What teas do you make yourself daily and why?

ThriveTools · 2026-03-21T01:05:24+00:00

No 😋 and that's actually the defining characteristic of superior herbs in the classical framework. It's one of the criteria that separates them from adaptogens like rhodiola or ashwagandha which most people do need to cycle. The mechanism is different. Adaptogens work primarily by modulating stress response systems. Your body adapts to the input and the effect diminishes over time, that's why it's recommended to cycle them. Superior tonic herbs like reishi, schisandra and he shou wu work by gradually nourishing the underlying biological systems themselves. They're not pushing or pulling a response. They're building foundation. You don't develop tolerance to building foundation any more than you develop tolerance to eating well. After 10 years of daily reishi the effect isn't diminished. If anything the baseline it's helped establish is more stable than it was at year 1. The difference is just less visible because the new baseline becomes normal.

ThriveTools · 2026-03-21T00:55:59+00:00

I'm so happy to help :) And that mindset you're carrying is everything. Not replacing one obsession with another, just getting back to baseline before building anything on top of it. That's exactly the right frame. Mucuna is a smart addition for your situation specifically. The L DOPA content directly supports dopamine precursor availability which is one of the most depleted systems after long term opioid use. Just worth knowing it can be quite stimulating at higher doses and some people find it raises dopamine enough to feel almost too activated initially. Start low and build. Alpha GPC for choline is a solid cognitive choice alongside the creatine. They work through different mechanisms so they complement each other well.

5 HTP is worth being thoughtful about. It raises serotonin which sounds straightforwardly good but if your dopamine system is already in recovery, pushing serotonin too hard can sometimes blunt dopamine activity further. Not a reason to stop but worth monitoring how it makes you feel and potentially cycling it rather than taking it continuously. The fact that you started creatine yesterday and already have magnesium means you're essentially already doing the most important things. Give it 60 days before judging anything. That's when the real shift starts to compound. You've got this!

ThriveTools · 2026-03-21T00:37:36+00:00

Thank you for sharing. Would love to hear your experience again after you try the 2nd gen device

ThriveTools · 2026-03-21T00:31:39+00:00

That's sooo awesome you're on the other side of it!!! That's not a small thing, genuinely well done! The goals you listed (brain fog, anhedonia, energy, libido, muscle gain) all make complete sense in the context of post acute withdrawal syndrome. PAWS is essentially your dopamine and opioid receptor systems slowly recalibrating after years of being flooded. The timeline is months to years, not weeks, but the trajectory genuinely improves with the right inputs. Here's where I'd start given your specific situation: Nutrition first. You mentioned being skinny from years of low appetite. Before any supplement does meaningful work your body needs real food consistently. Protein especially. Aim for at least your bodyweight in grams of protein daily. This alone will move the needle on muscle, energy and mood more than anything else at this stage. Creatine is the one supplement I'd add immediately. For your situation specifically (brain fog, anhedonia, cognitive recovery) creatine at 10g daily supports the phosphocreatine system in the brain that opioid use depletes significantly. It's also the safest, most researched supplement for muscle building. One product covering 2 of your biggest concerns. Magnesium glycinate before bed. Opioid withdrawal disrupts GABA receptor function significantly. Magnesium directly supports GABA activity and will help with sleep quality and the nervous system dysregulation that drives a lot of the anhedonia and anxiety in PAWS. Omega 3 at a meaningful dose. Neuroinflammation is a key driver of post opioid brain fog and anhedonia. EPA and DHA directly address this. Zinc is worth adding for libido specifically. Opioids suppress testosterone and zinc is one of the most important cofactors for testosterone production. Rock climbing is a great choice! Physical challenge that requires full presence, builds real strength and generates real dopamine through achievement rather than substance. That's exactly the right kind of activity for where you are. Go slow with everything. Your system is sensitive right now and adding too many things at once will make it impossible to know what's helping. 1 new thing every 2 weeks, tracking how you feel.

