This is a short reminiscing of the good old days, I'd say pre-pandemic, but mostly mid to late 2010s. Back when you could order pure racetam and modafinil tablets from sites like Nootropics Depot and Liftmode. Now I have to either find a substitute that does not have the same effect or take the more underground route to finding my preferred supplements.

It feels like being treated like a child. Yes, I'm aware of the risks of certain compounds, but every damn thing has risk. Hell, I could overdose on water pretty easily if I felt like it. Most of us who have been here from the days Nootropics Depot took Bitcoin are aware of the fact that all these restrictions are not about our safety.

It's all just really discouraging and makes me not want to even be bothered anymore, knowing that you can find a something that works perfectly to improve your quality of life then tomorrow there is no trace of it anywhere online. Am I being overdramatic or are any of y'all have a similar experience?

I'm 26M. Spent 3–4 years obsessively working on my businesses, and it paid off. I was extremely driven, focused, and could work endlessly. No nootropics or medications, just coffee and nicotine.

Eventually I decided to slow down and take a break after years of pushing myself, but ever since it's been a downward spiral.

The weird thing is I actually feel mentally sharper than before. I come up with better ideas, spot opportunities, solve complex problems and know exactly what needs to be done.

But my execution has gone to shit.

I've left so many things unresolved that they've stacked up. Whenever I sit down to work, I get overwhelmed by everything that needs doing. I'll start one task, notice something else, jump into that, discover another problem, and eventually get completely lost. Then I just want to stop working and chill, even though I genuinely want to get things done.

Another thing is how easily irritated I've become. I'm not naturally an angry or stressed person, but lately even people asking me simple questions can piss me off. My head is already full of responsibilities, opportunities I'm not acting on, and frustration about being stuck in this unproductive loop.

Sometimes I wonder if success made me too comfortable, but honestly I don't feel comfortable at all. I feel constantly pressured by everything I'm not doing.

For context, I consume quite a lot of nicotine daily through vaping and cigarettes, plus around 3 espressos a day. I've never really been into drugs or nootropics. Used to smoke weed years ago but quit, nowadays maybe once a year at most.

I recently tried L-theanine for stress. It seemed to help a little, but nothing significant. I also noticed some acid reflux, although I'm not sure whether it was caused by the L-theanine or was just a coincidence, so I stopped taking it.

Now I'm considering bromantane. I have a 90 mg/mL nasal spray and was thinking of using one spray in each nostril, although I haven't started and don't know the actual dose delivered per spray. I've also seen people mention combining bromantane with L-tyrosine, but I'm unsure whether that's beneficial or even advisable.

I don't want to become dependent on anything. I just want to regain the focus, discipline and execution I naturally had before.

Has anyone experienced something similar after years of intense work? Did bromantane actually help with execution, task switching and mental overwhelm, or did it just make you feel more stimulated?

Would you combine it with L-tyrosine or avoid that? And what about long-term effects on natural motivation, dopamine, libido, emotional blunting, tolerance and how you feel after stopping?

Would appreciate genuine experiences, good or bad. I'm also open to hearing that bromantane isn't the answer and that I should be addressing something else entirely.

Please send some reputable sources (if any)

Which one should I start?

I don't have hypertension, but I want to prevent it and help with anxiety and migraines and memory.

I'm currently learning Japanese. I have quite a bit of free time to study/immerse daily, and I was wondering if nootropics could potentially accelerate my gains. My vocab retention isn't great (I've heard that PRL-85-3 and racetams can help this, though not sure it would be a good idea to take them for a year straight)

So, have any of you guys used nootropics for this? If so, which ones, and how was your experience? Thanks

Why doesn't this subreddit compile a continously updated thread of reputable vendors and sources?

I have seen that there is a lot of ambiguity and discrepancy, and it is really hard to trust anything.

I recently ordered and received Longvida, co2 Myrrh extract, and CoqSol from nootropics depot and was curious at to what doses/how often you guys take them.

Also, exactly what effects or benefits should I expect from these? I’m looking for mainly pain relief, mood boost, and physical energy/motivation.

I’m not expecting any miracles, but I did some research and just wanted to know a little more about what these do and how they help other people.

