Non-peptide

Tongkat Ali

Also known as

Eurycoma longifolia · Eurycoma longifolia Jack · LJ100 · Physta · Longjack · Long Jack · Pasak Bumi · Malaysian ginseng (informal marketplace label) · Tongkat · TA (forum shorthand)

Community talk. May contain inaccuracies. Not medical advice. Not a protocol. Not for human or animal use.

What it is

Identity	Eurycoma longifolia, also called Longjack or Pasak Bumi, is a root herb sold mainly as oral extracts for libido, energy and testosterone-support interests. It is not pharmaceutical testosterone.
Extracts differ	2%, 3%, 10%, LJ100, Physta and 100:1/200:1 labels describe different products. Equal weights or extraction ratios do not establish equal marker content or exposure.

Notes

Tongkat Ali is a root herb sold mainly as oral extracts for libido, energy and testosterone-support interests. Reports range from a noticeable lift to no change, with stomach upset, disturbed sleep and brain fog in some accounts.

A Southeast Asian root extract. Eurycoma longifolia, also called Longjack or Pasak Bumi, contains multiple plant compounds; eurycomanone is one marker. Capsules, powders and decoctions are different forms. It is not pharmaceutical testosterone, a SARM or an established substitute for hypogonadism treatment.

Percentage and milligrams both matter. Discussion distinguishes 2%, 3% and 10% extracts, branded LJ100 or Physta, and ratios such as 100:1 or 200:1. A ratio alone does not reveal marker content; equal weights need not mean comparable extracts.

What people notice

Libido and drive	Some report easier arousal, motivation and energy. Feeling more sexual interest does not establish higher testosterone.
Different extracts, different results	One user preferred 10% for libido/energy despite slightly lower repeat testosterone; their 2% trial felt unchanged. Another finished two 200:1 bottles without clear benefit.
Lift followed by worse symptoms	Reports also describe disturbed sleep, stomach upset and delayed fog. In one account, energy lasted into the next morning, followed by roughly two days of fog.

Notes

Libido and everyday drive. Reports describe easier arousal, motivation and energy; others feel unchanged. Improved libido does not establish higher testosterone. Different extracts can feel different to the same person. Tongkat ali experience #2 — surviving same-author replies (Personal report · Accessed 2026-09-30) · My experience with Tongkat Ali 2% and 10% (Personal report · Accessed 2026-09-30)

A stronger-feeling extract need not improve the bloodwork. The 10%-versus-2% poster preferred the libido and energy effects of 10%, despite slightly lower repeat testosterone. In AnabolicMinds, another user finished two bottles of 200:1 with no discernible libido, sleep or mood change and would not credit ongoing gym gains to it. My experience with Tongkat Ali 2% and 10% (Personal report · Accessed 2026-09-30) · Your tongkat ali experience (Community discussion · Accessed 2026-09-30)

Days 3–5 in one 3% log; a week in a 10% account. The 400 mg/day poster describes diarrhea/nausea on days one and two, slight energy on day three, then stronger libido/motivation on days four and five. The 10% user noticed easier arousal after a week; their 2% trial felt unchanged after nearly a month. Tongkat ali experience #2 — surviving same-author replies (Personal report · Accessed 2026-09-30) · My experience with Tongkat Ali 2% and 10% (Personal report · Accessed 2026-09-30)

Delayed effects can outlast the initial lift. The brain-fog poster describes strong energy into the following morning, then roughly two days of fog. A cycle-thread user reports sleep returning within a couple of days after stopping Tongkat and cistanche together. Neither isolates Tongkat's clearance. Exhaustive dump on why tongkat ali is causing me brain fog now — OP (Personal report · Accessed 2026-09-30) · Tongkat Ali: Important To Cycle? (Low E Symptoms) (Community discussion · Accessed 2026-09-30)

Source context — Tongkat ali experience #2 — surviving same-author replies: OP deleted. Same-author comments remain inspectable; unverified product and hormone claims, co-supplements, strong brand enthusiasm and unsupported safety/absorption assertions. Women's reply is opinion, not evidence.

