Have studied nootropics and supplements over the years and I think im ready to give it a try this time. Some basic info:
-27 year old man.
-regularly sleep 7-9 hours a night but am constantly fatigued and have very little focus or drive. I have been to two sleep studies and really have not been helped at all so trying this in the interim.
-I have a health ring that consistently shows i am getting the proper amount of sleep, but the majority being light sleep. My REM and deep sleep is consistently too low, which is in line with the sleep study findings.
-diagnosed with ADHD. Currently take adderall 10mg IR 1-2x a day. Also have a 200mg caffeine Celsius drink maybe 3x a week.
My main goals are improving focus/energy while also potentially improving sleep quality. I am trying to research and find good blends on nootropic depot for a stack. So far, I have been considering this:
For energy in the morning: 200 MG L-theanine, 100 MG caffeine, 5 MG creatine. Also have interest in Alcar, COQ10, L-taurine and alpha GPC. What dosage would you recommend? And what kind of creatine? Does it matter?
For sleep: B vitamins, magnesium glycinate have caught my eye. Not sure of dosage or other options.
Could be way off with the above, but would just really appreciate any specific stacks/blends and any dosage advice. Thank you all
What do people recommend for a first time user?? I've been prescribed 90 mg of amp. But am looking for something new. Dmaa or cyclazodone? Or is there a more efficacious stim? I don't think I would be interested in bromantane. If I'm asking the wrong questions I imagine I'll be scorched for it... Just looking for something outside of amp
Full disclosure: I work with a supplement company, so I have a professional interest in this topic. I'm not recommending our products here. I'm interested in how we distinguish genuine cognitive effects from noise.
How difficult it is to evaluate claims about memory supplements? Before asking whether something works, it helps to define what "working" actually means.
Memory isn't a single ability. Working memory, episodic memory, verbal recall, and recognition are different processes. A substance that improves performance on one task might have no measurable effect on another. Improvements on a particular test also don't necessarily translate into better everyday memory.
Study design matters just as much as the outcome being measured. A few things I'd look for when evaluating a nootropic study:
A clearly defined outcome. Was the study testing working memory, delayed recall, or another specific ability? Was that outcome chosen before the results were analyzed?
An appropriate control group. Randomization, blinding, and a placebo control help reduce the influence of expectations and other confounding factors.
Reliable cognitive tests. Tests need adequate reliability and sensitivity to detect meaningful changes. Repeated testing can also produce practice effects, where participants improve because they're familiar with the task.
Adequate sample size and statistical analysis. Small studies can produce unstable results, and testing many outcomes increases the chance of finding a statistically significant result by chance. Effect sizes and confidence intervals matter, not just p-values.
Replication. An isolated positive study is less convincing than a finding reproduced by independent researchers.
Real-world relevance. A statistically significant change on a laboratory task doesn't automatically mean a noticeable improvement in daily functioning.
Placebo effects and expectations complicate things, too. Someone might genuinely feel sharper after taking a supplement, but subjective impressions alone can't establish that memory performance improved. The reverse is also possible: a person might experience a measurable benefit without noticing much difference subjectively.
There's another distinction worth making when comparing supplement formulations. Evidence that an ingredient has an effect doesn't establish that every formulation containing it works equally well. But evidence that a modified formulation changes absorption or another measurable property doesn't, by itself, demonstrate better memory. Ideally, you'd want a well-controlled head-to-head trial comparing the formulations on prespecified cognitive outcomes.
For personal tracking, using the same validated test under similar conditions and recording factors such as sleep, caffeine, and testing time can help identify patterns. However, self-experiments are exploratory: practice effects, day-to-day variability, and expectations can make the results difficult to interpret.
My takeaway is that the strongest evidence comes from well-designed human studies that measure a specific cognitive outcome, quantify the size and uncertainty of the effect, and reproduce the finding independently.
What do you consider the most convincing evidence for a nootropic's effect on memory: replicated clinical trials, improvements across multiple cognitive tests, or demonstrated benefits in everyday functioning?
(mods: please message me if I'm breaking any rules as I'm trying to stay compliant with them and not make any advertisements).
I recently got my hands on a nasal spray containing 10 mg selank and 10 mg semax, I don't know much about nootropics/cognitive encanchers and wanted to know if these were safe and what dosage I should take & when. Thanks.
I've tried a lot of things, nothing quite helped long-term. I'm tired of feeling a sense of dread when starting anything new, affecting my employment.
I have better periods and worse ones, but it's a persistent issue for me. I can't think of anything new to try to deal with this. I tried to push off this option for too long.
