I am currently having one of the most wretched drug experiences of my life, thanks to yohimbe.
First, a little background; I'm a sufferer of clinical depression, and I'm on a regimen of drugs which seriously depresses my sexual response. Having heard that yohimbe could combat this side-effect, I purchased a quantity of yohimbe bark from a local herb-shop and tried it out.
I made a tea by placing about 2 tablespoons of the bark in a tea ball and steeping it in boiling hot water for 5-10 minutes. The tea, sweetened with honey, was drinkable and not particularly foul tasting. I noticed the effects within an hour; I felt sped up, uncomfortable, and a little nauseous. Paradoxically, I also felt like lying down (I wish I felt that way now.)
It's some eight hours later and I'm completely unable to go to sleep; the normally cheerful prospect of lying down in bed with my boyfriend is impossible to contemplate, because I can't sit still for more than five minutes and I don't want to wake him up. I resorted to alcohol, the only depressant I had on hand, to try to get to sleep, but it was no use. I've lost track of the number of times I've had to get up to pee; evidently this stuff exerts a diuretic effect. Also, I notice a mydriatic effect; my pupils are wide and dilated. The effect on my mood has not been pleasant, either; I've found myself dwelling on unpleasant things and experiencing something like panic.
It came as little consolation that I was, in fact, able to have sex; I got little pleasure from it.
I may try this again at a significantly lower dosage, because it did do what it was supposed to do, sort of. But right now it's looking as though I'm not to get a wink of sleep before sunrise, and that's a depressing thought.