Source context — My experience with Tongkat Ali 2% and 10%: Unblinded brand-specific report; no capsule mass supplied by OP; lab values and testing conditions not supplied. Estimated muscle gain does not verify body composition or causation.

Source context — Your tongkat ali experience: Small old bodybuilding thread, unknown doses/assays; TRT and other staples confound positive report. Contains promotion. No current prevalence inference.

Source context — Exhaustive dump on why tongkat ali is causing me brain fog now — OP: Retrospective and heavily confounded. Testosterone/cortisol descriptions are perceived effects, not measured changes. No medication-change or hormone-correction advice adopted.

Source context — Tongkat Ali: Important To Cycle? (Low E Symptoms): Self-selected brand community; unverified bloodwork assertions, unknown extract weights in some accounts and multi-agent use. Symptom labels do not confirm low estrogen, cortisol or prolactin changes.

Doses people talk about

2% versus 10%	A report uses 200 mg/day of 2%; older product talk lists 100 mg 10% capsules. Accurate labels would mean 4 versus 10 mg eurycomanone, without proving biological equivalence.
Specific 3% log	One poster used a 400 mg capsule daily, with vomiting on an empty stomach and on one 800 mg occasion. The latter is an adverse episode, not an escalation precedent.
Other guide and powder amounts	100–600 mg/day guide talk differs from 800–1,600+ mg/day of unstandardized or low-ratio powder. A media 400 mg morning example is also separate from the 3% log.

Notes

2%: 200 mg/day; 10% products: often 100 mg capsules. A commenter reports 200 mg/day of 2%; older product talk describes 100 mg 10% capsules. Assuming accurate labels, those supply 4 mg versus 10 mg eurycomanone. Marker arithmetic does not establish biological equivalence. Tongkat Ali: Important To Cycle? (Low E Symptoms) (Community discussion · Accessed 2026-09-30)

3%: one 400 mg capsule daily in a specific log. The poster reports vomiting with empty-stomach use and once at 800 mg; this is an adverse episode, not an escalation precedent. Morning and food timing vary. Tongkat ali experience #2 — surviving same-author replies (Personal report · Accessed 2026-09-30)

100–600 mg/day guide talk differs from 800–1,600+ mg/day powder talk. The latter concerns unstandardized or low-ratio material. Neither is one interchangeable exposure. The preserved podcast-era 400 mg morning example is media practice, distinct from the inspected 3% log.

Half-life, onset & duration

Felt onset	One 3% log describes energy by day three and libido/motivation on days four–five. A 10% account noticed arousal after a week; one TRT co-user reported energy after about an hour.
Felt duration	No reliable hours-per-capsule window is established. Repeated-use benefits can persist or level off; next-day energy and delayed fog do not measure clearance.
Half-life	Human whole-extract half-life is unknown here. The 0.30-hour figure concerns IV pure eurycomanone in rodents, not oral extract; oral marker half-life was unavailable in those tables.

Notes

One rapid-energy report. An AnabolicMinds user on TRT describes energy about an hour after a tablet and libido by day three. Capsule mass was unstated; this is not a typical onset estimate. Your tongkat ali experience (Community discussion · Accessed 2026-09-30)

No reliable hours-per-capsule window. One user reports benefits continuing over two months; another's early libido increase leveled off during week two. Those are courses of repeated use, not single-dose duration. My experience with Tongkat Ali 2% and 10% (Personal report · Accessed 2026-09-30) · Anyone with longterm experience with Tongkat Ali aka Eurycoma longifolia? (Community discussion · Accessed 2026-09-30)

