Thanks for providing more information about it. You piqued my interest about this substance as I used to take ADHD meds (stims) but had to stop using them as I felt they were burning me out and were unsustainable over the long term. So a non stim option that increases dopamine etc sounds really useful.
Currently using low dose sertraline (ssri) so I think I would have to stop that to try it, or it might risk serotonin syndrome.
I asked about route of administration because theoretically you could maybe sublingual it for 100% bioavailability to skip the metabolites issue and stretch a supply further. But if you say it’s not really that stimulating or a problem maybe it would be easier to use it orally.
FYI they shouldn't ever be used together. You're supposed to allow a 14 day washout between them.
Sertraline has a bunch of different effects, a whole mess of sides (like most SSRIs), and isn't always very effective. But if it works I wouldn't discontinue it to start with this.
Selegeline is a much simpler drug. It only preserves dopamine from prematurely being broken down. It is sometimes used successfully for treatment resistant depression, or off label to overcome tolerance to ADHD meds (tolerance is sometimes caused by excess amount dopamine breakdown, by adding selegeline, ADHD med doses can often be cut in half).
Anyway, as always with any drug, check for interactions with everything you're taking and do your homework. I just wanted to confirm you defiantly don't want to combine them.
The "Why" not to use them together is this:
Low dose selegeline, under 10mg, inhibits MAO-b, which breaks down dopamine. This preserves dopamine, and takes a load off the cells that produce it (this is seen as an anti-aging benefit). Mao-b inhibition is safe, and essentially free of dangerous side effects. The younger you are the less MAO-b you have killing your dopamine, and lower doses of selegeline are just as effective, down to 1mg in your 20s.
The risk is that at higher doses, 10mg+ it also inhibits MAO-a, which breaks down serotonin.
Sertraline increases serotonin. With MAO-a inhibition levels can rise too high and cause serotonin syndrome.
So while 5mg selegeline is comfortably below the level that inhibits MAO-a, it's best to keep these two drugs clear of each other.