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By Serge Kreutz (2002)
The anti-depressant amineptine (brand name: Survector) has repeatedly been reported to alleviate erectile dysfunction and to make orgasms more powerful.
In a 1999 scientific study titled "Sexual dysfunction with antidepressive agents. Effect of the change to amineptine in patients with sexual dysfunction secondary to SSRI", Angel Luis Montejo (angelluis.montejo@globalmed.es) came to the following conclusion: "Amineptine was shown to be an effective antidepressant in the patients studied, and did not cause secondary sexual dysfunction, and even improved the dysfunction that was present in some patients. In those patients previously treated with SSRI's, amineptine is able to significantly improve the sexual dysfunction and yet maintain the efficacy of the antidepressive treatment used before these 6 months."
And Robert Mason Ph.D. reported on smart-drugs.net:
"Amineptine was a drug unique in that it was a dopamine reuptake inhibitor and was proving very popular as an antidepressant, (as a quick review of any of the internet chat-groups will reveal). Unfortunately, it appeared that amineptine helped aid orgasm and as such was considered by the authorities to be a "drug of abuse and potentially addictive". Many drugs that "interfere" with dopamine have been shown to improve libido, particularly for men (for example deprenyl, L-dopa, and GHB). But perhaps amineptine was even stronger. As a result, it is my understanding that the FDA pressured the foreign manufacturer to remove the drug from the market."
I also encountered the following newsgroup posting
"statusk@aol.com (status quo) wrote in message news:<1b4c530a.0111220739.372b0cc1@posting.google.com>...
"I wish we could still buy amineptine. It would have been a godsend to us, because it increases libido (via dopamine). SSRIs screw up your ability to have sex, and ejaculate, so I wouldn't go near them with a bargepole."
This all sounds promising indeed. However, amineptine is now very difficult to obtain. But I was able to purchase the drug, and I have run a series of test on myself.
I was in Bangkok in late 2001. While Survector is no longer officially marketed in Thailand, the drug had previously been a commercial success in that country. I do not know to which extend this was the case because of non-Thais buying the drug. The package insert is in Thai and in English, but not as detailed as we usually see it for US drugs.
I checked some 20 pharmacies in Bangkok, starting with those around Chulalongkorn Hospital on Rama 4 Road. Survector was known there, but was out of stock, and I had been told that the Thai distributor (InterThai Pharmaceutical Manufacturing) was no longer supplying this medication, which is manufactured by Servier Laboratories in France.
But I was finally able to buy one pack of 100 tablets of 100 mg each at a pharmacy near the Ekamai bus station on Sukhumvit Road in Bangkok. It was the last pack, and rather expensive. The pharmacist told me that the drug was mainly purchased by foreigners, and that some had bought up to ten packs.
I didn't have an immediate opportunity to test the amineptine. But when I did, I was quite disappointed.
On a 50 mg dose, I felt about as much as I would feel from a cup of coffee. When I tried a 100 mg dose, I felt the kind of agitation caused (in me) by practically all anti-depression medications, be it trazadone, buspirone, or even St. John's wort.
OK, amineptine is probably a bit more amphetamine-like. I find that, for example, it suppresses appetite.
But I don't like amphetamine. My experience with amphetamine dates back more than 30 years when the amphetamine brands Captagon and AN-1 were sold over the counter in Europe. As teenagers, we would swallow ten capsules and become totally overexited. This was fashionable to do, but I didn't really enjoy it. I have never tried cocaine, but if it is similar to amphetamine, it's not for me.
Amineptine (Survector) is also not for me.
Anything amphetamine or amphetamine-like causes the male organ to shrink. During my experiments with Captagon and AN-1, at an age of about 16 (and definitely capable to have a sexual erection), my member would shrink to the size of what would fit a five-year-old.
I have never tried a huge overdose of amineptine. But even at 100 mg, I find it counterproductive for erections. They just wouldn't happen on amineptine alone.
I tried it in combination with up to 50 mg of Viagra. Viagra works, no doubt.
In Bangkok I had been told by a German pharmacist that Viagra was "in" among cocaine users, allegedly because cocaine also makes erections more difficult, while the mind is said to become more easily stimulated by sexual fantasies than in a sober state.
But in the case of amineptine, I can't attest to this either. I was just slightly agitated, and not really in the mood, even when the added Viagra made an erection possible.
Oh yeah, amineptine was supposed to help orgasms. BS by my judgment. Amphetamine is effective in the treatment of premature ejaculation, and amineptine should work in the same manner. No facilitation of orgasm; rather a delay.
I have spent considerable effort procuring the amineptine, and I did have anticipations, but it's all hype.
Sure, it may impair libido less than the SSRIs. That shouldn't be very difficult. SSRIs really are heavy artillery against libido and sexual function. So, the pharmaceutical companies who want to launch a new anti-depressant typically finance clinical studies, pitting their own invention against Prozac and letting doctors record which of the two or more drugs impair libido more or less strongly.
And as predicted, the new invention isn't as bad in this respect as Prozac.
But when the results are reported in the media, the message comes across as if the new drug enhances sexuality, while in reality, it just doesn't impair it as badly as Prozac. That's a fine but important difference.
And even if one out of numerous studies comes to the result that some patients on the new medication experience an improvement of sexual function, I am not convinced per se. They typically do this on placebo as well.
I am especially not convinced that a medication, which allegedly has cured the impotence of patients who have been treated with it for depression for many months must also work as kick-on-demand for healthy men who'd like to experience some sexual enhancement.
But I do not judge alleged aphrodisiacs without having tried them myself. After all, the efficacy of yohimbine and bromocriptine is also not recognized in unison, and these two do work as sexual enhancement (with bromocriptine, you will have to take specific precautions to avoid nausea).
I am still looking for cabergoline (Dostinex), pramipexole (Mirapex), and ropinirole (Requip). I understand that quite a number of people are still searching for amineptine (Survector) because it's their preferred anti-depressant. They can have my remaining stock if they can help me to obtain some of those other medications, which I haven't tried yet.
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Copyright Serge Kreutz