What I learned gathering nootropic ratings (2022)

There's one very simple "nootropic" that I've discovered many years ago and have been doing most days of the week. Buying a cup of coffee and taking a walk in nature. It makes me feel better than just coffee or just walking in nature. Another benefit is that in the days I can do this, I have something to look forward to since waking up.

In myy experience it works even better with a stimulant with a smoother curve than caffeine and optionally a bit more intensive (but still on lighter side) exercise.

Probably the slight MAO inhibiting effect of coffee.

Can you give some examples of the stimulants?

Modafinil 50-100mg or micro dose of long release amphetamine like Vyvanse.

Good simple nootropic, but I like the cup of coffee even better with a 200mg capsule of a high quality L-Theanine to give a zen-like calm to the stimulation of the caffeine. Underrated as heck IMHO.

> I have something to look forward to since waking up

That's... sad! I look forward to every day! I look forward to breathing when I wake up! I hope that changes for you soon.

Any brands that you would consider high quality? I'm currently using Nutricost, but only because it was the cheapest, and I didn't know they were allowed to fiddle with quality on these things.

Nootropics Depot [0] appears to be a high-quality vendor. They claim to test every batch of every ingredient in-house for all of their supplements.

[0] https://nootropicsdepot.com/l-theanine-capsules/

Was just about to say this, Modafinil is my stimulant drug of choice. 100mg. Really smooth and lasts all day. I do need to take amitryptiline to help sleep but I have noise intolerance related sleep issues anyway and the combination of the two meds is complementary. My only regret is not starting sooner - I had a rather anti drug bias and saw needing medication as a weakness.

Any difference from the 2-for-1 from Walgreens (private labeled)? Or is that the problem? We don’t really know what we’re getting?

Going to make a wild guess that coffee’s contribution is its classic stimulant effect, which is well known.

Not sure why the nootropics people are always trying to come up with alternate theories for why something works when substances like caffeine are well studied and known to provide a mood boost.

I have personally found them to be a high-quality vendor [/anecdata]

Just an anecdote, but Modafinil is one of the worst stimulants I have tried. It’s great as a one-off tool for something like staying awake to drive late at night, but every time i have taken it I get intense depression and aggravation for the next 2 days. It’s really strange. Things that normally do not worry me cause great mental suffering. If it wasn’t for that and the deep sleep impact, it would be great. I read the half life is ~16 hours.

I am still yet to see any decent studies into whether or not L-Theanine actually does anything at all. Studies never seem to find anything statistically significant, yet so many people swear by it. I'm inclined to say it is placebo.

Good recent writing on the topic: https://dynomight.net/theanine-2/

AFAIK highly depends on the person, I've given 1/4 or 1/2 doses to people and the most common reaction is that it is like a coffee. It seems the strong reactions are a minority of users. Specifically for me, I have long term dopamine dysregulation, so it hits really strong. Without the amitriptyline there is no way I could say on it.

Any dopamine booster (agonist / reuptake inhibitor) has wildly different effects on different people. Or across different times in their life. Anecdotes are good to share, because they illuminate the variety of experiences that one should be prepared for.

Even Vyvanse vs Adderall XR are reported to have markedly different effects on the same person -- and after metabolic conversion, they're supposed to be the same active ingredient with fairly similar time release duration.

Modafinil and armodafinil I find to be excellent at getting rid of tiredness. I find for me if I take too much, I’ll get nausea that’s only curable by a sleep cycle. Armodafinil tends to last much longer.

The downside I’ve noticed is that one side effect many people don’t realize is how it affects the body for some people. It can cause increased blood pressure among others - which can lead some people to feel anxious.

Body follows mind, mind follows body.

(As in my body feels anxious, so I must be anxious ).

I personally find the effects from Modafinil to be kind of like caffeine but with less side effects / longer lasting / more effective.

I thought that these are only accessible illegally or for treatment of specific conditions like ADHD or narcolepsy.

Is there some way to legally get it for the use being discussed here?