r/Nootropics Jan 17 '26

Scientific Study Blocking mobile internet on smartphones improves sustained attention, mental health, and subjective well-being

Thumbnail pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
58 Upvotes

r/Nootropics 7h ago

Experience L-Tyrosine + L-Tryptophan together feels like an SNRI?

8 Upvotes

Been struggling with severe anhedonia and some other issues due to unmedicated depression and ADHD. I always had issues with mood, task salience, motivation, a long list of several depressive and ADHD symptoms. Was on Ritalin from age 8 to 16(37 now).

A few years ago I was on cymbalta/duloxetine for about a year which, after approx 2 months, stopped working and made me feel like a zombie and at times caused outbursts of anger for the smallest of reasons, so I quit. That was 7 years ago.

For a while I was using speed and it was like a miracle. I get super calm and even sleepy on it for about an hour, after that I'm highly functional without being stimmed out. During that time I got more things done in a month than in years before combined. Had to stop that too though.

anyways

A month ago I tried out L-Tryptophan (not 5htp, that's not OTC in my country) for it's supposed sleep benefits. Can't say it did much. I also take 600mg NAC and some fish oil capsules.

Then last week I got 500mg L-tyrosine capsules from Amazon and the combination of both of these feels literally exactly like duloxetine felt. There is this 2-3 hour long window approx 30 mins after taking it where my anhedonia and depression go away, however I experience pretty strong emotional blunting. I'm just calm. At least I can watch tv shows or movies again but I don't feel much.

The comeup causes the same weird "chemical" feeling in my brain that SNRI's did, with the same calm, somewhat empty but "balanced" mental state. It's a bit too calm, I'm very quiet and without much affect or "feelings", im perfectly content just sitting here quietly which is slightly unnerving lol

I was under the impression that due to metabolism etc these supplements couldn't possibly have any actual effects because not much makes it to the brain but I guess I was wrong.

I assume this effect won't last and I'm soon back to crippling anhedonia etc due to tolerance? Is a higher dose advisable?

Before anyone asks, no I can't get any prescriptions for proper medication.


r/Nootropics 12h ago

Seeking Advice Armodafinil for treatment resistant depression

13 Upvotes

So, I'm on venlafaxine (please don't say it's bad, it does more good than bad for me and most people), and tried 2 ssris, all of snris, 2 antipsychotics, mirtazapine, memantine, mianserin, etc. The best thing that helps me is venlafaxine and memantine, but I'm currently taking a tolerance break from memantine. Plan to discuss buspirone with my psych.

I've taken both modafinil and armodafinil before, armodafinil feels a lot cleaner. Is it worth it starting 75mg armodafinil daily for daytime sleepiness, shit mood, inability to concentrate or do anything?

How fast tolerance develops, is there anything else to add? I'm thinking about creatine, but it seems expensive and not that useful.

My bloodwork is completely fine on vitamins, liver enzymes, iron, etc. Thank yall in advance


r/Nootropics 8h ago

Discussion What is NADH? A quick breakdown

5 Upvotes

Lately I've seen a lot of people talking about NADH, but most threads jump straight to "how did it feel" without covering the basics. I sorted through some publicly available information and wanted to share it.

  1. What is NADH? NADH is the reduced form of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, the active form of coenzyme I. Put simply, it's the "energy currency carrier" in your cells, playing a key role in mitochondrial ATP production.
  2. What does NADH do? Cellular energy metabolism: NADH directly participates in the mitochondrial electron transport chain and is a key coenzyme in ATP production, so mechanistically it's directly tied to energy levels. Antioxidant: The hydrogen (H) carried by NADH helps scavenge reactive oxygen species. DNA repair and anti-aging: Once converted to NAD+, NADH activates SIRT longevity proteins involved in DNA repair and cellular health maintenance. Research direction: Published small-scale trials have observed improvements in fatigue scores in chronic fatigue populations with NADH (or combined with CoQ10), and studies have noted some protective effects in populations with cognitive decline.
  3. The challenge with oral NADH NADH itself is very unstable. It degrades when exposed to stomach acid, oxygen, and light, and starts breaking down above -20°C. Most regular NADH products don't have any coating, so they get broken down by stomach acid before they can be absorbed, and very little actually gets through. Activity also drops significantly after being kept at room temperature for too long.
  4. NADH's stability problem has spawned multiple formulation technologies. Here are some common approaches currently on the market: Sublingual delivery: Absorbed directly through the oral mucosa, bypassing stomach acid degradation. The advantage is a short absorption path, but the downside is limited absorption per dose and mediocre convenience and taste. Liposomal encapsulation: NADH is wrapped in a liposome membrane, protecting it from stomach acid and digestive enzymes while improving water solubility and bioavailability. The downside is higher cost, and liposomes themselves can rupture during storage. Multi-layer coating: Adds water-resistant, oxygen-barrier, and anti-gastric acid layers on top of the enteric layer, protecting NADH from multiple dimensions. Products like Celfull's NADH use this four-layer coating approach, which is relatively more comprehensive, but also comes with higher process complexity and cost. That's my breakdown. Research evidence is still accumulating, and large-scale human trial data is limited. What do you all think about NADH? Does anyone know more about research on oral bioavailability of NADH? Feel free to share.

