Best study aid?

[drw]

These days if I need to do some focussed work, a combination of between 0 and 200 mg of modafinil with between 0 and 5 mg (maybe up to 10mg) of dexamphetamine generally works. I find that modafinil is much 'cleaner' than dex - with less side effects such as appetite loss, euphoria, and wanting to smoke. The dex helps me remain focussed on what I should be doing, while on modafinil by itself I can get distracted by other things (such as drug forums).

Other things that can help me focus include closing web browsers (or tuning off the computer if it is not needed); and if I am getting too distracted, moving to another location (e.g. from the office to the library, or vice-versa) helps.

 

[Lab-Test Monkey]

Would you say the focus from using these aids comes at the cost of reduced creativity or would it just enhance overall cognitive speed and endurance whilst not constraining creativity(i.e. blocking concepts that although distant are related, sort of tunnel vision).

If so is it best to have a mix of on and off the preferred psychoactive substance or is the overall gain worthwhile.

(I know this is hard to answer and is going to be more intuitive than quantifiable and it is half to stimulate thought within others, but hopefully some of you have considered this and might share what you know/feel).

 

[Transform]

I found that modafinil blocked most of the effects of 2-FMA

 

[cannibalsnail]

I found that modafinil blocked most of the effects of 2-FMA

Modafinil is at least partially a DRI so this is not surprising.

 

[insanobueno]

ritalin

 

[DJHENRU]

I really found choline and piracetam, taken in 1:1 ratio to be awesome for memorization, but its super gross tasting together and kinda costly.
I love hydergine as well
Ive never really used amphetamines in practice to study an entirely new and difficult subject. The above example with piracetam was used in teaching myself a new programming language.
(I don't know how the 1:1 ratio works with the other recetams, since they are all stronger than piracetam, I think. Except levirecetam?????
If anyone has insight, let us know.)
I really enjoy kavakava as well when stressed and needing to get work done, its listed on the wikipedia nootropics article.

 

[Ghbrew]

Caffeine does the trick, but sometimes it just isn't enough. My experience is actually that "street"-amphetamine (not meth) gives better focus and intellectual stamina than most of the pharmaceutical products (at least when taken in excess of prescription-dosage). Concerta, dex, etc tends to give me a really bad stomach, beating heart, teethgrinding and other symptoms of over-stimulation to a much greater degree than amphetamine. This is relative to the dose used for desired effect ofc.

But what it all comes down to is not if you choose this or that derivate, but how you approach the studies. Everyone does the mistake of just sitting for hours with their work. The key is to get enough rest, forced eating and timed brakes. Also, a lot of people look for stimulants when their problem is motivation. Stimulants won't help much before you actually need them - when you're exhausted after studying your ass off. If you can't get to this point naturally you won't with stimulants either. It's no magic pill, but used right it's a gift from god when you've got a deadline or an exam coming up.

 

[✰hyperobjects✰]

ampakines work great

I've worked with Piracetam, Aniracetam, and Noopept. Aniracetam works the best for me. Hopefully one day soon I will get to try IDRA-21.

 

[Botanical Baron]

Mild Aids
Nicotine Gum is actually Great
Oolong Tea or anything with a decent xanthine balance that doesn't invoke jitters
Piracetam/Choline
Good Sleep and Diet

If you really think you need an Aid
Methylphenidate
Bupropion
Coca Quid


Aside from that I seriously think more harm and memory loss occurs then good, but I have never tried this modafinil etc.

 

[AlphaMethylPhenyl]

I wouldn't use bupropion unless its combined with a nicotinic acetylcholine agonist.

 

[MeDieViL]

ill give out some warnings here untill that vbulletin mod is here that merges double posts sekio a warning for you

And delete this post before i get banned

Stimulant with the cilltep stack (nefiracetam and quercetin) thats my personal cilltep stack should blow forskolin away.

Drugs fucking suck for study aids. Seriously man, just stay away from that stuff. Despite how clear amphetamines make you feel at the time, your thought process is altered and you arent the same person. Key is to not be dependent on amphetamines (or similar drugs) for studying. After using adderall and ritalin heavily throughout highschool and in university, I can tell you that it get's you NO WHERE. I usually get too high off it now and just end up blasting youtube while smoking cigs and reading about interesting stuff on the internet. Now i use them strictly as recreational drugs since I've come to terms with that's all they're good for.
See how hard it would be for homework to get done? I've spent 10 minutes editing this post to get every word perfect.

Who cares what person you are when studying for my part you could be jack nickolson, as an aside this thread is about a study aid not abusing stims non stop at school,once your addicted indeed you waste time when high before you dont (depends how the drug is programmed in the brain when addicted its a lost case.

He's really right. Exercise before and after you study/test, and have some coffee. That is all that is needed.

lol thats individual i suppose refers to those that have a more natural amp like brain(higher da density and levels or whatever it was.

