dr Marek Wójcik

CBT-I (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia)

CBT-I is a structured, multi-component treatment program — not a single technique or a list of sleep-hygiene tips — that US and European clinical guidelines recommend as first-line treatment for chronic insomnia, ahead of sleep medication.

Parasomnias: Sleepwalking and Night Terrors

Sleepwalking and night terrors are disorders of arousal from deep NREM sleep, in which the brain is simultaneously part asleep and part awake — the affected person acts, and sometimes screams or walks, with no memory of it the next day.

Narcolepsy

Narcolepsy is a chronic neurological disease in which the brain loses its ability to maintain a stable boundary between sleep and wakefulness — in most patients, the cause is autoimmune loss of the neurons that produce hypocretin. The result is not just severe daytime sleepiness but also sudden intrusions of REM-sleep elements into wakefulness, such as cataplexy.

Sleep and Mental Health

Insomnia isn't just a symptom accompanying depression or anxiety — the largest randomized intervention trial in psychiatric history showed that improving sleep directly reduces paranoia, hallucinations, anxiety, and low mood.

Orthosomnia — Obsession with Sleep-Tracking Data

The harder you try to optimize your sleep based on your watch's data, the worse you might actually sleep — orthosomnia is a documented phenomenon in sleep medicine in which an obsessive pursuit of a 'perfect' tracker score becomes, by itself, a cause of insomnia.

Electroencephalography (EEG)

Electroencephalography (EEG) is a non-invasive test that records the brain's electrical activity using electrodes placed on the scalp. It's the primary tool for diagnosing epilepsy and distinguishing seizures from other causes of loss of consciousness, though a single normal recording never rules out disease on its own.

Migraine

A chronic neurological disease causing recurring, severe headache attacks — usually one-sided, pulsating, and worsened by physical activity — which can come with nausea, sensitivity to light and sound, and aura. It's not 'just a bad headache' but a distinct disease with its own neurobiological mechanism, affecting more than a billion people worldwide.

Modafinil

A prescription drug approved for excessive daytime sleepiness in narcolepsy, shift-work disorder, and sleep apnea — and, in parallel, one of the most popular borrowed-without-a-prescription "focus" drugs. The evidence for genuine cognitive enhancement in healthy, well-rested people is considerably weaker than the internet legend suggests.

Premature Ejaculation: Causes and Evidence-Based Treatment

Premature ejaculation is one of the most common — and least reported to doctors — sexual conditions in men; epidemiological estimates suggest it affects as many as one in three to four men at some point in life. Despite how common it is, plenty of misconceptions surround its treatment: from the belief that it's purely a matter of "willpower," to overlooking the fact that the best-studied drugs for this condition are, in practice, antidepressants working through a completely different mechanism than in depression. We check what the research on causes and treatment efficacy actually shows.

September 4, 2026

5-HTP for Mood and Appetite: What the Research Shows — and Why It's Not a Supplement to Stack on Your Own

5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP) is a direct precursor of serotonin, sold as a supplement for mood, sleep, and appetite suppression. It's one of the few supplements whose mechanism of action — increasing serotonin production in the brain — is biochemically beyond dispute. That's exactly why it demands special caution: the same mechanism that may help with low mood or excessive appetite can, combined with antidepressants that raise serotonin levels, lead to serotonin syndrome — a rare but potentially life-threatening condition. We examine the evidence for both uses and explain why this interaction takes precedence over the question of effectiveness itself.

September 4, 2026

How to Lower Cortisol Naturally? 10 Ways That Actually Have Evidence

The internet is full of "7 ways to lower cortisol" lists that put diaphragmatic breathing next to a trendy supplement with zero research behind it, as if they belonged in the same category. We decided to do this differently: we checked which popular cortisol-lowering methods actually have studies measuring this hormone, rather than just a subjective sense of "feeling less stressed." The result is ten methods of varying evidence strength — with a clear distinction between what's solidly confirmed and what's still only preliminary.

September 7, 2026

Rhodiola for Fatigue and Stress

Chronic stress-related fatigue and professional burnout are among the most common reasons patients see a psychiatrist today, and rhodiola is one of the few adaptogens with studies specifically designed around this particular problem — not general "stress resistance," but measurable mental fatigue. We check what these studies actually show, where the evidence ends and overinterpretation begins, and for whom rhodiola may be a real element of support rather than a substitute for treatment.

