Nootropics

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  • @Unqualified
    The easy direction?
  • Outwards. (",)
  • Does anyone know how to determine the proper doses of piracetam and aniracetam? I tried taking it about a year ago for a month or two, without noticing any improvement; however, I've also heard that there's a fairly small "peak" level, and if you exceed that it can actually make things worse. I was also taking 200 mg/day of DMAE as an acetylcholine precursor.
  • @mydnight
    As far as doses go, I'd say try 2000-3000 mg (at least) / day. I've read that people have also take uber doses (>10000) and supposedly noticed significant improvement, I don't know, it's hard to tell how much of any of this is real improvement and what is the placebo effect. Piracetam works but I think people really underestimate the effect of a placebo, there have been studies show the crazy potential of placebos.
  • @Fantomex:  Yes, the reason for the test I just proposed was to control for the placebo effect.  Once I get something to test, we'll see how it works.
  • The ideal dosage for aniracetam begins at 750mg, take this two hours after a meal. It's halflife is 2 hours so you will need to take it 4 times throughout the day for ideal effects. Reduce it as you experience brain fog.

    Piracetam dosage at a minimum of 1200, ideally 2400mg. Take this at least twice a day initially.

    Oxiracetam has a pretty stimulating effect to it that is obvious two hours after an attack dose.

    I hear pramiracetam has an even more powerful nootropic effect than the other racetams but I have no first hand experience with it.

    Piracetam has an extremely subtle benefit that you will probably not notice. Before you start a regimen of piracetam you should have a complete panel of cognitive tests done and after a six week titration to your ideal dose take another panel for comparison. In general your scores will be moderately higher than before. That is the benefit of nootropics, it isn't a drug, it's a supplement that increases your natural abilities without stressing your system.

    You could take adrafinil or modafinil, adderal or rittalin and have increased attention and memory but doing so is not sustainable. It's the difference between taking creatine for a gradual 10% increase in strength or doing a line of cocaine. 

    If it's seen as supplemental to a healthy diet and not as a drug for immediate benefits I would argue that there is still significant incentive to take it as a preventative measure for cognitive decline with age.
  • edited February 2011
    Hi guys!
    (First of all, sorry for my English. Any corrections appreciated.)

    I'm into nootropics for ~1.5 years, gradually improving my cognitive potential,
    but not through only nootropics though.
      
    So about medicine and other stuff I've tried (ascending from light to heavy):
    1. Common green tea + black chocolate - often use this for better concentration.
    2. Piracetam - didn't do the trick for me
    3. Picamilon - cheap and effective (and popular in Russia) nootropic, helped me to regain me clear mind several times. It's fast, but the effect is not too long
    4. Melatonin - in my rare incidents of insomnia works perfect.
    5. Phenotropil (Carphedon, Phenylpiracetam) - developed by Russians derivative of piracetam, rather expensive - for me gives effect of removing tiredness, raises mood and (i belive) cognitive functions, but also physical endurance and strength. Like it a lot, but it gives too much physical instead of mental effect.
    6. Modafinil - tried and liked, but more like 1-time drug. No side effects for me, if not mixing with caffeine. 100mg in the morning - usually takes away sleepness enough. Gives excitation, desire to communicate, raises mood - if taken in 200-300mg dosage. I don't think it's reducing total sleep time dramatically, when I'm taking it permanently. Just taking away excessive sleepness. Got consequences few times - exhaustion after 2-3 days of reducing of sleeptime with modafinil. So not considering it nootropic, much more like stimulant.

    A trick I often use - take half-dose of Phenotropil (or of Picamilon, I think any other effective nootropic would work) just before sleep. It gives assurance that I won't sleep away my time. It makes my internal clock work fine, even it's only few hours left. Or It can just reduce sleep time, if not setting up an alarm.

    Also I'm taking vitamins, Ginkgo (course of 3-4 months) and other minor stuff, which's not getting you fast determined effect.
  • This just popped up on our wiki too; I'd like to address my concerns here.

    I'm all about nootropics (I've had a regimen since 2008) but I feel this discussion is best kept to those resources already established like the Longecity forum. Most people who take a nootropic drug regimen wouldn't do what we're doing or intend to do to our bodies. @Jack and I started biohack.me because grinding, as a movement, stood independently from the DIYbio, biopunk, and immortalist communities. 

    We still have a responsibility to prove we're not another silo. Threads that aren't grinder-specific are counter-productive to that aim.
  • I'm actually inclined to agree with @SovereignBleak on this one.  I don't have a problem with it being on the wiki (though I think it would be better if the wiki entry simply linked to the forum just described), but I think that, while grinders share much in common with DIYbio, they also are very different, in that they are willing to extend the hacker ethic to their own bodies.

