Hey guys, it was 9 months ago (October 2013) when I tried nootropics for the first time. They’ve had a big impact on my life, but I remember that when I was starting out it all seemed pretty confusing. At that time, I really enjoyed reading other people’s experiences and recommendations. So now, 9 months later, I’m hoping I can save people some time by sharing my journey.
I’m going to talk about all the different nootropics I’ve tried, what I’ve learned and the impact nootropics have had on my life. Please note that these are just my experiences -- everyone is different and you may not get the same results as me.
Hope you find it useful, or at the very least, interesting 
Some background: I stumbled upon nootropics when I was studying for midterm exams at Princeton in the fall. I was behind in a couple of my classes -- I knew I could still do well on my exams but I needed to make the most of every day. I heard about CILTEP and I read the whole thread before ordering Artichoke Extract and Forskolin from Amazon. That combination is what got me excited about nootropics.
I ended up taking a hiatus from school to start a company based on the CILTEP blend, but that’s a whole other story.
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CILTEP -- My first and favorite nootropic stack
Consists of: [Essential] Artichoke Extract or Zembrin (PD4E Inhibitor) + Forskolin (cAMP increase) [Supplementary] ALCAR, L-Phenylalanine (I prefer Tyrosine), Caffeine (most people who have good results take CILTEP with coffee/caffeine, but the effects feel very different from coffee/caffeine alone)
Benefits: On some days I experienced extremely intense concentration and motivation to study/learn. On other days, there wasn't quite the same intensity of focus, but I still noticed a drastic increase in wakefulness/alertness that lasted throughout the day. I had no need to nap in the afternoon and I could keep working all day (I haven’t tried modafinil so can’t make a comparison…). I also slept much more deeply. I found it much easier to meditate -- I could be present/focus for 20 minutes of meditation VERY easily compared to usual. I also found that it made the effects of caffeine stronger, and last longer.
Drawbacks: I developed a tolerance after a few weeks if I didn't take days off. Sometimes my short-term memory was affected (especially if I took too much Forskolin). Once in a while I would experience a mild headache which went away if I worked out or even did a few sets of push-ups.
My Recommendations: I found that playing around with the Artichoke/Forskolin ratio was helpful -- too little forskolin and you won’t get as much of the deep focus effect, too much and you may notice odd changes in your short term memory, increased heart rate, etc.
Also, taking a capsule of Artichoke Extract in the afternoon gave the effects a nice boost. Personally, I found Zembrin more subjectively beneficial for me than Artichoke Extract.
If it doesn't work for you: Try it on an empty stomach, and when you are well rested. I found that if I didn’t sleep enough it would bring me up to a baseline, but I didn’t get quite the same effect as if I slept well. Also, I found that taking an acetylcholine precursor or acetylcholinesterase inhibitor helped.
If/when you develop tolerance: I took a few days off and I also used galantamine for three days (be careful with this).
Overall: I REALLY like CILTEP. It’s kind of hard to describe. It allows me to direct my attention. I feel like I have complete control over my day. I would go as far as describing it as “life-changing” but I might have been below a baseline of performance before.
Because it gave me an incredibly strong effect, I didn’t question whether nootropics were placebo or not. It kind of served as a “gateway” if that makes sense. Hats off to Abelard Lindsay.
Caffeine + L-Theanine
I’d recommend this stack for anyone looking to wet their feet with nootropics. The 1 (Caffeine):2 (L-Theanine) ratio works well for me, but in order for me to really feel the L-Theanine I need to take it on a empty stomach.
My favorite dosage is 200mg Caffeine and 400mg of L-Theanine immediately before writing. It helps me to be very relaxed, not filter my thoughts, and achieve a “flow” state. This stack combined with music from MajesticCasual or TheSoundYouNeed YouTube channels is pretty amazing for writing.
BTW, for some people 400mg of L-Theanine is too much and may make you drowsy (though not for me).
L-Theanine helps reduce anxiety, but I try to make sure I meditate instead of relying on L-Theanine. I save it for when I am writing.
Phenylpiracetam
The first time I tried phenylpiracetam I was amazed. It felt like a much cleaner and stronger version of caffeine.
I noticed the effects very quickly (maybe 20-30m after taking 100mg-200mg sublingually on an empty stomach).
Benefits: Euphoria, vividness of colors/sensory perceptions, increased motivation, increased physical endurance, basically TONS of energy. When taken at a higher dose I sometimes experienced tunnel vision from it.
Drawbacks: (1) Tolerance develops quickly if you take it daily (2) This is my own personal problem, but I found I relied on it too much. For example I would say “oh if I don’t sleep well I can just take it”. Then I would want to take more and it wouldn’t work as well. I also noticed an increase in blood pressure (happens with stimulants).
So this is more my own problem, but I don’t use this anymore.
That said I think it’s a cool thing to experience, and also use once in a while.
Piracetam
Compared to phenylpiracetam I found this much more subtle.
