61–70 of 223 posts
M-F I take one 200mg tablet of caffeine in the morning. I also quit getting blackout drunk 4-5 nights a week.
NO! I investigated nootropics extensively. If you want to know the fruits of my research: * anything that "works" has a very pronounced psychoactive effect on the brain. Which is scary in the long-term. * by far the biggest cognitive boost you can get is SLEEPING WELL! Do this FIRST! It's easy to fix and gives a huge boost in output. * caffeine works as well as many nootropics, with little to no side-effects if taken…
I know you meant in the normal case, but it's definitely not easy to fix for some people, like with certain health problems.
Not referring to you in particular, but it just gets a little grating when so many people talk about a good night's sleep as if it was something that anyone can just get.
I used it for a couple of weeks and saw no benefits. The only noticeable change was my dreams got vivid when taking it (which is also claimed by them). When taking it, I also had short episode that felt like onset of a sudden dementia, I could not remember anything. Example: I couldnt remember where my car was parked when I was standing right in front of it. I dont know if it is caused by Alpha-Brain, but I was not taking anything else during that period. I stopped taking it soon after.
Like they say, there is no biological free lunch. I would say the safest way is probably good nutrition, enough sleep and exercise.
Not a nootropic as such, but fuelling my brain on ketones rather the glucose has made an incredible difference in concentration and cognitive ability. (Ketogenic = High fat, carb restricted diet)
Its unlikely that depriving your brain of fuel is having a positive effect on concentration, but since eating carbs triggers insulin, which supresses the effects of adrenaline, you might just be experiencing the benefits of not saturating your diet with sugar.
> the brain starts burning ketones in order to more directly use the energy from the fat stores that are being depended upon, and to reserve the glucose only for its absolute needs [1]
Additionally -
> Because the brain can only power 70% of its action on ketones, glucose will have to be used no matter what. However, because glucose can be derived from non-carbohydrate sources such as protein, a low carb or no carb diet does not starve the brain of its required energy. [2]
And your absolutely right in regards to experiencing the benefits of removing sugar from the diet.
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketosis
[2] http://www.nootropicmind.com/better-brain-fuel-source-carbs-...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
MIT has a patent on doses less than 1 mg and some(not exactly >1 mg) higher doses can have harmful effects.
Source on the harmful effects? I have not seen any credible study showing any significantly harmful effects. Did not know about the MIT thing. That explains why it seems impossible to find melatonin in reasonable doses. It took me a long time even to find something as low as 1 mg pills here in europe (why would anyone ever want to buy 8 mg melatonin pills??)
I've been taking vyvanse(before that adderall) for the past 10 years. I wouldn't have been able to graduate from highschool without it, I can barely function at my job(devops) without it. I haven't noticed any long term affects, it definitely works though. It's scheduled so it's not easy to get but it definitely works compared to some of the more hit or miss OTC nootropics. I'm willing to answer any questions if anyo…
I don't get any of the "high" effects - no endless reserves of energy, no hyper-focus, no mood swings. I do become fairly dehydrated on it, so I end up drinking more water than usual.
All that said, if I didn't have to take it, I probably wouldn't. Stimulants can be pretty hard on the body, and being dependent on a stimulant is not a state I enjoy being in.
I take Ritalin, prescribed for ADHD-I. It's made a positive impact on my life. From time to time I am able to actually get stuff done . I also trialled dexedrine (which made me behave like a ... not nice person) and strattera (which did nothing for me).
You should try vyvanse, I used to take Ritalin and then my doctor trailed me on vyvanse and it lasts the entire day with far less negative side affects than Ritalin. I immediately fell in love, it's still patented though so it isn't cheap without insurance.
My plan is to talk to a psychiatrist about trialling some of the other drugs approved in the USA; we'll see how it goes.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
You should try vyvanse, I used to take Ritalin and then my doctor trailed me on vyvanse and it lasts the entire day with far less negative side affects than Ritalin. I immediately fell in love, it's still patented though so it isn't cheap without insurance.
There is also Concerta - which is basically a mechanical pump contained in a pill that delivers Ritalin spread over 8 hours. They aren't under patent, but the extra mechanics built into the pill still drive a generic 30 day prescription into the $200 range (pre-insurance).
https://drgrcevich.wordpress.com/2014/02/23/why-your-kids-co...
More here (pdf):
https://ejournals.library.ualberta.ca/index.php/JPPS/article...
(osmosis is the movement of water across a semi permeable membrane, roughly speaking, the pill is arranged so that water is drawn into it, creating pressure that pushes the drug out of a small hole.)
The particular mechanism used in Concerta does appear to be under patent.
I've been taking vyvanse(before that adderall) for the past 10 years. I wouldn't have been able to graduate from highschool without it, I can barely function at my job(devops) without it. I haven't noticed any long term affects, it definitely works though. It's scheduled so it's not easy to get but it definitely works compared to some of the more hit or miss OTC nootropics. I'm willing to answer any questions if anyo…
You sure your high does not come from clearing out your withdrawal effects? To elaborate, smokers seem to be anxious before they get nicotine, but to what I understand the relief itself does not really come from nicotine, but because your brain is not used to not have it on hand.
I have 36 years of managing ADHD with coping mechanisms to compare the effects of medication against, and gods below I wish I had gotten help sooner.