Some updates:

Clenbuterol (10–40 mcg) was unfortunately disappointing. It caused unpleasant heart palpitations even with minimal physical exertion. A further reduction in dosage and a different context might be necessary.
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Initial experiments with 20 mg Bromantane: minimally stimulating (increased dark circles under the eyes and slight facial muscle tension), auditory enhancement (music experience felt more immersive), increased thought flow (more associations and memory retrieval), enhanced affectivity and mood improvement. Later on, strong fatigue occurred (though not sure due to bromantane, as I had little sleep the previous night), brain fog.
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Upcoming experiments are planned with galantamine, TAK-653, sulbutiamine, and trans-Isrib.
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Ongoing experiments also include a change in the roa for 2C-B from oral to intranasal. I hope for improved context-sensitive kinetics (faster onset/peak/offset), increased comfort, and reduced body load
(maybe even s.c. or i.m., will see)

@GreekDemiGod thx

@lobotomize-me said in Lobotomize-me athletic logs:

control things... feels necessary

A kind of control can be maintained without consciously keeping track of every detail, but it's a bit hard for me to explain. Perhaps I could put it like this: shifting from conscious analysis and control of every detail to a more intuitive perception and movement. Details and conscious analysis are still useful but not the best as the primary mode of being.

Kanna could help calm down and break harmful mental patterns. If you do choose to try it, I'd recommend reading more about it first, including research and people's experiences, and staying away from high mesembrine extracts, at least at first. Mesembrine appears to be the most serotonergic part of kanna, and high mesembrine extracts are usually used recreationally, not so much therapeautically. Zembrin is a standardized extract with some human research. These two may be relevant to you:

Acute effects of Sceletium tortuosum (Zembrin), a dual 5-HT reuptake and PDE4 inhibitor, in the human amygdala and its connection to the hypothalamus
"In a double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over design, 16 healthy participants were scanned during performance in a perceptual-load and an emotion-matching task. Amygdala reactivity to fearful faces under low perceptual load conditions was attenuated after a single 25 mg dose of Zembrin. Follow-up connectivity analysis on the emotion-matching task showed that amygdala-hypothalamus coupling was also reduced. These results demonstrate, for the first time, the attenuating effects of S. tortuosum on the threat circuitry of the human brain and provide supporting evidence that the dual 5-HT reuptake inhibition and PDE4 inhibition of this extract might have anxiolytic potential by attenuating subcortical threat responsivity."

Proof-of-Concept Randomized Controlled Study of Cognition Effects of the Proprietary Extract Sceletium tortuosum (Zembrin) Targeting Phosphodiesterase-4 in Cognitively Healthy Subjects: Implications for Alzheimer's Dementia
"Results. 21 subjects (mean age: 54.6 years ± 6.0 yrs; male/female ratio: 9/12) entered the study. Zembrin at 25 mg daily dosage significantly improved cognitive set flexibility (P < 0.032) and executive function (P < 0.022), compared with the placebo group."

Zembrin has an alkaloid profile that has more mesembrenone and mesembrenol than mesembrine. But it's total alkaloid content is low, only around 0.4%. I only have experience with 2 extracts, one of them having a total alkaloid content of 5% and the other one 6%, and I used a higher dose.

repair this serotonergic state I'm drowning in

Ginger might help, but I only experienced subtle effects from it.

As for general supplement advice, it's generally best not to start multiple supplements at once. Try one at first. When you get a good feel for it, you can try adding something else.

I am willing to let you take control over my athletic career choices.

If you really feel like this (actually, even if you don't), this is more of a symptom than the root cause. But changing it would help. Listen to others but make the final decision yourself.

Related and useful:
Syntactical Awareness

@adrn100k Maybe testing again would have a different reading of TSH.

How’s the temp and pulse tho?

@alfredoolivas said in Pro Metabolic Substances Tier List:

@Hando-Jin thanks for sharing.

Thyroid doesn’t stimulate appetite for me and it might even lower appetite for me, if anything. But not significantly. I already am taking 50mg of exemestane a day, I like it.

Thyroid increases GLP-1, which is why maybe it lowers appetite.

Interesting.

I've also found gelatin to be a really good suppresser of hunger cravings.

@TexugoDoMel said in Thyroid Log:

@GreekDemiGod

Iodine is very important but remember that iodine displaces bromide and fluoride and can cause unpleasant symptoms precisely because of this. It's a good idea to adjust the amount of selenium too, as there's a good chance you'll feel unwell when supplementing with iodine if you're deficient in selenium.

What about this very valuable statement!?
You won't recover if you listen to mainstream fear for iodine phoby.

Main issues for a while have been feeling ill on a regular basis. It seems to be lodged close to my tonsils and think it's leading to fatigue and low mood. In the UK it's not common for the NHS to swab your throat and test it, they just love to prescribe antibiotics based on symptoms or tell you to rest if you have a virus. It's quite frustrating. I know Ray was quite an advocate for antibiotic use but I think the potential downsides are significant and feel like my immunity went downhill last year when I did two courses of antibiotics, having never done any my whole adult life.

