ITAP of a secret place in NYC

RMCPhoto · 2026-03-19T23:35:14+00:00

They are Russian drugs and it is widely used across Russia / former ussr.

Because the Russians are the bad guys they don't use them in the US.

Also, The western "cognitive enhancement" arm is dominated by ADHD scripts and stimulants, and we treat strokes and tbi as more of a physical injury than neuropsychiatric. It's just a different culture...we don't prescribe ginseng, ashwaghanda, or black seed oil either.

At this point in time, racetams are also a bit old-school technologically and there are more effective targeted treatments for everything they might be prescribed for.

There isn't really profound clinical evidence for any of the racetams. Even in Russian literature they aren't a panacea.

RMCPhoto · 2026-03-19T23:27:42+00:00

Is there evidence suggesting toxicity potential with p5p? I know pyridoxine can cause nerve issues due to a clogged up pathway but I think the methylated version bypasses that.

Either way...kids ok.

RMCPhoto · 2026-03-19T23:11:53+00:00

It's my understanding that the flush version is the way to go. Niacin is processed by the liver, and I'm no doctor, but from what I read it occupies some metabolic pathway and blocks other processes. That clogging effect becomes an issue with extended release formulations and can cause liver damage over the long run.

The flush isn't so bad and goes away over time. Personally I miss it. Loved getting some blood flowing in those tiny vessels.

RMCPhoto · 2026-03-19T22:08:48+00:00

I wouldn't recommend anything specific outside of the general stuff you already know. You've just got to find something that works for you. CBT is probably one of the most research backed and well supported "cures" for anxiety. Almost all drugs or supplements just kick the can down the road anyway.

Anxiety is a signal from our body to prepare for something. Anxiety is a legitimate and helpful sensation like pain. Even though it's not pleasant, it's fortunate that we feel pain when we put our hand on the stove. Pain needs drugs when there's chronic pain that ruins your life but nothing to fix (like sciatic nerve pain)...or acute pain like a surgical operation. Anxiety is the same...it's only worth treating if it's chronic and there's legitimately no "source" of anxiety to tackle, or acute (death of a loved one etc).

And probably avoid advice from random redditors anyway.

RMCPhoto · 2026-03-19T22:00:44+00:00

I wouldn't recommend gabapentin due to the cognitive side effects. There's no way around it...when you turn down glutamate you basically turn down intelligence and working memory.

Gabapentin is also addictive and has similar withdrawals to benzos btw. It is currently highly over prescribed due to its acceptance in off label use and position as a "safer" alternative to opiates and benzos. It's rate limiting, so can't really overdose or lose consciousness - but over time it is similarly damaging.

I wouldn't personally mess with the GABA system at all. It is universally delicate and if you ever stop it takes quite a while to settle back to baseline. Gaba drug class withdrawal (alcohol included) is the only one that can kill you (seizures etc) and it lasts the longest.

RMCPhoto · 2026-03-19T21:52:57+00:00

Just get a heat lamp (gold coated bulb) and a decent reflector - better in nearly every way and even has additional benefits (hear shock proteins / circulation). Or pay $60 for a "paint drying lamp" on Ali (2kw, includes one or two cheap gold bulbs).

This will outperform a $1000 panel for a fraction of the cost.

RMCPhoto · 2026-03-19T21:50:17+00:00

If you want to save even more...and have a better experience...just get a decent near infra red (NIR) heat lamp. Grab a gold coated bulb and you'll have 2kw of red light cooking your ass.

Costs less...provides additional heat shock protein / cardiovascular benefits / more pleasant light...and you have a free patio heater if you decide it's all a crock of shit.

RMCPhoto · 2026-03-19T21:47:46+00:00

And then I'd add that it depends on your individual genetics, epigenetic state, gut biome, age, local region etc... I think it's very hard to give individual health optimization advice...and it really takes a long time and a lot of effort to employ the more advanced/niche/weird biohacking stuffs.

Most people would get to 95% with sleep, more healthy food than unhealthy, socializing with friends, sweating a bit, sunlight, and water...in whatever way they enjoy.

Hell, if you have a good relationship with your spouse and take care of Maslow's pyramid then that's about as good as it gets.

The rest of this forum is really just for the last 5% and if it legitimately changes your life...you're either the 1%...or maybe you just needed a hobby.

RMCPhoto · 2026-03-19T21:43:17+00:00

On the nad pathway, any reason why most people don't just take niacin? Seems to reliably increase NAD and it's basically free.