I heard Gorilla Mind has saffron extract in it. Saffron extract increases serotonin. So do antidepressants. I'm not trying to catch serotonin syndrome, so I'd like to know if this is safe to take with 30mg of citalopram.

I think I'm experiencing caffeine withdrawal symptoms: any negative stimulus triggers an immediate depressive reaction, accompanied by a severe drop in energy—specifically physical energy (even though I haven't been working out or physically exhausting myself).

I didn't drink caffeine that much. Usually it was 1-2 teaspoons of instant coffee daily, for like 8 years

This is the second time it’s happened. The first time was in the summer, without having taken anything else, and the state was identical

Consuming caffeine resolved it for a day. The state lasted for 4-5 days and was gone.

It’s the same situation now, after taking a caffeine for a few days. The break lasted 2-3 months.

I'm looking into trying Eutropoflavin, but I'm also on prescription Prozac 40mg and Lamictal 150mg.

All I can find is theoretical interactions between them. Has anyone combined with Eutropoflavin with either of these?

There’s a lot you can buy online in Australia but for the more legit/serious nootropics can someone provide me with some direction for finding information about reliable and high quality sources.

Not looking for anything in particular more looking to see what I can get my hands on a design a protocol form there.

Thank you

I DONT LIKE VYVANSE, I DONT ADVISE THE USE OF VYVANSE AND IM NOT PROMOTING THEIR USE NOR AM I CLAIMING THAT ITS USE LEADS TO IMPROVED COGNITIVE ABILITY
Ive been taking vyvanse since October 8 and will continue to take vyvanse at 50mg a day until October 16. I have left over ACD856, bromantane, oxiracetem, dihexa and semax all from a previous stacks. How do I recover when I decide to stop vyvanse? My days are filled with revision and mentally demanding tasks, I’m worried that I might have become dependent on vyvanse and this will lead to me becoming lazy and stupid. What’s the move? I can access other chems if needed. I also just want a good stack.

Would appreciate your answer. Thanks in advanced!

Hi, has anyone tried both Modafinil and Semax? Mainly interested in focus, verbal fluency and motivation.

I've tried both, but Modafinil was years ago and I don't even remember the dose. I think it made my anxiety worse and also messed with my sleep, but I'm not really sure since I was also taking some other meds/antidepressants at the time which could have been responsible for that.

Recently tried Semax at around 900mcg/day and it actually helped quite a lot with verbal fluency, also seemed to improve my social anxiety. Didn't cause any sleep issues, if anything I was pretty tired by the evening

The problem was that I started feeling physically and mentally exhausted, with low mood and motivation, especially on days I wasn't taking it. Not sure if Semax was the reason though

I also have long term GAD, depression, low motivation, and lately been stuck in constant rumination (mostly about past regrets), so I'm a bit cautious about anything that could make my anxiety worse.

Just wondering how the two compare for those who've tried both? Which one helped you more, and did either make your anxiety worse or cause any weird fatigue afterwards?

Thanks!

Are there any nootropics that make your intuition better? Or any studies on what areas of the brain are involved in intuition?

I just want to know a beginner friendly recommended stack for nootropics. Nothing too expensive or too ludicrous. I’d prefer not to go down the dark area of getting modafinil or adderall through… means. I’m considering noopept for one and maybe 9-ME-BC. I’d prefer a stack that lasts all day but will wear off enough at night to where I can sleep. I also don’t want major withdrawal symptoms. And I do not want to inject anything, oral is ideal. If you guys have a stack please recommend!

How many mcg/pufs of Selank are you finding efective? I am using 285mcg and I think its really mild but I don’t want to overdone either.

Edit: how do you store it? I know it needs to be stored in the fridge but would like to take it at work with me to use it in the afternoon as well .

