What artificial stimulants do you use?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40651

by ericc • 19 years ago

11 56 19 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

A lot of us are caffeine and nicotine junkies. What else do you guys use? What do you use for creative stimulation? A glass of wine?

rms7• 19 years ago

In the way that caffeine is the socially accepted stimulant of the USA and coca leaf is the socially accepted stimulant in South America, Kratom is the stimulant of choice for workers in Southeast Asia. It is the leaf of a tree native to Thailand and is unfortunately illegal in Thailand.

In small doses, it is stimulating in a very clean way that measurably increases focus. If you take too much caffeine, you get a headache and become anxious and jittery. If you take too much Kratom, it crosses over and hits the mu-opiate receptors which makes you happy in a very primal way and can also serve for creative stimulation, if so desired.

It's 100% not illegal in the USA, not drug testable, and cheap. I import it from Indonesia and sell it at http://www.getkratom.com. Please don't order from me today because I'm out of stock but I expect a fresh shipment from Indonesia next week. Email me if you have any more questions about kratom or want me to tell you when I'm in stock and you can have the news.yc discount.

nurall2• 19 years ago

But your website suggests that it cannot be consumed, how effective is it otherwise?

rms7• 19 years ago

There's plenty of information on the internet, email me if you have any questions about consumption.

blored2• 19 years ago

Steroids, nothing but pure unadulterated 'roid.

henryw• 19 years ago

Power naps and sleep that's longer than 6 hours.

euccastro4• 19 years ago

That's not artificial, but then again, the question is of the "when did you stop beating your wife" kind.

So yes, good regular sleep, meals that aren't too heavy to digest, and add 20-30 minutes of exercise in the morning for good measure.

randallsquared5• 19 years ago

I used to be a caffeine junkie. Weirdly, however, after hitting a rough patch this year and deciding that I couldn't afford 4 2L bottles a day any more, I found that I was no less productive without it, and I'm far less anxious. I have an occasional caffeinated soft drink or green tea, still, but the non-stop highly-caffeinated Randall days are no more.

rms7• 19 years ago

Congrats for kicking the habit, but to anyone that likes being addicted to caffeine and wants to save money, you can buy natural sources of caffeine such as kola, guarana, and yerba mate very cheaply online.

christefano3• 19 years ago

I second the mate. I love espresso and would drink it all day if I could, but it often leaves me feeling dehydrated.

Mate has mateine, by the way, not caffeine (mateine is a stereoisomer of caffeine). I don't know it has different properties and that's the reason or if it's the plethora of other constituents, but in my experience mate gives me a mild, persistent buzz all over my body as where caffeine goes straight to my head.

steve3• 19 years ago

there are caffeine pills that are cheep as dirt.

randallsquared5• 19 years ago

Yeah, but I found that even with the addiction, I wasn't interested in tasteless delivery devices. :) Diet Mountain Dew is fine, and Lipton's Diet Green Tea (which has less caffeine) is fine, but given that it doesn't really help me much, pills are too much trouble.

Also, it only took me about 3 days to feel normal, and a coupla weeks to not really want it very much, after 5 years of averaging between 3 and 4 2L Diet Mountain Dew a day. It helped that my wife was very vocal about how much less stressed I seemed; after I was off of it, she suggested I just stay off even when I can afford it, so I'm doing that for now.

german• 19 years ago

Redbull ;)

aswanson• 19 years ago

Music.

horatio05• 19 years ago

In Argentina they drink Matte, a substance which consists of what looks like leaves and twigs dug up from the Pampas. I believe they also eat tremendous quantities of beef... though that may not help with staying awake.

christefano3• 19 years ago

One of my favorite writers talks about Argentina's obsession with beef -- and mate, incidentally -- at http://www.idlewords.com/2006/04/argentina_on_two_steaks_a_d...

mnemonicsloth• 19 years ago

Amphetamines.

Good enough for Erdos, Good enough for me. Of course, stark terror of politically-motivated violence works even better (cf. career of Leonhard Euler).

ivankirigin• 19 years ago

http://nostalgia.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Erdos " His working habits became characterised by working obsessively long hours, sleeping at most 4-5 hours a night and relying on the heavy use of amphetamines to maintain his activity levels. Once a friend challenged him to give up his drug use for a month; he complied, but later complained bitterly that mathematics was held up for a month. "

rms7• 19 years ago

Amphetamine is one hell of a drug for productivity but it's got some nasty side effects. It's insane that a very large percent of our children are prescribed hard stimulants. Amphetamine makes just about everyone more productive so of course it makes kids better at school.

alex_c• 19 years ago

Water. Lots and lots of water. Also has the advantage that it forces me to get up and move regularly - what goes in must come out.

Other than that, good music can get me "in the zone".

