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My 16-month theanine self-experiment

dynomight.net

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Re: My 16-month theanine self-experiment

#61

Post by kerkeslager »

baby wrote: post #12

I tried it and it never did anything, I tried all sorts of CBD products as well (while in SF) and I never noticed a thing. The only thing that worked was microdosing shrooms which I've done twice in SF. I felt very calm and had a lot of novel ideas during these two days. Would recommend trying. Never microdosed LSD.

The thing is, if you're looking for an obvious effect like the classic psychedelics have, you're going to be disappointed with most mood treatments.

That doesn't mean they don't work--it might be because you didn't measure whether it worked effectively.

A lot of people (but not all people) say that exercise doesn't improve their mood, but when you ask them mood related questions when they aren't thinking about exercise, it becomes clear that exercise massively effects mood.

Re: My 16-month theanine self-experiment

#62

Post by postpawl »

MichaelDickens wrote: post #27
brcmthrowaway wrote: post #2

What does gwern or guzey think of this? I only trust them

How did you determine that they were trustworthy? Whatever process you used to evaluate their trustworthiness, use the same process on this article, and then decide whether you trust this article.

This article seems not bad, but I’m skeptical of the Dynomight author because he previously downplayed the recent rise in homelessness as just returning to 2011 levels. Newer data from late 2024 shows homelessness actually surged 18% to a record high, driven by housing costs, migration, and ending pandemic support - so his earlier analysis missed important trends.

Re: My 16-month theanine self-experiment

#63

Post by fatbird »

Starlevel004 wrote: post #54
bawolff wrote: post #16

> This hacker news thread is full of positive reports, Hacker news always has the most insane takes when it comes to medical/biological things.

It's what you get when you have a forum entirely made up of people who have never been told that they are actually wrong trying to apply knowledge to something that doesn't give clear, immediate, and universal results

The whole site should have this as a tagline.

Re: My 16-month theanine self-experiment

#64

Post by djfivyvusn »

fragmede wrote: post #49
jaggederest wrote: post #46

This is actually a thing I wish existed, but I don't have time and energy to make it right now. I'd pay $25 a month or more. Basically it's an application that lets you do self-experiments like this, properly blinded and with good statistics. A challenge-dechallenge-rechallenge study is one of the ones I like, but if you want to do one you essentially have to design the study anew each time, and it would be convenien…

you want a service to: mail out a 30-pack of daily pills, there's an app where you record your mood/whatever, and then at the end of it, reveal which days were VitD and which was collagen? how much would you pay for this?

Skip the pills. Make the app.

Re: My 16-month theanine self-experiment

#65

Post by kerkeslager »

secunit wrote: post #25
baby wrote: post #12

I tried it and it never did anything, I tried all sorts of CBD products as well (while in SF) and I never noticed a thing. The only thing that worked was microdosing shrooms which I've done twice in SF. I felt very calm and had a lot of novel ideas during these two days. Would recommend trying. Never microdosed LSD.

L-Theanine has a noticeable effect when I drink my morning coffee, it totally eliminates the jittery effects and smooths it out. I've tried a lot of CBD products and some work VERY well (Feals, Soul) and some might as well be gummy bears (Cornbread Hemp). I generally disbelieve "internet" PR claims as well, but the two I mentioned are legit. I'll eat 3 Feals gummies or 1 Soul "Out of Office" quad, and it rocks me. (M…

> L-Theanine has a noticeable effect when I drink my morning coffee, it totally eliminates the jittery effects and smooths it out.

FWIW, the research on L-Theanine in conjunction with caffeine is the only research I've seen that seems convincing that L-Theanine has any effect. I've not seen any convincing evidence that it does anything in the absence of caffeine.

Re: My 16-month theanine self-experiment

#66

Post by fragmede »

djfivyvusn wrote: post #64
fragmede wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

you want a service to: mail out a 30-pack of daily pills, there's an app where you record your mood/whatever, and then at the end of it, reveal which days were VitD and which was collagen? how much would you pay for this?

Skip the pills. Make the app.

how do you blind the contents of the pills unless someone else does it?

Re: My 16-month theanine self-experiment

#67

Post by dylan604 »

pazimzadeh wrote: post #48

> I’ve long found that tea makes me much less nervous than coffee, even with equal caffeine. Many people have suggested theanine as the explanation, but I’m skeptical. Most tea only has ~5 mg of theanine per cup, while when people supplement, they take 100-400 mg. Apparently grassy shade-grown Japanese teas are particularly high in theanine. And I do find those teas particularly calming. But they still only manage ~2…

I would also look at other ingredients in teas as a knock on effect vs straight supplement extracts. Sometimes the extract as a supplement isn’t the same once separated from the rest of the plant it’s found.

Re: My 16-month theanine self-experiment

#68

Post by radlad »

dmix wrote: post #44
bawolff wrote: post #16

> This hacker news thread is full of positive reports, Hacker news always has the most insane takes when it comes to medical/biological things.

Most of this stuff is just takes from random people, not medical research. For example, the article links to 5-month old HN thread where the first comment says: > And you do not want to mess with the 5-HTP and alcohol at the same time so I googled it > Internet forums are full of horror stories of people vomiting, blacking out or having seizures after drinking while on 5-HTP. It’s impossible to know if the stories ar…

I don't disagree with your main point, but the plural of anecdote is data. Phenomena exists before the related studies do.

The link you provided goes on to say:

> Antidepressants also affect the balance of neurotransmitters such as serotonin. Popular antidepressants called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors increase levels of serotonin in the brain. The labels of SSRIs such as Celexa and Prozac warn patients not to drink alcohol while on the drugs. If you shouldn’t drink with antidepressants, you probably shouldn’t drink with 5-HTP.

> The effects of mixing 5-HTP and alcohol on serotonin levels are not fully understood. However, both substances alter serotonin levels, which may increase the risk of developing serotonin syndrome. This life-threatening condition is caused by the accumulation of too much serotonin in the body. Serotonin syndrome can cause confusion, agitation, sweating, coordination loss, fever and seizure.

Re: My 16-month theanine self-experiment

#69

Post by ein0p »

instagib wrote: post #5

I finished one bottle of Theanine for occasional use and went to order a different combo as it was unavailable. It is Theanine Serene with Relora which also includes Magnesium, GABA, Taurine, and Holy basil in two large tablets. Helps relax and ease falling asleep. Another option may be a pain/stomach relief/sleep aid concoction we found : 1tsp ginger 1tsp turmeric 1tsp cinnamon 1tsp fine black pepper 500ml milk Boil…

Weren't the "beneficial effects" of turmeric (or to curcumin, to be more exact) found to be based on fake research? The researcher who started the whole thing about turmeric, Bharat Aggarwal, had to retract 30 (!) of his papers, in which he falsified the images.

Re: My 16-month theanine self-experiment

#70

Post by cluckindan »

”I’ve long found that tea makes me much less nervous than coffee, even with equal caffeine.”

Well, of course you are less nervous when you avoid taking coffee: it contains a LOT of beta-carbolines which act as MAO-A inhibitors. MAO-A inhibition directly prevents adrenalines from being inactivated by oxidation.

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