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Isolated phytochemicals & plant compounds

Yohimbine

Yohimbine

Compare yohimbine prices by declared alkaloid amount, exact form and batch testing. Yohimbine is an alpha-2 adrenergic antagonist; purified yohimbine HCl and variable yohimbe bark extracts are not equivalent. Human evidence is use-specific, broad nootropic benefit is unproven, and cardiovascular and anxiety risks matter.

WakefulnessPhysical PerformanceLibido VitalityAdrenergicIsolated CompoundBioavailability SensitiveClinical Research
Updated October 2026/9 min read/15 citations
Reviewed by the NootropicsIndex editorial team.Method: prioritize cited human research and official safety or regulatory sources; compare retailer-listed prices without endorsing products.Affiliate disclosure
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Yohimbine is the isolated alkaloid found in Yohimbe Bark Extract.

Isolated compoundYohimbineIsolated phytochemicals & plant compounds
Isolated from
Botanical source / extractYohimbe Bark ExtractBotanical & herbal supplements
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Yohimbine is the isolated alkaloid. Yohimbe bark extract is the botanical source and can vary by alkaloid content, standardization, and labeling accuracy.

01

What is it?

Overview

3

Yohimbine is an indole alkaloid associated with yohimbe bark and an alpha-2 adrenergic antagonist. Purified HCl medicine studies and variable bark supplements are different evidence contexts. Compare declared yohimbine amount and form before comparing package price; broad cognitive benefit is unproven.

Not a general nootropic8
Yohimbine can feel stimulating because it increases adrenergic signaling, but stimulation is not the same as reliable focus, memory, or learning support. Safety and product-quality cautions are more important than nootropic positioning.
02

Names, aliases and forms

Salt FormYohimbine HCl
03

Mechanisms of action

Mechanism snapshot

8

Yohimbine blocks alpha-2 adrenergic receptors, including presynaptic autoreceptors that normally restrain norepinephrine release. That mechanism can increase noradrenergic tone, which helps explain both activating effects and adverse effects such as anxiety, palpitations, and blood-pressure sensitivity.

04

Potential effects and evidence map

Older trials of purified yohimbine concern erectile-function patients, not general libido or cognitive enhancement in healthy adults. A small athlete study reported body-fat changes but no exercise-performance benefit. Pharmacology establishes adrenergic activity, not a broad nootropic effect.

Effect domainMagnitudeGrade
Mental energy / wakefulness8
UnknownConfidence: Medium

Adrenergic stimulation is documented, but an improvement in healthy-adult mental energy or cognitive performance is not established.

Note Zero means no established healthy-adult benefit magnitude for this domain; it does not prove pharmacological inactivity.

0/5
C
Libido / vitality4
UnknownConfidence: Medium

Older erectile-function patient trials of purified yohimbine HCl do not establish a general libido or vitality benefit in healthy adults.

Note A patient erectile-function result cannot quantify healthy-adult libido or vitality.

0/5
B
Physical energy / endurance10
UnknownConfidence: Low

A 20-player trial found no improvement in exercise-performance tests; a body-fat signal does not establish an endurance benefit.

Note A zero endurance score reflects the null performance tests, not an absence of every body-composition effect.

0/5
C
05

Typical dosages and timing

Typical
5-10 mg
Not a recommendation
Lower bound
5 mg
Profile value
Upper bound
10 mg
Profile value
Per-administration context25-10 mg

The LiverTox monograph describes this per-administration amount for purified oral yohimbine in historical medical use. It is not a validated healthy-adult nootropic regimen. Daily totals depend on the study or medicine schedule; bark extract mass is not yohimbine mass.

06

Timing & effect horizon

Effect horizonUnknown
Unknown
Half-life9Acute
0.6 hours
Plasma elimination is not effect duration9

In seven healthy men given a single oral 10 mg HCl dose, parent-drug elimination The time for blood levels to fall by half during the final elimination phase.Source averaged 0.58 hours, rounded here to 0.6 hours. Oral bioavailability ranged from 7% to 87%. This small study does not establish subjective onset, useful effect duration, or a repeat-dose interval; metabolite and individual variability limit a simple clock.