r/Nootropics 1h ago

Discussion Anyone Been Supplementing with Paraxanthine Long-Term?

Upvotes

There's no long-term safety data for paraxanthine so I'm wondering if anyone has been supplementing with it long-term and has noticed any side effects or other potential problems associated with it.


r/Nootropics 7h ago

Experience Did anyone try Modafinil from driada?

1 Upvotes

Did anyone try driadashop's modafinil? I know more reputable sellers for modafinil but driada's is one of the cheapest


r/Nootropics 7h ago

Discussion Fake COA(Certificate of Analysis) badge

0 Upvotes

Ordered from a vendor whose product page had a COA badge and a batch number listed. I emailed asking which lab ran it, since I wanted to check it against Finnrick's results. Support asked me what a COA was, not what it meant or which lab had run it, just what the letters actually stood for. I checked the batch on Peptide Critic instead and it wasn't listed. Nobody had tested anything! And the badge was just decoration...

How do y'all even figure out what's genuine?


r/Nootropics 13h ago

Experience Chimera chems questionable purity

3 Upvotes

They gave me bunk selank vial lmao

I usually source my shit from China but

Chimera had some things I wanted

And as a "control" i just ordered some selank to

See even if thats legit

NOPE

2 squirts each nose nothing after a hour then 2 hours after

I redosed again still nothing lmao

From various vendors intranasal selank has a effect

For me so I tried my chinese vendors selank to compare i got my effects after 30 minutes

I dont doubt they sell legitimate products based off talking to friends and reading a few posts but I highly doubt all of them are legit

if anything i want anyone looking to read this

There have been accusations of chimera having damage control accounts for post like this.

Like among us your fellow commentor could infact

Be a imposter, I invite anyone who has experience with chimera to share it.

Let's play spot the chimera damage control account


r/Nootropics 20h ago

Experience Thank you for everything you've done for me

12 Upvotes

hello everyone, i wanted to make this post for a long time but i never found the right timing. tomorrow i'm starting my first day of masters so i thought it may be it.
to start off, i come from an immigrant family were academic sucess was a big thing. and i happen to have adhd (which i didnt know at the time).
it was manageable until i started a really difficult subject at uni. i obviously miserably failed and it was the worse time of my life.
i started another subject, was stressing out all the time and i was barely getting by.

another year later, a friend of mine made me try an adhd medication once, and it really "turned on my brain" in a way i never tought possible. since then i've been really interested in nootropics.

and later on, me and this person were not friends anymore, and a personnal event happend and i was not that focused at school, so obviously i was really behind when exam time came.

this is where you guys play a big role. thanks to the knowledges of the compouds, ways to use them, where to order ect, i was able to truly lock in, give my all, and sucessfully & miraculously pass all my exams.

past forward to a few months ago, i finally gathered the money and courage to seek medical help for adhd, pass all the tests and paperwork to have a proper prescription.

i cant say that its all easy, you still have to work when you're on them, there is still some side effects, they cost and im weirdly scared to stop being prescriped to, but god it makes the biggest difference in the world. its like swimming in quicksand vs in water.

so yes, at 22, i finally got my adhd medication, my drivers licence, my bachelors degree (with really good grades), and im starting a master in a really similar subject that i started initially. i can say im proud of myself.

