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Nootropics

gwern.net

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Re: Nootropics

#151

Post by 6nf »

wonkaWonka wrote: post #120

...if caffeine were a new drug, I wonder what Schedule it would be in and if people might be even more leery of it than modafinil. ... So I eventually got around to ordering another thing of nicotine gum... A second dose was similar, and the third dose was at 10 PM before playing Ninja Gaiden II seemed to stop the usual exhaustion I feel after playing through a level or so. Okay, I'm no longer part of the gwern fancl…

The article literally states that it is only anecdotal in the very first paragraph.

Re: Nootropics

#152

Post by metafunctor »

mettamage wrote: post #94
HalfwayToDice wrote: post #74

The best nootropic is getting a good nights sleep. It takes effort! Preparing for bed early and disciplining yourself to put the light out is not easy. Not nearly as easy as popping a pill. But it's so much more effective than any drug listed here. And for a safe and provable quick cognitive boost, take some caffeine, preferable green tea with theanine.

It's hard for me to fall asleep. I haven't cracked it yet how to do it perfectly. What helps: view the problem as improving your likelihood to sleep. Before I viewed the problem as falling asleep 100% of the time, which is a really defeating view to have when I can't fall asleep. Sleep tips that help me: 1. meditation: still experimenting with body-scan vs. breath meditation, they both help but have different effects…

Many have suggested some form of physical exercise. My suggestion is swimming: it's usually relatively cheap, doesn't matter much if you're overweight, and physically very exhausting.

Also, you might consider getting some real data on your sleep and try to correlate that with your daily activities. I've used the Ōura ring for that to discover what helps me sleep better.

Re: Nootropics

#153

Post by collyw »

jonathankoren wrote: post #70
marodox wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He probably has tried drug free, exercise and sleep over a month.

Where's the write up? Many people, including myself, find exercise to be mind numbingly boring, and intellectually insulting. (Pick up a weight and put it down? That is quantitatively zero work, buddy. No thanks.) Never underestimate the motivation to find a quick fix.

My guess is that you are very unimaginative with your exercise. I find the gym boring as anything, but I do some fairly extreme whitewater kayaking when I get the chance to and mountain biking with a fair bit of hard downhill. I cycle to work and around the city (as its the fastest way to get around - it doesn't even seem like exercise when you incorporate it into your routine like that).

Boring is definitely not the way I would describe the way I exercise.

Re: Nootropics

#154

Post by collyw »

nugga wrote: post #37
fowlerpower wrote: post #28

Does anyone else think this shit is totally bat shit crazy? I may be of the minority here but I am definitely not the minority in the real world. If you care about health why not exercise and eat healthy and never take any type of drug for any reason unless you are sick.

Why? There is absolutely nothing inherently wrong with using external catalysts to alter your brain function. We are biological computers and we can alter our programming for better or worse.

We are not biological computers.

Re: Nootropics

#155

Post by TheTrotters »

blazespin wrote: post #35
RandomInteger4 wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know if I'd call President Obama a health nut; maybe Michelle, but not sure about Barack, unless he quit smoking and switched permanently to the gum.

He exercises constantly and eats food with incredible discipline. He also has the best doctors in the world.

I believe he exercises daily, not constantly. And what do we know about his eating habits? That 7 almond story isn't true.

Re: Nootropics

#157

Post by wolfgoatcabbage »

jonathankoren wrote: post #70
marodox wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He probably has tried drug free, exercise and sleep over a month.

Where's the write up? Many people, including myself, find exercise to be mind numbingly boring, and intellectually insulting. (Pick up a weight and put it down? That is quantitatively zero work, buddy. No thanks.) Never underestimate the motivation to find a quick fix.

On the other hand, sitting in a chair all day could be construed as physically insulting. Two counters:

1) There's no reason exercise by nature has to be boring or free of intellect. Physics greatly applies to freestyle snowboarding, for instance, and the adrenaline is top-shelf. Not to mention the scenery and vitamin D! Gymnastic and weightlifting activities in general encourage a practical understanding of leverage, torque, moment arms, etc.

