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Nootropics

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Re: Nootropics

#321

Post by codezero »

perfectfire wrote: post #317
codezero wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

:( This sucks. I tried a lot of different combos of medications and was lucky to have a doctor that let me very clearly experiment with what worked. My dose: Adderall XR 30mg + Adderal 10mg (around 2pm) I tried Adderall, Vyvanse, Ritalin and Concerta (long acting Ritalin) Ritalin had the best cognitive effects but the worst side effects. I slept, but I didn't really sleep. Over time, I developed terrible atrophy as w…

Thankfully, I don't have any urge to pick off the hair on my head. It's just facial hair. I do shave from time to time, but the shave isn't close enough. In fact newly shaved hairs are the most satisfying to pull out. I might have to go back and try razors again. I stopped using them because I could never get a good close shave and I figured if I can't get a good shave I might as well have the convenience of an elect…

Ah yep, I remember when I was originally diagnosed I learned about how the treatment for narcolepsy was similar!

Welp, as long as you can manage things, that's what matters.

I've tried various other treatments over time and they usually end up as very distracting blunders so I've settled where I'm at now for about 8 years.

I do shave my head about once every 6 months when I start fidgeting with my hair incessantly.

Re: Nootropics

#322

Post by [deleted] »

scriptkiddy wrote: post #313
aninhumer wrote: post #289

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think this interpretation is improbable, otherwise I wouldn't be suggesting it. And my points have not changed, all I've done is clarify them.

I'm pretty sure the person you were arguing with is trolling. There's no way someone could be so socially inept to take the op's point so literally.

[deleted]

Re: Nootropics

#323

Post by hprotagonist »

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.

I put "nootropics" in the same mental category as fetishistic adherence to taking heaps of dietary suppliments (with no QA), or homeopathy (woo), or tDCS (neuro-woo).

It is scientism at its worst.

Re: Nootropics

#324

Post by keyboardhitter »

istoica wrote: post #304
thrownblown wrote: post #243

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also on the weight lifting / sleep connection, in 4 hr Body, Time Ferris states: TAX THE NERVOUS SYSTEM WITH ISO-LATERAL MOVEMENTS. Exercise is commonly recommended to improve sleep. The problem for me was that results were unpredictable. I might exercise for 20 minutes and fall asleep in 10 minutes, or I might exercise for two hours and fall asleep in two hours. There was no repeatable cause and effect. It seemed li…

This is really interesting, I have hard time dealing with sleep since moving abroad, break-up, far from family, isolated small city. Before I could bet with someone that I can fall asleep in less that 5 minutes. Now, I've done it all and nothing seem to help: - tried medicine(benzodiazepam family, ugly stuff, addictive, stopped after just 1 week, fuck the doctor that prescribed this) - tried removing everything with…

> - tried melantonin, calming teas, etc etc, bullshit, money wates

Melatonin, while not effective for everyone, should not be grouped together with "bullshit money wastes" in my opinion.

> Guys, be grateful for your lives and go out and speak with people, one day this magic substance might be found, but I am more convinced that it will come from machine/human merger that from substances. Good or bad, that is the most likely future.

This is a very positive outlook, but bear in mind how reality changes for people who are deprived of sleep. As I'm sure you know it becomes a state of desperation. So while you may not want foreign stuff / substances in your body, others are definitely willing to make the sacrifice, even if that doesn't mean good sleep indefinitely. Other people may be willing to be dependent on substances in order to feel rested, for example. Myself included.

> I am more convinced that it will come from machine/human merger that from substances. Good or bad, that is the most likely future.

Curious, what kind of machine/human concept are you thinking of?

Re: Nootropics

#325

Post by hasbroslasher »

hx87 wrote: post #320
hasbroslasher wrote: post #123

So you're telling me you alter your biochemistry to become more productive without a care for how it affects your overall (mostly mental) health? Hell, I started smoking cigarettes at 16, which I rank near the top of my worst decisions ever, despite the fact that it helped me hack my brain chemistry as I powered through numerous difficult math and CS classes with top scores. As a result, I spent years thrashing, kick…

> Eventually this kind of thing ends up costing you $50 a month and keeping you on par with everyone else in the office (who also happen to brain-chemistry-hack) If it makes the entire office more productive, wouldn't that be positive-sum, not zero-sum?

