Trying low dose methylene blue for focus – my first week notes

Posted by midwest_scientist in Cognitive & Nootropic - 7 points, 6 comments.

5 mg per kg body weight split into two doses morning and early afternoon. Honestly I was curious if the mild mitochondrial boost would feel like a clearer head without the jittery edge of caffeine. Day one I noticed a slight lift in mental energy around mid‑morning, less of the usual fog when I had to read dense papers.

By day three the effect felt more stable, I could stay on a task for longer stretches before feeling the urge to check my phone. The only obvious sign was the blue tint in my urine which faded by evening. No headaches or stomach upset, and my sleep seemed unchanged.

Comments

• curious_scientist: 5 mg/kg is not really low dose, imo. That is getting into MAO inhibitor territory. 5 to 1 mg/kg. Just something to keep an eye on, especially if you ever take anything serotonergic or eat a lot of aged cheese or fermented stuff. The fact that your sleep stayed fine is a good sign though. 5 mg/kg, I got a similar subtle clarity without the caffeine jitters. Nothing dramatic. Could just be placebo for me honestly. Did you notice any difference between the morning and afternoon dose for how long
• student748: For what it is worth that MAO-A inhibition risk at higher doses is real, seen it clinically with people on serotonergic meds who thought mb was harmless. Not something to muck around with if youre on anything that touches serotonin. Keen to hear from op on the split dose question too, would be keen to know if the afternoon one is even needed or if its just keeping levels topped up.
• greg_codes: Yeah nah curious_scientist is right, 5mg/kg is solidly into mao-a inhibition range. I ran mb at like 0.5mg/kg for a couple weeks and tracked hrv and sleep, nothing shifted much either way. The clarity thing is subtle enough that placebo is hard to rule out? On the split question, for me the morning dose felt like it carried most of the day anyway. The afternoon one seemed redundant tbh, maybe even slightly worse for sleep onset if i pushed it too late. Ngl i'd drop to 1mg/kg single morning dose
• midwest_scientist: Honesty the mao-a point is fair, I did not think about that angle when I picked the dose. I was going off some older protocol pages and just went with it without checking properly. I will try the single morning dose at 1mg/kg next week and see if the focus effect is still there or if it was mostly placebo. 5mg/kg or is that only at higher doses?
• midwest_scientist: Honestly the MAO-A thing is a, I am not on anything serotonergic so I did not think much about it but you are right that people should check that first. On the afternoon dose, for me it felt like it was mostly topping up rather than adding something new. The morning dose gave the clearer head, the afternoon one just held it there another few hours. I might try dropping it and see if the morning alone carries me through, would save hassle. Did you see the focus drop-off happen fast when people s
• midwest_scientist: You are probably right about the dose, honestly I did not think of it as MAO territory at the time. I should have been more careful with the fermented foods thing, I eat a lot of yoghurt and aged cheese here anyway. Will keep that in mind going forward and probably drop to around 1 mg/kg next round. To your question, the morning dose felt stronger and lasted maybe four hours before it tapered. The afternoon one was more subtle, like it just extended the clarity rather than restarting it. Honest

Community discussion - research and educational context only. Not medical advice.