I’m a long-time lurker at LongeCity. I love how well-informed the community here is and finally made an account to offer some life experience to people who might be in a similar situation.
For the longest time I assumed I had ADHD because I had extreme difficulty with organization and concentration. Despite these problems I was somehow able to compensate and perform academically.
A couple years ago I finally learned that more than one disorder can result in disorganized thinking and inattentiveness.
I was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder with chronic treatment resistant depression. I had coped for a long time with thought blocking, working memory impairment, anhedonia, and motivational problems. I have a sibling and an uncle with frank schizophrenia, so it’s likely that I simply lost the genetic lottery. I was in denial for a long time about having the disease.
With my current cocktail of psychotropic drugs (including an atypical antipsychotic) and nootropics, however, I am able to compensate and function well in medical school; without the cocktail I would probably end up homeless (no joke).
1. Yerba Mate
I got hooked on the stuff when I visited Argentina. I was there for a medical rotation and noticed that all of the physicians imbibed large quantities of Yerba Mate every 15-30 minutes.
I’m convinced Yerba Mate confers cognitive benefits superior to caffeine alone. Perhaps this is due to the synergy between the three xanthines in mate: caffeine, theobromine and theophylline, in addition to blood brain barrier permeable antioxidants.
[Potentially Risky] More recently I have purchased extracts of yerba matte that contain 20% caffeine, and I mix it with raw cacao flavonoids and transfer the powder mixture into DIY tea bags. The result is super-caffeinated Yerba Mate that contains ~200-250 mg of caffeine, with an infusion of flavanoids, polyphenols and other compounds with putative neuroprotective properties.
2. Methylene Blue
As discussed above, I’m a depressive type with some kind of schizophreniform disorder.
Methylene Blue has helped me cope with extreme working memory impairment and cognitive symptoms associated with schizoaffective disorder. Unlike other drugs, methylene blue doesn’t really directly affect neurotransmission (except possibly via MAOI). The advantage to this is that there is no tolerance, no receptor up-regulation, down-regulation, no homeostatic rebound. Instead MB enhances mitochondria and improves the energetic status of neurons.
After taking a 10 mg dose of methylene blue for 4 weeks I was able to remember a 10 digit number; previously I couldn’t even remember my own cell phone number. During depressive episodes I have titrated to higher doses to exploit reversible MAO inhibition; at higher doses MB behaves exactly like moclobemide.
3. Triiodothyronine (T3)
T3 can do amazing things for your brain. Thyroid hormone controls the basal metabolic rate of every cell in your body. T3/T4 directly, and unambiguously regulate neurogenesis and neural stem cell proliferation. 5 micrograms helps alleviate severe anhedonia, makes my mind feel more lucid, improves exercise tolerance and banishes lethargy. However, I have subclinical hypothyroidism, so low-dose T3 is medically indicated.
4. 7,8-Dihydroxyflavone (7,8-DHF)
I took a risk with this one, but now it is the core of my regimen. The prospect of running out of this stuff due to lack of availability makes me shudder.
I originally ordered this from eBay but recently switched to bluebrainboost due to some quality issues.
Though my anecdotal, unblinded, subjective reports should be taken with a grain of salt, I found that 7,8-DHF fixed my broken hedonic tone and restored cognitive flexibility. At my worst, I felt like my brain was in a straight-jacket, almost catatonic with relentless loops and repetitive thought processes that precluded me from socializing or following a coherent line of thinking. I'm convinced an infusion of 7,8-DHF helped clean the slate.
My anxiety about ordering 7,8-DHF from bluebrainboost, which is essentially an unknown supplier, has been assuaged since I have been able to independently verify purity (using crude techniques). The DHF I received was surprisingly well-packaged and the appearance is a fine yellow powder.
7,8-dihydroxyflavone is a natural, plant-derived flavanoid that directly agonizes the Trk B receptor, for which brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is the endogenous ligand. Hence, 7,8-DHF behaves like a BDNF mimetic.
The role of BNDF in resilience to depression, neuroplasticity, long-term potentiation and neurotrophic support cannot be overstated. Antidepressant-induced neurogenesis is thought to be dependent on BDNF activity. Long-term potentiation is a BDNF-dependent process, where glutamate binding to the NMDA receptor co-activates BDNF/Trk B downstream.
Amitriptyline, a tricyclic antidepressant which also directly activates the BDNF receptor (Trk B), is thought to exhibit superior efficacy over and above other classes of antidepressants (and other tricyclics) due to this extra effect on Trk B.
I also have the Val66Met BDNF polymorphism, resulting in hypofunctional BDNF, which may explain why I benefited from 7,8-DHF so much.
5. Nicotine.
It’s no surprise that I use nicotine heavily. The observation that 80% of schizophrenics smoke and the use of nicotine to mitigate schizophrenia-associated cognitive symptoms is a dead horse at this point.
Edited by contraband, 25 July 2015 - 05:08 AM.
