r/Nootropics

For chronic anxiety, I take 500 mg of raw ashwagandha powder every morning. That's the dosage recommended on the package, and it's also the dosage that has proven effective in several scientific studies.

My trouble is that its nice, calming, stabilizing effects wear off in the late afternoon/early evening, and I start feeling wrecked again.

I don't want to take another 500 mg at that point in the day, as that would end up amounting to twice the recommended daily dosage, and I'm a devoted rule-follower. Any reasonable ideas for how to fix, evade or ease that daily "crash"? Thus far, I've just "learned to live with it."

Took 100mg modafinil today and went to sleep like 30 mins later 😂

And bro, I had a proper solid sleep for like an hour. 🤣

The weird part is, even 10mg melatonin doesn’t make me sleep that easily.

But somehow I took modafinil — something that’s literally supposed to keep you awake — and it knocked me out 💀

And yeah, this was in the afternoon lmao.

I don’t have any sleep issues btw. Just had some modafinil and thought I’d try it.

Still confused how this shit made me sleep better than melatonin 😂

I’m currently not officially diagnosed or medicated yet, but I strongly identify with the predominantly inattentive ADHD pattern.
My main issues include:

- difficulty sustaining attention on boring or longer tasks

- frequently zoning out or drifting off mentally

- starting new tasks very quickly but struggling to actually finish them

- Constantly switching between different tasks
problems with organization, prioritization, and time management

- procrastinating on tasks that require sustained mental effort

- being very easily distracted

-forgetting tasks, obligations, or details
making careless mistakes

Despite this, I still function relatively well from the outside. I would describe myself as functionally compensated: I usually manage to get important things done somehow, but it requires a disproportionate amount of mental effort, pressure, and constant self-regulation.
The problem is not that I am completely unable to function. It feels more like my executive functions are constantly working against me, and I have developed ways to compensate for that.
Unfortunately, it may still take quite a while until I can get properly assessed and, if appropriate, receive medication.

So my question for people who have been in a similar situation is:

What actually helped you compensate for these problems while waiting for proper diagnosis and treatment?

I’m especially interested in strategies or non-prescription approaches that had a noticeable effect on task initiation, focus, prioritization, task switching, and actually finishing things.
I’m not looking for ways to obtain prescription medication without a diagnosis or for instructions on self-medicating. I’m mainly looking for a practical temporary solution that can help me function better until I can access proper treatment.

Hi, following a post I decided to take NAC for my tocs, my generalized anxiety and my dysmorphia.

This morning, with my breakfast, I took methylphenidate 10mg around 9am, with Lévocetirizine 5mg, collagen in my coffee and a supplement with fish oil.

In the afternoon, I retrieved my NAC supplement.

So I decided to take a 600mg capsule around 4 p.m., with a sheep’s milk yogurt to have something in my stomach.

Around 4:30 p.m., I began to feel extremely tired, and disoriented. So I went to bed and slept for an hour.

Once I woke up, I couldn’t do anything completely in the west, my vision was different, the colors too. The impression of being drugged.

I can’t focus on anything. So I sat down on my terrace outside, to sunbathe.

But there I had a lot of anxiety, I was very hot. I have a sensitivity to noise, but here it was worse. Impossible to pose quietly.

I decided to sweep, which proves that I had a boost of energy.

Quite strange thing, normally when I pass the broom. My nose is constantly running, I have never found a solution to this, despite my antihistamine intake. And there I was able to pass the broom without having this constantly running nose. So pretty cool at this level.

I have trouble understanding my reaction to this product.

A food supplement has never had such a strong and strange effect on me.

At the end of the day I take prazepam, it helped me manage this anxiety.

Do you think I am intolerant to this product? Or is it worth it that I try to continue, so that my body gets used to it?

Thanks

What would be recommended for a man, I am basically looking for a solution to gain back that feeling of ‘dominance’, if you will.

High motivation. High confidence. Follow through. A more calm demeanour.