Human whole-extract half-life remains unknown here. Morning, once-daily and split habits do not measure clearance; neither do next-day energy or two days of fog. Rodent marker figures belong to the separate supporting context below. Exhaustive dump on why tongkat ali is causing me brain fog now — OP (Personal report · Accessed 2026-09-30)

0.30 hours is IV pure eurycomanone in rodents. The 2018 tables also give 0.11 hours for IV water extract in rats, with oral half-life cells marked unavailable. Pure oral eurycomanone peaked at about two hours; bioavailability differed between rats and mice. These are animal marker kinetics, not a human whole-product clock. Ahmad et al. 2018 — eurycomanone bioavailability and kinetics (Animal context · Accessed 2026-09-30)

Source context — Anyone with longterm experience with Tongkat Ali aka Eurycoma longifolia?: Old short thread; uncertain extract and exact dose. Proposed future schedule is not a completed outcome or dependency evidence.

Source context — Ahmad et al. 2018 — eurycomanone bioavailability and kinetics: Rodent marker and extract routes, not human whole-extract kinetics. Abstract's broad 0.30 h phrasing does not substitute for table-specific routes. PMC CAPTCHA and MDPI inaccessible; XML tables recovered.

Cycles people discuss

Daily or weekend breaks	Continuous 200 mg/day 2% and five-on/two-off use both appear. The latter followed side effects with mixed 10% and 2% use; neither establishes protection from hormone problems.
Longer blocks	One user reports up to three months on, three weeks off as effects diminish. Older alternatives include three–four weeks on/one off and 8–12-week reassessment. No superior calendar is established.
Restart reactions	Fog returned after at least six months off in one account and by day four of a five-on/five-off retry in another multi-supplement account. A pause does not guarantee tolerability.

Notes

Daily use or five days on, two off. One commenter uses continuous 200 mg/day 2%. Another adopted five-on, two-off after side effects with morning 10% plus afternoon 2%. Neither establishes protection from hormone problems. Tongkat Ali: Important To Cycle? (Low E Symptoms) (Community discussion · Accessed 2026-09-30)

Longer blocks vary too. A commenter reports up to three months on, three weeks off as effects diminish. Preserved alternatives include three to four weeks on, one off; eight-to-twelve-week reassessment; and training/stress blocks. No superior calendar is established. Anyone with longterm experience with Tongkat Ali aka Eurycoma longifolia? (Community discussion · Accessed 2026-09-30)

A pause does not guarantee a comfortable restart. The fog OP reacted after at least six months off. A different commenter deteriorated around two weeks, then had fog return by day four of a five-on, five-off retry amid cistanche, apigenin and ashwagandha use. Exhaustive dump on why tongkat ali is causing me brain fog now — OP (Personal report · Accessed 2026-09-30) · Brain-fog thread — Bjlly123's separate two-week deterioration (Personal report · Accessed 2026-09-30)

Source context — Brain-fog thread — Bjlly123's separate two-week deterioration: Different reporter from OP; exact date not inferred from relative timestamp. Multiple products and subjective hormone hypotheses; no independent causality verification.

Stacks

Fadogia media pairing	Media examples pair 400 mg Tongkat with 400–600 mg fadogia, sometimes borrowing fadogia's cycling habits. These component amounts do not establish synergy.
Other herbs and minerals	Ashwagandha, cistanche, shilajit, maca, fenugreek, tribulus, zinc, magnesium, vitamin D and 2–4+ mg boron appear in stack discussion, complicating benefits and crashes.
Stimulants and medicines	Caffeine/pre-workout pairings draw restlessness and sleep cautions. A detailed fog report also included Wellbutrin and several supplements; it supplies no reason to alter prescribed medication.

Notes

Stacking makes both success and crashes harder to explain. Preserved combinations include fadogia, ashwagandha, cistanche, shilajit, maca, fenugreek, tribulus, boron, zinc, magnesium and vitamin D. Media examples pair 400 mg Tongkat with 400–600 mg fadogia; mineral talk includes 2–4+ mg boron. These component amounts are discussion records, not established synergy. Fadogia stacks sometimes borrow three-on, one-off or eight-to-twelve-week cycling habits.

