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Rhodiola...? (Herbs for brain fog)

Discussion in 'Self Improvement' started by Grendel, Oct 30, 2014.

  1. Grendel

    Grendel Fapstronaut

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    I've been doing research on ways to boost my energy and clear the massive clouds of brain fog that I have had for so long.

    One of the herbs that popped up was Rhodiola. There are claims that it helps the body deal with stress, but there are also claims that it boosts the brain's sensitivity to dopamine and serotonin.

    I don't know that much about the reboot process, but I do know that low dopamine sensitivity comes with this addiction.

    So, is this a good thing? Will this positively/negatively affect my reboot? Has anyone else had any luck with this herb or others?
     
  2. NotAfraid

    NotAfraid Fapstronaut

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    I don't know about this herb, but I'll be looking into it, because I'm very interested in all kinds of herbs.

    And the sensitivity would be a good thing and possibly a bad thing, as far as I can see it.
    You could feel pretty good about smaller and more normal things during your day, if your sensitivity was high. That means, you could enjoy life, which is always good. When you enjoy life as it is, you don't need porn and other shameful sources of instant gratification.

    If you were to relapse while your sensitivity is high, the pleasure from porn and/or masturbation would be REALLY intense and it would make your addiction worse or recreate it and make it stronger. It's like getting that first time feeling all over again.

    You see, when you're addicted to porn, you have a high tolerance for dopamine(=pleasure). When you stop your tolerance goes down little by little and you get more sensitive to dopamine and you can get more pleasure out of life(I feel really good after two weeks of NoFap). That herb could speed up this process, if it really makes you more sensitive to dopamine and serotonin.

    However, many herbs usually have only a placebo-effect.

    I know one herb(which might be illegal in your country, so be warned), that gives me a good mood, energy, motivation, inspiration and makes me more social. It really helps the withdrawal symptoms, which usually occur during the days 3-5.

    So what is this herb? It's called Kratom. It works wonders in low doses(in high doses it turns into a opioid, which only sedates you and builds tolerance), if it's from a quality source. If you're a herb enthusiast like me, then I recommend you look into it.
     
  3. dodoz123

    dodoz123 Fapstronaut

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    Grendel - have you tried ashwagandha. I've been using this herb for 3 months now and it has similar effects to rhodiola. I feel more energetic, I feel like everything is making me happy (the dopamine rush). Apparently it works on the stresses in your body on a neurological level. And its known to help with sexual exhaustion due to excessive masturbation.

    As NotAfraid stated though, these do have side effects. Because I'm more sensitive to dopamine I have to be very careful not to get tempted to PMO. I'm currently 6 days in my streak and any tempting thought can lead to a very intense pleasurable PMO experience. I probably should have started using the herb 30 days in atleast.

    Ashwagandha comes in both pill and powder form.
     
  4. Davemrk

    Davemrk Fapstronaut

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    Piracetam helps with brain fog and low energy levels. It's considered a nootropic and safe. You can find it online and it's pretty affordable. It can make you a little Ampy if you take to much or if taken with caffeine. I got mine at peaknootropics .com
     
  5. Grendel

    Grendel Fapstronaut

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    I did try Ashwagandha actually, with no noticeable results :(. This was about 2-3 months a go, and I had it for about a month, along with a herb called Brahmi.

    These two herbs together should have made a big difference, but maybe the dose I took was too low, or the quality wasn't great. I don't know.

    I researched some of the nootropics a while ago, and was really tempted to try some until I read numerous accounts of mental exhaustion/fatigue and decreased brain power, verbal fluency and probllem solving!?
     
  6. dodoz123

    dodoz123 Fapstronaut

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    Grendel - Did you try capsules or powder form for ashwagandha? Take capsules so you know how much you're getting in. If you're taking the powdered form make sure it's organic and take at least half a teaspoon a day. I have my powder mixed in with a green smoothie every morning for breakfast. It's been 4 weeks since I started green smoothies and 3 weeks since I started ashwagandha. And I definitely know something is working. My mind is more clearer, I can get more done and I feel less stressed or anxious.

    What is Brahmi? And what are its benefits?
     
  7. What exactly is brain fog?

    One of the best things to become realxed and to get a clear mind is doing sports and deep sleep (ensure that you sleep in a really dark and quiet place, and don't eat too much before going to sleep)

    Speaking of nutrition, it is important to have much proteines, but few fat, few carbs, and no alcohol at all.
     
  8. NotAfraid

    NotAfraid Fapstronaut

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    It's important to have much protein, much fat, few carbs. Why?

    Because testosterone is made from fats and that's what we, men, need to feel well.
     
  9. Grendel

    Grendel Fapstronaut

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    I took Ashwagandha in capsule form, from a company called Fushi I think. I would like to try it again sometime, but maybe when I reach day 30 onwards. I'd rather not risk anything in terms of the dopamine levels.