07

Safety, side effects and risk profile

Moderate base risk with specific serious hazards2
The moderate rating concerns purified oral, low-milligram exposure over the short studied periods in adults. Low would understate common activation and potentially serious blood-pressure or heart-rate effects; high would overgeneralize selected poison reports and high-dose products to ordinary exposure. Most effects described in medical reviews are transient, but recovery from a severe reaction can require clinical care. Healthy-user incidence and long-term safety remain uncertain.
Selected supplement reports can be serious6
In a California poison-center series, most symptomatic reports involved herbal products; serious outcomes were more frequent than for poison exposures overall. The series does not provide the total number of exposed users and cannot estimate the likelihood of harm from a defined purified oral dose.
Driving and prolonged use cautions14
The official oral HCl leaflet warns that individual central nervous system effects can reduce driving or machinery ability, particularly with alcohol. It calls for blood-pressure monitoring with repeated or prolonged medicinal use. These clinical precautions do not establish the safety of an unsupervised consumer cycle.
Priapism and other urgent reactions14
The official oral HCl leaflet lists priapism, bronchospasm and respiratory depression as serious reactions of unknown frequency. An erection persisting beyond four hours requires urgent medical assessment: the leaflet warns of tissue damage and possible permanent erectile impairment. Unknown frequency does not mean these reactions are harmless or confined to overdose.
Overdose is a separate severe hazard2
The clinical monograph documents hypotension, tachycardia, seizures, paralysis and coma in overdose, including reported deaths. These severe exposures should not be confused with the usually transient adverse effects described at ordinary medicinal doses or used as a consumer dose threshold.
Cardiovascular caution14
Confidence: Medium

The official oral HCl leaflet lists blood-pressure increases or decreases, palpitations and tachycardia as uncommon but potentially serious. Selected supplement poison reports separately include severe outcomes; they do not measure ordinary-dose incidence.

3/5
B
Overstimulation / insomnia14
Confidence: High

Insomnia, anxiety, agitation and irritability are common listed adverse effects of oral yohimbine HCl. Panic-disorder challenge participants were more sensitive than healthy controls.

3/5
B
Interaction risk13
Confidence: High

Stimulants, MAOIs, some antidepressants, ADHD medicines and blood-pressure-active drugs raise distinct interaction concerns. Risks vary by combination and are not a quantified healthy-adult base incidence.

Unscored
B
Pregnancy / lactation caution1
Confidence: High

Pregnancy and lactation safety is insufficiently established. NCCIH warns that oral yohimbe may be unsafe in these populations; this does not supply a numerical risk estimate.

Unscored
E
Legal / regulatory risk1
Confidence: High

As checked in October 2026, U.S. marketing of an OTC yohimbine product for erectile dysfunction requires FDA approval. Medicine, food and import rules differ by jurisdiction and product.

Unscored
C
Evidence uncertainty5
Confidence: High

A historical analysis found variable yohimbine content and inaccurate labels in U.S. yohimbe/yohimbine products. It does not establish the composition of every current listing.

Unscored
C
Ordinary adverse effects and selected poison reports14

The official 5 mg HCl medicine leaflet lists insomnia, anxiety, agitation, headache and nausea as common; potentially serious blood-pressure changes and tachycardia are uncommon. Case and poison-center reports include more severe cardiovascular and neurologic events, often involving variable supplement products. Those selected reports cannot provide a typical-user event rate.

Medical contraindications are separate from the base rating14

The official HCl leaflet lists severe liver or kidney dysfunction, glaucoma and psychiatric disorders, particularly panic or mood disorders, among contraindications. It warns that renal problems can worsen and impaired liver function can intensify effects. It also excludes men with severe cardiovascular disease when sexual activity is inadvisable. These targeted medicine restrictions are distinct from a general healthy-adult base estimate.

08

Interactions and cautions

Interaction cautions13

Stimulants, MAOIs, certain antidepressants, ADHD medicines and drugs affecting blood pressure raise interaction concerns. A June 2026 FDA warning about undeclared, dangerously high yohimbine in a named sexual-enhancement product highlights increased risk with stimulants and some psychiatric medicines. That warning is not a measured risk rate for every yohimbine product.

09

Legal and regulatory status

United States marketing context1

United States, checked 19 October 2026: dietary supplements do not receive FDA approval before sale. NCCIH states that an OTC product containing yohimbine cannot legally be marketed for erectile dysfunction without FDA approval. This marketing rule is not a global possession rule or an assurance of import eligibility.

European Union: bark-food rule differs from medicine status15

European Union, checked 19 October 2026: Regulation (EU) 2019/650 prohibits yohimbe bark and its preparations in foods. Its named scope is the botanical bark/preparations. It should not be read as a worldwide rule for all purified yohimbine medicines; national medicine, supplement and import classifications still matter.

10

How it compares

Not interchangeable5

Most clinical evidence concerns purified yohimbine HCl, while yohimbe bark extracts can vary in alkaloid content and may contain related alkaloids. Product analyses found large differences between labeled and measured yohimbine content.