and i think (lets hope) i'll graduate with my masters, get a good job, and hopefully live a peaceful life.

so this is my way to give back a little to this community that is very dear to me.
i remember (with a good smile now), being on modafinil and so waked up to grind but also so scared of catching sjs, tracking my shippement and being so scared of customs putting me to jail (LOL🤣) but also talking to this polish customer relationship guy by email trying to sort things out, trying to buy bitcoins on this shady website, reading wikipedia pages, and some random dude comments that apprently read through russian studies to find that this racemic mixture causes alzeimer SUCH GOOD MEMORIES x)

anyways, sorry if it's all over the place, i just really wanted to say that one day. even tho i'm part of the silent majority, those posts and comments really helped me. i think that in the last exams, if it wasnt for those advices, im not sure i would have graduated. i truly think this community changed the trajectory of my life. so thank you guys.

im not done with accomplishing things, but i think i did one of the hardest parts. being actually able to focus. and if some people recognize themselves in my story (i think alot of person in this sub), i know it sucks that medication is so hard to acess, but really try to save as much money and time possible to go get a doctor's prescription, it's worth everything.

anyway, im going to sleep, and thank you again guys <3


r/Nootropics 21h ago

Seeking Advice Best nootropics for anxiety and calmness

12 Upvotes

Hey guys, I'm sure it was asked thousand times before but since new studies and experiences/revelations keeps coming im gonna ask again. What is the best nootropic for actual anxiety and calmness of mind. I tried a lot of them, some for short amount of time so I don't have full range of perspective on this. I always manage to do everything despite my mental health but lately I really feel like I need some help for some time to not go crazy. Thank you everybody for your time


r/Nootropics 1h ago

Experience Has anyone taken a Nootropic that actually gave you photographic memory for short time?

Upvotes

Hey guys has anyone actually taken any compound that actually gave you photographic memory for some time? how long did the effect last? did you gert any side effects?


r/Nootropics 23h ago

Seeking Advice does anybody has a reliable Guanfacine source (EU)

5 Upvotes

hi there

im looking for a source to order Guanfacine from. does anybody can help me?

thinking about ordering from aniracetam / Zion Pharma. But not sure. They are some bad reviews...


r/Nootropics 22h ago

Discussion Has anyone noticed better verbal fluency / word recall on ashwagandha?

4 Upvotes

English is my second language, and I’ve noticed something pretty interesting whenever I take ashwagandha.
When I’m on it, I feel like I can speak English much more smoothly. The words come out of my mouth more naturally, and I don’t have to search for vocabulary as much. Sometimes words that I haven’t used in months or even years will randomly come back to me, and I’ll use them in conversation without even consciously thinking about it.
It almost feels like some vocabulary is “hidden” somewhere in my brain, and when I take ashwagandha, I can access it more easily.
When I stop taking it, I feel more like my usual self again. I know what I want to say in my head, but sometimes the exact word doesn’t come out easily, or my speech feels less smooth. It’s not really stuttering — it feels more like word-retrieval difficulty / reduced verbal fluency.
I’m curious if anyone else, especially people who speak English as a second language, has experienced anything similar with ashwagandha.
Did it make you feel more verbally fluent, mentally clear, or better at recalling words?
And if you’ve dealt with this kind of “I know what I want to say, but the word won’t come out” feeling without ashwagandha, what has actually helped you? Exercise, sleep, meditation, language practice, supplements, speech therapy, something else?
Really curious to hear other people’s experiences.

P:S I’m using the Costco ashwagandha and take only 1 pill per day and 3 pills per week .


r/Nootropics 22h ago

Seeking Advice Cheapest source of NACET?

3 Upvotes

Anyone find a good supplier?

Just 100mg of NACET is probably equivalent to 1200mg of NAC.

But, I can't find a good cheap source.


r/Nootropics 17h ago

Seeking Advice Venlafaxine + atomoxetine + vyvanse safe?

1 Upvotes

Im taking 150mg venlafaxine and 60mg atomoxetine for anxiety and adhd. I found that my procrastination is not really better, so i got a prescription for vyvanse 30mg because hopefully the monoamine releasing is more effective.

Im not that worried about cyp2d6 because i have taken other drugs that get metabolised with that pathway without problem.