September 10, 2026

Fibromyalgia — What Actually Helps?

Fibromyalgia has long been described as a disease that "doesn't show up" on any standard blood test or scan — which for decades led some doctors to dismiss patients' symptoms, and patients on a frustrating journey between specialists in search of a diagnosis. Today we know it is a real, well-described disorder of pain processing in the central nervous system, not a figment of imagination or "nerves." There's no single pill that switches it off — but there is a solid set of interventions with real research support that, in practice, help most patients regain function, even if they don't eliminate pain entirely.

September 10, 2026

Bruxism: Why We Grind Our Teeth and What Actually Helps

Clenching your jaw during the day at your desk and grinding your teeth at night — something you only learn about from a partner or a dentist — are two faces of the same phenomenon: bruxism. Stress and anxiety are the best-documented risk factor, but the list is longer, including certain antidepressants, alcohol, caffeine, and coexisting sleep apnea. We explain the mechanism, the consequences for teeth and the jaw joint, and what the evidence actually says about night guards and other treatments.

September 13, 2026

Panic Attacks: Symptoms and How to Cope

A panic attack can trigger physical symptoms so intense — a racing heart, breathlessness, chest pain — that many people end up in the emergency room convinced they're having a heart attack. This isn't "overblown nervousness": it's a specific, well-documented condition with clear diagnostic criteria, real in-the-moment coping methods, and effective long-term treatment. We explain how to tell a panic attack apart from a life-threatening condition, what actually helps during an episode, and which treatments have the strongest research support.

September 16, 2026

Social Anxiety Disorder: Symptoms and Treatment

The line between shyness and social anxiety (social phobia) can be confusing, but in clinical practice it's fairly clear: it's about the degree of distress and the real impact on daily functioning, not just discomfort in social contact. This is one of the most common anxiety disorders, and also one of the better-researched in terms of treatment — a network meta-analysis of dozens of studies points specifically to which form of cognitive behavioral therapy works most strongly and how it compares with medication. We check what the data actually show.

September 16, 2026

Burnout: Symptoms and Recovery

Since 2019, burnout has had an official place in the WHO classification as an "occupational phenomenon" — not a disease, but a condition resulting from chronically unmanaged workplace stress, described by three specific dimensions: exhaustion, cynicism toward work, and a sense of reduced effectiveness. The practical problem is that burnout symptoms largely overlap with depression symptoms, which makes it harder to identify the right cause and choose the appropriate help. We check what the research actually shows about the mechanism of burnout, how to tell it apart from depression, and which recovery strategies have real confirmed effectiveness.

September 16, 2026

Migraine: Causes, Mechanism, and Treatment — a Full Overview

Migraine isn't just a "bad headache" — it's a distinct neurological disease that, according to current data, affects 14-15% of the global population and is one of the leading causes of pain-related disability worldwide. In this overview we explain how migraine with aura differs from migraine without aura, what's actually known about triggers, how triptans and the new generation of CGRP-inhibiting drugs work, and when a headache warrants urgent evaluation rather than just a painkiller.

September 21, 2026

Binge Eating Disorder: Symptoms, Diagnosis, and Treatment

Binge eating disorder (BED) is a real, recognized psychiatric diagnosis — not a matter of willpower or occasional overeating. It's characterized by recurring episodes of losing control over eating, accompanied by significant psychological distress. We explain the diagnostic criteria that distinguish BED from occasional overeating, why cognitive behavioral therapy is the first-line treatment, and when medication is considered.

September 21, 2026

Can Stress Cause Both Acne and Erectile Problems at the Same Time?

Breakouts on your face and trouble in the bedroom look like two completely unrelated problems — but for many men they share the same starting point: chronic stress. We explain how cortisol and the stress axis can simultaneously stimulate the sebaceous glands and dampen the erection mechanism, and when you should actually look for a different cause.

September 25, 2026

Erectile Problems at a Young Age — Where Do They Come From?

Erectile dysfunction is often associated with men in their fifties, yet more and more men in their twenties and thirties report the exact same problem — and feel unusually alone with it. We explain why the causes of ED at a young age are usually different from those in older men, when it's psychological, and when it's worth getting checked out physically.

September 25, 2026

Why Do You Want Sex, But Have Trouble With Erections?

