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My 16-month theanine self-experiment

(dynomight.net)
817 points dynm | 8 comments | 09 Mar 25 03:08 UTC | HN request time: 0.359s | source | bottom
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jaggederest ◴[09 Mar 25 05:38 UTC] No.43306580[source]▶
This is actually a thing I wish existed, but I don't have time and energy to make it right now. I'd pay $25 a month or more.

Basically it's an application that lets you do self-experiments like this, properly blinded and with good statistics. A challenge-dechallenge-rechallenge study is one of the ones I like, but if you want to do one you essentially have to design the study anew each time, and it would be convenient to run multiple at once if that's possible.

I'm not interested in generalizing, I just want to know if (for example) taking Vitamin D every day at 1000 iu is enough, or whether I should be taking more or less. I can get labs done on this, of course, but again I'm more interested in subjective wellbeing than blood levels beyond avoiding deficiency or hypervitaminosis.

Maybe such an app exists and I simply don't know about it.

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1. fragmede ◴[09 Mar 25 05:51 UTC] No.43306629[source]▶
you want a service to: mail out a 30-pack of daily pills, there's an app where you record your mood/whatever, and then at the end of it, reveal which days were VitD and which was collagen?

how much would you pay for this?

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2. djfivyvusn ◴[09 Mar 25 06:24 UTC] No.43306748[source]▶
Skip the pills. Make the app.
replies(1): >>43306756 #
3. fragmede ◴[09 Mar 25 06:26 UTC] No.43306756[source]▶
how do you blind the contents of the pills unless someone else does it?
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4. adt ◴[09 Mar 25 06:49 UTC] No.43306860[source]▶
Skip the app. Make the pills.
5. kristiandupont ◴[09 Mar 25 07:04 UTC] No.43306928{3}[source]▶
Put them in numbered containers at the start of the experiment.
6. simion314 ◴[09 Mar 25 07:12 UTC] No.43306952{3}[source]▶
>how do you blind the contents of the pills unless someone else does it?

My idea ( you need to adapt the numbers)

1 you build say 30 paper small bags

2 you then get 15 pills of vitamins/drug you test and 15 of placebo , you need them to be similar in shape/color

3 you put the pills in bags and make two piles, say on left side you have the vitamin and right side you have the placebo

4 you make a script to generate 30 long code numbers , you print the codes and stick them on the bags(or use a pen), my idea is that even if you now see that the code you are sticking on the bag, since it will be some long code you should forget it, or have someone else stick the codes . You save the code nubmers in a file, the first 15 codes are the medicine the last 15 the placebo

5 each day you take a bag, open, take the pill and record the code on the bag

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7. cyberax ◴[09 Mar 25 08:22 UTC] No.43307239{3}[source]▶
A device that randomly distributes pills into two chutes.
8. alexthehurst ◴[09 Mar 25 09:47 UTC] No.43307664{4}[source]▶
This would work! QR codes would be even more opaque.