Hey FocusPocus,
I'm doing well, thanks for asking! I'm applying to residencies and powering through 4th year med school at the moment. Just keepin' at it. I took Step 2, and used a similar stack to what I used for Step 1. Did well, but wish I had taken more time to study so I could have obliterated it. Ultimately, no amount of Nootropic supplementation can make up for hard work, determination, and repetition/memorization on those exams. This time around, I really only had about 1 week to study, which was broken up by some personal obligations among other things-- compared to the 5 weeks of isolated study-lockdown I set aside to prepare for Step 1. I got essentially the same score, but the average score goes up quite a bit for Step 2, so in truth I suppose I did worse. At the end of the day my performance during 3rd year clerkships and on Step 1 will make most any residency option available to me, which was the primary goal of all this.
My current stack is very pared down and minimalist for the moment, as I'd like to save the real kaboom for particularly stressful periods.
Breakfast:
1 Scoop Spark (Caffeine and multivitamin -- which lacks folate unfortunately)
Ginkgo 120mg
Folate- 800mcg
Lunch:
Coffee
Ginkgo 60mg
On "challenging days," I add in 800mg Piracetam and 500mg Choline bitartrate twice a day, and occasionally use either Korean Ginseng, Siberian Ginseng, or EGCG for a boost. Very rarely I use a small amount of Armodafinil, (1/4 of a 150mg tablet) if my circadian rhythm has been thrown way off by a night call duty, red eye plane flights, etc.
I've said this a million times now I think, but I'm yet again considering another longterm trial of Bacopa monnieri. I'm hoping that with Piracetam mostly by the wayside for the moment, I'll have less GI side effects with Bacopa and reach the point where I can take it long enough to see real benefits. The studies showing a significant increase in memory didn't have statistically significant outcomes until something like 5+ weeks of regular use.
Anyways... Gone are the days of mega stacking, since I haven't had the need to really sit down and cram 25 textbooks and 2500 practice questions into my brain. I do find that if I miss my Ginkgo for a few days in a row, however; I slow down somewhat. This has been a bit concerning, but considering some of the longevity data out there for Ginkgo, the overall benefit of taking it every day is likely worth it in and of itself. So that's the plan for now.
Now to your question:
I've never had luck with L-Theanine. I completely relate to the feelings of depression as an after effect of using this supplement. I generally feel pretty relaxed after taking it, but I also experience some GI discomfort that is hard to characterize. A mild, painless nausea is the best I can do to describe it. As it wears off, I feel anxiety, irritation, and generally pretty low. This is all during daytime use with the goal of nootropic and anxiolytic effect. As far as L-theanine as a sleep aid: it doesn't make me feel sleepy enough to be effective and I generally wake up feeling unrested, however; this is very anecdotal since I haven't tried it long term or regularly enough to really judge its effectiveness as a sleep aid.
For good sleep, "sleep hygiene" has been the most important factor for me.
I just follow these rules:
-No caffeine or other stimulant after 4pm, unless I'm on call and need to stay alert past midnight.
-No exercise after 8pm.
-No TV in the bedroom.
-Keep my bedroom cool, and well ventilated. (My bedroom fan or A/C is always on when I'm sleeping).
-The bedroom is for the "Two S's": Sleeping and Sex. That's it... and maybe a (S)hort period of reading.
-Establish a routine-- It sounds stupid, but your body knows when you're trying to go to sleep. I always read a few pages of a novel before I go to sleep. These days I basically make my rounds, lock up the house, turn off the lights, take a melatonin, change into some boxers, open my book, and by the time I'm at page 6-7 my eyelids are getting heavy. I turn off the light and fall asleep within minutes.
-Some people benefit from taking a hot shower before bed as part of their routine. I need that shower to really wake up in the morning, so that's not me.
So as I mentioned there, all I really take is Melatonin. If I'm feeling a little too awake, I take a 5mg Time-released tablet. Usually I only take a 1mg tablet. The key with melatonin is taking it, and then immediately getting into bed and trying to fall asleep. It acts quickly, and wears off quickly, unless you use a time-release tablet. I use the Natrol 5mg Melatonin TR when I really need to get snowed.
Of course, Marijuana also works well to get to sleep...a couple hours after usage. But, the downside of this is that with regular use it can also generate insomnia-- requiring regular use to fall asleep. Some people also get night-sweats when they skip their bedtime weed. In my own experience, a 500mg Tylenol (Acetaminophen) at bed time helps to break this cycle, if you find yourself in a loop. I thought of this after reading a study that showed a metabolite of Acetaminophen to be a reuptake inhibitor of Anandamide-- the endogenous neurotransmitter that stimulates the CB1 and CB2 receptors of the endogenous cannabinoid system, the target of THC in Marijuana. Some people also advocate for using Picamilon or another GABA agonist for this purpose, which did not work as well as simple acetominophen for me.
Finally, my own experiences with Glycine and Taurine have been exclusively in the stimulatory, nootropic context. I have never used them to help me sleep. I've found both to work well with Ginko/Piracetam, and both are in the Spark Energy Drink that I use.
Hope some of this helps!