Stimulants – Training PFC when using meds, caffeine or other stimulants

See also The Impact of Medication and Drugs on Neurofeedback Training

I recently worked with a young man here in Brazil who began trying to cut back on coffee and discovered that he had a real crash if he stopped drinking it so frequently.   Over his HEG training, he developed the ability to sustain his increases in oxygenated blood flow (presumably even better if you also stop smoking which reduces blood oxygenation) and build his ability to increase the levels quickly.

If you use a crutch, it helps you get around, but it keeps the weakened physical function from developing itself.   Try doing training in the morning before coffee, cigarettes or meds (though many current meds which build up blood levels won’t be out of your system completely).   Don’t worry about how bad it is without any of that stuff.   Do the exercise and you’ll see changes in your ability to perform in the training.  As that happens, try easing off your post-training use of the drugs (if you need them to help you function during the day).    Just remember that this is exercise. It’s easy to get worried or frustrated when you don’t see nice steady changes in measures, but if you are jogging regularly, you’ll have some days when you feel you could run a hundred miles–and others when you doubt you can make one.   But you know that the benefit of the exercise happens because you DO it, and it happens whether it’s easy or hard.