16 replies to this topic

[Ichoose2live]

Only people who have used aniracetam for twenty days or more can vote in the poll.

Of course no study has been done on the substance to determine if it improves the recall of memory or other cognitive ability in healthy volunteers. So I think it would be necessary to do our own study on the effects of this substance in healthy people. There are only two studies that were able to show that aniracetam protects the cognitive ability against scopolamine and hypoxia in healthy volunteers. [1], [2]

References

[1] The hypoxia model in human psychopharmacology: neurophysiological and psychometric studies with aniracetam i.v.

[2] The use of a scopolamine model to study the potential nootropic effects of aniracetam and piracetam in healthy volunteers

Edited by Ichoose2live, 05 June 2011 - 03:00 AM.

[manic_racetam]

I took aniracetam for about 90 days. I was taking other nootropics during the period but I learned to discern the effects of the substance. I no longer take it because I developed an intense hypo-manic emotional response which led to poor decision making. It was a very interesting substance though and this poll reminded me of some of it's unique effects.

Long term memory: It's a hard thing to gauge because you don't necessarily realize when you are accessing things from your past which are further back than you've remembered before. There is no sensation or alarm in your brain that says, "Hey, pay attention, this is your earliest memory and this is the first time you've remembered it in your adult life!"

I actually hadn't realized that my recalling events from when I was 2 years old happened during my aniracetam use until I answered the question in this poll. But, about 2 months into daily use (750mg bid) I started recalling traumatic events from when I was 2 years old while writing in my journal. I can recall very clearly the level of anger in my two year old body... Strange stuff. I realized that I still felt resentment about those events and I'm still frustrated that I couldn't verbalize my feelings at the time. How weird is it to realize that you're still carrying around resentments from before you could speak in complete sentences?! It's also funny, I didn't even think about the ani having anything to do with it, even when my therapist remarked on how strange it was that I could remember this so clearly.

Concentration Attention:
When I took aniracetam I felt like it scattered my attention even more than usual. I felt like I couldn't concentrate on anything. But after I took it for a longer period of time and began comparing my notes from before and after it's use; I realized that I had a significant improvement in focus and staying on one topic. After thinking about it, probably over-thinking it really, I realized that I was much more aware of my involuntary movements, and more aware of when my focus shifted from what I was trying to concentrate on.

It began to feel like I had an objective viewpoint on my own thought processes and patterns. It wasn't that I couldn't focus, it was that I was hyper-aware of my own ADD... that I was somehow conscious of shifting my focus when it had been unconscious before. This was an interesting observation.

Visual processing, Pattern recognition:
I used to attempt to test my visual processing in various ways. I'd look at the shower-water bouncing off my hand in the morning and although a subjective experience it did look a lot different compared to when I'm not taking it. One analogy I used was that my processing speed was really fast, but that my hardware (eyes) were out of date... hmmm.. it felt like my brain could be seeing more frame-rates but my eyes were already maxed out. Like playing a blue ray disc through an 8mm projector. Although that's a fascinating analogy I recognize that now as a likely hypo-manic illusion.

The branches of trees were really beautiful though, as were clouds. It definitely did something to the processing of patterns and shapes. It enhanced visual stimuli and made observation a really enjoyable experience. That's something I miss.

Anxiolytic/Apathy:
I grouped these together because I believe they were connected in my experience. It wasn't a sense of generalized apathy, it was a sense that what I was choosing to do was the most entertaining and rewarding thing possible and so there was no reason to care about anything else. And I didn't feel any nervousness about ignoring other tasks. This sounds like it could be a good thing except that I had a hard time doing anything that other people asked of me. This can cause problems at work.

I remember sitting in the office, with my eyes closed, and writing in my journal. It was wonderful, I was trying to visualize what the conditioned typing impulses going through my hands would look like if they were interpreted through my visual cortex. Or sometimes I would do things like slow my typing speed down and consciously move each finger to find the appropriate key, and I noticed that my inner voice that dictated what I was going to type would slow down along with the typing. I could even stop the inner dialogue altogether by slowing down my typing and then eventually stopping. And sitting in silence with no brain chatter was quite nice.

