I've been noticing of late that medium to high doses of piracetam cause very obvious increased blood flow to my brain. My head feels warmer and sometimes the pulse is so fierce I can feel my teeth vibrate slightly if my jaw is in resting position.
I've not felt anything similar off of high doses of ginkgo or vinpocetine, though I do feel effects. It seems when increasing blood _flow_, piracetam is boss.
What's the difference between a vasodilator and something that merely increases blood flow? Is piracetam a vasodilator, or does it just increase blood pressure or heart rate or achieve it through another mechanism? Would adding ginkgo whilst experiencing this blatant blood-flow increase off of piracetam help relieve stress on my blood vessels or increase it? I don't know if more blood is trying to force it's way through (increased pressure), hence dilation of the vessels would relieve any vascular strain, or if the increase of blood flow from piracetam a direct result of the vessels dilating, and adding more vasodilators would increase the dilation to dangerous levels?
By any chances, are you experiencing any rash on your body - itching or perhaps flushing?
Piracetam increasing the blood flow is a myth. Well, technically, I guess it does in a way, but very indirectly. The increased blood flow is just the result of increased brain activity. Piracetam makes your brain work harder. Your brain working harder demands more oxygen. Your body brings more oxygen. That's it.
Vasodilator drugs relax the muscle cells which are around arteries (yeah, we have muscles around arteries, but not veins), and the drugs widen those arteries. As a result, blood pressure may drop a little and oxygen can travel more easily - but then again, it is not necessarily always a good thing since it will promote nausea, dizziness and plenty of other side effects. Too much vasodilators will impair our body's ability to constrict arteries in places that do not need buckets of blood - that's why the negative effects are often migraines, nausea, dizziness - too much blood in certain sensible areas. Vasoconstriction - the opposite of vasodilation - is a part of our body's function to regulate blood flow to different part of our body or brain and is essential. It is an important function, just as much as its counterpart.
Vasodilators should IMO be taken only if you have a disorder which makes your blood flow inefficient - for example cholesterol levels will change the smoothness of cell's membrane and too much of it and red blood cells will have trouble going through small capillaries - that's why vasodilators can be useful.