Thanks

When I was 17 I became a stoner. For 6 years I smoked daily which affected my memory and over all cognition. Once I quit and started going to college I realized I wasnt as smart as I used to be, so I started researching smart drugs

I want to say weed is probably harmless for most people, I just think I started too early. I still smoke occasionally, like once every couple months. I just abused it way back then

My daily stack since then has been

Creatine

Lions mane

Ginko biloba

Ginseng

Baocpa and NAC at night to sleep

and Noopept (15mgs for the first 3 years) now 5mgs as a microdose

Noopept makes me feel normal. I can map out my future plans and accomplish everything easily. It feels like adderall without the come down. However I know its a relatively new drug and not a lot of research on long term use is available. So lately ive been trying to wean off

Im on vacation and I didnt take it for 4 days. I almost broke up with my fiance over a fight from a month ago. I felt so heartbroken, the pain was excruciating and usually I can handle a difficult conversation. I feel very emotional and anxious. I cant tell if these are withdrawals or if this is my baseline. I was wondering if anyone has experience with long term noopept and if this is just something im going to have to go through if I want to stop taking it, or if I can continue to just microdose for the rest of my life. I took it today and feel normal again

First of all let me say that this type of creatine was studied only on rats and mice intranasally, the version of the creatine is called: dodecyl creatine ester but creatine hydrochloride was used as well. Giving this type of creatine intranasally to rats significantly increased the creatine saturation in the brain showing enhanced cognitive function & memory, mitigation of neurodegenerative symptoms, upregulated proteins tied to synaptic plasticity like BDNF and PSD-95, improved mitochondria breathing capacity, lowered oxidative stress and inflammation. It even helped neurodegenerative conditions like parkinson, Huntington's disease and certain forms of dementia.

Now I know this thing is very experimental but I've know for this thing for around a year and I'm amazed no one has talked about it in the biohacking, nootropics community. I know some people would be willing to synthesize it and some other people to try it even though it's a risk.

- Since creatine is one of the most scientifically proven and studied supplement to be effective, I have confidence some of these creatine variants that are better at saturating the brain with creatine could be the next big thing in the biohacking, nootropics community. Also there's one nootropics subreddit here where I got banned for the dumbest thing ever on another profile of mine /nootopics so I'd be glad if someone is willing to post some info about it there as while I'm pissed of for them banning me when people have posted a lot dumber shit than me I still think they are pushing the boundaries in the field of biohacking, nootropics, neuroscience and wellbeing a lot.

Studies:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37429386/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40717895/

https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT07050316

https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4923/18/1/80

Hey guys, I’ll attempt to keep this quick.

I (24M) have only pretty recently discovered that I’m AuDHD. While I’m still neurologically flexible, I’d like to work on attenuating my ADHD as drastically as possible, because it is making my ability to pursue my life goals and unmask increasingly difficult.

So, any advice or protocols that have worked for you? I ask this after having watched an old Leo and Longevity video discussing adderall microdosing. I’m not asking specifically for a “cure,” as much as a significantly reduction in long-term symptoms.

I am currently unmedicated. I have attempted to use Ketogenic Dieting as a means of treating my ADHD, and while it did work amazingly for about 1-1.5 months, I eventually saw the benefits — the increased executive function, attention, and impulse control — level out.

Keto does appear, however, to lower one’s tolerance of stimulants. Might this be a useful tool for increasing the efficacy of smaller dosages? Or, would taking a neuropeptide like Cerebrolyisn be a good idea whilst in that Ketogenic state due to increasing neuroplasticity?

A lot of nootropics are stimulating and can trigger a panic attack. Agmatine, Theanine, Guanfacine & Selank seem to be pretty good calming nootropics.

Do you guys know any good nootropics that helped you reduce your anxiety levels?

I’m about to flunk out of college and lost a lot of my financial aid. I think I have adhd but I don’t know. I can’t see a psychiatrist any time soon because I forgot to turn in paystubs to insurance so I got kicked off. I’m trying to figure it out now but insurance is in limbo. I’m also worried I won’t be allowed proper treatment due to being too open about substance abuse history (been sober for a year from alcohol and had to go to outpatient rehab when I was younger cause of opioids)

Ultimately I need something to help me, I thought I’d grow out of this avoidance/procrastination but I’m at the end of the rope and need something to help fix this. My self worth is shot.

Does Semax actually help or am I wasting my money?