U used to be all of those things, but feel like I am stuck in a rut now, and have a bit of a chicken or the egg situation happening. I struggle to take the steps back to that point, so I am looking for assistance to make taking that step a little easier.

Please give reasoning for your suggestions, thanks!

Best supplement for memory & retention?

(I remember using one a few years ago that worked particularly well, when I passed the state insurance exam, but I can’t remember the brand)

Thank you in advance!

So I was on 150 mg Wellbutrin for like three months and it wasn’t doing so much for me and I was still having bad anxiety from it. So me and my GP decided to add 10 mg Prozac on top of it. Big mistake. I got the worst panic attack ever yesterday and today. I swear I felt really overstimulated in a bad way. Almost like the feeling of being overcaffeinated. It was horrible. I was so scared something bad was going to happen. I haven’t had any caffeine at all. I removed all caffeine completely.

But today it was horrible. Massively overstimulated when taking them together. But I highly suspect it’s the Prozac because I wasn’t feeling this overly stimulated on Wellbutrin 150 mg all alone. I got side effects like hot flashes, burning sensations, heart palpitations, headaches, increased sweating, muscle stiffness, diarrhea and sleep disturbances. And I just woke up with the feeling of dread. Then I took my pills and immediately got a really bad panic attack and just felt overstimulated and overexcited in a really bad way. I went to the psychiatric ER immediately and they did some tests and then I talked to a nurse and she said that these side effects are probably the startup of Prozac and she told me to contact my GP as soon as possible and tell them about this. She told me if it gets worse and I can’t get in contact with my GP, they told me I can come back again.

I swear I just want to quit this shit. Prozac made me teen times worse. I was so much better off taking Wellbutrin all alone. Prozac made me so much worse I can’t describe it. 300 mg Wellbutrin was the only thing ever helping my depression but of course I couldn’t tolerate it anymore because it overstimulated me in various ways. Nothing else helped me. I’m devastated and I’m highly disappointed. Prozac worked for my anxiety in the past. But now I had a bad reaction to it. I don’t know what to do anymore. No antidepressants work for me I always have bad reactions to them.

It appears to me that SSRIs are generally frowned upon in this community. I frequently see them described as either a useless placebo, or a horrible poison that will destroy you. Admittedly, I do not believe either, but that is just my personal opinion based on my own experience and research.

On the other hand, I often see supplements such as Kanna, Saffron, Bacopa and a bunch of other supplements touted as great, and on the same token supposedly work via serotonin reuptake inhibition and/or receptor agonism. Anyway, my question is, and this is a genuine question, not a “got ya”, why is it that these supplements, which are clearly much weaker in there effect on serotonin, praised and spoken highly of, but SSRIs are either a placebo or horrible. The same people who say “the serotonin theory was disproven” will suggest these natural supplements that also supposedly work through modulating serotonin.

Obviously, the risk for side effects is much lower with supplements because they are much less potent, but it just seems contradictory to say SSRIs are a placebo or poisonous when even a low dose of an SSRI would be as strong as a high dose of one of those supplements, do the same thing, and be cheaper with a generic then spending 60$ on a supplement.

Have anyone ever tried this combo?

I guess modafinil lowers gaba and that creates anxiety and social weirdness.

I am looking for modafinil right now in Germany. Modawhale looked like the most reliable shop but seems to not have been shipping since last month. Are there any shops that you could recommend? (I'm based in Berlin, if you have some left or know someone I'd be stoked if you could let me know!). Best wishes!

I'm researching eugeroics and keep seeing modafinil and armodafinil mentioned for wakefulness and daytime alertness. For people who have actually discussed or used these under appropriate medical guidance, how do you compare their effects, duration, and practical differences? I’m particularly interested in experiences around concentration, mental fatigue, and staying alert during demanding work not medical advice or dosing recommendations.

