who has tried this combination of l-arginine and pycnogenol?
and found it beneficial?
yes to the former
no to the later
Golf, How has L-arginine benefited you? What brand, and how much do you take?
i meant i have taken both, together, and they have done nothing. and pycnogonol is expensive too.
same here golf…i still have few pills lieing around my supplement cabinet which is vigorously growing lol
L-arginine has helped me.
Initially I had bad results after taking 1000mg one day so I quit it after that. (I was taking high doses of maca as well at the time so it gave me bad stomach problems).
I decided to give L-arginine and only L-arginine(no other suppliments other than vitamins) another shot and it has helped my erections and libido a lot… It is only day 2… so I am expecting the effect to taper off as usual, but we will see 
I am going to start this today (along with my cycle of other supplements).
Based upon some of the other posts the key here is to make sure you are dosing high enough.
How much are you planning on dosing scaredtodeath?
I’ve been doing maybe 2000mg a day
Heyder - I tried 2 g (2000 mg last night along with 50 mg pyno). L-aginine is cheap and just a basic amino acid so I agree we should not develop a tolerance. Pyno is a bit steep.
I am going to start with this twice daily - BlueJay is doing the same and improved 10-20%. I also saw on Boostyourlow testosterone.com the same basic ratio; I thing it was 1.5 gram and 50 mg.
I am going to start high and will see if I taper down at some point - I will note some improvement last night which I have no idea is related to this or not. L-arginine is a building block for NO so you can see how it could be almost like Cialis at 1/10 the price. My guess is right now that most who have used it have used far too little or for too short a period (myself included). I never really saw any improvement with it in the past but never used with pyno. Saw some studies where after a month this helped folks with moderate ED.
Regardless of the hormonal issues, I think keeping blood flowing to the region has to be good for us - healing over time. I am hopeful…
BTW - you may want to check out the site I listed for raising T - far better than going on TRT in my hunble opinion.
In a week, I will dose 2g arginine+50mg pycnogenol 3 days… Double the dose 2days… And 2 days off. I take 1500mg of lysine in-between my high dose arginine days.
This is working well for me.
BlueJay- what does the lysine do?
Comparing arginine to cialis is comical.
Arginine can enhance the growth of herpes viruses, lysine helps counter the effect.
I just want to add that, just because L-arginine is an amino acid does not mean that it is harmless to our bodies. I’d be careful about in taking too much of anything at once.
Also, it takes most drugs 6 weeks before they show their full effects, so stick with it as long as it’s not doing any harm.
I have seen many boards where people take 6-9 grams L-arginine a day so I think we are fine with 2 grams.
Will say it is har to tell if this is having any effect yet. I think most studies point to at least 30-60 days continued use to support NO
starting to doubt this as a treatment protocol but again studies say 30-60 days so I will stick it out
any successes to report?
i am thinking about trying l-citrulline in combination with pycnogenol
you need less citrulline to create more arginine and it keeps arginine levels in blood stable for longer
you can buy the bulk powder for pretty cheap as well, only pycnogenol is expensive
anyone tried l-citrulline with pycnogenol?
Pycnogenol
Read from a study that it increases dht.
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1704 … t=Abstract *
Dihydrotestosterone (DHT): In vitro, French maritime pine bark extract stimulated the synthesis of the physiologically active androgen dihydrotestosterone (DHT) (80). *
Glutathione: In research in diabetic rats, treatment with French maritime pine bark extract, both alone and in combination with other antioxidants, elevated renal glutathione peroxidase, glutathione reductase, hepatic glutathione reductase activities, and glutathione disulfide, or depressed cardiac glutathione disulfide levels (101). Hepatic GSH and cardiac glutathione peroxidase activity were also elevated.
Growth hormone: In vitro, a combination of L-arginine, L-lysine, aged garlic extract (Kyolic®), S-allyl cysteine, and French maritime pine bark extract increased secretion of human growth hormone (14).
More on Pycnogenol benefits for the brain, ED and NO. Great since I have been looking for alternatives to Astaxanthin and Turmeric due to their 5AR activities.
Pycnogenol Boosts Brain and Memory Function
Our delicate brain tissue is especially vulnerable to the effects of aging. The brain receives 30% of overall blood flow, which is good, but which also exposes it to very high levels of oxidant stress. Over time, the other aging mechanisms also accumulate in the brain, eventually leading to loss of memory, slowed learning, and specific conditions like Alzheimer’s disease.