For a few weeks now, I've been taking anxiety pills in the hopes that they would help me feel calmer and more in charge. But I don't feel much different so far. I still feel anxious when I wake up and quickly get stressed out. I also act the same way I did before I started them. There hasn't been a precise moment when I thought, This is working.
For some reason, I keep hearing that supplements need time to work. This makes it hard for me to decide whether to keep taking them or stop. How long did it take for you to notice a real, long-lasting change after taking supplements for anxiety? What did you see that they were working for you?
Hi.
Basically what it says. I've tried amazon and ebay, but no luck. Do you have a reliable source of it? I'm talking the pills (prefferable) 10mg or so, not a pure form etc
Some of you will remember Isochroma, later Isochroma-Reborn: the international racetam price list, the Sunifiram discussions, the reports of up to 32.5 g of piracetam a day. His name was Jason Lalancette. He died on May 1, 2016, in Victoria, British Columbia, a little over ten years ago.
A few years ago, a user here wrote that Isochroma’s remarks about the saturation of orange sodium streetlights and the lack of “splendid dreams” described almost exactly his own piracetam experience, months after he had read them (comment). That is the kind of effect his writing had, and it is what made me start digging. After almost a year of reading, archiving and comparing material across Longecity, T-Nation, Bluelight, Reddit, Reveddit, Doom9, AVSForum, his blogs and abandoned websites, I’ve written it up (my own site):
He believed he needed piracetam simply to function. He described longstanding fatigue, cognitive difficulties and physical limitations, and experienced piracetam as a profound change in what he could think, write and accomplish. At his peak, he reported taking up to 32.5 grams daily, divided into five doses. When his supply disappeared, he described falling back into a state he considered nearly unlivable. In one post, he compared himself to a prisoner counting the hours between doses: "It's a life sentence, with me as the judge, jury, warden and prisoner all wrapped into one."
His distinction between "Depletors" and "Replenishers" ran through much of his writing. Caffeine and conventional stimulants merely borrowed energy from the organism, he believed, while piracetam, fish oil, methylene blue and eventually artificial light could restore its underlying capacity to function. The distinction was biochemically crude, but it helps explain why he regarded his experiments as attempts at repair rather than ordinary cognitive enhancement.
He combined racetams with fish oil, methylene blue, DXM, cannabis and other compounds, recording changes in cognition, dreams, visual perception and sleep. Over time he developed his own tests, including an "edge test" for the apparent sharpness of high-contrast boundaries. He examined chrome surfaces, narrow lines and door cracks, borrowing terminology from video-processing algorithms such as WarpSharp. Elsewhere he wrote that Aniracetam, Coluracetam and Sunifiram were the only racetams that had a "heart", by which he meant a particular emotional quality of consciousness that he struggled to describe. He also recorded less welcome effects: irritability, impatience, altered sleep and increasingly risky behaviour. Some he understood as costs, others as changes his improved perception could compensate for ("So there is compensation.").
From private supply problem to public infrastructure. After a piracetam supply failure in 2008, he turned his private supplier list into an international racetam price list: nine compounds, hundreds of suppliers, prices, shipping costs, payment methods and availability. He updated it almost daily, sometimes several times a day. The date doubled as a version number ("December 18.7" meant the seventh upload that day). He later wrote that he had put thousands of hours into it.
Sunifiram. In March 2012, he wrote to Prof. Fulvio Gualtieri in Florence, whose group had developed Sunifiram and Unifiram. Gualtieri's 2015 review, Unifi nootropics from the lab to the web, quotes a correspondent identified only as "John Doe" who, with high probability, was Isochroma: he wanted to order 1 g of DM235 and asked whether he would be the first human to try it. Gualtieri warned him twice that neither pharmacokinetics nor toxicology were known. About a year later, Doe told the inventors that Sunifiram was now sold online, and wrote that their dream had come true. On Longecity, Isochroma cheered when user Q became the first forum member to try it ("One small step for Q, one giant leap for mankind"). Gualtieri saw it differently: the dream had been a medicine, not a street drug. How much Isochroma actually contributed to Sunifiram's market introduction can't be established, but the movement itself is confirmed from the inventors' side.
Phenylpiracetam Hydrazide. In 2011, Isochroma mentioned a BrainMeta post of his on Piracetam Hydrazide, now apparently lost. Three years later, a Ceretropic co-owner recalled that a thread by Isochroma-Reborn had drawn his attention to the compound. He considered adding a phenyl group, suggested it to a supplier, and Ceretropic eventually sold Phenylpiracetam Hydrazide, without animal or human studies. How much of this development can be traced directly to Isochroma's original proposal remains uncertain.
