Nootropics Survey Results And Analysis • Hacker News Board

Re: Nootropics Survey Results And Analysis

#101

Post by toomuchtodo » Mon, Feb 17, 2014, 6:27 PM UTC

toomuchtodo wrote: post #34

robbiep wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The difference between caffeine and modafinil come down to two things for me - - length of effect (caffeine seems to pick me up for had ran hour to an hour with a 30 min lead time - vs 12 hours with modafinil with a 45-1hr lead time) - side effects (if I am really tired and have to get a big day out, I might end up havering somewhere between 6-12 'doses' of coffee. Cf. 200 mg modafinil- by 3/4 through the day on the…

Be careful with regards to the jaw clenching. I used modafinil extensively several years ago as part of a clinical trial/research study participant. I now have stress fractures in two of my lower teeth from the jaw clenching, and will either need to eventually replace those two teeth with implants or (hopefully) stem-cell derived replacement teeth. The body is not built for constant stressing, in many ways.

I spoke too soon:

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/health-fitness...

New 'painless' treatment to repair teeth (indiatimes.com)

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7252950

I guess I don't need to worry about my adventurous clinical trial days after all.

Re: Nootropics Survey Results And Analysis

#102

Post by vidarh » Mon, Feb 17, 2014, 6:29 PM UTC

Xcelerate wrote: post #8

What I find interesting is the fact that modafinil and caffeine ranked almost the same. I've always thought it would be interesting to try modafinil because of the widely claimed cognitive benefits and how it has less drawbacks than caffeine, but if it ranks essentially the same as caffeine, there's really no point to trying it that I can see. Caffeine doesn't really do that much to be honest. It seems as though none…

Caffeine sensitivity can drop very quickly. To me it takes about 200mg to notice much from caffeine. Maybe you've simply not tried high enough doses (be careful - caffeine withdrawal can get nasty)

I use modafinil quite regularly to defer sleep to work on projects through the night, and the difference from caffeine is very noticeable to me - to get the same effect from caffeine means jitters and noticeable increased heart rate.

Don't expect to get mental abilities above your normal rested self for either one of these. You should expect to be able to keep focusing for longer periods, including when tired, though.

More importantly to me than the immediate negative effects of caffeine is that I can take breaks from modafinil at any time, for any period of time, and feel no withdrawal. If I use large enough doses of caffeine to regularly make it through a night without sleep, and want to take a break from it, I need to step down my caffeine intake slowly or risk a week of intense headaches, diarrhoea, shakes in the evening, and fever.

Caffeine is nasty stuff...

Re: Nootropics Survey Results And Analysis

#103

Post by vidarh » Mon, Feb 17, 2014, 7:25 PM UTC

thelogos wrote: post #52

corin_ wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is nicotine gum actually not a health risk? Tobacco held in the mouth (for example Scandinavian 'snus') certainly has serious effects with long-term use, albeit they aren't exactly the same as smoking cigarettes. Gum is generally sold for short term use, so not sure if it's actually better, or just not generally used for long enough to see the effects.

The gum poses risk to the gingival tissues. It can cause gum recession. Not to mention it also taste terrible and hard to control delivery. Chewing it too fast can leave you woozy and nauseous. The reason I prefer nicotine over other stimulants, it's oddly relaxing and motivating at the same time. Caffeine either leaves me jittery or anxious or it doesn't work at all after 2 weeks. There is a ton of research out ther…

I've never smoked, and tried nicotine gum to experiment with the cognitive effects. I managed two pieces of gum because of the taste and delivery control before I threw the rest in the trash... Haven't gotten around to trying a patch..

Re: Nootropics Survey Results And Analysis

#104

Post by vidarh » Mon, Feb 17, 2014, 7:34 PM UTC

my_other_acct wrote: post #29

zen_boy wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would love to hear your general thoughts on Modafinil. One of the things they say is that it has minor side-effects and that tolerance builds up really slow, if at all, in comparison. What's your take on it, empirically?

It's a very subjective question. Modafinil makes me feel Not Tired. That's pretty much it. Not amped up, not hyper focused, just very awake. If you're having trouble focusing because your tired then this is a huge improvement. But I don't think it's much better than just being actually well rested. Tolerance didn't seem like a huge issue, but I also wasn't taking it every day.

Tolerance does happen with modafinil, but sensitivity increases again very rapidly for most people, so if you don't take it every day you might never start noticing it.

Re: Nootropics Survey Results And Analysis

#105

Post by thelogos » Mon, Feb 17, 2014, 10:14 PM UTC

vidarh wrote: post #103

thelogos wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The gum poses risk to the gingival tissues. It can cause gum recession. Not to mention it also taste terrible and hard to control delivery. Chewing it too fast can leave you woozy and nauseous. The reason I prefer nicotine over other stimulants, it's oddly relaxing and motivating at the same time. Caffeine either leaves me jittery or anxious or it doesn't work at all after 2 weeks. There is a ton of research out ther…

I've never smoked, and tried nicotine gum to experiment with the cognitive effects. I managed two pieces of gum because of the taste and delivery control before I threw the rest in the trash... Haven't gotten around to trying a patch..

The patch stops working much faster while ecig's effect never seems to wear off.

I can only assume that it is because the patch maintains a constant level of nicotine in your bloodstream causing tolerance to develop faster and it is unable to spike the nicotine concentration unlike ecig when you can take a deep drag.

Ecig gives a totally different feeling than patch. You'll definitely feel it hit when you take a long deep drag.