2) Even without choosing exciting sports and applying your scientific knowledge to them, why not walk on a treadmill while you work, or sit on a recumbent bike as you watch that 3rd convolutional neural net video? It's an easy way to up your circulation while taking in knowledge and alleviates boredom.

Re: Nootropics

#158

Post by dsco »

mettamage wrote: post #94
HalfwayToDice wrote: post #74

The best nootropic is getting a good nights sleep. It takes effort! Preparing for bed early and disciplining yourself to put the light out is not easy. Not nearly as easy as popping a pill. But it's so much more effective than any drug listed here. And for a safe and provable quick cognitive boost, take some caffeine, preferable green tea with theanine.

It's hard for me to fall asleep. I haven't cracked it yet how to do it perfectly. What helps: view the problem as improving your likelihood to sleep. Before I viewed the problem as falling asleep 100% of the time, which is a really defeating view to have when I can't fall asleep. Sleep tips that help me: 1. meditation: still experimenting with body-scan vs. breath meditation, they both help but have different effects…

I've struggled with falling asleep over the years. At first I couldn't cope with it at all and was mortified before bedtime each night. But nowadays sleep comes easily. I've noticed that:

- Whenever I'm in a relationship and sleep together with someone I have no sleeping issues at all.

- Having the pill Stilnoct prescribed helps immensely. I don't take them often. But just being aware that I have them reduces the stress around falling asleep.

- If I feel that it's one of those nights when I can't fall asleep I just treat it as any other sickness. I email my colleagues telling them that I'm working from home the next day and turn off my morning alarm.

- Journaling. Write down everything that has happened to you during the day before you go to bed. A lot of timea I can't fall asleep because my mind is obsessing/processing recent events. Spend 10 minutes to write them down. It's like running a database drop script.

- Get a spike mat. It'll be uncomfortable in the beginning but you'll slowly get used to lying on it. This has worked wonders for my friend and I was thinking of getting one, but that was before my sleep problems just disappeared.

Re: Nootropics

#159

Post by roel_v »

aidenn0 wrote: post #49
RandomInteger4 wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you take a consistent low dose of Adderall at least, there should be nothing wrong with taking it every day and might actually be preferable that way, otherwise you're in for a rollercoaster effect. The longer you're on though, up to a point at least I imagine, assuming the dose is consistent, you will have a greater withdrawal period that will really suck compared to if you only use them recreationally, which I c…

Different drugs affect people differently. I was rendered incapable of driving safely with a moderate dose of Addreall (30mg), and still felt somewhat unsafe with a low dose of Adderall(15mg). The main effect was that I could no longer subconsciously distinguish moving objects from non-moving objects (I had to think "is that car parked or moving" rather than being able to just tell by looking). My weight is 105kg.

If the 30mg was not MR ('modified release', essentially this will release half right away, then the other half over the next few hours; I'm not sure there is 'MR' Adderall in every country or even if it's officially called 'MR' at all), then 30mg is a very high dose, even for someone as heavy as yourself. 20mg MR or 10mg 'straight up' is 'moderate' and will be noticeable by most people.

Re: Nootropics

#160

Post by spotman »

trhway wrote: post #100
mettamage wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's hard for me to fall asleep. I haven't cracked it yet how to do it perfectly. What helps: view the problem as improving your likelihood to sleep. Before I viewed the problem as falling asleep 100% of the time, which is a really defeating view to have when I can't fall asleep. Sleep tips that help me: 1. meditation: still experimenting with body-scan vs. breath meditation, they both help but have different effects…

try running. Helps dissolve stress or whatever stuff that accumulated during the day - while it doesn't make problems disappear of course, it helps change your view on them a bit. Just did 3 miles and once i get to bed i'll be like dead.

Completely agree. I prefer to run at night, because running before work means I have some kind of timeline that has to occasionally be accounted for, like another thread running.

So after work is done, I love going on some kind of cardio adventure for 30-60 minutes. Running is my favorite but biking also works.

When I get home, all steam is blown off, and I manage to fall asleep in most cases.

Naturally, I am not really a great sleeper. Cardio helps a lot.

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