Pycnogenol® is especially good at protecting brain cells from oxidant and inflammatory damage in Alzheimer’s disease.19,44 It slows cell death following exposure to the dangerous “Alzheimer’s protein” called Abeta (amyloid beta), and other oxidant stressors.44,45
Studies show that Pycnogenol® not only blocks oxidant damage, but also increases levels of natural antioxidants in brain cells, further increasing their resilience.44,46
These biochemical effects produce real results in older adults. Three months’ supplementation with Pycnogenol® 150 mg/day in healthy older adults produced significant improvements in working memory.47 That’s the kind of memory you use, for example, when you look up a phone number and remember it long enough to dial it, or to find your way back to your room in a new house or hotel.
Pycnogenol® also helps improve spatial memory in aged animals with low testosterone (a common finding in men after “male menopause”).48 Spatial memory is what you use to remember where you put something, for example.
Menopause in women also causes loss of memory and some other brain functions. Pycnogenol® decreased overall menopausal symptoms in women by 46%, compared with no change in placebo patients, with specific improvement in memory function, concentration, mood, and sleeping patterns.49
Even people at the other end of the age spectrum can benefit from Pycnogenol® supplementation for memory. Healthy students supplemented with Pycnogenol® experienced improved attention, memory, and mood ratings.50 Not only that, but they performed better on real tests. Control students failed 10.7% of their tests, while supplemented students failed only 6.25%; average test scores were 7.6% better in those on supplements.
lef.org/Magazine/2012/8/Pycnogenol/Page-03
On ED and NO:
Another benefit of improved blood flow is better erectile function in men. A dramatic study showed that a combination of L-arginine aspartate and Pycnogenol® intake for one month restored erectile dysfunction to normal, and doubled the frequency of intercourse.25 Along the way, cholesterol and blood pressure were also reduced.
The physiology behind the improvement in erectile function is important, and applies equally to men and women. That’s because nitric oxide, a signaling compound, is essential in dilating blood vessels, not only to allow a normal erection, but also to control blood pressure throughout the body. Our bodies relax their arteries by increasing nitric oxide levels in the vessels’ lining cells, or endothelium.26
Pycnogenol® beneficially modulates nitric oxide production.27 In endothelial cells, Pycnogenol® boosts levels of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS), the enzyme system that produces vessel-relaxing nitric oxide in response to blood flow and blood pressure.28 That effect is powerful enough to overcome the vessel-constricting, blood pressure-elevating effects of adrenaline and other stress-induced compounds.28 The result is an increase in blood flow to vital tissues, and a decrease in blood pressure.27
Animal and human studies have repeatedly shown that treatment of hypertension with Pycnogenol® results in lowered blood pressure and reduced damage to blood vessels and organs such as the kidney.27,29 And the positive elevation of nitric oxide in endothelial tissue can also inhibit LDL cholesterol oxidation, slowing the early development of atherosclerotic plaques.28
Neuroprotective effect of Pycnogenol® following traumatic brain injury.
Abstract
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) involves primary and secondary injury cascades that underlie delayed neuronal dysfunction and death. Oxidative stress is one of the most celebrated secondary injury mechanisms. A close relationship exists between levels of oxidative stress and the pathogenesis of TBI. However, other cascades, such as an increase in proinflammatory cytokines, also play important roles in the overall response to the trauma. Pharmacologic intervention, in order to be successful, requires a multifaceted approach. Naturally occurring flavonoids are unique in possessing not only tremendous free radical scavenging properties but also the ability to modulate cellular homeostasis leading to a reduction in inflammation and cell toxicity. This study evaluated the therapeutic role of Pycnogenol (PYC), a patented combinational bioflavonoid. Young adult Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to a unilateral moderate cortical contusion and treated post injury with PYC or vehicle. At either 48 or 96 h post trauma, the animals were killed and the cortex and hippocampus analyzed for changes in enzymatic and non-enzymatic oxidative stress markers. In addition, possible changes in both pre- and post-synaptic proteins (synapsin-1, PSD-95, drebrin, synapse associated protein-97) were analyzed. Finally, a separate cohort of animals was used to evaluate two proinflammatory cytokines (IL-6, TNF-α). Following the trauma there was a significant increase in oxidative stress in both the injured cortex and the ipsilateral hippocampus. Animals treated with PYC significantly ameliorated levels of protein carbonyls, lipid peroxidation, and protein nitration. The PYC treatment also significantly reduced the loss of key pre- and post-synaptic proteins with some levels in the hippocampus of PYC treated animals not significantly different from sham operated controls. Although levels of the proinflammatory cytokines were significantly elevated in both injury groups, the cohort treated with PYC showed a significant reduction compared to vehicle treated controls. These results are the first to show a neuroprotective effect of PYC following TBI. They also suggest that the diverse effects of bioflavonoids may provide a unique avenue for possible therapeutic intervention following head trauma.