So I inexplicably began to not feel too good, in contrast to the self-confidence that the title of this thread exudes. Apologies.
But the good news is that I seem to have troubleshooted the issue after tracking back through my routines. What I noticed was that the thing I valued the least, had the most importance. The taurine in the tea that I consumed each evening was the factor that seemed to be making me subjectively feel the happiest. When the taurine ran out a few weeks back, I stopped drinking tea completely. Not long after, sleeplessness crept up, Pansterone didn't make me feel good, casein didn't make me feel good, gummy bears gave me groggy high insulin-like feelings, which was bizarre considering how many of them I was accustomed to consuming.
So anyway, it took me a while to work this out, and I thought I would post an update in case anyone else runs into this issue. Took 2g of taurine morning and night the last two days, and immediately felt cheerful and energetic, slept like a rock. Took another 2g with protein shake this morning, and mood is back on track like no interruption ever occurred. It's truly bizarre - like flicking a switch to "ON".
What I noticed in the past (while taking taurine) is that I was given to these amazingly insurpressable bursts of laughter that I could hardly control, especially following the consumption of coffee and gummy bears around morning tea. This laughter is truly infectious and makes me feel great, and it can begin from the slightest thing. When the taurine ran out, the lack of laughter was the first thing I noticed and I mistakenly thought it meant I wasn't eating right, or perhaps I was ill. I explored consuming different variations of foods with coffee in an attempt to try to regain the laughter and good feelings that this used to elicit - but to no avail. Also, it was around this time that many of my staple foods left me feeling indifferent, and I stopped enjoying them. I started to dislike cheese sticks, dates, cranberries, gummy bears and eggs, which made me wonder about my food choices and appetite.
Anyway, 48 hours after consuming 4 separate doses of taurine (morning and evening across two days) and the laughter and good feelings are back. Also, incidentally black circles around my eyes are gone. Sleep is back to normal. Drift off fast, and feel bright when I get up. This morning I was reading some Nasrudin stories and I had tears of laughter - girlfriend just looked at me nonplussed because it really wasn't that funny.
It's like my brain is getting tickled and I simply cannot prevent the laughter from coming on, it's like an avalanche. Perhaps the taurine is enabling the protein to be absorbed better, and enabling glucose to get to my brain better...not sure.
For the record, the laughter I'm talking about here is the effect of pregnenolone, and I'm still not sure why taurine would have played a role.