Can you see yet how this could start spiraling out into over-internalized hypo-mania? Yeah, it did, that's why I stopped taking it.

Summary:

Really that last example could sum up my entire experience with the substance and all my answers in this poll. Using the above example, imagine I'm doing these typing experiments at work when I'm supposed to be doing my job. Did it increase my creativity? Yes, I've never looked at my thinking in that fashion before. Did it improve my moood? Yes, way too much, blissfully internalized. Did it improve my multi-tasking or cognitive flexibility? Only when applicable to a subject I was drawn to. I couldn't be bothered by other people's requests unless they interested me.

In my experience as a therapeutic tool for ADD, it was like hitting my thumb with a hammer... but at the same time being able to focus intensely on the experience of missing the nail. As a fun and imaginative introspection tool it might be useful for me in a clinical setting, but left to my own devices I'd say it had a negative overall effect on my life as a whole. For someone less susceptible to manic states I could imagine aniracetam being a useful tool. Just wasn't right for me.

[Ichoose2live]

Thank you for posting your experience! I think I'll post my subjective experience as well!

The most significant effects that I have noticed are improvement in attention and reduction of specific social phobia. I was able to test my attention by playing Dual N-Back. I went from 4-Back to 5-Back the first time I tried aniracetam. My improvement in attention is evidenced by how I stopped daydreaming while doing something else. Regarding my specific social phobia, which is a fear of leaving the house and a strong sense of anxiety when I'm in a traffic jam, it has gradually disappeared.

Unfortunately, as days progressed the more I began to notice what can best be described as an "empty-head" symptom. I became apathetic, without emotions or feelings--with the exception of extreme egocentrism. I wasn't daydreaming anymore during the day. I had no ideas, yet I could write better stories compared to the days when I did not use aniracetam. In summary, if I strove to imagine a concept or create a story, aniracetam could slightly improve my creativity and imagination. I would say it had an effect equivalent to placebo.

The effects on speech are different from those of Piracetam. I found that I spoke a lot faster and more spontaneously with aniracetam. The effects could occur at any time. It was as though a gigantic steam turbine had been put in my head, and someone chose when to activate it. On the other hand, I found the effects of Piracetam to be more theatrical, energetic, emotional, and sometimes manic.

I did not notice any effects on my long-term memory; perhaps the effects take more than twenty days to appear. I also noticed that I was more attentive during work and study. So it is obvious that my learning ability was improved.

EDIT: All people are welcome to post their acute or long-term experiences with aniracetam. The more people who post, the better!

Edited by Ichoose2live, 05 June 2011 - 07:32 PM.

[longevitynow]

I've taken a lot of doses of Airacetam, but either not consistently or concurrent with many other nootropics. So for the moment I will withhold my vote. But I will now do a 20 or more day trial on myself and see what happens. Briefly, my occassional use has yielded:
Large doses: I was focused but somewhat sedated
Tiny doses before bed: Better dream recall

[nezxon]

I've been taking Aniracetam for about 7 weeks now, my second favorite racetam only beaten by Oxiracetam. 1350mg twice daily. It was the first racetam I tried (1500mg first dose) and I felt the effects come on in about 30 minutes and lasts about 3 and a half hours. I was kind of stunned that the effect was noticeable at all. My visual acuity, hearing, memory, and confidence all slightly improved. My concentration improved dramatically, I found it very easy to focus on things I normally struggled with. I wouldn't say it gave me motivation so much as I found that my daily routine just wasn't as taxing or unmanageable as it normally seems. Simple things, like getting the mail, doing dishes, laundry, taxes, things that might normally seem like a hassle just didn't really bother me to do. Even after the main period of effect, I did feel like there was a residual benefit for a day or two.

When I say slight improvement, I'd probably say 2-5% in most areas. I don't expect my results to be typical, and a 2% gain might not seem worth the price to some people. Considering that there aren't many options for making oneself smarter, I believe any increase in brain plasticity is extremely important. I also think there are long-term benefits that will probably far exceed the slight or mild short-term improvements. I liked someones analogy to steroids; I think the largest gains are to be found in pushing the boundaries of mental exercise, not in immediate improvement.

