ok so how much and how often should we be taking l-cysteine with the standard stackrecommended in OP?
and you are taking the l-cysteine is what you meant when you said you were taking sulfur?
is anyone taking racetams with this stack, and what are your experiences? Im guessing its better to just start this stack first and then later add racetams
Since the standard stack is uridine, dha, and a choline source, its not all that important. My reply was pointed at people taking dopamine precursors such as l-dopa or tyrosine. See, with amphetamines and catecholamine precursors you put a lot of stress on your system. Uridine on the other hand is not such a strong dopamine releasing agent as amphetamines (from my experience) so the stress put on the system should be a lot less too. However, its always good to do something against dopamine toxicity, high dose NAC seems to be a good bet. Sulfur in general should be repleted through a sulfur containing amino acid, cysteine, or methionine.
NAC on the other side does not directly contribute to the sulfur cycle but has its own benefits (i.e. reducing oxidative damage from dopamine)
First time i took it, it felt like light amphetamines for me - no kidding. Just took 1g on empty stomach, i couldnt stop talking and felt pretty great. My motivation was way up aswell as my anxiety which was way lower. But this edge to it disappeared after some days of continous use. Now it just makes me a bit more motivated, or "on" which is very welcome at work or when you need to be productive, i've been thinking of my dopamine levels and they may have been somewhat low or unbalanced before this stack. Anyways, i guess the Uridine itself is enough to elevate/stabilize your dopamine levels. Recently i've feel even more dopamine based effects from taking this stack.
I got Selenium on my way but I've already ordered MSM-Sulfur from Jarrows. Will this work instead of l-cysteine?
A question i would like to raise is whether Maca can be taken with the Uridine stack, anyone had any troubles with this?
No wonder. Your system was not used to be able to produce lots of dopamine due to the lack of precursors - so EVERYTHING was upregulated that is involved in production, and EVERYTHING was downregulated that is involved in reuptake / degradation.
So basically your effect was the same like that of amphetamines, because the chemistry was the same -> lots of free dopamine floating around the brain (and lots of adrenaline and noradrenaline probably also)
Of course the brain will downregulate to keep dopamine levels in check fairly quickly(in case of tyrosine primarily through tyrosine hydroxylase), with additional downregulation through depletion of sulfur and probably other cofactors and therefore important enzymes and glutathione.
It is not only a matter of keeping dopamine levels at a "normal" level so the brain won't have to deal with side effects from too much dopamine (psychosis anyone?), its also a matter of protecting the brain from oxidative damage due to too much dopamine.
And this is the main problem with dopamine(and or its metabolites): not enough and the brain does not work properly, too much, and oxidative stress increases. But since many people need more dopamine to function normally then they should (from a view of oxidative stress) they have the choice: More dopamine, a working brain, AND too much oxidative damage, or no working brain, no oxidative damage. That choice kinda sucks so the main effort besides raising dopamine to functionally adequate levels should lie in protecting from its toxic properties. I would like to point out that ANY substance that raises dopamine will increase toxicity and lead to possible long term health problems without additional protection.
That means ANY precursor of dopamine, ANY dopamine releasing agent (amphetamines such as ritalin etc), ANY dopamine reuptake inhibitors. So the STRONGER the effect, the higher dopamine levels in your brain should be, and the stronger toxic effects will be. Substances that slow down the degradation of dopamine may provide some benefit though, since it is speculated that metabolites are also toxic.
MSM is an inadequate source of sulfur for the intention of contributing sulfur to the sulfur cycle, but it has its benefits serving as a methyl donor so it is not a waste of money. See, the sulfur in MSM first needs to be used to build sulfur containing amino acids which then can be used by the sulfur cycle directly. So you are at least 1 step( don't know how many steps exactly) further away from archiving your goal then with l-cysteine.
I'd like to add again that the folks from neuroassist who invented that protocol use 400mcg selenium to counteract any possible problems from the ability of cysteine to transport heavy metals across the bbb. Adding Zinc might be a good idea too because it too can chelate heavy metals.