You clearly want sex, you think about it, your partner turns you on — and yet the erection fails. This combination throws a lot of men off, because it intuitively gets associated with low libido and testosterone. We explain why this specific pattern — desire present, erection absent — usually points in a completely different diagnostic direction.

September 25, 2026

Why Do You Get a Morning Erection, But a Problem Appears During Sex?

In the morning everything works flawlessly, and in the evening, in bed with a partner, the erection weakens or disappears. This is one of the most specific and well-recognized patterns in erectile dysfunction diagnosis — and it almost always leads to the same conclusion. We walk through the clinical logic behind this diagnosis step by step.

September 25, 2026

Erectile Problems and Stress — a Vicious Cycle That's Hard to Break

Stress makes erections harder, and erectile trouble itself becomes a new source of stress — closing the loop. We break down, step by step, how this mechanism works both physiologically and psychologically, and which concrete strategies actually help break it, rather than just "stress less."

September 25, 2026

NAC and Acetaminophen: Does Supplementation Protect the Liver During Regular Painkiller Use?

N-acetylcysteine (NAC) is the only recognized, life-saving antidote for acetaminophen (paracetamol) poisoning — well-established, well-documented medical knowledge for more than forty years. Far less clear, and often wrongly conflated with that fact, is a completely different question: does daily, prophylactic NAC supplementation protect the liver of someone who simply takes acetaminophen regularly at normal doses for a headache or fever. These are two different questions with two different answers.

September 30, 2026

Melatonin and Antidepressants (SSRIs): Can They Be Combined?

In general, melatonin and SSRI antidepressants are considered a low-risk combination — one that's sometimes deliberately used clinically when insomnia coexists with depression. There is, however, one specific exception rarely talked about: fluvoxamine, through strong inhibition of the CYP1A2 enzyme, raises melatonin blood levels nearly threefold. This isn't a warning about the entire SSRI class — it's a very specific, well-studied interaction involving one drug.

October 3, 2026

Jet Lag and Melatonin Dosing: How Much and When to Take It

That melatonin helps with jet lag is by now well-established knowledge — we covered that in our article on the Cochrane review. Far less often discussed is what actually determines effectiveness in practice: not so much the dose itself, but the moment you take it relative to bedtime at your destination, and the direction of travel. We explain a concrete dosing protocol, instead of the generic "take melatonin before bed."

October 3, 2026

Alcohol Before Bed and Sleep Architecture: What the Research Shows

Alcohol consumed in the evening has a biphasic effect on sleep: in the first half of the night it eases falling asleep and deepens sleep, while in the second half — as the body metabolizes it — it suppresses REM sleep and fragments the night. This is a different topic from our article on alcohol and HRV, which covers autonomic nervous system load; here we focus solely on sleep architecture, meaning what happens to its stages.

October 3, 2026

Diuretics and Potassium and Magnesium Deficiency: Why Monitoring Matters

Loop diuretics (furosemide) and thiazide diuretics (hydrochlorothiazide) are a cornerstone of treating high blood pressure and heart failure — effective, inexpensive, and used for decades. Their mechanism of action, increasing sodium excretion in urine, inevitably comes with potassium loss, and in the case of thiazides, magnesium loss too. A large clinical study (SOLVD) found that simply taking a non-potassium-sparing diuretic was associated with higher risk of arrhythmic death in heart failure patients — while potassium-sparing drugs didn't carry that risk. This isn't a reason to avoid diuretics, which save lives, but a strong argument for regular electrolyte monitoring.

October 5, 2026

Armodafinil vs. Modafinil: Does the R-Enantiomer Really Work 'Cleaner and Stronger'?

Armodafinil is sometimes marketed as an 'improved,' purer version of modafinil — stronger, longer-lasting, without the baggage of a second enantiomer. We check what the original pharmacokinetic and clinical studies from both drugs' approval process actually show, and whether the difference is as dramatic as the marketing suggests.

October 12, 2026

Pneumatic Leg Compression After Training ("Recovery Boots") — What Does the Research Actually Show?

Pneumatic compression sleeves for the legs, marketed as "recovery boots" or NormaTec, promise faster recovery, less muscle soreness, and better performance in your next workout. The mechanism — sequential compression supporting venous return and lymphatic drainage — is biologically plausible, but actual studies on athletes paint a far more modest and mixed picture than the ads for these devices suggest.

