Well, some things like Maca and Ginseng shouldn't be cycled. If I recall correctly, a lot of studies on Maca found it was effective at increasing after 8 weeks. For Ginseng, I remember reading that it modulates neurotransmitters like dopamine and serotonin but it only does so after chronic administration, I think the study found after 3-4 weeks it produced these results. That reminds me, I have Nature's Way Ginseng that I bought a long time ago, maybe in 2013.
It expired in 2015 and the contents inside the capsule have become hard as rock. There's a slight discoloration as well, like a few yellow spots on the capsules. Regardless, I didn't care and I took it anyway lol. I've tried it about 5 times now. About 2 months ago, a few weeks ago, and a few days ago. I think I should start taking Ginseng daily. No one seems to talk about it with regards to its tremendous effects on anhedonia. Only you and I seem to know this. But you have more experience than me with it. So the past few times I've taken it I was able to actually laugh, like have an actual belly laugh that feels good and takes over your thoughts, body, and mind. It felt amazing.
Unfortunately, Ginseng seems to also modulate dopamine so it doesn't interact well with dopaminergics like modafinil, selegiline, nor stimulants. However, I don't know if this will change with chronic dosing since Ginseng affects dopamine differently after a few weeks.
Actually, I remember a time in 2012 when I took Maca + Ginseng and I had amazing relief of anhedonia. I was able to get immersed in things like movies and games and was able to feel emotions from so many things. It also improved my ability to taste and food in general tasted a lot better, a lot deeper I guess. As though more information or bandwidth was being relayed by my tongue to my brain.
Anyway, with the Nature's Way I can't seem to take it everyday as it really has gone bad. The first time I took it I had painful bloating and a ton of gas. The second time, same thing. Third time, gassy diarrhea. What the hell does gassy diarrhea mean? I don't mean a lot of farts, I mean the diarrhea itself had bubbles in it. One of the weirdest things ever. And omg, my anus made this almost soda-like fizz lmao.
Needless to say I'm not going to take it anymore.
So in the past when I had amazing benefits from Ginseng I took the NOW Foods brand which was standardized to 5% I think. But NOW Foods changed their supplier and now their Ginseng isn't standardized. I haven't tried it but given how they changed their supplier around the same time they changed their Rhodiola supplier and both my dad and I found the new Rhodiola pills to be really weak, I'm not going to risk giving their new Ginseng a shot. Quite sad really, I'm pretty sure NOW Foods decided to sacrifice a bit of quality for increased profits but in reality a lot of quality was lost. I avoid NOW Foods now because of this. Heh, maybe that's why they're called NOW Foods, because NOW you're going to stop buying them lmao.
Whoa, an energy drink that has theanine? That's rare. What's it called?
Yeah, you should try phenylpiracetam, it's amazing. For me, 100 mg is very effective, haven't tried higher doses. Eh, I wouldn't mess around with research chemicals and fladrafinil is no exception. Adrafinil alone can cause liver problems but then you have fladrafinil and you have no idea how it can affect the liver. I really wouldn't risk it if I were you, some consequences are permanent. Why don't you buy modafinil or get a prescription for it?
Modafinil for me is quite subtle but makes caffeine a lot more effective and thus improves my focus and mood, but really makes thoughts narrow minded. Ah I see now why modafinil decreases creativity as shown in studies. It makes my thoughts follow a linear path, like a straight road instead of the usual chaotically diverging one.