I did a blood test on Tuesday so should get results soon:
https://lolahealth.co/products/ultimate?variant=45501879713944

I'll then be doing a consultation with a private doctor and want to discuss these issues as well as potentially having an intro to a TRT clinic.

I did a mycotoxin test last year which came up high in ochratoxin so I've been trying to detox that via home farinfrared sauna and activated charcoal plus bentonite clay.

@RePeat said in Vanquishing reflux and depression:

I wonder if there are natural sources of l. Reuteri.

I've since learned that L. Reuteri must be present in some way in raw milk and saucisson (dried sausage that we have in France) but more importantly it is present in sourdough, what would be a very common source for most people at least here in Europe.
I bought into a lot of peaty habits but it never felt right to completely exclude cereals from the diet-- I still consume bread regularly, mostly whole bread fermented with natural sourdough. This could help!

On the topic of depression, there seems to be another of these "simple trick" that's easy to try and might help: chewing gum. I indeed found out that chewing gum was notably associated with mood uplifting and relieving symptoms of depression, and also with ADHD.

At 2 weeks, the score of state anxiety was significantly lower in the intervention group than the control group. The intervention participants’ scores of depression-dejection, fatigue and confusion in POMS were better than the control group scores. Mental fatigue were also relieved after the intervention. At 4 weeks, there were no significant differences between both groups.

--- PMID: 21866229

Logistic regression analyses showed that the effects of chewing gum on stress and health remained significant when [...] confounding factors were controlled for. These results suggest that chewing gum may be a simple way of preventing stress and the negative health outcomes that are often associated with it.

--- https://doi.org/10.1002/smi.1272

The most beneficial effect of chewing gum was observed on the gastrointestinal symptoms, e.g. loss of appetite, and flatulence among others. These results indicate that chewing gum may not be directly effective on depressed mood; however, it may reduce the symptoms originating from depression.

--- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2013.02.002

According to the preliminary results in the present study, intervention of gum chewing for patients with depression may be of some roles in maintaining their mental health.

--- https://doi.org/10.2974/kmj.63.13

Other results are less optimistic but still significant:

Perceived stress decreased as a function of the amount of gum chewed. The chewing gum condition was also associated with a decrease in not getting enough academic work done. There were no significant effects of chewing gum on mental health outcomes.

--- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2012.02.054

Rate of chewing and subjective force of chewing did not alter mood but had some limited effects on attention. Chewing gum during the workday was associated with higher productivity and fewer cognitive problems, raised cortisol levels in the morning, and did not affect heart rate. The results emphasise that chewing gum can attenuate reductions in alertness, suggesting that chewing gum enhances worker performance.

--- https://doi.org/10.1155/2015/654806

You might just try it out!

@nicemushroom17 Not mine. This guy has no idea about me. I think he did raised seat cycling.

@idealabsrat i tried this last night and when i went to cook the rice after rinsing the water would not evaporate. my rice essentially turned into porridge slop. i boiled it for one hour, rinsed the rice in a strainer, then brought to a boil with a bit of water and cooked on low heat. not sure what i'm doing wrong or if this is the proper texture when cooking it this way

@Hearthfire

Ya, that what I’m doing

@PrinceTrebata Transdermally 50mg most of the time because it is 1ml of my solution / a full dropper.
I get effects from less than that but sub 5mg might be too little for topical.

@Mr-X dang I forgot *:D

I definitely have clearer/worsened skin depending on when I have good metabolism vs stress.

I think haidut posted a study saying a single 40mg dose of propranolol before doing something you find fearful can help eliminate the fear response completely for the next time you have to do it, forever.

found the post:
https://lowtoxinforum.com/threads/blocking-stress-adrenaline-just-once-cures-ptsd-and-maybe-any-mental-disorder.28622/

40mg propranolol 1 hour before the fearful event and then get a good nights sleep afterwards.

For the 2021-2023 NHANES data, in order to remove TRT users, I screened out those with testosterone over 600 who also had LH below reference range. Apparently TRT lowers LH and FSH to near zero. I also removed some data that was probably in error.

So average testosterone in 2021-2023 was 451 ng/dl - no major difference from 2015-2016's average of 459 ng/dl.

2021-2023:
20-24: 536
25-29: 464
30-34: 476
35-39: 440

2015-2016:
20-24: 535
25-29: 556
30-34: 461
35-39: 466

2011-2012
20-24: 468
25-29: 438
30-34: 435
35-39: 392

2003-2004
20-24: 673
25-29: 537
30-34: 541
35-39: 589

if its too acidic i add 1 gram of baking soda and some sugar (food grade aluminium free), the bicarb reacts with the acid to clear some (dont need a lot) and gives a little salt to balance the water, but yeh probably not the best if a sweet brand is available or vs eating ripe oranges

I’d vote stop all your supplements except D&K. Keep B complex if you’re sure it’s well formulated and no bad “additional ingredients. And cut the coconut oil. Not cuz it’s bad but you have coconut oil on your body you’re trying to loose.
1000mg of Mag is displacing calcium and you aren’t eating that much Cal.
Good luck that’s my two cents.
And walk more!