprotective effect in diseases like Parkinson's, slowing degeneration, large doses in a healthy person may not have the same effect. It can also have side effects that are detrimental to brain health, like insomnia.
In my view, at low doses it could be potentially useful to help prevent neurodegeneration of dopamine systems in aging people and keep dopamine levels high. Whether or not that will increase lifespan though, is unknown, despite potential improvements in quality of life.
Thank you, looks to fringe to try then. Would it help for occassional use (once or twice a month for focus/ productivity? )
I'm sure it would. To what extent will be dependent on dose and how you personally respond to it.
Is there any mechanisms by which inhibition in the nervous system can lower testosterone / dht?
Still in puberty with a goal of keeping testosterone high but need to manage my nervous system
I struggle with insomnia / anxiety and so need heavy NMDA antagonism, and to modulate gaba / glutamate otherwise I risk relapsing into insomnia its bad
The stack I currently take daily is: 1.5g elemental magnesium, 3g agmatine, 1g carnosine and 4g inositol, this keeps me very calm, albeit focus is lowered and libido lowers a lot , along with aggression lowered ( which makes me fear its affecting my androgens). I've tried lowering dosages but anything less than this and I relapse into severe isssues
I do everything for high testosterone, nutrient dense diet, sprints 3x a week, fat intake, sleep / stress is good when aided by pharmacology, still get morning wood every morning, and exercise recovery is good but like I just still fear a lot with ocd / health anxiety that my hormones may be getting reduced due to the low libido / aggression / lowered focus.
I know testosterone increases intracelluear calcium, motor neuron firing, but would modulating these nervous system features directly affect T as a backwards mechanism. I search into google and see some studies stuff saying gaba can inhibit gnrh, but it seems very unclear.
Tldr: Happy to feel calm, low focus, lowered aggression, less stereotypically 'androgenic'; but would androgens still remain high keeping its affects on bone growth eg via androgen receptor.
The answer to your first question is technically yes, but It's not something I'd worry about in your case because it should only occur at extremes (blasting potent GABAergics for example), and I definitely wouldn't worry if you're still asymptomatic for low T. Regardless, the negative impact of severe anxiety/insomnia on T/DHT would far outweigh any impact of your current stack (which doesn't have much/any direct GABA action).
It may be worth to experiment with a different stack in order to combat insomnia/anxiety without reducing focus. L-Theanine and taurine are some obvious ones here to implement for some AMPA antagonism and light GABA agonism, respectfully, which may mean you can drop the agmatine dose and see if you can nail a sweet spot. Thought process there is to drop the direct NMDAR antagonism a bit, but combat hyperactivity in other ways that may lead to better behavioral outcomes. Regardless, it takes some experimentation to dial in a stack for individual optimal performance.
You also didn't mention light environment, which is going to be critical here for hormones and preventing insomnia. (block blue light after sunset, get sun in morning and throughout the day, etc.)
The only true way to know if your androgens are being negatively impacted would be bloodwork, but symptomology can give you a good idea. Being in puberty though, higher androgens should be easy mode. Dial the lifestyle factors like you mentioned, fix light environment (if suboptimal), and maybe adjust the stack to find a more desirable outcome.
If you feel like it's a true issue, speak with your doctor about symptoms and get bloodwork done.
Sweet thanks so much. Have noticed that l theanine gives me insomnia as well though, not sure why perhaps due to some glutamate / NMDA atypical stimulating effects? Glycine gives terrible insomnia for me as well so I think it is likely my NMDA receptors are completely dysfunctional? Great to here that the hormones are likely fine, so I'll try adding taurine to better manage agmatine dosage. I Also use NAC + gaba herbs in my system for control acutely.
Pairing theanine with a nice dose of magnesium seems to help the paradoxical stimulation that can happen at night for me and others, but if it still occurs it's obviously not worth it.
Check out my most recent post on GABA/Glutamate. It may be useful in your scenario.