    That's actually the reason I initially objected to the name "biohack.me."  I don't mind it, but I still think it would be better if we made it more obvious that we're different from your average biohacker.  This wouldn't be a problem if the people in the DIYbio groups realised that we're about networks rather than hierarchy, but, since they don't (well, they do to some extent), we do have a responsibility to demonstrate that we're more than just your average, everyday biohacker.
  • I like "biohack.me," but that's 'cos I read the TLD as part of the site name. ",)
    The topic started because Fantomex asked what people used, which is the kind of "around the topic" discussion that makes communities communities, rather than working groups.
    Keeping it off the wiki makes perfect sense, though I would campaign for a short "resource page" or similar, linking to more authoritative sources and/or on-topic communities.
  • Hi guys.  I need to order some more because I ran out and haven't been rolling in money lately  :P  but what I usually take is Piracetam.  I started small with it and built up to megadoses, I guess you could say.  Even then I haven't been able to tell if the effect, which seemed mostly mood enhancing, was just in my mind or actually happening.  I tried Hydergine as a booster for a short time -- it seemed to make me angry.

    Incidentally I've read anecdotally that Piracetam has some effect in "treating" people with Aspergers/ASD -- I mention that because I'm one, so maybe the effects are different.

    I'd like to try Modafinil, but I think it might be a hassle for me for my job situation for the next two years or so.

     

  • "Incidentally I've read anecdotally that Piracetam has some effect in "treating" people with Aspergers"

    greetings from my end, i doubt a chemical can fix the way someones perception of reality. might be good to fix stuff such as bad concentration or so, but that is something i can live with.
  • I mostly mention it because I have Aspergers and I noticed (if I didn't imagine it) that taking Piracetam made me feel happier.  That's not what most people say it does.
  • Might try Ephendrine myself.
  • I'd highly recommend getting some basic vitamins from a health store. I've just started taking B multivitamins and I've honestly haven't felt this rested yet full of energy. It's like a coffee mind boost without the jittery effects. For some reason people always over look basic vitamins as nootropics. 
  • OakOak
    edited October 2011
    I thought that vitamins typically don't have a major impact on cognitive function unless there is a deficiency or disorder that is being corrected.
  • I just bought my first order of piracetam and have been using it for a few days now. Not much to report yet.

    What I really want to try is this:
    http://www.kurzweilai.net/a-super-memory-smart-drug?utm_source=KurzweilAI+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=70526b568d-UA-946742-1&utm_medium=email&fb_source=message
  • No effect for the first while is standard.
    What attack dosage are you on?
  • I've read so many different dosage recommendations that I'm really not sure what to take. I have been taking about 1 gram each morning w/DMAE. Today I started taking another gram at lunch.
  • I found the rule with piracetam to be: start high, then drop down. I've attack-dosed a couple of times (stopped taking Piracetam for a few months, then started again) and I was on 4 to 6 grams a day for about a month to start with, then halved the attack dose for maintenance. You're entirely right about there being too much noise out there about dosage levels, but most reputable sources I came across recommended attack dosing to start, right back to Mondo 2000. Is current advice different?
  • Yeah, I basically just read through a bunch of threads on reddit in the nootropics group. A lot of the people giving advice are also selling the product so I kind of discounted the attack dose recommendation and just went with the erowid entry (rounded it up to 1 gram):

    http://www.erowid.org/smarts/piracetam/piracetam_faq.shtml

    I doubled the dose today and did notice that I felt slightly 'extra-sensory'. I seem more sensitive to distant sounds. Not sure if that is the piracetam or not though. I'll keep experimenting. It was only like $12 for 100 grams so I don't mind taking experimental doses.
  • edited January 2012
    I bought it here, btw:
    http://pureacetam.com/
  • I got a kilo of piracetam powder for about $40 plus shipping when I started, and piracetam's toxic dose appears to be in the "difficult to actually eat this much" range, so I had no qualms about elephantine doses. (",)
  • @DirectorX:  According to that site's disclaimer, it's products are not supposed to be consumed by humans...
  • I fall into the "higher primate" category. Barely.
  • I've been hearing rumors about a new Nootropic called  Noopept. Wikipedia says it's 1000x more powerful that Piracetam. Any thoughts from a chemist?
  • I just read the original scientific paper on the subject, and it seems to be valid enough.  If it's really 1000 times more potent, however, I'd be careful; if it's really that potent, it's liable to have some equally nasty side effects.  I suppose there's only one way to find out, though.

    ~Ian
  • So I'm a few weeks into the piracetam and I'm pretty sure I'm feeling it now. Yesterday I felt "limitless" to the point of near paralysis. It might have been the taurine drink that put me over the edge. Today feels better.

    I might try the noopept stuff soon. The guy I got the piracetam from just got a bunch in.
  • So, how's this experiment going? I'm keen to see what the Noopept does.
  • I don't know what to make of Noopept, to be honest. I almost feel like I need to stop taking all of the other nootropic items so I can see what it feels like without it. I can tell you this: 

    I took lots of B-6, L-phenylalanine, 2g piracetam, 2 Rockstars, 75mg of Dexedrine, 500mg DMAE, and a scoop of alpha-gpc, and 50mg of this noopept stuff. The combination was a little bit too much. I am pretty sure it was the noopept in combination with the rockstars that put me over the edge. I tried to write something while I was on this combination, but my mind moved a lot faster than my typing did. I read what I wrote the next day and it seemed to go nowhere. It was kind of funny.

    I want to add a tiny bit of LSD to the mix. I think I could have a seriously productive trip that will either result in a Nobel prize or imprisonment.
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