u/Mechroh

I have taken 30mg Vyvanse for a long time and it appears to be the best dose for my ADHD and it doesn't make me anxious if there are no outside stressors like social situations but if there are, I get into this mildly anxious, hypervigilant state, especially when it's peaking. Higher doses are worse and lower doses are not very effective.

To be fair, I'm a naturally more anxious person, stims just amplify it a little bit. Is there a substance that will help significantly with that without claiming your soul? I've tried benzos and they definitely help but that's a slippery slope so that's a no.

What other things I have tried:

L-theanine 400-800mg - probably the biggest difference. It has a calming effect a tiny bit reminiscent of benzos but it just doesn't cut it and doesn't last long at all (maybe two hours).

Saffron 15mg extract - that's what I take right now. It helps with baseline anxiety, i.e. not feeling anxious without stressors, but doesn't seem that useful for situational anxiety. I keep the dose low because it boosts catecholamines and can mess with how ADHD meds work. However, I may try upping the dose.

Ashwaghdanda - works for baseline anxiety only like saffron but has huge downsides in the form of anhedonia. Stopped using it because of that

Diet, exercise, taking Vyvanse with a meal. Doing all that of course.

Hello everyone,

For the past year, I’ve been dealing with pretty severe anhedonia and apathy. Last year, there was a school shooting at my university, and ever since then, I feel like something in me has gone missing.

I have very little interest in doing anything, but the hardest part is that I’m a PhD student and a poet, and I feel like words no longer speak to me. It’s difficult to describe, but it feels like my brain has slowed down and my creative connection to language is muted as fuck.

I have severe ADHD and currently take Vyvanse and dextroamphetamine. I also work out consistently: 5 days of lifting and 2 days of 4x4 Norwegian HIIT. I’m also on TRT.

I used saffron for about a year because SSRIs blunted me badly and made it hard to write poetry, but I’m starting to wonder if saffron may have blunted me too. Wellbutrin gave me panic attacks and hives. Buspirone made me forget my mother’s name lol.

I’m fortunate to have a psychiatrist who was willing to try pramipexole with me. We’re slowly titrating the dose. I’m currently at 1 mg and will likely increase to 1.5 mg within the next week. So far, it may be bringing back some interest in writing, but it’s still early.

My current stack, besides TRT (0.2 mL every 3 days), Vyvanse (40 mg), and dextroamphetamine (2 x 10 mg) is:

• Omega-3
• Methylated B-complex
• Ubiquinol
• Vitamin C occasionally

At the moment, I’m not taking magnesium, taurine, or saffron because I’m trying to figure out whether any of them were contributing to the apathy/anhedonia.

I’m honestly desperate to find something that helps with the anhedonia and especially with my ability to write and feel creatively alive again.

I’ve been considering:

P.S. I'm already seeing a therapist. And my insurance is kind of an ass so no rTMS or esketamine.
P.S. 2 - My labs are fine

So. I have formally diagnosed ADHD and am in a position where I must use my (amphetamine-based) stimulants sparingly due to a shaky insurance situation.

So I'm looking into Nootropics. Caffeine has of late been making me very very ill. As in vomiting. I used to be able to chug 20oz of black cold brew, but no longer.

I've been trying the sketchy Amazon nootropics but since they also have caffeine I'm trying to avoid those.

However I have found that opening the capsule and putting like half the powder into my Matcha Tea gives me the "calmness" effect and not make me throw up. I do not know why a straight capsule vs dissolved powder works differently but it does.

So yeah. I want a non-caffeine nootropic from a non-sketchy supplement supplier for (admittedly severe) executive function problems.

Any advice?

I'm AuDHD and for almost 10 years I was on various mixtures of prescription drugs to try to "manage it" which turned out to be thinly veiled medical abuse. I was on Prozac first then Risperdal and Cymbalta for 4 years, then for a time took Adderall and Paxil, as well as Ativan for anxiety, then it was Wellbutrin and Zoloft and then Ritalin in college, and then there was Strattera and Abilify. The only thing I take now is Strattera.

I feel this cocktail of medications really messed with my ability to be an effective software engineer and solve problems with a high cognitive load or really understand maths and all that; it's really hampered my motivation and drive to do things, and I just want to be "normal" and have my brain back. Right now I'm dealing with extreme anger and shame for effectively being overmedicared almost half of my entire life and I wish there were a way to reverse it.

My first time taking NAC at 1200mg. I took it because I heard it’s good for OCD and helps anxiety, and I was having some rebounds from phenibut so tried it out. It instantly removed the anxiety, but not only that, I just feel very happy and I’m off to go do some work I was putting off. Is all this just placebo? Can placebo be that strong? I’ve not fell this present and not constantly ruminating in my head in ages. I’m hoping it lasts

This post will be a record of nootropics (and combinations) I have tried as a college student, with notes about which ones worked and which ones did not. These anecdotes should be considered only as anecdotes, and one’s efforts with nootropics as a supplement.

