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My 16-month theanine self-experiment

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Re: My 16-month theanine self-experiment

#361

Post by seabass-labrax »

chiefalchemist wrote: post #190
seabass-labrax wrote: post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Vacuuming one's bed makes complete sense to me, but what is special about the model you linked to that makes it specifically a 'mattress' vacuum cleaner? Many canister vacuum cleaners are more powerful and can be used elsewhere in the home too (with a different attachment for hygiene, of course). There's the UV light, but I can't see how this is effective when used only for short periods of time. The dust won't be re…

I jumped on the idea but then immediately came to the same conclusion. Now I’m thinking I stick with the vac(s) I have, but get a separate UV. And UV the bed while I’m working. Maybe? Your thoughts?

Obviously there are different species of dust mites, but the ones I'm familiar with are nearly invincible. They are able to cling onto smooth surfaces even with a vacuum cleaner right over them. I've noticed that they are 'directional' in their grip though: when the vacuum cleaner is behind their direction of travel, they'll hold fast, but if you move the vacuum in front of them they'll be sucked up. Thus, drawing the vacuum nozzle back and forth repeatedly seems to me to be essential for reliably getting rid of them.

As for UV, I have no idea. They seem to survive on surfaces that get exposed to sunlight though windows, but apparently glass blocks most UV radiation. You'll have to make a new post with your results if you try it :)

Re: My 16-month theanine self-experiment

#362

Post by appleorchard46 »

kubb wrote: post #186
Kiro wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand what people refer to when they say "jittery effects". I don't feel anything when taking caffeine, no matter the dose. Or I want to think it helps me wake up but the effect is so small that I can't be sure. It's basically just a ritual for me.

Im on the other side of the spectrum. With a small dose of caffeine I get really wired, my blood pressure rises, my head hurts, I feel stressed, anxious and I can’t sleep at night even if the coffee was in the morning. With matcha it’s a similar effect but it’s less anxiety and more headache.

Same story here - few sips of coffee and my heart starts pounding and I can't sleep at all. I have found a plant / drink called yerba mate to give me the beneficial effects without the anxiety though. No headache either. It's higher in caffeine than tea but lower than coffee. Everyone is different but for anyone else out there who gets acute anxiety from most caffeine but wants the focus boost I would recommend giving it a try.

Re: My 16-month theanine self-experiment

#363

Post by newhotelowner »

wenc wrote: post #145
grumpy-de-sre wrote: post #138

For anyone looking for a sleep supplement, before you go down the rabbit hole of Theanine, Mg, etc. Try an OTC Azelastine or Fluticasone nasal spray for a month. Turns out my chronic poor quality, restless sleep was a dust mite allergy that I should have figured out and treated a decade ago. Would wake up with a stuffy nose and very dry mouth but didn't have too many issues during the day. I was allergic to my bed. B…

You should consider a dust mite vacuum with UV. I bought one on Amazon (this one but you can check YouTube reviews for others). https://www.amazon.com/JIGOO-Vacuum-Cleaner-Dust-Sensor/dp/B... I was surprised how much dust this thing picked up (my sheets get washed often, but it’s hard to clean the mattress itself). Back in the day people used to sun dry their mattresses but no one does that these days. This dust mite…

Is there a reason to get this over a waterproof bed bug protector? Which you can wash.

Re: My 16-month theanine self-experiment

#364

Post by OutOfHere »

genewitch wrote: post #342
OutOfHere wrote: post #281

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The conversion period strongly depends on the input dose and on available cofactors. Numerous people have reported that 5000 IU of vitamin D3 can produce energy benefits in just a few hours if one has been skipping taking it. If one is low on cofactors, or takes a low dose of D3, then I imagine it taking days or even longer as you noted.

> After ingestion, cholecalciferol is first converted to calcidiol in the liver, which can take several hours. Then, calcidiol is further converted to calcitriol, the active form, in the kidneys, which may take additional time. read as if you're perfectly healthy , at minimum it's 24 hours. What you're talking about is probably placebo effect. For reserves to start building up to the point where your body has "enough…

Imagine the following variables:

* CalcitrolLevel: float

* CalcitrolReserveCapacity: float

* Is_Energetic: bool

Imagine the following equation:

* Is_Energetic = CalcitrolLevel > 90% of CalcitrolReserveCapacity

For most people, it will take days, weeks, or even months to come above 90%. But for those who have dipped just below 90%, such as to 89%, if they're optimally healthy in other ways, they will see a rapid rise in energy by high dose D3. If it's not this, then there is something else going on physiologically to explain the subjective effect.