I wouldn't say it's a quick fix, but I do see it as a valuable part of any healthy supplemental routine. Keeping mental function consistently high I think is a healthy long-term wellness strategy. I wouldn't expect it to change a person's life, but it should probably be as high a priority as a supplement as Vitamin C, Fish Oil, etc.

The article in Wired magazine that reviewed "Get Smart" really mirrors my opinion of Aniracetam. I think the author of the article actually took legitimate nootropics accidentally when comparing a bunch of herbal supplements that claim to add energy or improve focus. I don't think she was a priori aware that things like Aniracetam, Centrophenoxine, Pyritinol, and Huperzine A had been studied to measurably improve cognitive function whereas the other supplements being compared were just a collection of herbal ingredients (ginkgo, ginseng, red yeast, etc.) which aren't well reported to improve the same functions.

Note: I'm not saying herbal supplements have no value, I do take Ginkgo myself, I just think their value as nootropics is marginal at best when compared to the more chemical/drug nootropics like racetams, choline sources, AChEIs, and the like.

Edited by nezxon, 08 June 2011 - 04:37 PM.

[Ichoose2live]

Thanks nezxon for your response! Just a short update to this, I have deleted Aniracetam from my list of "Usefull Nootropics" since it blows up all my emotions and by so makes me numb to inspiration and pretty much everything. I'd rather take Pramiracetam for learning and for Anxiolytic effect.

[abelard lindsay]

I have taken Aniracetam off and on. It improved my verbal communication abilities but generally makes me uncomfortably "spaced out" after a few days. Probably just how my particular brain works. I prefer Pramiracteam or Piracteam.

[golden1]

I've gone through around 700grams on and off for around 2 years. The most obvious effect it had was on my ability to create music(with fruityloops+ a vst synthisizer). Every good song I've created except a small few were made while on aniracetam, most of the time if I'm not on aniracetam I have no ideas on how to progress or even start a song.. on aniracetam it just seems to come to me very easily. Music also sounds more 3d and detailed on it.

It also enhances color saturation and contrast a noticeable amount. My 3d perception of objects and depth increased a lot(this makes looking at trees very cool as you can see the 3d structure and position of all the branches very well) along with crisper vision. It pretty much made looking at nature or any sort of complex scene really enjoyable.

Helped anxiety caused by over thinking simple things and also in the same manner seems to banish negative thoughts and rather quickly stop any depressing/streesfull mood. It made me an even happier and positive person than normal for sure.

There are times when it just made me tired and/or foggy, but I think it depends in what state of mind I take it in(for example, I only take it now when I'm feeling alert and awake(and healthy).

Edited by golden1, 14 July 2011 - 10:12 PM.

[ultranaut]

Thought I already posted this here but don't see it:
I'm fairly certain that sustained regular use of aniracetam gave me slightly blurry vision in my left eye. The blur went away when I stopped taking it.

[caruga]

The writeups in this thread would be even more interesting if you say what doses you used.

[AmericanEmpire]

[quote name='manic_racetam' timestamp='1307290586' post='465991']


It began to feel like I had an objective viewpoint on my own thought processes and patterns.

Interesting you said this...users have reported that in conjunction with high resin marijuana this is similar in feeling to the objectiveness and perception of lysergic acid...

[AmericanEmpire]

This is a good thread I am going to post my experience as well...

Dose anywhere from 750 x 1 - 1500 mg x 2 in addition to oxiracetam and pramiracetam in various dosages..for a long time though I used ONLY aniracetam and found little difference in 750 mg x 2 and 1500 mg x 2...

Memory

Okay first order. Memory on aniracetam. Yes definite improvement in both long term memory and short term. I notice my recall is quicker and (like I said in a different post) combined with Adderall it becomes UNFAIR to the people around me. Works best with good sleep, also if you are eating correctly, and exercising appropriately.