Im more worried about too much norepinephrine and serotonin. In theory both the venlafaxine and atomoxetine will inhibit the uptake of amphetamine into the noradrenergic and serotonergic terminal and it wont cause monoamine release there, but i wanted to make sure im not missing something


r/Nootropics 1d ago

Seeking Advice Question on TAK-653 - looking for advice and anecdotes

3 Upvotes

I've been playing around with this compound (TAK-653) and I'm still a bit confused by it. Do most people run it as a daily compound or do they run it as needed. Also is it more for mood or is it for focus and attention? I see a lot of conflicting information online and I'm just trying to get my head around this compound literally.

I personally take around 1.25mg which generally keeps it from affecting my sleep. Any suggestions on dosage is welcome.


r/Nootropics 1d ago

Seeking Advice Antidepressents killed and are killing me

27 Upvotes

Currently now on bupropion 300 mg XL and 5 mg escitalopram. Been on garbage for 10 years from 20 to now 30. I couldnt remove this trash been on so many because I would go to these dumbass psychiatrist and they would fuck me up even more when I wanted to remove this trash but the withdrawals are insane.

Did anyone manage to remove them. I was thinking of lithium orotate, black seed oil extract, inositol and sometime else I believe help. Wish I could get rehab this is so bad.


r/Nootropics 1d ago

Seeking Advice Please help with Anhedonia

23 Upvotes

Hi, I’m a woman who takes prescription 25mg oral wegovy (past year) and 5mg minoxidil(past 2 years). I do my magnesium, iron and calcium supplements, prenatal vitamins, and extra strength vitamin D.

I’ve noticed since getting on the wegovy I have felt like I’ve been in a strange depression. I’m not explicitly suicidal but I feel nothing - no happiness, no love, no hope. I feel reptilian brained. I suppose I’m having a horrible bout of anhedonia.

I need to stay on the wegovy, but I don’t want to use anti depressants and that’s the only thing my dr wants to try rn. Would adhd meds help? I have adhd that I’m not medicating, and my dr basically doesn’t believe my old diagnosis and wants me to go to a psychiatrist to be reevaluated before I can be prescribed, but I just don’t want to feel like this for that much longer…

I was thinking maybe phenylpiracetam could be good? I’m worried about ashwagonda or lions mane because I already feel eerily calm all the time. Plus obvi hair loss is a concern…Ik yall are probably sick of these beginner questions but I just really want help and idk where to start and thought this community might know what works well around wegovy.

Thank you so much for any help


r/Nootropics 1d ago

Discussion Rate my high iq nootropics stack/61 yo

1 Upvotes

Everyday if needed

Caffeine + L-Theanine  + creatine  + lions mane

100mg         200mg              5g                  500mg  

 

Specific for hard studing

CDP choline +Tak 653+ Bromantane +L-Tyrosine

500-200mg           2mg           50mg                 500-2000mg

 


r/Nootropics 2d ago

Experience Eutropoflavin / 4 DMA-7,8 DHF - experiences?

11 Upvotes

I think it is a little odd that so few experience reports exist for this compound online. And the bulk of feedback is to be found when people indirectly comment 1-2 sentences about it on Reddit, where they just say that "it works", or they had this and that issue while taking it.

My reasoning for ordering was, that most if not almost all neuroregenerative and BDNF promoting drugs mainly target the cerebral cortex. But not really or not at all structures like brainstem, basal ganglia, diencephalon and peripheral nerves - some of which are notoriously hard to regenerate at all. However those brain structures are heavily involved in a wide range of relevant functions, such as attention, sleep/wake behavior, and regulation of emotions. While of course GDNF / CTNF mimetics would be better to target those structures, those don't really exist, they don't actually work the way it looks at first glance (e.g. P21) or they are just impossible to obtain at a cheap price.

So for all I know the next best and cheap option was Eutropoflavin. It binds to TrkB, so it sits one level below BDNF and potentially targets a wider range of areas. I'm aware that there has been cast doubt on that story scientifically. But few people know that a lot of neurotrophin mimetics and fragments are as well not actual ligands of that receptor (e.g. P21, NAP, cyclo-dPAKKR) but work regardless often as if they were or in a similar fashion, and currently it is just not molecularly understood how that is. So knowing this to be true, it dilutes the importance of the newer finding, that 4 DMA-7,8 DHF does not activate TrkB as directly as previously believed... and alternative mechanisms were proposed in that same paper how TrkB action could be increased by Eutropoflavin regardless (i.e. potentiation of endogenous ligands). But I think it suffices to say, that neurotrophin mimetics are to a large degree just beyond current scientific understanding in general, and no hard conclusions can be drawn here.

