My Experience with Nootropics and Why I Use Them

I have ADD/ADHD

I discovered this as an adult. It could be adult-onset due to repeated concussions in my life (I think I am at 5 now, I can’t remember) or I could have had it my own life and was undiagnosed until I was an adult.

Either way, I have it now and its impact has been troubling in my life as a creative entrepreneur whose workflow is oriented around long periods of self-guided focus on a multitude of different things, all of which happens on the same screen that accesses Facebook, Youtube, Imgur, Reddit, and all the rest.

But my ability (or inability) to not urge-check social media isn’t the ADHD’s worst manifestation. Such behaviours might be behavioural adaptations to the impact of such technology on the human brain, ADHD or not. The issue is in these tight vortexes of resistance/anxiety/self-defeat that make it feel like there is a light so bright it hurts to look at, streaming directly from what I need to do and into my eyes, causing my eyes to hurt the more I look towards it, but also causing me anxiety to more I avoid looking, a vicious cycle that repeats until I am defeated. Oh, and then there is when I start and get about 20mins into whatever it is that I am doing only to discover I am now somewhere totally different and the bright light returns.

I will save you too much more exploration of the nuances of my ADHD, but I will say this: my brain does not work the way I want it to in order to achieve my entrepreneurial and creative goal set the way I would like to achieve them.

My doctor gives me Adderall, with the option of Methylphenidate as well. This is the standard medical treatment protocol and goddamn do I get my work done! However, it also turns me into an unsleeping, unfeeling, highly-agitated, uncreative robot (with a shrinky dink and erection issues). As you can imagine, I’d rather not live such a life. What I need is something to help me offset my ADHD behaviours enough so to let my mindfulness practice take me the rest of the way, without negatively affecting the rest of my life. I am looking for the perfect “Nootropic”

The term “nootropic” is derived from the Greek words νους (noos) meaning “mind” and τρoπειn (tropein) meaning “towards.

Nootropics (/noʊ.əˈtrɒpɪks/ noh-ə-TROP-iks) (colloquial: smart drugs and cognitive enhancers) are drugs, supplements, and other substances that may improve cognitive function, particularly executive functions, memory, creativity, or motivation, in healthy individuals.

[Source]

I have explored many different avenues and options in my effort to find other substances that work on par with the clinical Meth– my doctor prescribes. I have tried different stimulants, eugeroics,  herbs, nutraceuticals, amino acids, vitamins, minerals, fats, and a variety of “stacks”. Some of which were great in some ways but not in others, some a waste of money, some with a high price to pay the next day, some, surprisingly, offering me exactly what it is I was looking for (praise the nootropic gods!)

This video explores the variety of things I have tried, the benefits and the negatives, and showcases the ones that really hit the mark and I continue to use today, as well as some caveats to hang on when it comes to taking nootropics at all.

Full Topic Breakdown Below.

WATCH THE VIDEO

AS Mentioned in the video…

The current nootropic stack I have been working with and finding a lot of great benefit from is the creativity stack from FORMULA. I am happy now in a sponsorship arrangement with them so if you want to give them a try, check them out via the link below.

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Topics breakdown

• what is and is not a nootropic
• The history of there term and the research
• my add symptoms and how they effect my work
• what I was hoping to get out my use of nootropics
• the positive and negative consequences
• a list of all the things I have tried
• the #1 most effective nootropic ever
• the nootropics that have worked best for me
  • Yerba mate + fasting
  • Paul Stamets Stack
  • Racetams! (especially aniracetam)
• what I am working with now
• a very important consideration if you are using nootropics

The podcast episodes I mentioned:

• • Healing Childhood Wounds With Psychedelic Therapy | Bruce Sanguin – ATTMind 98
  • Life Through A Polyvagal Lens | Deb Dana, LCSW ~ ATTMind 94
  • IN UTERO: Epigenetics, Unconscious Memories, and The Womb | Stephen Gyllenhaal ~ ATTMind 74
  • Primal Parenting and The Evolved Nest w/ Darcia Narvaez, Ph.D. ~ Ep 52
  • Inherited Family Trauma w/ Mark Wolynn ~ 42