21 replies to this topic

[Imagination]

Are there any good nootropics for improving verbal fluency?

I find my self tripping over my words sometimes. It's always been one of my weak points in the work place for giving presentations, speaking at meetings or writing reports.

I have the ideas in my head but find it difficult to articulate it and get the message accross to others. It is holding my back I think. I actually stuttered the other day at a big meetings and was getting some funny looks, i've never stuttered in my life before that.

The racetams don't do anything for me.

Edited by Imagination, 14 March 2010 - 12:35 PM.

[waldemar]

I've actually had negative results (tip-of-the-tongue effect) with medium-high (4.800 mg) doses of Piracetam. It seems to help at lower doses though.

What racetams have you tried, and at what dosage?

[Animal]

Does this have some relation to social anxiety?

[Stan100]

You should look into beta blockers.

[outsider]

Bacopa and Gotu Kola are good. In Indian medicine they are used to treat stuttering and develop power of speech. I have had good result myself.

[whiskey]

You should look into beta blockers.

Beta blockers did not work well from me. Yes, they calmed me down a little, but they did not remove the psychological side of panic attack. Also, they left a burning feeling in my chest, wich was really scary.
I still liked them to remove social anxiety and racing heartbeat. But in a panic attack - not a cure in my opinion.

[Imagination]

I've actually had negative results (tip-of-the-tongue effect) with medium-high (4.800 mg) doses of Piracetam. It seems to help at lower doses though.

What racetams have you tried, and at what dosage?

piracetam and aniracetam, tried many different doses to try and get it right ranging from high to low, the piracetam doesn't seem to have an effect at all, the ani doesn't have an effect at low doses, at higher it wipes me out and has a negative cognitive effect.

[Imagination]

Does this have some relation to social anxiety?

No i don't really feel much anxiety

[Imagination]

Bacopa and Gotu Kola are good. In Indian medicine they are used to treat stuttering and develop power of speech. I have had good result myself.

I've actually got some bacopa lying around, never really give it a good go to tell any difference. What sort of effects do you get from it in terms of speech? Hearing some people saying it causes drowsyness put me off a bit from taking it.

[russianBEAR]

All of them are like cheating. If you need to pull off a great first impression or something, pretty much any will do, but you're not gonna learn to be socially competent by taking them because most noots have a strong anxyolitic effect one way or another, so it's a "social crutch" no doubt about it.

Picamilon is a prime example because it also has slightly sedating properties. So pretty much it's like alcohol for socializing IMO - too easy

[Yearningforyears]

Well... Piracetam makes me talk a lot, fast and mostly introspective or cryptic rubbish while thinking I am really sharing something interesting ^_^

I have some social anxiety, but as said before: bacopa and gotu kola are good.

My regimen of today is.

ashwagandha
shankapushpi
bhringaraja
bacopa
inostiol

Really helps with confidence / focus / memory / energy and feeling at ease while not being too wired.
Ayurveda has a lot to offer those who want to improve their general health and wellbeing

[Imagination]

Well... Piracetam makes me talk a lot, fast and mostly introspective or cryptic rubbish while thinking I am really sharing something interesting ^_^

I have some social anxiety, but as said before: bacopa and gotu kola are good.

My regimen of today is.

ashwagandha
shankapushpi
bhringaraja
bacopa
inostiol

Really helps with confidence / focus / memory / energy and feeling at ease while not being too wired.
Ayurveda has a lot to offer those who want to improve their general health and wellbeing

I've been trying bacopa recently and been more relaxed, maybe it is anxiety and i've just had it so long i thought it was normal!

Does that stack cause any sedation?

[Yearningforyears]

That´s what is so insidious with anxiety. You don´t always you know it´s there before it starts to vanish, which ironically can be a frightening experience.
I have tried the bhringaraj / shankapushpi-tea on my coworker who said that she experienced quite a bit of sedation (but not when she tried a pure shankapushpi preparation on another occasion).

Another one had the Bhr / Sha / Ash-tea and told me she went from stressed / moody to just being calm.

In my case there is some slight sedation, which I think is a bit misleading way to describe it.
It is more like soft body relaxtion with clear and "clean" thoughts. A somewhat pure mental feeling. Not drugged up or disinhibited. J

Ashwagandha was a bit sedating during the first days (it wore off very quickly though), but then it was like the energy levels came back higher with more motivation and general content. So the motivational boost made me add it to the daily tea routine.

I have kind of written a substance diary and every time the combo has been started there are more positive notes about being social and feeling good.
The inositol is helping as well I think, but in the first week it triggered racing thoughts which are now gone.

As usual a long and branched answer to a simple question =)

[outsider]

Well... Piracetam makes me talk a lot, fast and mostly introspective or cryptic rubbish while thinking I am really sharing something interesting ^_^

I have some social anxiety, but as said before: bacopa and gotu kola are good.