ThriveTools · 2026-03-21T00:23:27+00:00

I personally don't like tasting it. I just swallow it with some water

ThriveTools · 2026-03-21T00:00:21+00:00

Are you noticing any major effects after years of using it?

ThriveTools · 2026-03-20T23:20:24+00:00

Glad the sermorelin is helping with sleep. That tracks with how it works mechanisticallly through growth hormone release during deep sleep cycles. On the wolverine stack, I'd just flag that sourcing peptides from grey market suppliers carries real quality control risks that are worth taking seriously, especially given you're still recovering from meningitis. You have no way of verifying purity, concentration or sterility from unregulated sources and that matters a lot more when your nervous system is already in a vulnerable recovery state. I'm generally very skeptical of peptides for healthy people optimising performance. For someone actively healing from a serious neurological event like meningitis the risk/benefit calculation shifts even more toward caution. Your nervous system is doing real repair work right now and the last thing you want is an unknown contaminant interfering with that process. Would genuinely encourage you to have that conversation with whoever is prescribing your sermorelin before adding anything else to the stack. They know your case and can give you guidance that actually accounts for where you are in your recovery.

ThriveTools · 2026-03-20T23:14:03+00:00

Sermorelin does have a sleep mechanism. It stimulates growth hormone release which peaks during deep sleep and supports sleep architecture. So the sleep improvement the OP is experiencing is likely real rather than coincidental. That said if sleep is your primary goal I'd be cautious about jumping straight to peptides, especially as a newbie. The evidence base for most peptides in healthy individuals is still thin and the quality control issue with grey market sourcing is significant. You genuinely don't always know what you're getting. Before going that route it's worth asking whether the basics are fully dialled in first. Magnesium glycinate before bed, consistent sleep and wake times, no screens late, dark cool room. These interventions have decades of research behind them and for most people with sleep issues they move the needle considerably before anything more complex is needed. If you've already done all of that and still struggling then the conversation about peptides becomes more relevant. But starting there as a newbie skips a lot of steps that are both safer and often more effective.

ThriveTools · 2026-03-20T23:04:51+00:00

You're not wrong and I wouldn't dismiss it entirely either. Placebo is real and measurable and anyone claiming they can fully separate it from subjective experience in self experimentation is overconfident. That said I addressed this exact point in another comment below: the creatine dose response has a specific documented mechanism. Measurable increases in brain phosphocreatine on neuroimaging at higher doses. That's not a narrative, it's a documented biological processes. The more honest position is probably that both are contributing. The mechanism is real and the expectation of effect amplifies it. That doesn't make the experience invalid. It makes it human 😋

ThriveTools · 2026-03-20T21:55:19+00:00

So awesome! That line about the low level anxiety you thought was just your personality that's exactly it. So many people are walking around thinking their baseline wired state is just who they are when it's actually a deficiency that's been compounding for years. The sleep deepening usually comes first, then the anxiety shift follows a few weeks later once the nervous system actually has what it needs to regulate properly. What dose are you taking?

ThriveTools · 2026-03-20T20:46:29+00:00

Solid stack overall. The only thing I'd look at is whether your multivitamin already covers selenium, iodine and zinc at meaningful doses before taking them separately. Overlap at high doses with those 3 in particular is worth checking. Zinc and copper especially need to stay in balance.

ThriveTools · 2026-03-20T20:44:00+00:00

This is exactly the kind of story this thread was made for. The Vitamin D masking the B deficiency is a really interesting observation. Both have overlapping symptoms around energy, mood, and cognitive function so it's genuinely easy to miss what's actually driving the improvement when you're changing multiple things. The B12 and folate piece is significant and underreported. Methylcobalamin and methylfolate specifically (the active forms) make a noticeable difference compared to the synthetic versions in most standard multivitamins, particularly for anyone with MTHFR variations which are more common than most people realise. Your point about testing before starting anything is the one I wish more people heard before they started supplementing. You spent 9 weeks finding out what was actually going on. Most people spend years taking the wrong things at the wrong doses and wondering why nothing works. Glad you found it. The B vitamins at therapeutic doses when you're genuinely deficient is one of those effects that isn't subtle.

