Good caffeine substitute?
Grandmaster
27 Jan 2018
Hello
I have been experimenting with several substances in last months. I discontinued using nootropics since 90% of them didnt work for me or gave only side effects - mostly a brainfog. During the last 2 years i noticed that caffeine from energy drinks and pure caffeine pills stopped working for me properly - it doesnt give me clarity and verbal fluency like before but only rise blood pressure and make me anxious. Now i only drink coffee in the mornings + dose fish oil, magnesimum, b12 and vitamin C when needed + sometimes i take 50-100mg of pregnenolone.
I need a energy and productiveness for daily demaning intellectual tasks but coffee is not ideal for it for me at the moment. What can i use as a substitute? From natural things i tried: rhodiola rosea, panax ginseng, bacopa, gingko and several other things but those all gave me only brainfog(including noots like noopept, piracetam, CDP Choline, huperzine, pramiracetam etc) I have been thinking about: modafinil, hordenine(heard that it should be dosed with PEA), theacrine and phenylpiracetam(hard to get it where i live - especially the original Phenotropil in tablets)
Grandmaster
28 Jan 2018
What about galantamine? It works for me.
I think it works similar to Huperzine A and same as huperzine is one of the best lucid dreaming substances but i want a nice stimulation. Anyway how it works for you? What doses you use? Last time i checked it was pretty expensive.
CWF1986
28 Jan 2018
I love theacrine myself. It's much more of a mental stimulation compared to caffeine but I'll still usually take theacrine with morning coffee so I still get that physical energy to help get moving after I wake up.
prunk
28 Jan 2018
It makes me sharper and clearly more confident, like I'm mentally ready all the time. It's a nice feeling. Also words come up a lot more easily, so eg. writing is more fluent. I use only 1-2mg.What about galantamine? It works for me.
I think it works similar to Huperzine A and same as huperzine is one of the best lucid dreaming substances but i want a nice stimulation. Anyway how it works for you? What doses you use? Last time i checked it was pretty expensive.
It feels very different than huperzine for me.
Grandmaster
29 Jan 2018
So its very expensive. I experimented with coffee+taurine and effects are nice - it makes stimulation stronger but at the same times lowers blood sugar so i dont get mood changes and anxiety. L theanine who should work like that gave me brainfog and loss of motivation.
LiveWell
06 Feb 2018
L theanine who should work like that gave me brainfog and loss of motivation.
Same for me, every time. I love green tea but 2 cups and I become an idiot. No thanks!
ta5
07 Feb 2018
More ideas:
L-Tyrosine
Phenylalanine
Acetyl-L-Carnitine
Cacao (it probably has some but very little caffeine, more of other alkaloids)
Grandmaster
07 Feb 2018
More ideas:
L-Tyrosine
Phenylalanine
Acetyl-L-Carnitine
Cacao (it probably has some but very little caffeine, more of other alkaloids)
L-Tyrosine gave powerful brainfog and nearly a depression, combined with caffeine was even worse. Phenylalanine looks intersting though.
Mr Serendipity
07 Feb 2018
Cocoa powder. Make hot chocolate with normal processed cocoa powder you get from the supermarket (forget the raw crap, bitter and can cause side effects), hot milk, & sweetener of your choice.
People go on about cocoa powder here and it's benefits, but I don't see much about their experiences with it or how they ingest it.
Me on the other hand, making a hot chocolate with a teaspoon of proper cocoa powder from the supermarket (not the ready made hot chocolate mixes), I get a magical stimulation of what I seems to cause what I can only describe as delusions of grandeur. The theobromine in it (a chemical makeup which is similar to caffeine), seems to give me a strong inner confidence, positivity, and motivation; like I can do anything and become anyone I want. Then the crash afterward is nothing like with caffeine, in fact I don't really remember crashing at all on it, except needing sleep (because I had it too close to bed time and get insomnia).
It was actually something I was going to experiment again after I finished my nicotine experiment, except I'm on a vitamin c experiment at the moment. The nicotine stimulation is similar to cocoa powder (I experience confidence, motivation, positivity), but came with so many side effects, it was not worth it.
Anyway you should try it with the normal processed cocoa powder you get from the supermarket. This is the one I use: https://groceries.as...lle-cocoa/26170
Just from a teaspoon of that and I'm bouncing off the walls, but without feeling fried/over stressed like I would with too much caffeine.
ta5
07 Feb 2018
Sulbutiamine
Selegiline
Not stimulants, but some people report a stimulant effect, maybe with longer-term use:
Lions Mane
Cordyceps
PQQ
Not simulants, but the brain can use them for energy:
Creatine
Glutamine
Grandmaster
08 Feb 2018
Sulbutiamine
Selegiline
Not stimulants, but some people report a stimulant effect, maybe with longer-term use:
Lions Mane
Cordyceps
PQQ
Not simulants, but the brain can use them for energy:
Creatine
Glutamine
I recalled yesterday that i had some sulbutiamine left after experiment(bad results when doses first time). Tried 400mg of it + 250mg CDP choline and i felt some dizzyness, problem with forming more complex sentences - those bad effects passed after around 1,5 hour but its normal in my case as it was around 24:00 and i always feel great at this hour. So it doesnt work good in my case, Lions Mane also didnt work good iny my case. Selegiline looks interesting but i have read some posts where people claimed it could cause irritability and other side effcts so im not convinced.
I don't think I saw adrafinil or any other 'afinils mentioned.
I have read that adrafinil is metabolized in the liver, where it is converted into the active metabolite that we now know as modafinil and its requires higher doses than modafinil + is much worse for the liver. I would rather try modafinil but its hard to get and very expensive compared to some of other promising substances.
Edited by Grandmaster, 08 February 2018 - 11:56 PM.
LiveWell
20 Feb 2018
I love theacrine myself. It's much more of a mental stimulation compared to caffeine but I'll still usually take theacrine with morning coffee so I still get that physical energy to help get moving after I wake up.
+1 for Theacrine.
Nice mental boost, much better than caffeine and no jitters. It does seem to make my back feel tight, but reducing my dosage (currently my capsules are 100mg) might help that go away. So far, I've only tried it twice but it seems to do what I always wanted caffeine to do.