Emotion

I feel a greater ability / capacity for empathy, I can talk to people easier logically and I can feel emotions more readily. I guess I experience a greater depth of emotion. Something about memory - emotion - creativity - attention / focus that all work together I am not sure.... Definite ANTI depressant effect in that I FEEL my emotions...so therefore my emotions are not DEPRESSED..I am therefore Antidepressed...Again aniracetam is not a miracle drug (although I would say it is) but it does not just suddenly make you empathetic, meditation and knowledge will do this though...

Enough With the headers

My creativity definitely increases, I like to use my left hand and think more about it while on aniracetam, this has a subsequent effect of making me feel more "whole" and that there is a new dimension to my personality, a completedness of sort in that I now feel like I can utilize my left side or right side so in essence I have increased my brain utilization by using aniracetam to allow to me FOCUS on my left hand and foot and then sometimes I just think about the two different sides of my brain and how they connect...I find I do this while running too..for some reason it makes me feel good??

I am bridging gaps between music I hear in my head and music I can play as well...i have no formal music education... I just hit the keys and play on my computer...

I read faster, comprehend more, memory is interesting I can pretty much remember things I want to by looking at them once or twice..I am no genius and I am just talking about simple numbers and names...I read a 1000 page book that was really difficult (Infinite Jest anyone?) but I read 500 pages of this book in a manner of 3 days....no joke...it took me approximately 3 hours to read 100 pages at my slowest....Then after I finished that book I picked up Malcolm X Autobiography and read 300 pages in 2 days no problem..that was leisure speed honestly...

More appreciation for colors and beauty as well...

I agree it allows me to be more objective, I am using this to help me reduce the JARGON in my discussion with people so that

a) I do not come off as pompous
b) I can relate more
c) I can make better friends
d) can talk to people easier
e) not perceived as an asshole
f) help people understand me better
g) understand others better

whereas in 2009 when I first started taking it I used it for (evil) to increase intellect and display that to others...ego ego ego

also meditation is increased in effectiveness I think simply because of this objective viewpoint aniracetam helps me attain...

oooooookay enough with beating this dead horse

[AmericanEmpire]

I never experienced any visual problems on aniracetam...adderall definitely makes me see floaty things in my eyes and makes my eyes twitch...i find meditation and staring at somethign intently oftentimes makes my eyes water and shake...but that continuing my concentration practice improves this....


also i am going to say this because it is important


aniracetam should be used for long periods of time if you want the real good gains...from what I have read 4 months is where you really see results, 6 months is creme de la creme, for me I appreciate it and the longer I use it the more I understand about it.

[Geoffrey]

I don’t feel I can vote because I’ve been taking Aniracetam on and off with mixtures of Piracetam and Oxiracetam for about three months. However, I can definitely confirm that Aniracetam, even at ridiculously small doses for me (20mg-50mg, but this was once my system had already been "primed" by several days of 400mg of Piracetam nightly), has a strong effect on my visual system and on mood. Visually the whole world looks brighter, and I find my eyes drawn irresistably to shiny objects and light. Sometimes it’s so intense that it hurts, not in my eyes, but in my brain, so that I have to force myself not to look at detail, because it’s overwhelming. As I said, this is Ani on top of Piracetam, the latter taken at night (because it makes me so sleepy). Some days I would take small doses of Oxi instead, and this enhances sound rather than vision. Taking them both together, but reducing the dose, is interesting in piling up the effects, but I really would cut back the dose drastically in that case, as too much just causes brain fog and a stupid spaced-out mental paralysis.

None of these substances help me to concentrate, except perhaps in the minutest of doses, because the effect of them is rather "distracting". They also create a ringing in my ears which I don’t have when I stop for a few days. The ringing, which is like a mild tinnitus, seems to stem from increased bloodflow, or possibly from potentiation of hearing pathways which no longer have a physical input? (High frequencies that decline over the age of 30 or so.) Just a guess.

Aniracetam is a wonderful thing if you’re going for a walk some place where there are trees and vistas of clouds. It's not so good for sitting at a computer trying to concentrate on work, although it lifts my mood slightly. Making me happy and relaxed is not ideal if I have work pressure and deadlines to meet! I suggest procrastinators don’t take this stuff. If your line of work is creative, though, especially visual creativity, then it could at the very least be interesting.