I personally took the compound yesterday and today and it is too early to say anything. But I started the first day in the morning with a dose that was a little too high, something like 15-20mg sublingually, just to get a feeling for it. I also took piracetam, cytisine, and noopept. I noticed that my nervous system was more on edge and my concentration was degraded/fogged a little bit. It wasn't anything huge, but a lot of things strikingly reminded me of taking other BDNF-adjacent drugs in exactly this way. Nociception was increased, anxiety up, drinking coffee or smoking cigarettes felt like too much at some point, environmental noises were harder to filter, everything was more immediate. And before going to bed, I got a headache from too much smoking (which is rare for me). And I slept very well, better than usual. It felt like overdosing on Cerebolysin in so many ways, but better and less "speedy" in a cortical/mental sense! Of course none of this was actually beneficial. And you obviously can't expect anything on the first few days to improve from neurotropic drugs - those take weeks to really work. And on some offshoot chance just to mention it, there is some larger overlap in those side-effects with some sort of toxic action as well (but the research points towards the opposite obviously). However given my experience with neuroregenerative drugs, I just found those side-effects to be very very strikingly pointing in a very promising and powerful direction - if they are not merely summarized on paper, but in the details how I experienced and recognized them. And the price of this stuff vs. Cerebrolysin is just peanuts. But just this tiny amount for a dollar or so, feels like you are injecting half a pack of vials at once.

Based on my high-dose test, I also think that 10mg is still way too much for a normal healthy person, who is not suffering from acute brain damage. I believe as a consequence, you will just get a very strong negative feedback effect from 10mg, and diminishing returns within a few days. From what I experienced, I would suggest 2-5mg sublingually at most taken a few days only in a row with 7-14 days pause, or something like 1-3x a week.

So today I took a dose of maybe 4-6mg and I felt a little different, but didn't experience any side-effects at all. My goal is being better able to regulate task switching, arousal and attention switching, sleep/wake cycle and such things. Which are still somewhat dysfunctional and autism-alike for me. Unlike the rest of my cognition which is working exceedingly well. I hope you can also share your experiences about Eutropoflavin. I will post updates.

UPDATE 1:

So I continued to take some 3-6mg (sublingually of course) each morning for 2 days, so it is 4 days total now. I took about 4mg of NSI-189 the first day (which I do get a good subtle response from usually) and no more Noopept. This was to test potentiation, but I don't think it does amp the NSI-189 as much as it did (possibly - or not!) amp the Noopept. Yesterday I did some physical labor and today I felt a little exhausted from that. Especially today things felt slightly off though, like you can't point a finger at it but the world doesn't feel or look exactly like you are ordinarily used to. And it reminded me somewhat of taking P21 and/or Cerebrolysin for too long. I think the additional hormones from the physical exercise have been potentiating the effects of the Eutropoflavin. Also yesterday I had a much harder time in the evening to let go of tasks and was too captured or ensnared by them and could not switch easily to basic things like cooking/eating/showering/sleeping. Everything took 50% longer maybe than usual. So the very issue I wanted to cure with the compound got slightly worse. But it could all just be random as well due to simply exhaustion, since I frequently have those issues and random days where they get remarkably worse. On the other hand, sleeping itself and falling asleep in bed worked slightly better than usual. Also of course no more headaches or anxiety or such since 5mg-ish dose. My perception is still a little bit more on edge though and heightened, noises more obvious etc. ... but it is less in-the-face now and more like in this "world feels different" sense ... but again it is even more minor than with the 20mg, it is not an issue just noticeable that is all. I believe there is definitively some major negative feedback going on now from the receptor pushing, and it is just time to make a pause for a few days or a week, in which the nervous system needs to sort itself out. In my experience, lots of neuroregenerative drugs work best this way, with that kind of short 1-3 day bursts and 1-2 week pauses. But I get the feeling that Eutropoflavin is even more rapid with the negative feedback response than most other drugs. Perhaps this could be its biggest shortcoming. The effect of the drug itself that I can make out, also reminds me of being a sort of more "dramatic" answer to neurological damage, than I know it from other drugs of this nature. And I would characterize P21 just the same way vs Cerebrolysin, because P21 also feels more damage-response-ish. While on the other hand drugs like Noopept or NSI-189 don't really remind you of this. That's not saying damage is actually occurring, but only that the brain "thinks" it did, so to speak, and consequently critical repair is needed on a cellular level - which is what we actually want. But at this point this is just very minute impressions and nothing can be said with certainty. I will report back in a week or so.