11

Practical buying and quality notes

  • For product comparison, check quantified yohimbine content, whether the label specifies HCl or another form, capsule count and current independent identity/content testing. Bark-extract milligrams and a percentage standardization claim are not interchangeable with purified alkaloid milligrams. A low package price or certificate alone does not establish safety or clinical equivalence.5
  • At the October 2026 review, the displayed offers were labeled Yohimbe Extract. Those botanical labels do not establish purified HCl identity or a quantified yohimbine amount. Do not equate an extract-gram price or package size with the historical purified milligram dose above. Confirm the actual product form, alkaloid disclosure, package size and serving information on the merchant label; catalog figures can be incomplete or stale.5
12

FAQ

Is yohimbine a nootropic?

3

Not in the usual evidence-based sense. It has adrenergic stimulant-like pharmacology, but human evidence does not establish reliable focus, memory, or learning benefits.

Is yohimbe bark the same as yohimbine HCl?

5

No. Yohimbine HCl is the purified salt form used in much of the clinical literature. Yohimbe bark supplements can vary substantially in alkaloid content and labeling accuracy.

What dosage has been studied?

2

Purified HCl studies use defined milligram amounts and selected populations. The compact dose shown here is historical medical context, not a recommended nootropic dose. A bark-extract label or an unknown blend cannot be converted into a reliable clinical exposure without measured alkaloid content.

How long does yohimbine last, and is there an established cycle?

9

The short parent-drug plasma half-life is not a guaranteed duration of stimulation or benefit. Individual bioavailability varies widely, and no validated healthy-adult nootropic cycle follows from these pharmacokinetic data. A study course is different from a safe repeat-use plan.

Which cautions matter most?

1

Cardiovascular disease, abnormal blood pressure, panic or anxiety disorders, stimulant sensitivity, pregnancy or lactation, and interacting medicines require particular caution. Published safety reports do not establish a safe self-directed regimen for these populations.

13

References

  1. National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. Yohimbe: Usefulness and Safety. Last updated May 2025.
  2. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. Yohimbine. LiverTox: Clinical and Research Information on Drug-Induced Liver Injury.
  3. Tam SW, Worcel M, Wyllie M. Yohimbine: a clinical review. Pharmacology & Therapeutics. 2001;91(3):215-243.
  4. Ernst E, Pittler MH. Yohimbine for erectile dysfunction: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials. Journal of Urology. 1998;159(2):433-436.
  5. Cohen PA, Wang YH, Maller G, DeSouza R, Khan IA. Pharmaceutical quantities of yohimbine found in dietary supplements in the USA. Drug Testing and Analysis. 2016;8(3-4):357-369.
  6. Kearney T, Tu N, Haller C. Adverse drug events associated with yohimbine-containing products: a retrospective review of the California Poison Control System reported cases. Annals of Pharmacotherapy. 2010;44(6):1022-1029.
  7. Charney DS, Heninger GR, Breier A. Noradrenergic function in panic anxiety: effects of yohimbine in healthy subjects and patients with agoraphobia and panic disorder. Archives of General Psychiatry. 1984;41(8):751-763.
  8. Hedner T, Edgar B, Edvinsson L, Hedner J, Persson B. Yohimbine pharmacokinetics and interaction with the sympathetic nervous system in normal volunteers. European Journal of Clinical Pharmacology. 1992;43(6):651-656.
  9. Guthrie SK, Hariharan M, Grunhaus LJ. Yohimbine bioavailability in humans. European Journal of Clinical Pharmacology. 1990;39(4):409-411.
  10. Ostojic SM. Yohimbine: the effects on body composition and exercise performance in soccer players. Research in Sports Medicine. 2006;14(4):289-299.
  11. Cimolai N, Cimolai T. Yohimbine use for physical enhancement and its potential toxicity. Journal of Dietary Supplements. 2011;8(4):346-354.
  12. EFSA Panel on Food Additives and Nutrient Sources Added to Food. Scientific Opinion on the evaluation of the safety in use of Yohimbe (Pausinystalia yohimbe). EFSA Journal. 2013;11(7):3302.
  13. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Branch Manager for Men may be harmful due to hidden drug ingredient. Medication Health Fraud Notification. Content current as of June 10, 2026.
  14. Federal Agency for Medicines and Health Products (Belgium). Yocoral 5 mg tablets: patient information leaflet, yohimbine hydrochloride. Checked 19 October 2026.
  15. European Commission. Commission Regulation (EU) 2019/650 of 24 April 2019, amending Annex III to Regulation (EC) No 1925/2006 as regards Yohimbe.
Note

This page is informational and summarizes available evidence. It is not medical advice, a recommendation, or a substitute for guidance from a qualified clinician.