Can you just get the nutrition supplements from the drug store or are those all no good? I want to supplement magnesium since I am sure I am not getting enough.
Nootropics
291–300 of 404 posts
Re: Nootropics
#292I found the writing style and organization made it hard to get anything out of this, but maybe it is just a "laboratory" notebook?
Re: Nootropics
#293Earlier 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…
I'm of the opinion that stuff like f.lux and Apple's Night Shift are both products that exploit pseudoscience to take advantage of the placebo effect. They're a "gluten free" feature for contemporary software — for those suspicious of childhood vaccinations. Macworld wrote a decent breakdown of the Night Shift quackery when it was introduced: http://www.macworld.com/article/3047121/iphone-ipad/ios-93-t...
I don't know whether or not it helps me fall asleep, but I've been using f.lux or redshift for years now and it completely stopped my headaches from looking at the monitor at night.
Anecdotal, yes, but it worked for me.
Re: Nootropics
#294A shame no info on testosterone - that's the one I'm most interested in both from physical and psychological perspective, I know a few people who used it but they are in physical/service jobs, I wonder how it would affect programming productivity. Any throwaways here willing to share their experiences ?
I have been self prescribing testosterone for 2 years. My levels were 250 ng/dl, at 20 years old. No Dr. would prescribe due to my age, but I felt, and looked like crap.
Testosterone has been life changing. The amount of focus and drive I get running high normal levels is insane. The only time problems crop up that cause issues at work, is when estrogen gets out of line. Estrogen that is out of range, high or low, causes severe issues. I only have issues when running supra-physiological doses of testosterone though.
For more info, check out /r/steroids[0]. Fantastic wiki with tons of info on running safe cycles, or long term usage.
[0] www.reddit.com/r/steroids
Re: Nootropics
#295Book: "Why Isn't My Brain Working?" by Datis Kharrazian
Good introduction to general brain health.
Re: Nootropics
#296The 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.
I agree, but it's very difficult for me to fall asleep naturally. I have tried all the well-known advice and even tried long workouts late in the day so that it would help me to get tired and fall asleep. The only thing that works for me is melatonin and making sure I am away from all kinds of blue lights 2-3 hours before bed. I have been sleeping great for the last 6 months or so. I have tried to get off of melatoni…
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)? I see self-help and drugs, but no description of domain-focused therapy
Re: Nootropics
#297This website is broken on my mobile (Sony Z3). I can only see a tiny column of text on the left.
Re: Nootropics
#298Earlier quoted context omitted.
Have a baby. Your sleeping less is my average night's sleep, split into two or three chunks. Amazing how easy it is to get to sleep when you've spent the last two and a half years in a low level state of exhaustion ;)
I've always marveled at how parents do it. Really, you are the true hero's in the world ;)
I'll second baq here - I used to be someone who went to bed sometime between midnight and 1am, then rolled out of bed about 9am, and started work about 10. Now if I feel really daring I might go to bed at 11, knowing at the very latest I'll be getting up at 7am, more typically I'm in bed shortly after 10.
Re: Nootropics
#299Right now, there are people in the nootropic community who are using experimental compounds that haven't yet passed clinical trials and in some cases have no prior history of human use at all. A large portion of the data used by communities like this (even "self-experimenters") -- use cargo cult pseudo-science to justify their drug use -- something that can go horribly wrong in inexperienced hands.
The majority of these people aren't even testing their compounds. They take them blindly or rely on the reputation of other people to tell them that its safe - mostly because they're ignorant, lazy, cheap, impatient or some combination thereof. They also have very little understanding of pharmacology or basic science, and I've seen first hand accounts from drug enthusiasts who go on to describe how they can "feel" the actions at various receptors in their brains based on something they've poorly understood from reading Wikipedia for 5 minutes (which is just complete nonsense.) And what's worse, is that there’s no easy way for the average person to tell what information is good since so much of the Internet is written to seem authoritative.
Suppose I Google a question and find a well-written blog post on serotonin interactions between various drugs that answers my question. Am I really going to know that the article is inaccurate, bias, or incomplete? Or am I going to walk away feeling like I've learned something, because I hate to say it but -- that's largely what the web is these days. None of the real information is on the surface because that would be far too boring for the average reader and boring content doesn't sell. Now combine this with drug use and you have a toxic mix of ignorance that can literally kill people.
I could go on about this subject but I won't rant any more. Just keep in mind that a lot of what’s written about nootropics (and other drugs) is no where near as clean or as simple as the Internet makes it seem, and that most people aren't even in a position to use caffeine therapeutically - let alone safely negotiate complex, poorly understood, and potentially unknown compounds they bought from the Internet (so try not to take Gwern at face value.)
Re: Nootropics
#300Can you just get the nutrition supplements from the drug store or are those all no good? I want to supplement magnesium since I am sure I am not getting enough.
Yes most of these can be found in basic drug stores or health food stores, especially magnesium supplements or natural supplements such as ashwagandha. However, you won't find any finils or racetams except online.