Several times I’ve had to stop for a few days because something builds up, even on small doses, and beyond a certain point it stops feeling pleasant. I get side-effects of lethargy, and sometimes a completely drained feeling. When I get into this state, Piracetam at night leaves me feeling unrefreshed in the morning and wanting to sleep all day, whereas before Piracetam simply enhanced my dreams at night. For days after I stop taking the Pir/Ani/Oxi combo, the effects will continue, intensifying at unpredictable times of day, as if another reservoir of accumulated concentrations of them had been "released" into my bloodstream. At times I thought my brain had been permanently altered, and I wanted it to go away, but it does go away slowly with time.

I really think these substances need more study in humans. It’s not at all clear what they’re doing to the brain. I wouldn’t want this neuron-enhanced perception to become a permanent state. The only analogy I can think of is something like turning up the pre-amp on the neuron inputs. They’re probably not meant to function at this level of excitation for long.

So I think Ani and family are fine for medium-term use, but I would be wary of long-term without a break, as it could seriously distort your sense of reality, priorities, etc.

[manic_racetam]

I've noticed some changes in the way aniracetam affects me. I bought a 100g bag and ingested it within a 30 day period with dosages ranging from 1.5g to 5g per day. I was interested to revisit my mind-state previously experienced in early 2011 to see if when the mania occurred if nefiracetam would relieve it or not. The weird thing was that those effects I had previously experienced never occurred.

It's like aniracetam's effect has completely changed for me and it seems drastically different.

In the past @ 750mg BID, it would take about a week for the full on intense introspection and seemingly increased speed of thought to take effect. Now, even at much higher sustained dosages it just seems to increase energy levels, improve dream intensity and make clarity of vision and color saturation pretty intense. Almost works like a stimulant for me now rather than a looped introspection machine.

There are a few things that come to mind as possible reasons for these differences in effects. The one that seems to make the most sense to me is that at the beginning of 2011 my brain was just recovering from about a decade of heavy alcohol use. I likely had some brain damage from the substance abuse and I'm guessing that my damaged brain reacted differently than my now healthier brain.

I was always confused reading reports about people saying that ani increased their energy levels and worked as a pre-work-out supplement for motivation and higher energy levels. But it seems to have that effect on me these days. And I've noticed no mania or bizarre incantations spewing from my hands LOL.

Could it be that my brain damage has been effectively healed to some sort of threshold level? I'll have to go back in my journal and see what else I was taking at the time but it's weird stuff.

[Darkat]

I took aniracetam for around 5 weeks, starting at 750mg and then stepping up to 1250mg after 2 weeks. At first, it was really quite good - increased concentration; anti-anxiety and able to remember long lost memories (nowhere near as good as oxiracetam in this respect though).
However, after 5 weeks I noticed that it seemed to be increasing anxiety and I also had palpitations within half an hour of taking it. I now use nefiracetam as my main racetam - no side effects as yet, very good anti-anxiety and good increase in focus/concentration. I still use aniracetam every now and again to have a few days break off nefiracetam.

Edited by Darkat, 09 February 2013 - 11:11 AM.

[chris106]

I was always confused reading reports about people saying that ani increased their energy levels and worked as a pre-work-out supplement for motivation and higher energy levels. But it seems to have that effect on me these days. And I've noticed no mania or bizarre incantations spewing from my hands LOL.

Could it be that my brain damage has been effectively healed to some sort of threshold level? I'll have to go back in my journal and see what else I was taking at the time but it's weird stuff.

That's an interesting theory, Manic!

It would be interesting to see if others, who report Ani not to work or even make them drowsy, are curently still in a state of "brain recovery" as well. I for one had been taking Ritalin and Amphetamines (the latter just for a few months, luckily) prior to trying Noots.
And while I probably don't have a really severe case of brainfog and demotivation compared to some others on this board, my brain is most definetely still recovering from the Stims and receptor-downregulation... And as you would figure, Ani doesn't do shit for me right now, except making me feel very weird and out of it.

That being said, I think more poeple should add their history with substances in regards to how the racetams work for them - maybe there's more of a pattern than the usual explanation that "everyone has a unique brain-chemistry".....