Support compounds

Yohimbine HCL

Updated · 30 sources · Editorial policy

Yohimbine hydrochloride (yohimbine HCl) is the salt form of yohimbine, an alkaloid found in the bark of the West and Central African tree Pausinystalia johimbe (yohimbe). It blocks alpha-2 adrenergic receptors, which raises the release of norepinephrine. It was studied for decades as an oral treatment for erectile dysfunction (ED), and today it is sold mainly in “fat burner,” pre-workout and sexual-enhancement supplements.

The most important fact is that yohimbine is not an FDA-approved drug for any use. The FDA has ruled that no over-the-counter aphrodisiac ingredient, yohimbine included, is generally recognized as safe and effective. The American Urological Association concluded in 1996 that it should not be recommended for organic ED. Poison-center data link yohimbine products to rapid heart rate, high blood pressure and anxiety, and supplement labels are often inaccurate.

This page summarizes what clinical trials, poison-center studies and regulators report. It is for education only and is not medical advice.

Property Detail
Class Indole alkaloid; alpha-2 adrenergic receptor antagonist
Source Bark of Pausinystalia johimbe; supplement yohimbine may also be synthetic or highly processed
Route Oral (tablets, capsules)
Doses in cited trials 18–43 mg/day in divided doses (ED and weight trials); single doses of 2.5–21.6 mg (acute studies)
Half-life ≈0.6–1.5 h for yohimbine; ≈5.8 h for its hydroxylated metabolite 11-OH-yohimbine
Oral bioavailability Highly variable: 7–87% between individuals in one study
US status No FDA-approved product; not recognized as safe and effective as an OTC aphrodisiac (21 CFR 310.528); sold in dietary supplements; not a controlled substance
EU status Yohimbe bark and its preparations prohibited in foods since 2019
WADA status Not named on the 2026 Prohibited List

What it is

Yohimbine is the main alkaloid in yohimbe bark, which also contains the related alkaloids rauwolscine and corynanthine (Cohen et al., Drug Test Anal 2016). The bark has a traditional use as an aphrodisiac (NCCIH).

Form Formula Molecular weight
Yohimbine (free base) C₂₁H₂₆N₂O₃ 354.4 g/mol (PubChem)
Yohimbine hydrochloride C₂₁H₂₇ClN₂O₃ 390.9 g/mol (PubChem)

By weight, about 91% of yohimbine HCl is yohimbine itself. The hydrochloride is the purified pharmaceutical form, and several of the trials below specify it. “Yohimbe” supplements, in contrast, are bark extracts whose yohimbine content is often unknown.

Mechanism

Alpha-2 adrenergic receptors act as brakes. On nerve endings they limit how much norepinephrine (noradrenaline) is released, and on fat cells they oppose fat breakdown (lipolysis). Yohimbine blocks these receptors. In human studies:

The same rise in norepinephrine is thought to underlie its main side effects: faster heart rate, higher blood pressure and anxiety.

Pharmacokinetics

Yohimbine is absorbed quickly and cleared quickly, but how much reaches the blood varies a great deal from person to person.

Parameter Value Source
Elimination half-life, oral 10 mg 0.58 h Guthrie et al. 1990 (7 healthy men)
Elimination half-life, IV 0.68 h (Guthrie); 91 ± 34 min (Le Corre) Guthrie et al. 1990; Le Corre et al. 1999
Oral bioavailability Mean 33%, range 7–87% (Guthrie); 22.3 ± 21.5% (Le Corre) Same
Volume of distribution 32.2 L Le Corre et al. 1999
Main metabolite 11-OH-yohimbine, half-life 347 ± 63 min Le Corre et al. 1999
Unchanged drug in urine About 0.1% of the dose Le Corre et al. 1999

Key points from these studies:

  • Metabolism. Almost no unchanged yohimbine is cleared by the kidneys. It is broken down mainly by hydroxylation, and one subject in the Le Corre study was a “slow hydroxylator.”
  • Food. In a single-dose study using up to 21.6 mg, a high-fat meal reduced both the rate and the extent of absorption (Grasing et al., J Clin Pharmacol 1996). The fat-mobilizing effect seen in fasting volunteers was completely suppressed after a meal (Galitzky et al. 1988).
  • Exposure drives effects. In the Grasing study, blood pressure, breathing rate, catecholamines and mood changes rose in people with the highest blood levels. Some individuals had much higher bioavailability than others.

