[HN Gopher] What methylene blue can (and can't) do for the brain
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What methylene blue can (and can't) do for the brain
Author : wiry
Score : 72 points
Date : 2025-06-06 14:15 UTC (3 days ago)
(HTM) web link (neurofrontiers.blog)
(TXT) w3m dump (neurofrontiers.blog)
| fhdkweig wrote:
| It can turn it blue.
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methylene_blue#/media/File:Gro...
| landl0rd wrote:
| It can also stain the heart and other tissues. But worth noting
| this was a much higher dose than your typical "biohacker" uses.
| The levels used in a hospital for things like
| methemoglobinemia, septic shock, whatever are many times
| larger.
|
| Regardless, I don't understand why biohackers are often
| obsessed with things like methylene blue when targeted
| modulators usually exist. If someone is obsessed with
| "mitochondrial function" I'd expect him to look at methoxatin
| or something along those lines before something as broadly
| active as methylene blue. If someone wants MAO inhibition
| pharmaceutical options are probably better in terms of
| controllable isoform affinity. I don't see any reason to prefer
| something less well-studied for MAO inhibition over e.g.
| rasagiline or moclobemide.
| dylan604 wrote:
| probably for the same reasons as why people are obsessed with
| colloidal silver. someone once told them it was good, so they
| just went with it.
| wiry wrote:
| maybe it has to do with how easy it is to procure?
| imoldfella wrote:
| Availability: no gatekeepers. methylene blue predates the FDA
| and is grandfathered. Unless you want to break the law, it
| will be hard to biohack with rasagiline or moclobemide. Also
| probably some safety in using something that's been used long
| enough to be grandfathered.
| landl0rd wrote:
| Just about any medication you want can be freely ordered
| from abroad. It is not against the law to use either, as
| they're not controlled substances. It is illegal to sell
| them for medical use without complying with pharmaceutical
| standards and a prescription, but it is not illegal to buy
| them.
| hungryhobbit wrote:
| I think having to order your drugs from another country
| is pretty clearly a "gate keeper": you're basically
| making the point you're trying to argue against.
| paulluuk wrote:
| I order plenty of things online (From other countries)
| and other than having to wait a week, it's trivially
| easy. Is it that much different when it's medicinal
| products?
| quantadev wrote:
| You mean why would it be risky to ingest substances into
| your body from an untrusted source? I think that question
| answers itself.
| landl0rd wrote:
| A while back I grabbed a topical corticosteroid cream
| from an indian subsidiary of an American pharmaceutical
| company because it was cheaper, faster, and easier than a
| dermatologist visit. It's often not a shady no-name
| manufacturer. Some guys in the bodybuilding world will
| get their steroids through Bayer's turkish subsidiary.
| Etc.
| gertop wrote:
| > Just about any medication you want can be freely
| ordered from abroad. It is not against the law to use
| either, as they're not controlled substances.
|
| Interesting, so buying prescription medication from
| abroad (and without a prescription of course) is not
| illegal as long as it isnt a narcotic?
| landl0rd wrote:
| If it's a controlled substance, no. It's illegal to say
| "I'm selling you a drug" that's not an approved,
| appropriately-produced drug that's either OTC or
| dispensed with a prescription.
|
| Because these are usually ordered from overseas companies
| that aren't governed by U.S. regulations, they're in the
| clear. Because it's not actually illegal for you to buy
| it, you're in the clear.
|
| N.B. some "nootropics" are still controlled substances.
| For example, modafinil is I believe schedule IV so you
| technically could be prosecuted though it's unlikely.
| Aurornis wrote:
| FYI: Possessing non-controlled prescription drugs may be
| illegal depending on your state. It's generally a
| misdemeanor offense.
|
| Whether you'd get caught or not is a separate matter, but
| don't assume that it's legal without checking local laws.
| replwoacause wrote:
| Probably because you can buy it at a dish supply store like I
| did almost 20 years ago.
| ajolly wrote:
| Plenty of people are taking Methoxatin (PQQ) as well, I'd
| argue its more common to take than methylene blue.
| JKCalhoun wrote:
| Sent me down a rabbit hole -- found the Blue Fugates of
| Kentucky: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Fugates
|
| Thanks, ha ha.
| tkzed49 wrote:
| thank you, this is the only answer I want
| JKCalhoun wrote:
| Maybe an irresponsible link right here:
| https://wikijo.blogspot.com/2007/08/chemistry-methylene-blue...
| dchristian wrote:
| > the ordered dosage of methylene blue was 1mg/kg/hr
|
| That's 5X what is considered a safe dose.
|
| Up to 2mg/kg/day is considered safe. Double that with care. But
| they were dosing every hour for days!
| Aurornis wrote:
| Methylene Blue is fascinating because it has been present in
| alternative medicine, biohacking, and nootropics forums for
| decades. It seems everyone in those communities discovers it
| eventually, thinks it must be a miracle substance, and then
| either feels nothing or has some initial positive effects that
| are either placebo or diminish quickly with tolerance.
|
| From the anecdotes I've read over the years, very few people
| continue taking it. They either feel nothing, get some worrying
| side effects, or the initial effects they experienced (or
| placebo) disappear after a couple days or weeks. The most
| positive posts seem to be correlated with people taking a dozen
| medications and supplements at the same time, so it's impossible
| to know what's causing their experience.