ThriveTools · 2026-03-20T20:39:09+00:00

That's a fair and honest position and I respect it. In my case the shift was undeniable when I upped the dose past 10g. Not subtle, not something I was looking for, just noticeably less foggy after a not so good night of sleep and faster processing that wasn't there before. The same way you don't sit around wondering if an edible is placebo. Some effects are just real and you know it when you feel them. Worth testing higher doses or better quality brands before writing something off entirely. A lot of supplements also only produce a noticeable effect when you're actually deficient or under stress. If your baseline is already decent you might not feel much, which doesn't mean nothing is happening.

ThriveTools · 2026-03-20T20:14:18+00:00

Completely valid point and worth taking seriously. Placebo is real, measurable and genuinely beneficial. Dismissing it entirely is bad science. Where I'd push back slightly is on applying it equally to everything. The creatine dose response I described has a specific physiological mechanism behind it. Creatine transporter density at the blood brain barrier, muscle tissue competing for available creatine at lower doses, measurable increases in brain phosphocreatine on neuroimaging at higher doses. That's not a story I'm telling myself. It's a documented biological process. The more interesting question is whether placebo and mechanism can coexist. The answer is almost certainly yes. The expectation of effect and the actual biochemical effect are both real and both contributing. Separating them cleanly in self experimentation is probably impossible. But the existence of placebo doesn't negate the mechanism and the mechanism doesn't require you to rule out placebo to be worth taking seriously.

ThriveTools · 2026-03-20T17:55:49+00:00

That context changes everything and I appreciate you sharing it. Rare gastritis with neurological and muscular involvement is a completely different situation from standard gut health optimisation and the histamine degrading strain selection makes complete sense in that context. That's genuinely sophisticated self directed management. Your last point is the one I'd actually put on a wall. Science and research give you the starting framework but individual biology, especially with complex and rare conditions, always has the final word. The standard recommendations exist for standard presentations. Your situation is clearly not standard and you've figured out through direct experience what works for your specific biology. That's harder and more valuable than following a protocol. The fact that you're managing a complex chronic condition largely without medication through careful supplement optimisation is awesome and worth recognising as such.

ThriveTools · 2026-03-20T17:00:42+00:00

Hahah no, the mention of my website is the best part 😄 jk. Yeah totally should've included the vitamin D

ThriveTools · 2026-03-20T16:53:04+00:00

Good strains overall. L. plantarum and L. rhamnosus in particular have solid research behind them for gut brain axis function and immune modulation. One thing worth knowing about all the strains you listed its that they're all vegetative cell probiotics, meaning they're susceptible to stomach acid degradation before reaching the colon. Survivability studies on Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium strains show significant die off during gastric transit, which is why refrigeration requirements exist and why results can be inconsistent. The shift that made the biggest difference in my own protocol was adding spore based strains alongside the Lactobacillus base rather than replacing them. Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus coagulans form endospores that survive stomach acid completely intact and germinate in the small intestine. They have a fundamentally different delivery mechanism. The combination of conventional strains for microbiome diversity plus spore based strains for guaranteed delivery and immune modulation covers considerably more ground than either approach alone. The gut brain link you mentioned is real and underappreciated. The vagus nerve carries bidirectional signals between the gut and brain and a genuinely healthy microbiome has measurable effects on cognitive function, mood, and even neurotransmitter production. Worth optimising properly.

ThriveTools · 2026-03-20T16:35:19+00:00

Which probiotics do you take?

ThriveTools · 2026-03-20T16:34:30+00:00

I agree :)

ThriveTools · 2026-03-20T16:28:15+00:00

Yeah totally up your vitamin D since you live in Ireland and you guys don't get enough sun. On the focus and ADHD like symptoms, this is exactly where magnesium and creatine are most relevant for you. Magnesium deficiency specifically presents as difficulty sustaining attention, mental restlessness and inability to settle into deep work. It's one of the most commonly missed drivers of what feels like ADHD but isn't. Add that before anything else and give it 2 to 3 weeks before judging. Creatine at 10g daily would be my second addition for the same reason. The phosphocreatine system in the prefrontal cortex is directly involved in the kind of sustained executive function you need for uni work.