Because exposure from the same dose can differ several-fold between people, the same amount can be mild for one person and produce marked effects in another.

Regulatory status

  • United States, drugs. Under 21 CFR 310.528, the FDA lists yohimbine, yohimbine hydrochloride and yohimbinum among ingredients that have appeared in OTC aphrodisiac products. It states there are not adequate data to establish any of them as safe and effective for that use, so an OTC product labeled as an aphrodisiac needs an approved new drug application (21 CFR 310.528). FDA’s Drugs@FDA data list no approved yohimbine application (openFDA Drugs@FDA query). Prescription yohimbine products were also available, but nearly all poison-center cases in California in 2000–2006 involved herbal products (Kearney et al., Ann Pharmacother 2010).
  • United States, supplements. Yohimbe and yohimbine are sold as dietary supplements, which do not need FDA approval before sale. NCCIH notes it is illegal to market an OTC yohimbine product as an ED treatment without FDA approval (NCCIH).
  • Controlled substances. Yohimbine is not listed in any of the DEA schedules in 21 CFR 1308.
  • European Union. In 2019 the European Commission added “Yohimbe bark and its preparations” to Part A of Annex III of Regulation (EC) 1925/2006, which prohibits their use in food. The reason given was that no one submitted safety data after the plant was placed under scrutiny in 2015 (Regulation (EU) 2019/650).
  • Sport. Yohimbine is not named on the WADA 2026 Prohibited List. Supplements that contain it can, however, be mislabeled (see below).

What the research shows

Erectile dysfunction

Before sildenafil (Viagra) and tadalafil (Cialis), yohimbine was the only oral drug the American Urological Association’s 1996 guideline panel analyzed for ED. Randomized trial results were mixed:

Trial Men Daily dose Design / duration Response, yohimbine vs placebo
Reid et al., Lancet 1987 48, psychogenic ED 18 mg 10 weeks, partial crossover 62% vs 16% (p under 0.05)
Morales et al., J Urol 1987 100, organic ED 18 mg Randomized, partial crossover 42.6% vs 27.6% (not significant)
Vogt et al., Int J Impot Res 1997 86, no clear organic cause 30 mg 8 weeks 71% vs 45% (significant)
Kunelius et al., Urology 1997 29, mixed-type ED 36 mg 25-day crossover 44% vs 48% (no difference)

Pooled analyses favor yohimbine over placebo:

  • A 1998 meta-analysis of 7 placebo-controlled trials found an odds ratio of 3.85 (95% CI 2.22–6.67) for response (Ernst and Pittler, J Urol 1998).
  • A 2021 meta-analysis of 8 randomized trials found yohimbine alone improved erectile function vs placebo (OR 2.08, 95% CI 1.30–3.32). It did not significantly improve overall sexual function on its own (p = 0.07) (Wibowo et al., Turk J Urol 2021).

The trials were small, short and used older, less standardized outcome measures. The American Urological Association’s 1996 guideline panel judged yohimbine a therapy of “marginal efficacy” and advised against recommending it for the standard patient with organic ED (Montague et al., J Urol 1996).

