LONGECITY

I've been experimenting with piracetam and have unfortunately gained no observable benefit. In fact, I can say that the effect is more akin to what I recall from taking Ritalin as a child. I felt more anxious, jittery, and "sped" up, followed by a hard crash with fatigue and headache. I've experience this while taking 1x, 2x, and 3x 800mg capsules in the morning and at lunch. I find I have to take it every 4 hours or so to avoid the crash but I always get that jittery feeling.
I guess this is the wrong Noot for me eh? Or do the effects go away over time before the benfits can be observed? I've been experimenting for about a week now.

-B

I've been experimenting with piracetam and have unfortunately gained no observable benefit. In fact, I can say that the effect is more akin to what I recall from taking Ritalin as a child. I felt more anxious, jittery, and "sped" up, followed by a hard crash with fatigue and headache. I've experience this while taking 1x, 2x, and 3x 800mg capsules in the morning and at lunch. I find I have to take it every 4 hours or so to avoid the crash but I always get that jittery feeling.
I guess this is the wrong Noot for me eh? Or do the effects go away over time before the benfits can be observed? I've been experimenting for about a week now.

-B

Same here, my friends love it though and want to have a "hit" every time they come over.

I felt more anxious, jittery, and "sped" up, followed by a hard crash with fatigue and headache

You MUST take the racetams with a choline source -- if not, splitting headache. I suggest alpha-GPC as choline source for you.
But the anxiety symptoms seem very untypical. Try and combine racetams with GABAergic nootropics against anxiety/stress.

Ashwagandha is a great additional nootropic in that respect. You might experiment with a higher than regular dose (up to about 300mg).
Other GABAergic nootropics would be theanine (or just drinking tea, perhaps decaf in your case), lemon balm and GABA itself.
Have your cortisol levels checked, too. If they're high, get them down with DHEA and exercise.

I felt more anxious, jittery, and "sped" up, followed by a hard crash with fatigue and headache

You MUST take the racetams with a choline source -- if not, splitting headache. I suggest alpha-GPC as choline source for you.
But the anxiety symptoms seem very untypical. Try and combine racetams with GABAergic nootropics against anxiety/stress.

Ashwagandha is a great additional nootropic in that respect. You might experiment with a higher than regular dose (up to about 300mg).
Other GABAergic nootropics would be theanine (or just drinking tea, perhaps decaf in your case), lemon balm and GABA itself.
Have your cortisol levels checked, too. If they're high, get them down with DHEA and exercise.

I wouldn't say MUST! I don't use a choline source and am fine with it. You get plenty of choline from food.

As for the choline, I take it as part of my multi and my B-Complex, still no help with the piracetam crash. Plus, I just can't detect any nootropic effect aside from speed. I am interested in Ashwagandha, Kava, and GABA but worried about their safety (for myself at least). I just started taking the theanine an I like the effect so far. As for the DHEA, what about 7-keto? I exercise every day but admit I am slightly overweight and working on it.
Honestly, the only supplement that I've found to give me a significant nootropic effect has been 5-htp but it was short lived and I have concerns about its safety.

I'll try the piracetam again with the theanine to see if that helps...

Thanks,
B

If it's about serotonin related problems, perhaps explore tianeptine. But I mean that, explore for yourself...

Regarding food choline sources: http://lpi.oregonsta...tml#food_source

Unless your main dishes are wheat germs or beef liver, you don't get enough from food. Getting
at least 250mg with a 800mg piracetam dose should be enough. But, many people probably get
the minimal choline from their high-dose multi such as LEF Mix or OrthoCore.

lieb2101: Piracetam does not cause those effects: your 'sped up' jittery effects and crash are coming from caffeine or another stimulant drug source, or your system is screwed up because of long-term caffeine use.

The jitter and crash are just amplified caffeine effects: piracetam amplifies the effects of stimulants in general, making the coming-up spike much higher and the crash deeper (if your adrenals are unhealthy the first sign is deeper crashes after stimulant use). You'll have to quit caffeine - the stuff is crap and exhausts the adrenals. Once you're on piracetam stimulants are no longer necessary. Stimulants are health-destroying and cause a net depletion in the brain and body.

Stay clean from stimulant drugs for a week or two and retest.

PS. Don't bother with theanine. It isn't necessary for piracetam to work and may interfere. Also, choline can be useful but a lack of it isn't the cause of your jitter & crash.
Edited by Isochroma, 09 January 2010 - 01:34 AM.