

Ask HN: do any of you take mental performance enhancement drugs? - zxcvvcxz

It's the 21st century, people work long hours to try and be successful, and the information technology age requires you to be on your a-game as much as possible. So I ask of HN, if you are comfortable admitting, do you take any mental performance enhancement drugs? What are your experiences with them? Do you get side-effects or an inevitable crash?<p>I got the idea for this question after seeing this old techcrunch blog post: http://techcrunch.com/2008/07/15/how-many-of-our-startup-executives-are-hopped-up-on-provigil/  And that was in 2008, now it's more than 4 years later.
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rman666
I've been on Modafinal (Provigil) for 8+ years. I have Excessive Daytime
Somnolence (sleepiness) and I'd have a hard time functioning without it. I
take one or two 200mg tablets each day, depending on how I'm feeling (usually
just one). I still remember the first few days I was taking Modafinal: I felt
like I could see in 360-degrees. I was super alert. That effect wore of
quickly. Now, most days when I take Modafinal, I feel alert and ready to work;
not perfect but much much better than before. Sometimes the effect doesn't
kick-in. When this happens for more than a week in a row, I stop taking it for
a few days. When I restart, it seems to kick back in. I see my doctor
regularly to make sure everything is okay. I have noticed no strange side
effects other than my up-coming Noble prize in astrophysics, my solution to N
= NP, and my Sudoku solver written Brainfuck
(<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brainfuck>). Personally, I would not recommend
using Modafinal without the supervision of a doctor. It's also expensive, even
with "good" health insurance.

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jbrooksuk
What kind of down do you get? Have you ever had side effects?

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rman666
I don't experience any "crashes" (i.e., periods of being unusually tired)
related to Modafinal. Honestly, I can't really think of any side effects.

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sneak
I've tried Modafinil (Provigil). My experience mirrors that of several close
friends: It seems to do something different the first 1-2 times you take it as
opposed to the rest.

That was 3-5 tries, spaced a week or two apart, several years ago.

These days, I stick to 5-HTP (the last precursor to serotonin (5-HT) that will
cross the blood-brain-barrier (serotonin itself won't)) and B vitamins... and,
of course, caffeine.

I've some friends who've recently said that Noopept[1] is pretty amazing. I've
tried Piracetam[2] (though none of the other racetams) in the past and didn't
notice any major effect.

To answer your headline question: I'm always on the lookout for stuff that
will make me more efficient or effective, be it tools or molecules.

[1] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noopept>

[2] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piracetam>

~~~
dylanhassinger
5-HTP ftw, its like natural prozac.

New podcast about this stuff: smartdrugsmarts.com

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tzaman
Is it just me, or does anyone else find taking performance drugs just wrong? I
mean what about taking a walk in the nature, exercising, having sex (or all
three at the same time :)?

Yeah, everyone says it's safe, but I think it's better (safer) to listen to
your body when it's saying it needs a break. Unless you want to be super
effective, supper efficient, and die at 50. No thanks.

~~~
onlyup
I've never even considered taking a performance enhancement drug for anything
(other than coffee, if that counts). I wouldn't have thought it was that
common.

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jbrooksuk
I too have been wondering if it'd be beneficial to start taking smart drugs as
I'm working long distance and many hours a day.

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thifm
I take nootropil, which is a nootropic that I can easily buy here(Brazil).

It's well known for it's side effect of giving headaches if you don't have
enough choline in your organism. I advise everyone to take it, it's healthy.
Max your choline and you'll be just fine.

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throwaway_amph
Adderall and similar when deadlines are looming. I get more work done faster,
with fewer distractions. Not much of a "rush", just concentration when I need
it.

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mcartyem
How did you conclude the information technology age requires you to be on your
a-game as much as possible? There can be advantages to being on your c-game.

~~~
n3rdy
What would be the pros and cons of a-sharp vs c-sharp?

~~~
mcartyem
President Harry S. Truman said “The C Students Run the World”

[http://jobs.aol.com/articles/2010/11/16/c-students-more-
succ...](http://jobs.aol.com/articles/2010/11/16/c-students-more-successful-
than-a-students/)

[http://blog.pdus2go.com/special-edition/why-a-students-
dont-...](http://blog.pdus2go.com/special-edition/why-a-students-dont-run-the-
world/)

<http://elitedaily.com/elite/2012/students-run-world/>