    Brahmi is supposedly similar to Ashwagandha. It increases blood flow to the brain, improves memory, acts as an adaptogen and is all round good for the body. If ashwagandha works for you, I'd recommend Brahmi too.

    @FreedomFlight - My diet seems to be pretty good at the moment. I've cut down on my sugar intake, have smoothies (not too sweet!), eat lots more protein and fewer carbs. I started going to the gym a couple months ago (for both cardio and muscular) and I'm trying to get to bed earlier (for most of my teenage life, I went to bed anywhere from midnight to 2. Now, I try to go to bed at 11:30), but due to a number of other stresses in my life right now, I feel constantly exhausted, low, mentally slow etc... and have trouble sleeping through the night.

    I don't really know what else I can do other than wait and hope that going without PMO long enough changes anything. This is the only problem I have full power to fix in my life, but I don't like resting all my faith in this when I might be someone who doesn't gain any benefits...
     
  10. climb4life

    climb4life Fapstronaut

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  11. solebit

    solebit New Fapstronaut

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    I registered specifically to reply to this. You sound like you're doing the same shit I did for a long time. At first I thought it was depression or something, and tried zoloft, then lexapro, then effexor. After those, my doctor put me on geodon, then seroquel. I got tired of those side effects, and it didn't help the original problem of "brain fog" at all, so I went off of them, and ditched my doctors. I then tried rhodiola, and then vevlet bean extract. Both of those just pissed me off, and they didn't really help the mental clarity at all (though, they helped a lot more than the expensive prescriptions).

    After all of that stuff, I thought that I might have Celiac's disease, since that's the number one symptom, and I tried the shitty celiac diet. This was tough, because you have to put up with skinny jean and toms shoe wearing vegans that think the solution to everything is coffee enemas and crystals. Now a spectacular thing happened while I was on this diet.... the first few days I felt so amazingly clear... clearer than I've been in the past 20 years (the brain fog started when I was about 10 or so). I assumed the diet was the solution, but it slowly stopped helping, and I felt foggy again. Searching online, people were saying a bunch of crazy hippy shit, like you need to kill some sort of yeasts, and help other ones...etc. I then tried to think what else it could be, and realized that my first few days of the diet I had only ate eggs (scrambled, fried, boiled...etc), because the gluten-free shit is absolutely outrageous, and I had to wait to get paid before being able to get the proper foods, and then the mental "fog" came back after getting the proper foods. So eggs made me clear for whatever reason. Looked up the nutrients and whatnot of eggs, and there it was: B vitamins, and a lot of them. I'm someone that had a lot of blood work done, and not a single fucking time did a doctor tell me anything about my Bs being low, and to be honest, idk if they even looked. I checked out my foods that I solely ate, like hotpockets, pizzas, fried foods, snacks, etc, and not a single fucking one had more than like 5% of a daily dose of B12, much less any other B vitamin. Looking back on it, I had been on that shitty diet for so long, because I loved the taste of them, but that also means I've been B deficient for 2/3rd of my life.

    I immediately went out, and I bought some basic vitamin B50 pills, which have a crap ton of B vitamins. Man, I felt clear within 3 days, and I'm STILL getting clearer every single day. It's so extreme that I feel like I'm having to relearn everything, because I was so foggy for so long. Also, for the first time in a very very long time I feel energetic during the day, and want to go to sleep around 11 or 12 at night, and before I would feel lethargic 24/7, and I wouldn't go to sleep until about 8am everyday, no matter when I woke up the day before.

    TL;DR: I had "brain fog" for almost 20 years, I tried an assload of "solutions," and none of them worked. Vitamin B50 fixed everything within a couple of days. You may want to check your daily diet, and see if this sounds like it could also be your problem. Good luck man.
     
    Last edited: Nov 9, 2014
  12. Vision

    Vision Fapstronaut

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    I think the only way to boost energy is to eat little but well and exercise.

    How to eat well is INMO best described by Joel Fuhrman.
     
  13. I use rhodiola and for me it works makes me sleep good and I have tried lots of things, rhodiola is great, i did not know it was for energy though. also I use 5 htp, it's another great herm for the brain and helps you relax and sleep better. also do you do take a lot of stimulents? that seems to drain energy quite quickly.
     
  14. Grendel

    Grendel Fapstronaut

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    I'm probably going to wait a while before I get any Rhodiola, as it seems to be quite expensive , and I'm a bit skeptical as to whether it will actually benefit me.

    @climb4life - I'm probably going to add that stuff to my list if no other diet changes work.

    @solebit - What you're saying could make sense for me as although my diet has improved, it's still not consistent and it has only been a few months since I started to improve my sleep/diet/exercise regime (up till then, I had no exercise, poor sleep and weakish diet). I think it will take a while to feel the effects of this improvement, but I will be looking at B 50 pills and eating food with more B vitamins too. Is there any particular brand you would recommend?
     

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