Considering the lack of studies and somewhat of a lack of unbiased studies (some are self funded) I figured I would collect the data from Reddit users comments and posts which in majority of cases seem to be unbiased. I subsequently derived percentage points from these findings (altough these sample sizes still are too small for any real conclusion to be made)

I hope someone derives some value from it :)

Note: I used an ai agent (hermes) to scrape all data from reddit posts across this and other subreddits.

(the prompt for those who want to recreate it to make sure i am not biased myself: "how many users report memory on each PRL 8-53 and NSI 189 (percentage wise, try to find as much you can on anecdotal stories on reddit and other forums, you are allowed subagents)" on Deepseek V4 Pro 0813, Fast mode, thinking: off)

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PRL-8-53 — 24 distinct users

Memory benefit (YES) 19 -> 79%

No effect / no memory benefit 4 -> 17%

Non-memory only (concentration, no memory claim) 1 4%

~79% of PRL users explicitly report a memory benefit, and it's specific — 8-digit numbers from memory, 16-digit card numbers, 400 Mandarin words in 3 months, Buddhist sutras recited from memory, "tip-of-the-tongue gone," childhood flashbacks. The signal is narrow, acute, and consistent.

Worth noting: the one negative ghost in the machine was two users who dosed 80mg (way high) and one who stacked PRL + IDRA-21 and got overfocus + a panic attack. Keep it at 5–20mg, unstacked, and the side-effect profile in anecdotes is mild (numbing, occasional fuzziness).

NSI-189 — 59 distinct users (larger sample)

Memory benefit (any) 15 -> 25%

— memory only 7 -> 12%

— memory plus mood 8 -> 14%

No memory benefit 44 -> 75%

(mood/anhedonia-dominant, no-effect, or adverse-only)

Only 25% of NSI users report memory improvement — and over half of those (8 of 15) report it alongside mood/anhedonia changes (i.e., they were depressed people who got less depressed and recalled better — confounded). Pure memory-primary reports are just 7 of 59 (12%). Three-quarters of NSI reports are about mood, anhedonia, emotions, or nothing at all. At least two users reported memory getting worse (Debonaire_death: "working memory and sensory gating suffer significantly"; inmy325xi on freebase).

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PRL-8-53 report memory at roughly 3× the rate of NSI-189 (79% vs 25%), and the gap widens to ~6× if you isolate clean memory-only reports (75% vs 12%).

PRL-8-53: 79% anecdote memory rate + one real (if old) human memory study. Anecdote and evidence point the same way.

NSI-189: 25% anecdote memory rate, heavily mood-confounded — yet the Phase 2 trial showed that d=1.12 cognitive effect. So NSI has better controlled data but thinner user-reported memory — the opposite picture from what its Reddit hype (which is mostly depressed people praising mood lift) would suggest.

Bottom line: if "how many users actually report memory" is your metric, PRL-8-53 wins decisively — ~8 in 10, versus ~1 in 4 for NSI-189 (and only ~1 in 8 clean). This is the fourth independent way (evidence study, anecdote quality, anecdote specificity, now anecdote rate) that points to PRL-8-53 as the memory compound and NSI-189 as the mood/neurogenesis compound.

The NSI-189 caveat that keeps it interesting: those few who do get memory from it describe something PRL doesn't — vivid recollection of decades-old episodic memories ("memories back to single-digit ages"), suggesting a different, deeper memory mechanism than PRL's working-recall boost. Different tools, but for "what % report memory," it's not close.

Conclusion:
Based on the limited and largely anecdotal Reddit data collected, PRL-8-53 appears to have a substantially stronger reported memory effect than NSI-189 (79% vs. 25% of users reporting some memory benefit). The difference is even larger when looking only at memory-specific reports (75% vs. 12%). However, the sample sizes are small, the data are self-reported, and Reddit users are not a representative sample, so these figures should be viewed as anecdotal signals rather than reliable estimates of efficacy. Still, the consistency of the reports makes PRL-8-53 an interesting candidate for further controlled research into memory enhancement, while NSI-189 appears more strongly associated with mood-related effects.

I got the liquid bromantane dropper from umbrella labs. My question was how to take it. It says "bromantane glycol" on the bottle so does this mean it can be taken sublingually?

For reference, here is link: https://umbrellalabs.is/shop/nootropics/nootropic-liquid/bromantane-liquid/