+ Stimulants / pre-workout: Caffeine + tongkat increases restlessness/insomnia reports in stim-sensitive users. [community]

Brain fog has competing explanations. The detailed poster disclosed Wellbutrin, shilajit, DHEA, zinc, iodine, alpha-GPC, cistanche and boron across experiments. Hormones, cortisol and blood pressure were hypotheses. The delayed-fog report establishes neither a mechanism nor a reason to alter prescribed medication. Exhaustive dump on why tongkat ali is causing me brain fog now — OP (Personal report · Accessed 2026-09-30)

Watch for

Sleep, gut and mood	GI upset, insomnia, irritability, itching, joint discomfort and depressed mood appear in reports. Low-estrogen or cortisol-crash explanations are hypotheses without hormone measurements.
DNA-damage assessment	EFSA's 2021 assessment found DNA-damage concerns for the submitted water extract and did not establish safety under any condition of use. This does not prove ordinary capsules damage human DNA.
Liver case signal	A published case describes jaundice/liver injury after a Tongkat supplement and improvement after stopping. The incompletely characterized product does not establish incidence or the responsible constituent.
Product and medical context	Root identity, marker assays and heavy metals matter beyond labels. Hormone-sensitive disease, endocrine medicines, stimulants, pregnancy/breastfeeding and limited long-term interaction data warrant caution.

Notes

Unwanted effects can outweigh the lift. Reports include GI upset, insomnia, irritability, itching, joint discomfort and depressed mood. Morning use does not eliminate sleep problems. Symptoms blamed on low estrogen or cortisol are not hormone measurements; adding another supplement does not verify that explanation. Tongkat ali experience #2 — surviving same-author replies (Personal report · Accessed 2026-09-30) · TongKat Insomnia (Community discussion · Accessed 2026-09-30) · My experience with Tongkat Ali 2% and 10% (Personal report · Accessed 2026-09-30) · Tongkat Ali: Important To Cycle? (Low E Symptoms) (Community discussion · Accessed 2026-09-30) · Brain-fog thread — Bjlly123's separate two-week deterioration (Personal report · Accessed 2026-09-30)

The safety concern is broader than a high-dose footnote. EFSA's 2021 assessment found DNA-damage concerns for the submitted water extract, including high-dose animal findings, and concluded its safety was not established under any condition of use. This is not proof that ordinary capsules cause human DNA damage, but short tolerability trials do not resolve it. EFSA 2021 — safety assessment of Tongkat Ali root extract (Official context · Accessed 2026-09-30)

Liver injury has a published case signal. A 2024 case describes jaundice and liver injury after starting a Tongkat supplement, improving after discontinuation. A case with incompletely characterized product exposure cannot establish incidence or identify the responsible constituent; it also prevents a blanket safety assurance. Kaliounji et al. 2024 — A rare case of Tongkat Ali-induced liver injury (Official context · Accessed 2026-09-30)

Product and personal context matter. Community cautions include hormone-sensitive disease, endocrine medicines, stimulants, pregnancy and breastfeeding. Root identity, marker assays and heavy-metal concerns matter beyond label claims. Formal interaction and long-term high-strength data remain limited.

Source context — TongKat Insomnia: OP has a dose-unit typo (200mh), so no dose amount is inferred from this source. Ashwagandha co-use and vendor participation; no cortisol testing shown.

Source context — EFSA 2021 — safety assessment of Tongkat Ali root extract: Assessment concerns submitted extract; high-dose experimental findings do not measure damage from ordinary human capsules. Wiley DOI URL returned 403; PMC opinion text inspected. Article-derived prose is below 75 words.