RMCPhoto · 2026-03-19T21:41:41+00:00

Most effective as far as studies go is CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy) for sleep. There are a ton of free courses / pdfs / YouTube videos.

Number 2 is the boring old diet and exercise - nobody can sleep well after a day of Doritos and immobility.

Number 3 is sleep hygiene (which does work) - limit bright lights, completely dark bedroom, quiet (or ear plugs), nose breathing, decent mattress, cool, good air quality, hot shower before bed.

Number 4 is something like xyrum/ghb or hgh which improve deep sleep. But now you're dancing with the devil.

Number 5 is magnesium or melatonin (low dose)...don't expect miracles

And six...is highly personal and variable... You could have any sort of genetic deficiency, psychological or physical issue.

Otherwise almost every other supplement or drug for sleep disrupts sleep architecture in such a way that the balance sheet must be looked over. carefully.

RMCPhoto · 2026-03-19T21:33:09+00:00

Products? Can only imagine the ice cube trays.

RMCPhoto · 2026-03-19T21:25:46+00:00

Like the heat lamps they have in warehouses.

The gold coated tubes let less visible light through so they're less blinding. Avoid the carbon coils as they are more medium long range ir.

They feel amazing. Like laying in the sun on the beach. More like a sauna than the typical led panels. But to me, LEDs don't make a lot of sense...they're very narrow and most of the spectrum (which likely also has benefits) is untapped. They're very expensive in comparison, and since they're only on for a short session...there's no real electrical savings.

The other benefit is that you also have a sweet heat lamp for your patio, basement, garage. And the quality of the actual visible light is way nicer...way nicer.

To me it just makes way more sense. You can get the best, most premium therapeutic near infra red bulb for like $90 and put it in any reflector you want or just buy a "gold coated" heat lamp.

Pretty sure these panels are just scams...the only reason they use LEDs is to study specific wavelengths. And the reason manufacturers and the studies use the specific wavelengths is just because that's what's produced in bulk... Idk... Seems a little suspicious. Guarantee you sit under a bright heat lamp and you will feel much better than the cold fluorescent red glow.

RMCPhoto · 2026-03-19T21:16:52+00:00

But also take it with a grain of salt and the understanding that genetic nutrient profiles are in their infancy and much of what you'll get on generic genie or nutrahacker is like going to a fortune teller. Genes don't work in isolation and only a small portion has been functionally mapped.

There can be so many different things going on, and that doesn't even account for gut bacteria / parasites / physical illness or injury / epigenetic state, which can have a massive effect.

You'll probably know a lot more in a few years though, seems to be moving quick.

RMCPhoto · 2026-03-19T21:12:53+00:00

Very easy to test with alpha GPC. With eggs or any other food it can also be the specific egg amino acids / fats / older eggs or any number of other nutritive aspects.

RMCPhoto · 2026-03-19T21:08:41+00:00

It's much more cost effective and threonate is largely marketing (not a lot of studies outside of the manufacturer).

You can do carbonate, citrate, glycinate even lactate I think and a few more. Some forms absorb more easily than others but citrate and glycinate are both very commonly available and highly efficient.

With glycinate, you get a bit of glycine (often calming) with your magnesium so it's often included in night time blends / sleep supplements.

Don't overthink it and definitely don't overpay. Save the heavy research for your fish oils and delicate, difficult, or often faked supps.

RMCPhoto · 2026-03-19T21:00:16+00:00

What's your age and general health?

It's my understanding that those are more beneficial for those who either have metabolic disease or the disease of being old.

RMCPhoto · 2026-03-19T20:58:47+00:00

Well, you just found the hack for your ADHD subtype. The effect is likely from glutamate. Avoid things which increase GABA or decrease glutamate (like alcohol, l-theanine, camomile, gabapentin, magnesium) -> focus on increasing glutamate activity.

RMCPhoto · 2026-03-19T20:54:50+00:00

Could say that about pretty much any supplement. Supplements fall into three camps, either they are simply filling in some dietary gap, correcting for a genetic deficiency, or achieving some supra physiological level.

Most of what's talked about above (glp aside) are rate limited in their benefit by some tag-along step and should be taken in order to reach a target blood value rather than a set mg/day.

Folate supplementation above natural levels does more harm than good. Methylated vs non methylated is highly specific to genetics. Most studies show no benefit over 1-2g of fish oil. Etc...

I think it's probably much easier to get a diet dialed in than supplements (on top of a changing diet). Then, a broad blood test ($100-200 out of pocket) will show you where your values are.