October 17, 2026

Frequent Nightmares: Causes, Medications and How to Stop Them

Nightmares are not just 'bad dreams': when they return every week they can be a sign of post-traumatic stress, a side effect of medication (including beta-blockers and antidepressants), a rebound after stopping alcohol, or a sleep disorder in their own right. The best-documented treatment is imagery rehearsal therapy, and prazosin — contrary to popular belief — did not beat placebo in a large 2018 US trial.

October 17, 2026

Melatonin and Alcohol: Can You Combine Them, and What Does Research Say?

Can you take melatonin after alcohol, or together with it? In short: there are no studies confirming that the combination is a good idea, and there is evidence that alcohol itself lowers evening melatonin levels and disrupts sleep structure. Melatonin is not an 'antidote' for worse sleep after drinking, and added sleepiness, fall risk and liver considerations make it wiser not to combine the two.

October 17, 2026

Cortisol

The main stress hormone — essential for short-term survival, but problematic when chronically elevated.

Chronic Stress

Short-term stress is a natural, adaptive body response — the problem is when it becomes chronic. A large meta-analysis of data from nearly 200,000 people found a concrete number for how much chronic job stress raises coronary heart disease risk.

Insomnia

Chronic difficulty falling or staying asleep isn't just a matter of 'sleep hygiene' — the best-studied intervention, recommended as first-line treatment, is cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I), not sleeping pills.

Sleep Stages — NREM and REM Architecture

Sleep isn't a uniform state — it's an orderly sequence of physiologically distinct stages, NREM (stages N1, N2, N3) and REM, repeating in roughly 90-120 minute cycles, each serving a different, partly overlapping function in physical restoration, memory consolidation, and emotional processing.

Sleep Hygiene — Principles

Sleep hygiene is a set of behaviors and environmental conditions — from consistent bedtimes to bedroom temperature — believed to support healthy sleep, but contrary to popular belief, the evidence for the effectiveness of individual recommendations, taken alone, is more limited and mixed than usually assumed.

Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome (DSPS)

DSPS is a circadian rhythm disorder in which the internal biological clock is persistently shifted several hours relative to the socially expected sleep time — a person with the syndrome doesn't have insomnia in the classic sense, just normal-quality sleep occurring at the wrong time.

Bedroom Temperature and Sleep Quality

Before your brain will let you fall asleep, your body temperature has to drop — and if the bedroom is too warm, that signal simply doesn't get through. A bedroom that's too hot or too cold fragments sleep more effectively than many other environmental factors, yet it remains one of the most neglected elements of sleep hygiene.

Polysomnography (Sleep Study)

Polysomnography (PSG) is a comprehensive test that simultaneously records brain activity, eye movements, muscle tone, airflow, respiratory effort, blood oxygen saturation, and heart rhythm throughout a full night's sleep — the gold standard for diagnosing breathing disorders and assessing sleep architecture.

Nicotine as a Nootropic

Nicotine outside of cigarettes — gum, lozenges or patches used purely to sharpen focus, with no tobacco combustion — has real, clinically documented effects on attention and processing speed. It's also one of the most two-sided topics in biohacking: the same compound that measurably sharpens attention is also one of the most addictive over-the-counter psychoactive substances available.

Methylene Blue

A synthetic dye used in medicine for over 140 years that has found a second life in biohacking as a compound said to support mitochondrial function and cognition — but the same mechanism that makes it interesting is also behind one of the most underappreciated, potentially fatal over-the-counter drug interactions.

PEMF — Pulsed Electromagnetic Field Therapy

Pulsed electromagnetic field therapy is one of the rare cases in biohacking where the exact same technology name hides two completely different stories: a narrow, genuinely FDA-cleared medical use for bone healing, and a much broader, far less supported general wellness promise sold through mats and devices for home use.

Noopept

A nootropic dipeptide with a reputation in the biohacking community as a 'stronger piracetam' — in reality a substance registered as a drug only in Russia and the CIS, with an evidence base built almost entirely on animal and in-vitro studies, and very thin, low-confidence human data.

Phenylpiracetam

A piracetam derivative from the racetam family, registered as a drug only in Russia under the name Phenotropil — and, at the same time, a substance listed on WADA's prohibited list for doping. That second fact, not enthusiastic 'super-nootropic' write-ups, should be the first thing read by any athlete or biohacker considering it.