Fat loss and body weight

Yohimbine’s ability to mobilize fat in fasting volunteers made it a candidate weight-loss drug. Controlled trials in people do not show a consistent effect:

Trial Participants Daily dose Duration Result
Berlin et al., J Pharmacol 1986 19 obese adults on a 1,000 kcal diet 18 mg 8 weeks No difference in weight or blood lipids vs placebo
Kucio et al., Isr J Med Sci 1991 20 obese women on a 1,000 kcal diet 20 mg (5 mg four times daily) 3 weeks Weight loss 3.55 kg vs 2.21 kg on placebo (p under 0.005)
Sax, Int J Obes 1991 47 men (33 completed) Up to 43 mg 6 months No effect on weight, body fat, waist-to-hip ratio, CT-measured fat distribution or cholesterol
Ostojic, Res Sports Med 2006 20 professional male soccer players 20 mg (two doses) 21 days Body fat 9.3% to 7.1%; no change in body mass, muscle mass or performance tests

The only positive trials were 3 weeks long and had 20 participants each. The longest and largest trial found no effect. The soccer study reported a drop of about two percentage points in body fat in already lean athletes, with no change in body mass.

Exercise performance

Evidence is limited to small acute studies. In a crossover trial in 18 physically active women, a single 2.5 mg dose taken 20 minutes before three 15-second all-out cycling sprints increased mean power and total work, lowered the fatigue index and post-exercise lactate, and raised epinephrine compared with placebo (Barnes et al., Int J Environ Res Public Health 2022). The effect sizes for power were small (η² 0.024). In the 2006 soccer trial, three weeks of 20 mg/day did not change strength, jump or sprint tests (Ostojic 2006). NCCIH concludes there is not enough research to say whether yohimbe helps with athletic performance, ED or obesity (NCCIH).

Side effects and risks

Poison-center data

A review of the California Poison Control System from 2000 to 2006 found 238 symptomatic adult cases linked to yohimbine products (Kearney et al., Ann Pharmacother 2010):

Finding Value
Cases involving herbal (not prescription) products 98.7%
Reason for use: sexual enhancement / weight loss / stimulant 27.7% / 9.2% / 7.6%
Gastrointestinal distress 46%
Tachycardia (fast heart rate) 43%
Anxiety or agitation 33%
Hypertension (high blood pressure) 25%
Severe outcome vs average poison-center exposure OR 5.81 (95% CI 4.43–7.64)
Needed care at a health-care facility vs average exposure OR 2.35 (95% CI 1.82–3.04)

Yearly case rates rose from 1.8 to 8.0 per 10,000 adult exposures over the study period. NCCIH also lists irregular heart rhythm, heart attacks and seizures among events associated with yohimbine (NCCIH).

Blood pressure and heart rate

The norepinephrine surge raises blood pressure and heart rate, and people with high blood pressure appear more sensitive. In a randomized placebo-controlled study, a single 10 mg oral dose raised diastolic blood pressure in 29 untreated hypertensive patients but not in 25 healthy volunteers (Musso et al., Am J Hypertens 1995).

Anxiety and panic

Yohimbine is used in psychiatric research as a “challenge” drug because it can provoke anxiety. In 39 patients with agoraphobia and panic attacks, it caused larger increases in anxiety, nervousness, palpitations, tremor and systolic blood pressure than in 20 healthy subjects (Charney et al., Arch Gen Psychiatry 1984). People with panic or anxiety disorders are therefore especially likely to react badly.

Overdose

Case reports describe severe toxicity. In one report, four men were poisoned at the same time and one died; his blood yohimbine level was 5,631 ng/mL, with no other toxic cause found (Zhu et al., Forensic Sci Int 2021).

Interactions

  • Antidepressants. NCCIH advises against yohimbe use with monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) or tricyclic antidepressants because of interaction risk (NCCIH).
  • Clonidine and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors. A 39-year-old woman taking clonidine, bupropion and desvenlafaxine developed a blood pressure of 198/93 and a brain hemorrhage after a yohimbine-labeled supplement. The authors could not confirm the product’s contents, so causation is not proven (Hodapp et al., Am J Emerg Med 2022).