My regimen of today is.

ashwagandha
shankapushpi
bhringaraja
bacopa
inostiol

Really helps with confidence / focus / memory / energy and feeling at ease while not being too wired.
Ayurveda has a lot to offer those who want to improve their general health and wellbeing

Looks like you have understood the power of herbs, if you take this regimen I really belive you have more energy and confidence etc. that's exactly the results I get too. My stack is different but any good herb stack gives about the same kind of confidence/energy. It's all about energy flow in the body and mind.

The fist time I took Bacopa was memorable, talkative and stress relief.

But the best was chyawanprash after 2 weeks, this Ayurvedic tonic is magic, give so much confidence and energy, it's mainly Amla mixed with 40 different herbs. It balance energy in the body so no side effects.

Edit:
And shankapushpi is supposed to be the best of all ayurveda for memory, it's interesting to note that there are many pyrrolidone alkaloids in this herb.

Edited by outsider, 18 March 2010 - 07:27 AM.

[Yearningforyears]

Thanks for the tip!
Read up on it a little and ended up ordering 4 pounds of the stuff =)
I have been on a couple of medications for bipolar symptomatic depression / anxiety, but nothing beats the herbals.
A drug called lamictal made me lose hair, memory and caused nausea too (especially when sitting in buses etc)
Glad to see that more and more people are realizing the potential of natural health boosters, although ayurveda is still relatively unknown when compared to the casual vitamin / antioxidant-pills you can see just about everywhere.

Edited by Nicholas, 18 March 2010 - 10:33 PM.

[ex_banana_eater]

There was a time when I was going out to clubs or different places and mustering up the courage to just open sets of girls I'd never met before. Phenibut did help a tonne with that. I'm a much more social guy on phenibut, while seemingly not losing my rationality like one might with a small alcohol buzz.

[outsider]

There was a time when I was going out to clubs or different places and mustering up the courage to just open sets of girls I'd never met before. Phenibut did help a tonne with that. I'm a much more social guy on phenibut, while seemingly not losing my rationality like one might with a small alcohol buzz.

Unfortunately phenibut can be addictive.

[Dorho]

Lion's Mane mycelium extract (from mycoessentials.com) works for me.

Edited by Dorho, 20 March 2010 - 12:53 PM.

[madbrad]

I took piracetam and centrophenoxine for a couple of months and found it really helped with verbal acuity. It wasn't so much a case of intoxicating others with the exuberance of my verbosity, heh heh. It was more that it helped with finding just the perfect word. I was much better at communicating exactly what I wanted and sometimes in a more entertaining way.

[russianBEAR]

There was a time when I was going out to clubs or different places and mustering up the courage to just open sets of girls I'd never met before. Phenibut did help a tonne with that. I'm a much more social guy on phenibut, while seemingly not losing my rationality like one might with a small alcohol buzz.

Unfortunately phenibut can be addictive.

All of those GABA supplements are a lot like alcohol in a way they disinhibit. Guess what though, if you get addicted you develop a tolerance to it and you'll be right back at square one to the way you were before with a habit to boot (or to Pheni-boot). If you do it once in a while, then you'll feel more anxiety than normal once it's out of your system as a rebound type of an effect. So you really can't win by taking stuff for "courage" or as a "social crutch".


You guys really want to improve your communication and social skills ? Try this site: Manhood Academy  It goes in depth about social interaction, ESPECIALLY when it comes to talking to the opposite sex. 

Edited by russianBEAR, 30 March 2010 - 12:23 PM.

[chrono]

Piracetam improves my verbal fluency tremendously, in writing or conversing. Helps with concept formation, and then in parsing that concept into words. Much easier to select the proper word based on shades of meaning, and I find myself stuck on that "tip of the brain" feeling much less often. ALCAR seems to amplify this effect slightly, though by itself the general mental energy isn't as targeted in this area.

[Animal]

There was a time when I was going out to clubs or different places and mustering up the courage to just open sets of girls I'd never met before. Phenibut did help a tonne with that. I'm a much more social guy on phenibut, while seemingly not losing my rationality like one might with a small alcohol buzz.

Unfortunately phenibut can be addictive.

All of those GABA supplements are a lot like alcohol in a way they disinhibit. Guess what though, if you get addicted you develop a tolerance to it and you'll be right back at square one to the way you were before with a habit to boot (or to Pheni-boot). If you do it once in a while, then you'll feel more anxiety than normal once it's out of your system as a rebound type of an effect. So you really can't win by taking stuff for "courage" or as a "social crutch".

I agree, I used to use Phenibut for the mood enhancement, rather then disinhibition, and this in itself would make me far more social. But I was just self-medicating dysthymia and so it was a downward spiral with burgeoning tolerance and ultimately addiction. I just wholly avoid it now, any primary GABA-B agonist has a great potential for abuse and dependence.