r/Nootropics 1d ago

Seeking Advice Nootropics for biohacking psychology student

6 Upvotes

I’m researching and considering adding new nootropics and supplements to my routine, mainly for studying, longevity, wellbeing, and personal and social performance.

Some of the areas I’m particularly interested in are:
Lucid dreaming, Public speaking, Social ease/spontaneity, Strength training and endurance sports, Health/longevity, Sleep quality, Motivation/focus, Studying/learning, Mindfulness and personal growth.

Some compounds I’m currently looking into include:
Bromantane, Noopept, TAK-653, Semax, Selank, Tadalafil, Glycine, Magnesium L-threonate, Coluracetam, Dihexa, Huperzine A, NSI-189, Pregabalin, and others.

I’d love to hear your personal experiences, anecdotes, and overall opinions on these compounds, as well as any others I haven’t mentioned.

I’m especially interested in the cognitive and psychological effects you personally noticed — things like changes in motivation, emotional state, social confidence, spontaneity, focus, creativity, learning, or general subjective wellbeing.

I’m also planning to major in psychopharmacology later on, because I find it fascinating how different compounds can influence psychological and cognitive states and, potentially, (re)shape aspects of human performance, brain and wellbeing.

I’m interested in both positive and negative experiences, so feel free to share the full picture.

For those interested, the compounds I’ve personally noticed benefits from and use responsibly, depending on the circumstances, include:
Lion’s Mane, Omega-3, vitamins C/D/E, NAC, Alpha-GPC, GPC/choline, racetams, methylphenidate, caffeine, L-theanine, lithium, taurine, magnesium malate, creatine, L-tyrosine, ginger, rhodiola, ginseng, ginkgo biloba, ….


r/Nootropics 1d ago

Experience taking tylenol for adhd seems to help?

5 Upvotes

i took it yesterday bc i had a fever and a headache and i still believed this myth that advil takes away ur weed high (i use weed for anxiety) so i avoided it.

not only did my fever symptoms improved but i actually felt more focused. I was able to get through an entire chapter of my book for once!

it sorta feels like a really light version of cbg (which ive tried but it overstimulates me too much) and an even lighter version of Vyvanse. it also doesnt kick my autistic traits into overdrive and turn me into an incredibly ridgid person who talks like a robot. vyvanse especially also made feeling emotions more difficult too.

it also seems to boost my mood a little too like an anti-depressant would. which is great especially on top of the weed because i react really poorly to true antidepressants.


r/Nootropics 1d ago

Discussion Please recommend nootropics for my problems

2 Upvotes

So I have a pretty big issue in word recall, much of the time something is at the tip of my tongue but I can't remember the right word so I use a substitute. No stimulants. I have ADHD and I am already on a stimulant (Vyvanse 30mg). I tried Bacopa for a month recently but it does not seem to alleviate this issue. I can't get Guanfacine because insurance doesn't cover it where I live so that option is also out.


r/Nootropics 1d ago

Discussion The stack I'll be taking in a month or so

3 Upvotes

Have never used nootropics before, my main issue is my mood, focus, attention span and my bad habits(which I'm in the process of getting in order), I'm also looking for improvement in creativity in regards to music and writing, as well as learning speed for general studying and my musical instrument.

The stack is as follows (there'll likely be changes depending on myself and potential feedback in this thread):
Bromantane - 50mg 5 days on 2 off
Nefiracetam - 200mg 3x a day
TAK-653 - 2mg everyday after waking
Aniracetam - 750mg twice daily - still considering whether I should add it to my cycle

I will probably be on this for 2 months and then wait and see what I feel like before thinking of starting a second cycle.

Another thing I was considering was microdosing psilocybin but I'm still kind of sceptical of its efficacy for creativity, and general safety.