|
| Another ever-popular medication in these communities is
| Selegiline: Also an MAOI but selective for MAO-B at low doses
| (warning: it's easier to reach MAO-A inhibition with repeated
| dosing, especially sublingual, than many internet sources claim).
| This one draws in people who are in their "dopamine explains
| everything" phase of learning neuroscience and think it must be a
| hack to get "more dopamine". Again, few people continue it and
| many are confused about why they end up fatigued or tired while
| taking it instead of turning into the guy from Limitless.
| Neuropharmacology isn't as simple as taking drugs to push
| neurotransmitter up.
|
| Selegiline was repurposed as an anti-depressant recently, but
| it's delivered transdermally and only showed efficacy at levels
| high enough to be a full MAOI.
| replwoacause wrote:
| Excellent summary. As someone who has taken both and spent an
| inordinate amount of time on Longecity, this is pretty spot on.
| landl0rd wrote:
| Pretty much accurate, this is also my perception.
|
| I think the whole "nootropics" and "biohacking" community would
| benefit from mandatory introductory reading to understand that
| disrupting homeostasis in a durable and meaningful way is
| actually darn hard to do without serious side effects.
| spondylosaurus wrote:
| https://www.thecut.com/article/supplements-made-me-lose-
| my-m...
|
| A recent cautionary tale about someone who took St. John's
| Wort because they didn't want to take antidepressants, then
| quit the STW too quickly... which functionally put them into
| (prolonged, agonizing) SSRI withdrawal.
| HighlandSpring wrote:
| Selegiline is also known as Emsam, the patches reportedly Sam
| Bankman-Fried was on, alongside ADHD meds. I recall reading how
| this may have been a large driver of his compulsive risk it all
| decision making that eventually brought it all down.
| HiroshiSan wrote:
| Here's a much better treatment of methylene blue than this
| article:
|
| https://youtu.be/CnIJbbCvFdQ?si=lQ1i2Ah7ZIt6hewT
|
| One thing to note is the dosages in most studies is way under
| dosed to not even be relevant to the effects.
| jdiff wrote:
| Is it? I don't see any sources linked to any studies at all in
| the description. I do however see an extensive list of
| affiliate and sponsor links to everything from sketchy
| supplements to anti-aging clinics featuring blood analysis to
| the evergreen classic: penis pumps.
| HiroshiSan wrote:
| The studies referenced are highlighted and spread throughout
| the video for each point he talks about.
| getcrunk wrote:
| Didn't Mel Gibson say it cures cancer? On jre
| ycomb-acct wrote:
| no, that was ivermectin and fenbendezole he spoke of.
| profsummergig wrote:
| How this guy is still alive after all the drugs he did in his
| youth, and all the testosterone/steroids he takes now, is a
| mystery to me.
|
| Also, overdoses on methylene blue, apparently:
| https://x.com/iAnonPatriot/status/1887232439770087608
| eYrKEC2 wrote:
| I don't care what kind of quackery it takes to look like this
| at 71. Sign me up.
|
| https://x.com/craigbrockie/status/1865776415934947687
| karlgkk wrote:
| Eating clean, daily exercise. Treating conditions with
| lifestyle changes instead of medication - where feasible.
| That's it for most people. He's not cracked some secret code,
| but he uses it to push his wacky beliefs
| perrygeo wrote:
| Given how long it's been around, the promising results, and how
| many people have been using it for "biohacking" for decades, it
| was at first a little surprising to hear how little double-blind
| clinical research exists. Then you realize: methylene blue can't
| be patented and it's manufacture is no secret. So no one is going
| to make big money from it, therefore no money goes into clinical
| research. All too familiar story, and it really calls into
| question the whole "clinical trials are the arbiter of truth"
| mentality if the one making that claim also controls the purse
| strings!
| spondylosaurus wrote:
| I'm not sure that "can't be patented / manufacture is no
| secret" is necessarily the research bottleneck here, because
| you can make a lot of money selling analogs or derivatives of
| old, boring drugs. There was an interesting ProPublica story
| recently about a drug manufacturer raising the price of their
| (patented) cancer drug to eye-watering levels... and the drug
| in question is an analog of thalidomide!
| https://www.propublica.org/article/revlimid-price-cancer-cel...
|
| One of the claims against this company is that they were
| preventing _other_ companies from getting their hands on
| generic thalidomide, because they didn't want competitors to do
| research that might uncover similar analogs.
|
| (I'm also not convinced that the results for methylene blue are
| especially promising or unique, but that's another matter :P)
| why_at wrote:
| I have only vaguely heard of this substance so I may be missing
| some important context, but I don't think this attitude really
| holds up under scrutiny.
|
| There's plenty of research done on things which can't be
| patented or used to turn a profit in some way. People do
| research on diet, exercise, vitamins, and pharmaceuticals which
| are now generic like aspirin etc. just to name a few off the
| top of my head.
|
| There's also public funding available for research which isn't
| intended to make money for any particular corporation.
| cgio wrote:
| Before taking methylene blue, and if you have genetic origins
| from high risk areas (Mediterranean, African, SE Asia), make sure
| you know that you don't have G6PD. As with all antimalarials,
| G6PD may result in haemolysis. Of course it's also on every blue
| dessert etc. , but don't take your previous exposure as sign of
| immunity. Haemolytic episodes are possible but not given and as
| such you can consume the substance with minor signs for years and
| still end up with an episode.
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