Hydergine and generalized fibrosis?

[Guest guest]

While looking at the nootropics section of www.imminst.org i came across

several people who had heard what sounded like rumors that long-term Hydergine

use caused fibrosis of the pleura, peritoneum, and heart valves. The only

source i could find for this was the link

http://www.umm.edu/altmed/drugs/ergoloid-mesylates-048700.htm This is the

alternative medicine dept. at the U of Maryland. It claims that Hydergine use

can cause these conditions, but did not cite any studies testing this, so their

claim remains as suspect as anything anecdotal, and could be merely a

collection/consolidation of rumors. The webmaster there has ignored my requests

for more information.

When the age and probable physical condition of patients who were prescribed

this medication in a traditional way is considered, they may have already had

considerable pulmonary, cardiac, or abdominal conditions that were pre-existing,

which adds a confounding variable. It seems very unlikely that any recent,

well-designed tests have been done on this, since it is a very old drug and

rarely prescribed anymore.

I had taken 9 mg. Hydergine q.d. for cognitive enhancement several years ago

and stopped because it became so difficult to find doctors who would prescribe

it for a healthy, middle-aged adult. I found that Sandy Shaw was right when she

said 9 mg. was the minimal dose if you really wanted to see the benefits of

this drug. I found that my ability to process and retain large amounts of

technical material greatly increased, and my mental endurance to work with it

increased.

Now, i am at an age where i am afraid NOT to take it, although i have not

noticed any slowdown or differences in cognition. Yet, these rumors are too

widespread to simply dismiss, even though i could not find any other anecdotals

with a search engine. I was wondering if you could shed some light on this

matter.