Who should avoid it

Based on the evidence above, the groups at highest risk include people with high blood pressure, heart rhythm problems or heart disease, panic or anxiety disorders, and people taking MAOIs, tricyclic antidepressants or clonidine. NCCIH notes oral yohimbe may be unsafe during pregnancy or breastfeeding (NCCIH).

Quality and contamination

An analysis of 49 US supplement brands labeled as containing yohimbe or yohimbine, bought from seven major retailers, found the following (Cohen et al., Drug Test Anal 2016):

  • Yohimbine per serving ranged from none detected to 12.1 mg.
  • Only 22% (11/49) stated a specific yohimbine amount, and most of those were inaccurate, at 23–147% of the labeled amount.
  • 39% (19/49) contained no rauwolscine or corynanthine. This suggests the yohimbine was synthetic or from a highly processed extract rather than whole bark.
  • 18% (9/49) gave no warning about side effects. Only 4.1% (2/49) gave both an accurate amount and side-effect information.

Combined with the wide person-to-person differences in absorption, this means the actual dose a user gets from a supplement is often unknown.

Key takeaways

  • An alpha-2 blocker, not an approved drug. Yohimbine raises norepinephrine release. No yohimbine product is FDA-approved, and the FDA does not recognize it as safe and effective as an OTC aphrodisiac.
  • Short, unpredictable kinetics. Its half-life is under about 1.5 hours, but oral bioavailability ranged from 7% to 87% between people in one study, and a fatty meal reduces absorption.
  • Modest, inconsistent ED benefit. Meta-analyses favor it over placebo in small, older trials, but the AUA judged its efficacy marginal for organic ED.
  • Weak fat-loss evidence. Two 3-week trials showed small benefits; an 8-week trial and the largest, 6-month trial found no effect on weight or body fat.
  • Real cardiovascular and psychiatric risks. Poison-center cases commonly involved tachycardia, hypertension and anxiety, with more severe outcomes than average exposures. It can provoke panic in susceptible people.
  • Labels are unreliable. Most US supplements tested did not state an accurate yohimbine amount, and the EU has banned yohimbe bark in foods.