For studying, I find that excess stimulants tend to be counterproductive, I always end up finding something way more interesting to read up about on wikipedia, and the stims give me a sense of accomplishing shit while procrastinating. Study aid and exam aid are not synonyms

I've found a mixture of two racetam nootropics to be invaluable for increasing my memory while studying, those two being Noopept and Aniracetam. A bit of caffeine goes a long way for giving the combination a pseudo-stimulant kick to it.

Come test time, stimulants will help increase your writing output, and articulation but will only be helpful in small doses. High doses will suppress latent inhibition, make you waffle and make writing coherent sentences on familiar topics difficult. You want to feel awake, but not wired. Even for someone with a tolerance from daily use, I find anything over 25mg d-Amphetamine is too much for a test

An amphetamine naive person should not take more take no more than 15mg d-Amphetamine for a test. If you took a daily regimen of nootropics to study, take them on test day, they don't really enhance exam performance per se, just studying which in turn helps exams

Oh and remember, that drugs won't magically read the textsbooks for you

On another topic, @ebola, yeah I'm aware about the memory consolidation issues with Amphetamine such as how you mentioned with time constriction, but does that apply to semantic memory which is what's key with exams or is it simply contextual episodic memory. The former seems unscathed or even enhanced (due to better executive functioning allowing better learning behaviour) by my amphetamine use (although nootropics may play a role here) although I admit there is probably some issues with episodic memory.

2 racetams with a stim are def a win, especially with nefiracetam and a pde4 inhibitor for LTP then throw in noopept or so and fuck your set.

This are some good suggestions that work compared to some coffee or tea ora jog, or weak sauce like piracetam and nicotine (nefi is a A7 PAM too blows nicotine away).
Go for the best, no point to bother with weak shit

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned ethylphenidate yet..

Ppl do mean all stims in general i tried studying french once on XTC pills did better then normal still failed the exam but meh french who needs it. XTC aint to great to study but does kinda help.

Basicly (this deserves a new post)

Stimulant
Optimize the glutaminergic system ( combo of 2 racetams will do the trick)
Optimize acetylcholine (same thing)
Optimize LTP (nefiracetam with quercetin/quercetin with forskolin and galantamine)

Eventually try the preworkout craze instead of other stims many swear by it:
http://www.longecity.org/forum/topic/55532-preworkout-stimulant-as-nootropic-damn/

Methylone blue added def wont hurt.

This is pretty much a list of the most effective options, stack togheter as many you like, dont overdo it and dont forget to eat and sleep.

More about the cilltep stack
http://www.longecity.org/forum/topic/51732-chemically-induced-ltp/

It dramatically potentiates the speed of learning.

This was a poor choice of threads to bump.
...
As a study aid, dopaminergic stimulants are poor choices, as they interfere with the consolidation of new long-term memories (subjectively, this might manifest as the experience of time-contraction). Save the speed for writing papers.

ebola

Since, they also induce LTP id say they are a excellent choice besides the shitload of ppl that do succesfully use them for studying.


Ill type more when i have a laptop i can type on and a working windows this bullshit computer pisses me off but i smashed the keys out of it on too much amp. This thing survived alot tough if i could only get windows installed on it so i dont need to use stupid ubuntu and fucked up progrms like pidgin for msn. haha hope you guys know i allways type this shit when im bored i hope its entertaining for some if not ill keep it to business.

Either way its all individual giving amp to someone that study's damn well without study aids would prob cause him ocd and fuck he's study's in the end it comes down to what you personally eed, and the best may be too good for someone, so dont just follow the suggestions but experiment!

Thats my word, experiment

 

[F1n1shed]

Adderall has worked alright for me in the past but i often get real distracted as others have mentioned. And also think of it like this, you study 3 days with a dose of adderall and get a lot done ( with sleep). But now you go in for the exam on the 4th day, you're gonna be taking that test on a weaker and slower brain because of the residual effects on your dopamine. Also you're gonna get in the habit of always using an amp for studying, so when the day comes that you cant get anymore you're gonna feel like a dumb ass studying.

Just use some coffee, with a vitamin B complex as well as omega 3. And sit your ass down and actually be active in the studying.

 

[red22]

What about GHB? I've recently become fascinated by it. The following overview goes into its nootropic aspects: http://www.erowid.org/chemicals/ghb/ghb_research.shtml

 

[Transform]

Ignoring any chronic nootropic qualities, the acute effects of GHB make it a terrible candidate for a study aid.

 

[AlphaMethylPhenyl]

the only "depressant" that doubles effectively as a nootropic (to the best of my knowledge) is L-Theanine

 

[Dresden]

Methamphetamine, by far is the best choice for soaking up large voluems of abstruse material, especially I you need to pull an all nighter.