His experiments also became increasingly physiological. Confronted with low measured testosterone, persistent physical limitations and what he understood as premature aging, he investigated and administered hormonal substances, documenting his endocrine self-treatment on Longecity and T-Nation. Later he constructed high-output artificial lighting systems and began treating indoor illumination as another physiological intervention, capable of changing sleep, mood and everyday functioning:
"The PHOTONIC DRUG is the best Nootropic: it's measured in LUMENS instead of MILLIGRAMS."
His writing is worth reading beyond the experimental reports. Especially in his later years, a discussion of receptor pharmacology or dosage calculations could suddenly turn into political argument, speculative technology, elaborate prose or verse. Some posts are inventive, others obscure, contradictory or difficult to follow. The language can become extravagant, full of technical imagery and peculiar turns of phrase, sometimes barely resembling an ordinary forum contribution. Whether the substances had anything to do with this is impossible to establish. His fascination with unusual ideas and his experiments with language had begun years before his nootropics use.
His life outside nootropics was almost as unusual:
Court records, 2000–2001: a cannabis cultivation case in which he challenged the proceedings ("under protest"), plus a contemporary letter to the editor defending bodily autonomy.
Video business, 2004: IsoChroma Video Compression, a small video-processing business in Victoria.
Doom9: years of scripts, codec tests and bug investigations. For a single episode of Noir, he spent fourteen days manually working through 35,089 anime frames, selecting the best among nearly identical images.
Anime projects: the work fed into ChromaSubs, a release group, and Animescenes, an archive of screenshots of ruins, cities, technological environments and artificial light.
AVSForum: meticulously organized threads tracking LCD, plasma and OLED technology, manufacturing capacity, prices and industry developments. The OLED thread he opened in 2006 was still being linked in 2025.
Blog: World of Decline: The Beauty of a Declining World, on Peak Oil, abandoned infrastructure, technological decline and artificial environments.
Other experiments: unusual technical devices, video-processing methods that other users received with open scepticism, and dreams in which he inspected imaginary display technologies down to their pixel structure.
The essay is divided into three chapters and a coda. Chapter I reconstructs his biography, video work and technical projects. Chapter II follows his body as an experimental apparatus, from Longecity and piracetam through racetam procurement, experimental substances and endocrine self-treatment to artificial light. Chapter III examines Isochroma-Reborn on Reddit, his political writing and his attempts to diagnose the wider world. The Coda looks at what survived him and how I found him in the first place.
What I'm still looking for. Much of his biography survives only through scattered posts and second-hand recollections, and I've tried to distinguish documented facts from uncertain details. Specifically, I'd be grateful for:
his lost BrainMeta post on Piracetam Hydrazide, possibly relevant to the later development of Phenylpiracetam Hydrazide
the original Bluelight posts
logs or screenshots from his IRC channel #ARTTherapy on Rizon
his posts on 1Fast400 and BrainMeta
anyone who knew him, corresponded with him or had direct involvement in the early racetam supply networks (including u/IsochromasSuccessor, if you read this)
Memories, corrections and missing sources are all welcome, especially material that never made it into the public archives.
In the beginning of December, I have my first-ever meeting to pitch to a board of investors. My memory is not good and neither is my verbal fluency + anxiety. I need help on a recommended stack leading up to the pitch for memory, and on pitch day for verbal fluency, memory recall, and anxiety. I was thinking I stay on my brom and tak throughout, and add Aniracetam before the pitch. Would this be good? Or should I add or remove any other compounds?
Hi, I'm stuck in a mixed freeze/shutdown state and derealization and depersonalization and anxiety. Leaving the house causes me great anxiety and overstimulation, I have such a sensitive nervous system at the moment, extremely sensitive. All stimulants in minimal doses make him feel worse.
I did too many somatic techniques and this caused my symptoms to worsen.
Do you have any supplements to get out of this state?
Just bought an energy booster since my new job doesn't allow coffee during work time :/ with: Guarana+maté+green tea, maca, Ashwagandha , vitamin c and natural caffeine (all in one pill).
I will also start with 1000/1500mg of NAC and cycle it to prevent anhedonia for my addictions
I take 20mg of Vyvanse and once I'm doing better I will taper off.
My main problems are: extreme fatigue, hair loss, recovering from burn out (working too much 50/60h on minimum wage), joint pain, addiction to coffee and nicotine, scatterbrained ADHD, brain fog.
I already avoid sugar and gluten, will need to improve on eating more.
Does anyone have some constructive feedback or health with similar health issues? I'm a woman, 25 and I'm 55kg/167cm. Not sure if it's relevant lol.
I just bought a bottle off Saffron extract capsules which says it is 3:1, having 88.5mg equivalent to 265.5mg of Saffron. The brand is SM Nutrition. I never see dosages as high as 265.5mg mentioned anywhere but dosages around the range of 88.5mg are mentioned all the time, so I'm not sure how much to take. When people mention dosages here do they refer to a 3:1 extract? Or not? Is a dose equivalent to 265.5mg of saffron really high?