Re: My 16-month theanine self-experiment

#365

Post by cogogo »

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…

My high school chemistry teacher claimed that tea and coffee each have different isomers of caffeine and people may be sensitive to one both or none. This was pre internet and some quick googling seems to debunk this claim in that caffeine has no isomers. Though the same searching seems to indicate that there is a likelihood other compounds mitigate or exacerbate its effects.

Re: My 16-month theanine self-experiment

#366

Post by natdempk »

strontian wrote: post #317
grumpy-de-sre wrote: post #138

For anyone looking for a sleep supplement, before you go down the rabbit hole of Theanine, Mg, etc. Try an OTC Azelastine or Fluticasone nasal spray for a month. Turns out my chronic poor quality, restless sleep was a dust mite allergy that I should have figured out and treated a decade ago. Would wake up with a stuffy nose and very dry mouth but didn't have too many issues during the day. I was allergic to my bed. B…

nice! I recently got dust mites out of my home completely, and it was a miraculous upgrade to my health, including several symptoms that are outside the definitions of allergic asthma/eczema/rhinitis. One important thing people are missing about dust mite allergy is the many ways in which they directly damage your immune system and body, outside of the usual frame of "allergies" which is based on type 2 hypersensitiv…

Appreciate the resource -- I think my biggest question from reading it: How can you actually tell if you have dust mite problems? How can you tell if they've gotten better or not? How can I tell if I've hit a point where things are about as good as they're going to get? etc.

Re: My 16-month theanine self-experiment

#367

Post by kqr »

sgc wrote: post #356
levocardia wrote: post #344

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because.... >While I was blinded during each trial, I saw the theanine/D result when I wrote it down. Over time I couldn’t help but notice that my stress dropped even when I took vitamin D, and that I was terrible at predicting what I’d taken That is not blinding

I would have taken a well-calibrated photo of the cup each time without looking, maybe with a color card in the bottom, and only entered results at the end of the trial. Given that there is no documentation of whether the events during the hour of test time were more or less stressful than those before it, and no taking the time of day, diet and exercise, sleep, location (quiet island or next to a construction site),…

> As a note, I have no idea why he bothered trying to guess what he had taken. What possible value could that have in this type of experiment?

It gives a hint of how well the blinding worked.

Re: My 16-month theanine self-experiment

#368

Post by mkatx »

qiine wrote: post #232
grumpy-de-sre wrote: post #206

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeh I've thought about whether it'd be possible/safe to use something like an "overclocked" electric blanket to sterilize the mattress daily. They also need humidity (~50% RH), hence why I got the dehumidifer, which has definitely knocked them back.

I got the exact same idea sadly most electric blanket i could find on amazon where kinda small and had disappointingly low heating power...

Look into something like flexwatt tape. Maybe run it during the day when your not sleeping. In my mind, they probably use something similar inside heated blankets with some kind of limiter/thermostat.

Do your research though!! I'm not sure if flexwatt tape could ignite your mattress, but you would definitely want to know for sure yourself beforehand!

There are ways to control heat though; I'm familiar with using flexwatt tape with reptile enclosures, hooked up to a thermostat with a probe in the habitat for temp control. Maybe some math, like desired_temp = watts_supplied * feet_of_fw_tape, where the watts_supplied is the independent variable you adjust based on the required feet_of_fw_tape for your mattress to get the dependent variable desired_temp. Probably include a fail safe, but I'm no electrician, proceed at your own risk.

They do sell self contained fire extinguishers you can hang on your ceiling that deploy automatically at a certain temperature, ideally putting out fire sources they are hung above. Nice to have around for things like this.

Re: My 16-month theanine self-experiment

#369

Post by darthwalsh »

petesergeant wrote: post #3

This is good. If anyone wants to do a follow-up I’d like to see a higher dosage used, and I’d like to see the effect of weekly supplementation, eg each week you fill your pill-box either with vit-d or l-theanine and rate the week as a whole (with some blinding process). Finally interested in populations with high caffeine use. If I had billg money, I’d divert some of it into just running high quality tests of all the…

Could we crowdfund to pay for this? My friend keeps wanting me to get into supplements (or into multi-level marketing selling supplements...) and I would definitely chip in a few dollars a month to prove whether the advertised claims were true.
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