No, your own health, sanity and money are costs in the equation.

And let's be honest: it's highly improbable that your work is doing anything for the good of humanity. In fact, it's actually very likely that your work (or some constituent part of it) carries negative environmental externalities, e.g. it's bad to do, even worse to do more of. My work certainly isn't essential to the arc of history. So what good is my productivity, especially at these costs?

Re: Nootropics

#326

Post by scriptkiddy »

Practicality wrote: post #272
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.

I am a little ambivalent about that. How about coffee, vitamin d, calcium and tyrosine? All of them have proven benefits, nothing fringe: http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/snake-o... That combined with exercise, sleep and eating well is pretty much my "stack." Personally I would rather not risk the possibility of destroying my brain with something unproven. However, for things with proven benefits…

Caffeine, calcium, and Tyrosine can all be found in normal food and beverages. There's no need to supplement them unless you have a terrible diet.

You can get vitamin d by going outside every once in a while.

Re: Nootropics

#327

Post by reitoei »

alxndr wrote: post #305
Vinkekatten wrote: post #217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I tried a few episodes of sleep with me, and it creeped me right the hell out. It was some guy talking in a pouty, condescending baby-voice about some nonsense or other. His voice especially threw me off. Dan Carlin is great, but way too intense and interesting for me to sleep to. I pay attention to the podcast and want to hear "just another 20 minutes" instead. 99% invisible is perfect in this regard. Roman has a gr…

Have you tried Max Richter's "Sleep"? http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/20987-sleep/

Looks great, will give it a whirl.

Edit: There are some amazing looking sleep-oriented playlists on Spotify.

Re: Nootropics

#328

Post by Symmetry »

cyphar wrote: post #86
jonathankoren wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

> Many people, including myself, find exercise to be mind numbingly boring, and intellectually insulting. I used to think the same way but decided one day that I was going to walk/jog ~10km every day and eat healthy. Now, I really enjoy walking. It gives me a chance to think about the problems I've been trying to solve during the day, what I'm going to do tomorrow, etc. And at some point I actually started enjoying t…

Personally, deciding to exercise more plus books on tape has done wonders for the number of books I finish each year.

Re: Nootropics

#329

Post by AstralStorm »

kale wrote: post #248
elyase wrote: post #213

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A study assessing 6 months (n=112) and 12 months (n=96) of melatonin treatment of 2mg in a controlled release capsule, taken 1-2 hours prior to sleep, people aged 20-80 with primary insomnia failed to show any tolerance to the treatment. The authors noted a slight sensitization to the effects of melatonin at the 3-4 month period, which was attributed to better entrainment of the circadian rhythm. These results have b…

Thanks for linking that. I researched melatonin previously and found these same studies. It appears that there's not much of a tolerance effect when taking melatonin. This is unusual, our experience tells us that most drugs have a tolerance effect. Extended use of caffeine causes the body to make more adenosine receptors, meaning that it takes a higher dose to have the same effect. This does not appear to happen with…

Chiefly because it is a hormone with relatively short lifetime (I'm not sure but about 2h) not taken constantly throughout the day.

Re: Nootropics

#330

Post by dajohnson89 »

RandomInteger4 wrote: post #45
dajohnson89 wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nicotine gum is awful for your teeth and gums, and there's a lot of anecdotal evidence that it thins out hair.

Perhaps, and I wouldn't know from first hand experience trying it myself, but I imagine it is almost guaranteed to be safer than smoking. For reference on that matter, my mother passed away a while back from lung cancer induced by smoking (small cell lung cancer).

Yes nicotene gum is definitely safer than smoking, and also safer than playing russian roulette.
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