I have a problem with my current adhd treatment protocol and I dont really know how to change it

Im currently taking venlafaxine 150mg and atomoxetine 60mg for social anxiety and adhd respectively. My social anxiety is great, but my adhd seems to be a little bit harder to deal with. I am most certainly better at focusing for longer periods of time and its retained better. But i still have bad task initiation paralysis and I procrastinate way too much. I have taken methylphenidate before, but switched to atomoxetine because methylphenidate is too expensive and is a hassle to deal with because its treated like some fucking illicit drug in my country. Same problem with vyvanse. Modafinil is also expensive and doesn't seem to have any advantage in treating adhd. I have considered bupropion, but it is much more potent of an inhibitor of CYP2D6 compared to atomoxetine so it will reduce the more potent O desmethylvenlafaxine concentration.

Clonidine is available over the counter for me, but effects seem to be modest at best and it probably wont really increase motivation.

Agomelatine is maybe another thing I thought might be good.

Im thinking something with more of an effect on dopamine might be useful, because I likely have close to full NET occupancy

As for supplements, l theanine and coffee combo is nice. The other stuff(alpha gpc, lionsmane, magnesium l threonate, etc)I found to be more useful for increasing memory retention and not motivation

Hi everyone

Im thinking about ordering some nootropics online things like bromantane,nefiractiam and dihexa etc im trying to figure out whether they typically make it to irish customs without any issues

From what I've heard they HRPA(Health Products Regulatory Authority) and Irish Customs tend to be very strict with these kinds of things

If you're based in ireland and have ordered similar items recently id appreciate your input on a few things

Vendor: Are there specific websites or suppliers you've found reliable for shipping to ireland?

Customs issues: Has anyone actually had packages intercepted or delayed by customs Any recent experiences,tips or suggestions for

EU based sellers that could help avoid complications would really be helpful

28M. Diagnosed GAD, health anxiety, ADHD-PI. Post-oncology, in remission, complicated treatment course. Four years of antipsychotic exposure in my early twenties from a diagnosis that was later reversed. Ongoing issues are recurring iron deficiency and anemia, an incisional hernia, and some enlarged lymph nodes.

Target symptom is sympathetic overdrive. Elevated resting arousal, exaggerated startle, constant muscle guarding, poor sleep onset, interoceptive hypersensitivity. Mood is secondary and not what I'm trying to fix.

I've been through most of the standard first-line psychiatric options without meaningful response, plus the usual over-the-counter anxiolytics. Assume the obvious ones have been tried. Currently working with a prescriber on stellate ganglion block, TMS, esketamine, and possibly phenelzine.

What I want from this sub is the adjunct layer. Specifically, anything with evidence for parasympathetic tone or HRV rather than general anxiolysis, and anything worth knowing about interactions if I end up on an MAOI, since that rules out a large share of what usually gets recommended here. Also interested in whether anyone has found anything that helps with interoceptive hypersensitivity in particular.

Please skip anything that raises blood pressure or affects clotting.

since l theanine blocks cb1 receptors and thc activates it, was wandering if its a cross tolerance kinda thing, I am also curious about mixing the 2.

Has anyone had any experience and also I’m having a hard time finding it!

i'm wondering if any nootropics, peptides, supplements or anything have such an effect. has anything you've taken helped in any regard with these things? would like to hear from anyone with such experiences.

Daridorexant (Quviviq) works really well for my sleep, but it’s expensive. I’m in Germany and currently trying to get it covered by statutory health insurance.

By the way, has anyone here in Germany actually managed to get Quviviq covered by insurance? I don’t really understand why it seems so complicated — every doctor seems to tell me something different.

I found a Japanese option for around $150 including shipping, but I’m also curious about cheaper alternatives.

Does anyone know whether daridorexant, seltorexant, or other orexin receptor antagonists ever show up as bulk API/pure powder or in the RC / grey market?

Obviously purity and authenticity would be the main concern, so I’d also be interested in any information about testing/quality and whether such material is actually around.

Also interested in cheaper legitimate international or generic options.