Source context — Kaliounji et al. 2024 — A rare case of Tongkat Ali-induced liver injury: Single case does not establish incidence or responsible constituent. Product incompletely characterized. LiverTox HTML, printable and PDF URLs returned CAPTCHA and were not promoted to inspected evidence.

Full notes

What Tongkat Ali actually is

A Southeast Asian root extract. Eurycoma longifolia, also called Longjack or Pasak Bumi, contains multiple plant compounds; eurycomanone is one marker. Capsules, powders and decoctions are different forms. It is not pharmaceutical testosterone, a SARM or an established substitute for hypogonadism treatment. Community Community
Percentage and milligrams both matter. Discussion distinguishes 2%, 3% and 10% extracts, branded LJ100 or Physta, and ratios such as 100:1 or 200:1. A ratio alone does not reveal marker content; equal weights need not mean comparable extracts. Community Community

Benefits people look for

Libido and everyday drive. Reports describe easier arousal, motivation and energy; others feel unchanged. Improved libido does not establish higher testosterone. Different extracts can feel different to the same person. Personal report Personal report
Stress, vitality and training interest. Discussion extends to mood, fatigue, recomp, sexual function and fertility. Women's libido questions appear too; an enthusiastic reply is not evidence of menopausal benefit. Lifestyle changes complicate attribution. Community Personal report

Doses people discuss

Reported oral amounts, not a personal regimen. Extract identity belongs with every number.

2%: 200 mg/day; 10% products: often 100 mg capsules. A commenter reports 200 mg/day of 2%; older product talk describes 100 mg 10% capsules. Assuming accurate labels, those supply 4 mg versus 10 mg eurycomanone. Marker arithmetic does not establish biological equivalence. Reddit · r/NootropicsDepot Community
3%: one 400 mg capsule daily in a specific log. The poster reports vomiting with empty-stomach use and once at 800 mg; this is an adverse episode, not an escalation precedent. Morning and food timing vary. Personal report
100–600 mg/day guide talk differs from 800–1,600+ mg/day powder talk. The latter concerns unstandardized or low-ratio material. Neither is one interchangeable exposure. The preserved podcast-era 400 mg morning example is media practice, distinct from the inspected 3% log. Community

Half-life: what the community timing cannot tell us

Human whole-extract half-life remains unknown here. Morning, once-daily and split habits do not measure clearance; neither do next-day energy or two days of fog. Rodent marker figures belong to the separate supporting context below. Community Personal report

When people notice a change

Days 3–5 in one 3% log; a week in a 10% account. The 400 mg/day poster describes diarrhea/nausea on days one and two, slight energy on day three, then stronger libido/motivation on days four and five. The 10% user noticed easier arousal after a week; their 2% trial felt unchanged after nearly a month. Personal report Personal report
One rapid-energy report. An AnabolicMinds user on TRT describes energy about an hour after a tablet and libido by day three. Capsule mass was unstated; this is not a typical onset estimate. AnabolicMinds

How long the experience lasts

No reliable hours-per-capsule window. One user reports benefits continuing over two months; another's early libido increase leveled off during week two. Those are courses of repeated use, not single-dose duration. Personal report Reddit · r/Supplements
Delayed effects can outlast the initial lift. The brain-fog poster describes strong energy into the following morning, then roughly two days of fog. A cycle-thread user reports sleep returning within a couple of days after stopping Tongkat and cistanche together. Neither isolates Tongkat's clearance. Personal report Reddit · r/NootropicsDepot

Continuous use and breaks

Daily use or five days on, two off. One commenter uses continuous 200 mg/day 2%. Another adopted five-on, two-off after side effects with morning 10% plus afternoon 2%. Neither establishes protection from hormone problems. Reddit · r/NootropicsDepot
Longer blocks vary too. A commenter reports up to three months on, three weeks off as effects diminish. Preserved alternatives include three to four weeks on, one off; eight-to-twelve-week reassessment; and training/stress blocks. No superior calendar is established. Reddit · r/Supplements Community
A pause does not guarantee a comfortable restart. The fog OP reacted after at least six months off. A different commenter deteriorated around two weeks, then had fog return by day four of a five-on, five-off retry amid cistanche, apigenin and ashwagandha use. Personal report Personal report