I've only ever really drank coffee out of boredom, or socially... ("want to go for a coffee break?" "sure, it means avoiding work for half an hour!")

nurall2• 19 years ago

I am surprised nobody is talking abt good 'ol weed!! Don't you reach the peak of creativity under the influence?

SwellJoe• 19 years ago

Most of us are developers. Creativity is only part of the equation, and pot definitely does not contribute to any other piece.

omouse4• 19 years ago

> Don't you reach the peak of creativity under the influence?

But then you forget that great idea you had the next instant.

brianmckenzie• 19 years ago

Coffee, but just one really big cup when I wake up. I'm a few-months-on, few-months-off smoker, but hopefully will give it up entirely. Although many disagree, I think that coding on a nice three-beer buzz is a blast. That's as far as I'm personally willing to go, but I've worked at places where the IT department was better stocked than the Mexican mafia.

jsjenkins168• 19 years ago

It may sound stupid, but eat plenty of fish. Omega-3 fatty acids (in fish) have been shown to boost mood and concentration, among other things. I can attest to that.

But fish is expensive so just buy the pills at Walmart..

euccastro4• 19 years ago

Depends on your locale. I bought fish for a family lunch of twelve today. Six dozen fresh sardines, 24 EUR. It would have costed more to order hamburgers or pizza for twelve. YMMV.

randallsquared5• 19 years ago

Yeah, but then you had to eat sardines. ;)

portLAN2• 19 years ago

DHA and EPA from marine algae instead of fish are available now (google it). Algae is where the fish get it anyway.

euccastro4• 19 years ago

I read somewhere that you're better off eating carnivore fish because the DHA and EPA are more concentrated than in herbivore fish or algae. Unless you're talking getting them from pills, in which case I guess it doesn't matter much.

P.S.: You should still avoid big species like tuna or swordfish, since they have high concentrations of mercury.

bjclark• 19 years ago

I'm on a strict regimen of EPO and Hemoglobin blood transfusions, but that's for cycling, not coding.

blored2• 19 years ago

You should be banned from Le Tour De France, luckily YC doesn't dope test. We are in a tainted generation of coding.

weber2• 19 years ago

In Brazil we drink "Matte" as well but for me its more for the taste (and for the heating effect on the winter) than for the effect.

On my cubicle we share a 2L Coca Cola at 4 pm. It helps a lot in raising moral.

weber2• 19 years ago

Kratom guy: it's really funny the way you guys have to sell your stuff. Another site sells "Kratom Incense Capsules"....

When I open your site and see that bunch of green stuff for sale, it just looks like weed has another name now.

rms7• 19 years ago

The incense thing is done more for the benefit of Paypal than anyone else.

steve3• 19 years ago

man do I hate paypal.

vlad• 19 years ago

Artificial light.

randallsquared5• 19 years ago

This is an important one. The brighter the light, the more I feel "worklike". To a point, of course, but 700 watts equiv. is as high as my office goes.

jmzachary• 19 years ago

PCP when coding Python and schrooms when hacking LISP.

What kind of question is that and what kind of answers are you expecting?

(p.s. Wine is neither artificial nor a stimulant.)

omouse4• 19 years ago

You don't need any god damn thing for creative stimulation. If you can't get yourself creative, drugs, booze, whatever isn't going to help.

brent• 19 years ago

There is a long history of artists, musicians, and writers that would completely disagree with that statement.

omouse4• 19 years ago

Correlation is not causation.

ed• 19 years ago

For art to exist, for any sort of aesthetic activity or perception to exist, a certain physiological precondition is indispensable: intoxication. (Friedrich Nietzsche)

cmars232• 19 years ago

A mortgage.

davidw• 19 years ago

Nothing - if I'm that tired, maybe it's best to get some sleep. I'll have some tea once in a while, but it's not something that really wakes me up or gets me going.

Goladus• 19 years ago

Nothing. I just try to eat healthy food, excercise regularly, get enough sleep, and be around stimulating people. Caffeine makes me irritable, and since I've made it almost 30 years without trying a cigarette I have no intention of trying one any time soon.

Sometimes I record myself at the piano while I'm drinking, and then go back later and extract any of the good ideas. I've never had any luck coding drunk, though.

sabhishek• 19 years ago

Green tea with fresh mint.. trust me folks it works and doesn't ruin your already exhausted nervous system.

whycombo• 19 years ago

Viagra, is there any other????

mikesabat• 19 years ago

i definitely don't encourage the use of prescription drugs, but if you find yourself getting distracted often at work Aderral is amazing for staying focused and working long hours.

Talk to your doctor. Side effects include launch parties and series B funding meetings. Not a pharmacist.

zmike• 19 years ago

My startup is powered by 200mg / day of gray market modafinil.

What artificial stimulants do you use?

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