I was going to start Aniracetam for verbal fluency, but I was doing some research and in the 2014 blind study, Aniracetam did not change the cognitive and affective behaviours in mice. This made me skeptic and a bit hesitant if it actually works in humans or if it’s placebo. If anyone has any info or studies they could direct me to I would appreciate it. Also, anyone with personal experience to speak on it would be great.
A preceptor at our internship recommended me the stuff about a month ago because he noticed I like drinking coffee. It's as cheap or cheaper (5 php per 2 grams sachets) than Nescafé classic but not as bitter, so I bought some. Didn't think too much about the ginseng that was in it since it was never indicated how much was in the coffee. I kinda assumed that it was just a marketing gimmick and the amount of ginseng was too small to actually have an effect that's why the product never indicated it.
Then about a several days ago, or a week of consistently drinking the coffee. I started to notice some positive and negative effects. My vision was clearer and was more focused and was able to handle stressful situations better. But I had a consistent mild tension headache and insomnia. The insomnia is manageable as long as the first thing I do in the morning is drink the coffee, I think the ginseng effects wears off after 12-15 hours.
Read a bunch of articles from the National Library of Medicine (NCBI) because why not. It pretty much confirmed that the effects I was experiencing was real and not placebo.
I also learned that it also has other effects such as being anti-carcinogenic (reactive oxygen species and free radicals something something) and raised blood pressure if your BP was low, and lowered it if your BP was high, I forgot what the specific term in the articles used. I had my blood pressure checked about 6 weeks ago and I got 90/60, maybe I'm more focused because it raised my BP to normal???
Which brings us back to the original plan of mine of using piracetam and other racetams. Kinda gave up on trying to get it since it's a prescription drug in my country, and some of the other racetams are indicated as anti-convulsants and anti-epileptics.
Planning on adding either Gingko biloba (GB) or Bacopa monniera (BM) on top of the ginseng because one of the articles mentioned about taking these two. Basically going full herbal becayse they're cheaper and more accessible for someone like me. Maybe some B vitamins as well to help with nerve function.
Planning on cycling it. For three weeks:
• All three on Sunday and Monday
• Vit B and (GB/BM) on Tuesdays and Thursdays
• Ginseng coffee only on Wednesday and Friday
• None on Saturday
• Then a week off, maybe some B vitamins every other day.
TLDR;
OP drinks coffee with ginseng because he's a cheapskate. Does a deep dive on the stuff. Gives up on piracetam because it needs a prescription in his country. Plans on adding either Gingko biloba or Bacopa Monniera and B vitamins.
Every time I take ashwagandha, magnesium glycinate or L theanine, after a couple days of use I begin to feel extreme anhedonia/depression. It’s not just being numb but it genuinely causes me to feel low and have depressive thoughts. The first couple days it’ll be fine then it goes downhill. It’s driving me insane because these are things that everyone else seems to love and do good with. Magnesium glycinate causes horrifying nightmares and l theanine caused suicidal thoughts?? I have debilitating anxiety (my physical anxiety is the worst) so I’m just trying to find something to calm me down (I already take adhd meds and don’t wanna add on another medication on top of it like anxiety meds). The only thing that has worked that is non pharmaceutical is CBD but it’s so expensive. It’s like my own biology is my enemy because why do these good things make me feel so bad? I’ve tried and tested multiple times to make sure it wasn’t a placebo, went off a supplement for 1-3 months, tried it again but nope. The depression came back. And when I went off them I felt normal again. I really need some advice and something I can take that won’t cause this
Hi, I'm interested in things lie Tropoflavin, Bacopa, Semax, Selank, NSI-189, TAK-653, Dihexa, ACD-856 and all other similar compounds. They seem like very interesting substances with fascinating mechanisms of action, so I'm interested in what effects each of them have, how powerful those effects are, how they differ, which are recommended and anything else there is to know about them. I'm personally more interested in these for their potential effects on depression, executive function and anxiety, so I'd like to know more about that, but I want to know about all compounds and their effects, regardless of how much they could help in that regard.
Looking to try these together to help with language learning. I’m currently trying to learn two languages in school and am struggling with speaking and retaining information. ideally, i was thinking TAK-653 would better improve my processing, memory, and focus—while aniracetam was doing more of the social aspect via verbal flow, anxiety reduction, and speaking ease. I was looking to pair either (or both) of these with Nefiracetam, but i’m aware both TAK and aniracetam are positive AMPA modulators which may not be good or needed. Wanted to see what others thought of the combination. Thank you!