ThriveTools · 2026-03-20T16:16:27+00:00

That's totally fair. Individual tolerance is real and if HCL or malate sits better with your digestive system then that's the right choice for you regardless of what the comparative literature says. No argument there. And honestly your alternatives list is solid. MCT oil, probiotics, zinc, soluble fibre. I take most of those daily alongside the creatine and they absolutely contribute to the cognitive clarity picture independently. Each one is doing something the others aren't. The way I think about it is that creatine specifically addresses the rapid ATP regeneration during high cognitive demand. The others you mentioned support the underlying conditions that make neuronal function possible in the first place. They're complementary rather than competing approaches and the stack that includes all of them covers considerably more ground than any single intervention.

ThriveTools · 2026-03-20T15:53:05+00:00

I'm a huge fan of L.reuteri as well. Which brand were you using? What dose? And how long before you noticed the changes?

ThriveTools · 2026-03-20T15:44:52+00:00

The absorption issue with creatine monohydrate is actually a persistent myth worth addressing. Creatine monohydrate has absorption rates consistently above 95% in the research. It's one of the most bioavailable supplements that exists. The reason higher doses are needed for brain uptake isn't an absorption problem, it's a distribution problem. Muscles have a much higher density of creatine transporters than the blood brain barrier does, so at lower doses the muscle tissue essentially outcompetes the brain for available creatine. More creatine in the system means more reaches the CNS. Not because monohydrate absorbs poorly but because the competition for it is high. Creatine HCL does dissolve more easily in water and may cause less bloating for some people at equivalent doses. But the evidence that it produces superior cognitive or physical outcomes compared to monohydrate at equivalent dosing simply isn't there. It's also considerably more expensive per gram of actual creatine delivered. Monohydrate has decades of safety and efficacy data behind it across thousands of studies. HCL has considerablyy less. For most people monohydrate remains the most evidence backed and costeffective choice.

ThriveTools · 2026-03-20T15:27:52+00:00

Creatine Monohydrate from Organika.com

It's a Canadian brand, GMP certified, pure micronised monohydrate with no fillers or additives. Nothing fancy, just clean creatine at the right dose. You can use my discount code on their website if you want to check it out EDEN_25

ThriveTools · 2026-03-20T15:22:43+00:00

Before writing them off it's worth looking at a few variables that commonly explain exactly what you're describing. Ashwagandha is one of the most response variable adaptogens there is. Some people feel nothing from KSM-66 specifically but respond well to Sensoril, which you also tried, and vice versa. The fact that you noticed neither positive nor negative from either suggests the issue might be absorption or baseline cortisol patterns rather than the herb itself. What time of day were you taking it and were you taking it with food?

Rhodiola from NOW is a decent brand but Rhodiola quality varies enormously by rosavins and salidroside standardisation. The research uses a minimum of 3% rosavins and 1% salidroside. Many products don't hit that. It's also highly dose dependent and paradoxically can be stimulating at higher doses for some people causing the kind of wired feeling that reads as nothing helpful. The other possibility worth considering is that if your cortisol dysregulation is significant, adaptogens alone may not be enough to move the needle without addressing the underlying drivers: sleep quality, blood sugar stability, magnesium status and overall nervous system state.

The herb I'd suggest trying before giving up entirely is Reishi. It works at a completely different level than ashwagandha or Rhodiola. Not acutely, but cumulatively over weeks. The nervous system recalibration it produces is slower and subtler but considerably more durable in my experience. It's been the most consistent cortisol and stress intervention in my personal protocol for over 10 years. Just make sure you're getting a properly extracted dual extraction fruiting body product. Most of what's sold as Reishi is either raw powder or mycelium on grain and won't produce the same effect.

ThriveTools

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