Safety
Boxed warning: serotonin syndrome with serotonergic drugs and opioids. Methylene blue may cause serious or fatal serotonin syndrome when used with serotonergic drugs and opioids, so it should not be taken with SSRIs, SNRIs, MAOIs or opioids. The label also warns about allergic reactions, hemolytic anemia, effects on driving, and interference with pulse oximeters and some lab tests. It can turn urine blue-green.
Talk to a licensed clinician about your health history and every medication you take before you start.
Legal status
Prescription only; the ingredient has an FDA-approved form, but compounded versions are not FDA-approved, and this use is off-label. Methylene blue is prepared by a compounding pharmacy for an individual prescription. Compounded products are not FDA-approved, and the FDA does not review them for safety, effectiveness or quality. Its use for longevity is off-label: a use the FDA label does not cover, which a clinician may still choose. Methylene blue is the active ingredient of approved IV drugs, so a 503A pharmacy may compound oral forms for individual prescriptions. Those oral forms are not FDA-approved, and claims about memory or longevity are unproven.
What methylene blue is
Methylene blue contains methylthioninium chloride. The oral capsules longevity clinics sell are compounded, and their use for energy, memory or aging is off-label.
What the FDA has approved
- ProvayBlue and generic methylene blue injections are approved, given IV, for acquired methemoglobinemia
- No oral methylene blue product is approved
Dosing
Oral capsule (compounded). Set by your prescriber. Clinics we checked sell 10 mg and 25 mg capsules.
How well it works
No trial has tested oral methylene blue for aging or lifespan. In a 2023 imaging study, single IV doses in healthy volunteers lowered blood flow and oxygen use in the brain, the opposite of what the researchers expected (Singh 2023). Individual results vary.
Methylene blue cost
Prices vary by clinic.