With that in mind, here are the nootropics I’ve used:
modafinil, piracetam, phenibut, alpha-gpc, l-theanine, noopept, caffeine

Note that I used intermittently, not as a daily routine.

Modafinil 200 mg, sliced into 50 mg dose

Rating: A+

Use case: Long-term task (a project that's due, or working through an entire problem set if you can put your mind into it).

Cons: Sleep can be wrecked

it's not really a nootropic but a dopamine reuptake inhibitor (increases dopamine levels).

A great way to see how it works is like throwing something sticky onto a wall. You'll stay on that task for as long as it's there. But it doesn't really help with motivation. It doesn't work if what you are doing is something you hate. You need brain power (ideally a to‑do list beforehand) to start. Once it starts you'll be soaked in for hours. It's great but not an everyday thing because I feel like it messes up sleep or you don't get quality sleep the day of and the day afterward.

I've done it 1x a week, 2x a week (spaced apart).

Combination: With coffee, you get more anxious but more of a "get stuff done" and that caffeine buzz... Sleep will be harder, however.

Piracetam

Rating: B

Use case: Problem solving / absorbing new information (math homework, music instrument, and anthging similar)

Cons: Dosage may vary

 sometimes I get agitated easily or have a gloomy mood about 6 hours after the dose.

Combination

- Piracetam (1200 mg tablet)

some stimulation; I had more stamina and mental activity did not seem as difficult as it seemed. Felt more engaged in work.

- Piracetam (1200 mg tablet) + caffeine + L‑theanine: 

light, but absorb information quickly (rating boosts to B+).

- Piracetam (1.2 g–2.4 g powder weighed) + caffeine + L‑theanine:

felt kinda dirty, not too sure. It feels like it isn't as clean as the tablet but it might be placebo. I feel the piracetam effects but more rough, I guess. Better for bulk and price. You can say that it's the same piracetam tablet, but less refined.

Piracetam (1.2 g powder) + caffeine + L‑theanine + Alpha‑GPC (this combo boosts to A- rating) :
the Alpha‑GPC adds extra choline and maximizes piracetam use. It's the best combo. However, I felt like Alpha‑GPC in too high a dose felt like too much choline and caused low mood (2 days afterward). Lately I experimented by adding more piracetam from 1.2 g + 300 mg Alpha to 2.4 g + 300 mg and it seemed to lessen that impact

I only do these on weekends (piracetam, caffeine,l‑theanine, alpha-gpc). On Mon/Tues I kind of feel more depressed than usual, though.

Noopept

Use case: Problem solving / absorbing "difficult" information.

Cons: Short acting (1–2 hr); felt kinda stressed afterwards like mentally exhausted. Sometimes short‑term memory is kinda bad (if I take more than the standard dose), like other anecdotal reports I experience as well.

Noopept (10 mg) C Rating if taken by it's own:
I kinda feel the anxiolytic effect but not as much. I can output from my brain more and it's easier.

Caffeine + Noopept:
this is a great combo but it's short acting; in fact this combo (coffee + Noopept) increases its rating. I feel it's more powerful than piracetam but it's a sharp drop. Kinda felt more stressed afterwards and craved sweets. However, I still recall distinctly: I was doing college Physics II and looking at solutions was like butter and my brain absorbed it easily. 1–2 hrs afterward the effect lessened, and I felt like procrastinating even more. Rating: B+ It doesn't really feel like a booster, but combined there's some sort of synergistic effect).

Phenibut: great for calming down.

Rating: B

Cons: Habit forming, but if you know how to use it properly it can be to your advantage. I kind of imagine using this like the black Spider‑Man suit; if you recall that scene with Tobey Maguire on the tower and he trying to get out of that suit, it can help out, but once you dive in too deep... it's pretty difficult. As someone who used it responsibly, it helped me go outside more and experiment with different social scenarios where I wouldn't have been able to.

Of course some may argue why I rank it low; I rank it low because of its ROI and risk. If there was not that much risk it would be on the same tier as modafinil.

Summary:

My favorite nootropic is piracetam and caffeine. Alternatively, for doing many things in a single day (I write a to‑do list, and I guarantee it will be done as long as it's manageable) is modafinil. Then for short‑acting Noopept, that "I want to feel smart" effect.

Conclusion
My advice would be to use it moderately and not as an everyday thing. I go to a competitive college, and even without these, I still would manage. I think of them as a supplement, where mindset is above all. Feel free comment if you had the same experience or if it was different.