3 replies to this topic

[Greentea_with_honey]

Huperzine A works to increase my cognition, focus, and alertness. I have experimented with it when I was ill for a boost, it helped me 3-4x a week at 80-150mcg for approx. 2 months. After this, I recovered from illness and did not use it for a year. I am now in studies and tryjng to avoid caffeine, as it has too many downsides, so I tried Huperzine A again. Multiple times, at dose of low as 40mcg to 100mcg, and without fail, every time, the next day after, I get hit with an intense depression, anger, and malaise directly proportional to the dose. It is really bad.

So caffeine is out, huperzine A is out. I am honestly a little afraid to try other nootropics because I have no idea how I will react. I was considering trialling Piracetam but maybe it would have similar negative effect? I do not know. Maybe these class of drugs are not for me.

[MichaelFocus22]

1. The secret that no one tells you on the forum is that all noorotropics are not sustainable to begin with because you build tolerance to whatever you take for a sustained period of time. It's the brains way of protecting itself from chemicals that would damage the post-synaptic gaps or otherwise destroy neutral connections through perpetual neurotoxicity.  It's ironic because I need lots and lots of dopamine but it doesn't like it very much when I take tons of ritalin... So funny. Anyways, the point is, you probably don't need that boost if you eat a very high quality diet and exercize religiously. Exercise will cure any depression automatically it's impossible to have depression with exercise.  Just remember, anything you take whether a narcotic, a stimulant, is NOT sustainable precisely because it's NOT manufactured by the brain. This is the evil truth of perfomance enhances is that their is no reliable mechanism without having really really bad trade-offs. This is why, I don't take steroids I probably would just to get stronger but your invariably just ruining yourself in the long run for a minimal short-term gain. At best, stimulants might be best a few days of the week. This is the only sustainable way you could theoretically take them... Ahh I wish I was cured of ADD...My brain constantly prioritizes stimulus over goals even though it NEEDS goals...Just ranting now.. /TLDR GO LIFT-WEIGHTS

[Greentea_with_honey]

You took my question and used it as an opportunity to lecture me in a way that perhaps missed what I was inquiring about. I study nutrition and health so know diet, sleep, lifestyle are number one. I have been in gyms since I was a teenager, so I can appreciate your support of fitness.

I think you may be somewhat mistaken in conflating nootropics with stimulants and narcotics specifically, or maybe I am interpreting it incorrectly. While, I appreciate your sentiment, and I understand it, i do not think casting off nootropics as a whole as unsustainable interventions is fair or really in line with the spirit of research and furthering our knowledge. I think if you dig deeper into the research you may find that some form of responsible nootropic use can lead to beneficial and even health promoting long term results.

Anyways, I came here to ask in case anyone had some suggestion to point me down the right path, to narrow my research target. I do appreciate your input, though.

[MichaelFocus22]

You took my question and used it as an opportunity to lecture me in a way that perhaps missed what I was inquiring about. I study nutrition and health so know diet, sleep, lifestyle are number one. I have been in gyms since I was a teenager, so I can appreciate your support of fitness.

I think you may be somewhat mistaken in conflating nootropics with stimulants and narcotics specifically, or maybe I am interpreting it incorrectly. While, I appreciate your sentiment, and I understand it, i do not think casting off nootropics as a whole as unsustainable interventions is fair or really in line with the spirit of research and furthering our knowledge. I think if you dig deeper into the research you may find that some form of responsible nootropic use can lead to beneficial and even health promoting long term results.

Anyways, I came here to ask in case anyone had some suggestion to point me down the right path, to narrow my research target. I do appreciate your input, though.

 

 

1. I did address your question, I recommend you exercise because that's a sustainable mechanism of battling depression because your body is producing natural stimulants to the body also know as endorphins. Nootropics are simply a lesser vesion of narcotics or stimulants it really doesn't matter. I use stimulants myself to treat my ADHD but obviously they don't work well because I'm warning you it is not sustainable. I've used all sorts of noorotropics and the effects are placebo to minimal at best and they still have side-effects and diminishing returns. So, if you depend upon it to alleviate your depression, it's not going to work and will probably get worse. That's why I don't touch benzo's or antidepressants, they almost always make you worse off. If your ok with getting worse then by all means. Ritalin and Adderall are nootropics that actually work that's why you need a prescription to get them, Real nootropics that work have horrible side-effects and can cause all sorts of horrible things... If you want a reccomendation, then I'd reccomend capasin which is a natural stimulant I use when I have no ritalin to use. I literally drank 2 bottles of caynee pepper hot sauce yesterday and I could focus. Probably explains why I always loved hot sauce.. It gave me my instant-gratification fix. Capacsin has stimulant like properties that probably increase cortical blood-flow to the PFC(Prefrontal-Cortex) and release cortisol and endorphines which would alleviate your depression. Granted it has no diminishing returns I can drink it from a bottle which I did 2 days ago to alleviate the boredom or you can use a piracetam as you mentioned. Another possibility is ginko bolba or even viscopocetine. Most complex amino acids from protein shakes will also help because they increase blood glucose which excites the brain and raises arousal level which would alleviate depression as well. Again, if you have an amazing diet and are somewhat normal with a good workout then it's impossible to get depression. I had a neurodevelopmental delay I suspect when I was younger, which probably attributes to my adidctive tendencies and ADD, my dad drinks and smokes weed like nobody's business. He probably has ADHD also. Just remember that anything is external can never really be sustainable but if you don't want to believe then go ahead and find out. That is all.