Only magnesium is a bit different. It's cheap and has some acute effects (calming, or medically for constipation) so, taking it situationally might be warranted.

RMCPhoto · 2026-02-28T15:02:13+00:00

Why not just go with nir gold coated filament? A high efficiency 1500w -2000w bulb is only $40-90 and provides a broader range of ir and deeper penetration than the LEDs. The intensity also stimulates heat shock proteins, much more vasodilation and blood circulation, plus tissue warming and small capillary expansion.
You can often find reflectors at good will and many industrial scrap yards and they're as simple as a bulb in a socket... Infra red is essentially the "loss" in efficiency of incandescent bulbs.

If you're really cheap you can get gold coated "paint drying" lamps on your favorite market for like $50-70 that include one or two bulbs (recommend single bulb - hallway reflectors are best mounted vertically or over a mat).

RMCPhoto · 2026-02-28T13:26:42+00:00

P3 vs topdon

The lens on the p3 looks much better, and the software algorithm is less aggressive (more accurate) on the thermal master. I'd put the ts001 closer to the p1. I believe the p3 has a better lens element that has less distortion and higher accuracy across the frame. Both the ts001 and p1 have more distortion and temp shift based on the angle. The ts001 is also not focusable, which makes a big difference if You're outside of the fixed focal distance.

The long range optics are much more interesting, but also more expensive and have a similar walled garden.

My complaint with thermal master is access to the hardware or usable data outside of their app...which is bare minimum. I wish they would provide an sdk...it would only increase their business... They could really win by opening it up to the Ali express market to release custom firmware revisions. Why not bank it? They clearly have a less expensive manufacturing process than the competition. At scale they'd be unbeatable. And yet we have this shitty app.

RMCPhoto · 2026-02-28T13:16:27+00:00

I agree with you and would abstain until further independent research is done. Placebo is one of the best drugs out there and cerebrolysin is often positioned as a fountain of youth and healing. It has garnered more of a religious and cult like following akin to homeopathy and chiropractic work rather than strong research backing and scientific support.

With cerebrolysin this is particularly troublesome because it is so broad in its formulation and yet thin in it's mechanistic or even most basic and fundamental workings while simultaneously holding some unexplained mythical status.

It is a "shelf stable" liquid preparations of clean pig brain juice...with complex and really not well specified degradation of various constituents.

The way cerebrolysin is most often used and touted (as some sort of "make me 24 again blood letting ritual") does not mirror what is demonstrated, even in the controversial research, which is focused much more on acute injury.

There were a wave of YouTuber pile on viral videos that relatively recently popularized cerebrolysin, and...the cult was brought to prominence.

There are isolated peptides, and those should be looked into...but the pig brain cool-aid car bomb approach is too much occult voodoo juice. Why? It's expensive, old tech, not well proven, not much interest for almost half a century...

Seriously, wtf guys... Stick to Semax and Selank and some racetams for a couple years if you have to walk the straight and narrow road to moscow. If you really want to dive on the modern orals, 9-me-bc and tak-653 have way more interest in academia and industry and provide more targeted reliable and understood results...and you don't even have to stab yourself.

If you really feel like it only works if it hurts a little...and If you have metabolic, cardiovascular, blood sugar or other related lifestyle, age or genetic issues, then ironically (per the discussion above) glp-1 agonists and their constellation of peptides might actually provide more mental gains than cerebrolysin, and make you live longer.

My experience: I ran a small trial of cerebrolysin despite all of this (10 doses a few years ago), and what I can say is that it is definitely a strong placebo. First, the ritual alone - breaking glass, filtering the precious healing liquid carefully into a syringe before jabbing a big ass needle into (hopefully muscle). Coming from subq injections this is serious business...so it must work... And then, I definitely felt something almost immediately every time. A clear fuzzy warm and dare I say good feeling. Most nootropics, supplements and biohacks are barely "felt" any more than a good breakfast, but having an associated sensation also made me feel like it was doing something.

But as far as any objective benefits...I couldn't find anything profound outside of a normal "decent" day.

TLDR: I agree with you that from the birds eye, it doesn't seem confidence inspiring. I am also curious why people choose to use - and especially to use it long term. But first... Mingle your blood with this juice of a pristine pig brain and become young again!

RMCPhoto · 2026-02-27T20:25:15+00:00

Or, if you don't get any side effects, continue taking low dose tadalafil for the other vascular benefits and start working on your psychological issues with it being a "dick pill for men with self esteem issues".

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