Sources

  1. Cohen PA, Wang YH, Maller G, et al. Pharmaceutical quantities of yohimbine found in dietary supplements in the USA. Drug Test Anal. 2016;8(3-4):357–369. PubMed.
  2. National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. Yohimbe: usefulness and safety. NCCIH.
  3. National Center for Biotechnology Information. PubChem compound summaries: yohimbine (CID 8969) and yohimbine hydrochloride (CID 6169). PubChem; PubChem.
  4. Galitzky J, Taouis M, Berlan M, et al. Alpha 2-antagonist compounds and lipid mobilization: evidence for a lipid mobilizing effect of oral yohimbine in healthy male volunteers. Eur J Clin Invest. 1988;18(6):587–594. PubMed.
  5. Berlan M, Galitzky J, Riviere D, et al. Plasma catecholamine levels and lipid mobilization induced by yohimbine in obese and non-obese women. Int J Obes. 1991;15(5):305–315. PubMed.
  6. Guthrie SK, Hariharan M, Grunhaus LJ. Yohimbine bioavailability in humans. Eur J Clin Pharmacol. 1990;39(4):409–411. PubMed.
  7. Le Corre P, Dollo G, Chevanne F, et al. Biopharmaceutics and metabolism of yohimbine in humans. Eur J Pharm Sci. 1999;9(1):79–84. PubMed.
  8. Grasing K, Sturgill MG, Rosen RC, et al. Effects of yohimbine on autonomic measures are determined by individual values for area under the concentration-time curve. J Clin Pharmacol. 1996;36(9):814–822. PubMed.
  9. Food and Drug Administration. Drug products containing active ingredients offered over-the-counter (OTC) for use as an aphrodisiac. 21 CFR 310.528. eCFR.
  10. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. openFDA Drugs@FDA dataset: search for active ingredient yohimbine (no matching records; accessed October 2026). openFDA.
  11. Drug Enforcement Administration. Schedules of controlled substances. 21 CFR part 1308. eCFR.
  12. European Commission. Commission Regulation (EU) 2019/650 of 24 April 2019 amending Annex III to Regulation (EC) No 1925/2006 as regards Yohimbe (Pausinystalia yohimbe (K. Schum) Pierre ex Beille). Official Journal of the European Union. 2019;L 110:21. EUR-Lex.
  13. World Anti-Doping Agency. The 2026 Prohibited List. WADA 2026 Prohibited List.
  14. Reid K, Surridge DH, Morales A, et al. Double-blind trial of yohimbine in treatment of psychogenic impotence. Lancet. 1987;2(8556):421–423. PubMed.
  15. Morales A, Condra M, Owen JA, et al. Is yohimbine effective in the treatment of organic impotence? Results of a controlled trial. J Urol. 1987;137(6):1168–1172. PubMed.
  16. Vogt HJ, Brandl P, Kockott G, et al. Double-blind, placebo-controlled safety and efficacy trial with yohimbine hydrochloride in the treatment of nonorganic erectile dysfunction. Int J Impot Res. 1997;9(3):155–161. PubMed.
  17. Kunelius P, Häkkinen J, Lukkarinen O. Is high-dose yohimbine hydrochloride effective in the treatment of mixed-type impotence? A prospective, randomized, controlled double-blind crossover study. Urology. 1997;49(3):441–444. PubMed.
  18. Ernst E, Pittler MH. Yohimbine for erectile dysfunction: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials. J Urol. 1998;159(2):433–436. PubMed.
  19. Wibowo DNSA, Soebadi DM, Soebadi MA. Yohimbine as a treatment for erectile dysfunction: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Turk J Urol. 2021;47(6):482–488. PubMed.
  20. Montague DK, Barada JH, Belker AM, et al. Clinical guidelines panel on erectile dysfunction: summary report on the treatment of organic erectile dysfunction. The American Urological Association. J Urol. 1996;156(6):2007–2011. PubMed.
  21. Berlin I, Stalla-Bourdillon A, Thuillier Y, et al. [Lack of efficacy of yohimbine in the treatment of obesity]. J Pharmacol. 1986;17(3):343–347. PubMed.
  22. Kucio C, Jonderko K, Piskorska D. Does yohimbine act as a slimming drug? Isr J Med Sci. 1991;27(10):550–556. PubMed.
  23. Sax L. Yohimbine does not affect fat distribution in men. Int J Obes. 1991;15(9):561–565. PubMed.
  24. Ostojic SM. Yohimbine: the effects on body composition and exercise performance in soccer players. Res Sports Med. 2006;14(4):289–299. PubMed.
  25. Barnes ME, Cowan CR, Boag LE, et al. Effects of acute yohimbine hydrochloride supplementation on repeated supramaximal sprint performance. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022;19(3):1316. PubMed.
  26. 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. Ann Pharmacother. 2010;44(6):1022–1029. PubMed.
  27. Musso NR, Vergassola C, Pende A, et al. Yohimbine effects on blood pressure and plasma catecholamines in human hypertension. Am J Hypertens. 1995;8(6):565–571. PubMed.
  28. Charney DS, Heninger GR, Breier A. Noradrenergic function in panic anxiety. Effects of yohimbine in healthy subjects and patients with agoraphobia and panic disorder. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1984;41(8):751–763. PubMed.
  29. Zhu L, Han X, Zhu J, et al. Severe acute intoxication with yohimbine: four simultaneous poisoning cases. Forensic Sci Int. 2021;320:110705. PubMed.
  30. Hodapp B, Haggerty A, Feldman R, et al. Intracranial hemorrhage after a single dose of yohimbine in a chronic user of clonidine. Am J Emerg Med. 2022;62:145.e1–145.e4. PubMed.