What can go wrong

Unwanted effects can outweigh the lift. Reports include GI upset, insomnia, irritability, itching, joint discomfort and depressed mood. Morning use does not eliminate sleep problems. Symptoms blamed on low estrogen or cortisol are not hormone measurements; adding another supplement does not verify that explanation. Personal report Reddit · r/NootropicsDepot Personal report Reddit · r/NootropicsDepot Personal report
The safety concern is broader than a high-dose footnote. EFSA's 2021 assessment found DNA-damage concerns for the submitted water extract, including high-dose animal findings, and concluded its safety was not established under any condition of use. This is not proof that ordinary capsules cause human DNA damage, but short tolerability trials do not resolve it. Official context
Liver injury has a published case signal. A 2024 case describes jaundice and liver injury after starting a Tongkat supplement, improving after discontinuation. A case with incompletely characterized product exposure cannot establish incidence or identify the responsible constituent; it also prevents a blanket safety assurance. Official context
Product and personal context matter. Community cautions include hormone-sensitive disease, endocrine medicines, stimulants, pregnancy and breastfeeding. Root identity, marker assays and heavy-metal concerns matter beyond label claims. Formal interaction and long-term high-strength data remain limited. Community Community

Supporting research, kept separate

A specific Physta trial, not every extract. In 105 men aged 50–70 with testosterone below 300 ng/dL, 100 or 200 mg once daily after breakfast ran for 12 weeks. Total testosterone differed from placebo by week four at 200 mg and week twelve at 100 mg; free testosterone did not differ between groups. Manufacturer funding and employees were disclosed. Official context
Stress findings concern a four-week study. A manufacturer-funded study in 63 moderately stressed adults used 200 mg/day and reported lower salivary cortisol exposure and improved tension, anger and confusion. It does not diagnose an individual user's insomnia or fog as a cortisol crash. Official context
0.30 hours is IV pure eurycomanone in rodents. The 2018 tables also give 0.11 hours for IV water extract in rats, with oral half-life cells marked unavailable. Pure oral eurycomanone peaked at about two hours; bioavailability differed between rats and mice. These are animal marker kinetics, not a human whole-product clock. Animal context

From community discussion

A stronger-feeling extract need not improve the bloodwork. The 10%-versus-2% poster preferred the libido and energy effects of 10%, despite slightly lower repeat testosterone. In AnabolicMinds, another user finished two bottles of 200:1 with no discernible libido, sleep or mood change and would not credit ongoing gym gains to it. Personal report AnabolicMinds
Stacking makes both success and crashes harder to explain. Preserved combinations include fadogia, ashwagandha, cistanche, shilajit, maca, fenugreek, tribulus, boron, zinc, magnesium and vitamin D. Media examples pair 400 mg Tongkat with 400–600 mg fadogia; mineral talk includes 2–4+ mg boron. These component amounts are discussion records, not established synergy. Fadogia stacks sometimes borrow three-on, one-off or eight-to-twelve-week cycling habits. Community Community
Brain fog has competing explanations. The detailed poster disclosed Wellbutrin, shilajit, DHEA, zinc, iodine, alpha-GPC, cistanche and boron across experiments. Hormones, cortisol and blood pressure were hypotheses. The delayed-fog report establishes neither a mechanism nor a reason to alter prescribed medication. Personal report
Biohacking theories extend beyond libido. A LongeCity poster used one morning capsule labeled about 3%, supplying 12 mg eurycomanone, within a multi-agent longevity experiment. They noticed aphrodisiac effects after a few days. Their proposed ROCK-inhibition rationale does not establish telomere benefit or equivalence to a prescription drug. Personal report