Benefits: Overall increase in sense of well being, meditation/mindfulness is easier, slightly improved visual perception, more creativity (I think), more sensitive to caffeine (reduced tolerance).
How I use it: I take 1.6g 1-2x a day with CILTEP. If I take piracetam I also take citicholine (vs. AlphaGPC). AlphaGPC sometimes give me headaches. I’ve tried up to 4.8g of Piracetam at once. I do this sometimes to see what something feels like, and then I reduce the dose.
Rhodiola Rosea (Cycling off of caffeine/coffee, though with a bit of Yerba Mate)
I only tried this very recently. I used it to cycle off of coffee/caffeine.
For the last 6 months I worked ~12+ hours/day, travelled a lot, and had a very erratic sleep schedule. I also took on some debt in order to fund a nootropics company and that caused some anxiety.
If you’ve been in this kind of a situation you’ll know that it makes sleeping really hard even if you budget enough hours (your mind constantly races thinking of new ideas, or anxiety makes it difficult to sleep well).
Cycling off of caffeine is hard if you’ve relied on it for a while (200mg-600mg/day).
You get headaches and feel really tired. I made sure to get enough sleep during this period (7-8 hours/night) and I took 2 caps of Rhodiola/day.
I slowly eased into this by switching from coffee to 1 cup of Yerba Mate per day, and then after a few days to no caffeine.
It was hard, but Rhodiola helped a lot.
Magnesium, Melatonin, Huperzine A/Galantamine (optional) and Meditation for sleep
Improving my sleep was a game changer for me. I became a much happier, nicer, and more productive person.
I found that taking ~400mg of Magnesium (Citrate in my case) improved the quality of my sleep and stopped my mind from racing. On some days I would combine this with 1mg of Melatonin. Once in a while I also take Huperzine A OR Galantamine. I found this improved my sleep, but you might get crazy dreams from doing this, and if you take these regularly it can be problematic.
I found that not working late at night made a big difference so that I wasn’t thinking about things I had to do the next day.
My favorite pre-bed routine: Take ~400mg of Magnesium, 1mg of Melatonin, and then go for a walk at the beach (to relax/unwind). Come back to apartment, brush teeth, change, etc. and go sit on my bed with a pillow against the wall and observe my breath (mindfulness). At some point when feeling extremely relaxed, lie down and fall asleep.
Other things I have tried that are not mentioned above:
Choline Bitartrate, Vinpocetine, Sunifiram, NALT, creatine
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How nootropics improved my life: My general view is that having the fundamentals in place is the most important thing (diet and sleep), but interestingly I found that the effects of nootropics motivated me to get those things in place again.
See, we all KNOW that we SHOULD get enough sleep, eat well, etc. and you do that you feel great, but why don’t you? When you don't feel good it's hard to get the motivation and remember what it feels like to dominate your day. What I mean is the amazing clarity of thought and motivation I felt reminded me what it feels like when you have your diet and sleep in check + a little bit more.
This sounds kind of cheesy but they really helped get me started on a positive upward spiral of motivation.
Other things I like for productivity/cognition/overall well-being
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Meditation 1-2x/day (20m/session) || Reduces anxiety, helps you think clearly and objectively || I've gotten good at doing this routinely
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Getting enough sleep and optimizing the quality || I do an OK job of this but it could be better
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Reducing caffeine intake (no more than 200mg for me/day -- I have also eliminated it for weeks at at time)Happy with my progress on this
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Not checking email until later in the day and having specific exciting goals/priorities to work towards Good at this
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Playing outdoors (e.g. sports) - great for reducing stress - give yourself permission to have fun and play ||Need to get better at this
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Diet (eliminate junk food, empty carbs, having more smaller meals throughout the day instead of giant ones)I don't eat junk food, but I could improve diet/timing
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Don’t take yourself so seriously || I need to work on this one
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Eating meals with family/friends || I need to work on this one
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CILTEP - Biggest impact on my life -- my absolute favorite (with Zembrin) and my base (I cycle off on weekends)
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Caffeine + L-Theanine - Great intro stack, I love it for writing, goes well w/CILTEP
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Piracetam - Subtle effects, overall sense of well being, stacks well w/CILTEP
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Phenylpiracetam - Very noticeable effects very quickly, stacks well w/CILTEP. I don’t take this anymore for reasons mentioned above.
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Citicoline - Stacks well with CILTEP as well as with Piracetam. I prefer this to AlphaGPC.
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Huperzine A/Galantamine - Good for increasing REM sleep, but I use it more for removing CILTEP tolerance once in a while
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Rhodiola Rosea - Helped me a lot when cycling off of coffee. I took some Yerba Mate as well to make the transition from coffee easier.
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Magnesium citrate (pre-bed) with ~1mg melatonin -- then go sit on bed and meditate
Ok, well that’s all for this post. I hope that was helpful to you. It’s been a great journey so far. I still have a lot to learn
Let me know if you have any questions. Also, any recommendations for other things to try? Always open to suggestions.
