7 replies to this topic

[Absolution]

Hi all,

I've been delving into nootropics for a year, starting with the likes of ginkgo & ginseng and now starting a regimen with all four (primary) racetams and several other light - moderate level nootropics. Here I'll review my experiences and post updates as I try new things.

About me: 19 yo male, likely have undiagnosed aspergers/add. I suffer from poor self control, slight speech issues, some social anxiety and awkwardness. All of which has improved as I've gotten older. I used to have issues with attention but that's all but cleared itself up with age and nootropic use. I'm very ambitious but my poor self control has hindered me from reaching those goals. I've delved into nootropics to deal with the aforementioned issues and to aid in my educational aspirations - to increase productivity and social relations.


Racetams:

Piracetam 1-4 grams: Been taking it for a couple months. I've had what seems to be the standard experience with it - sights, music, dreams are better, slightly better recall, enhanced verbal fluency and mental stamina to tackle difficult things such as math. 4-7 days after I stop taking it my head gets ''poopy'' - nothing major just a slight annoyance as my brain isn't quite operating on the same level. Kinda hard to go wrong with something so cheap and harmless. I just scoop caps into the bag, usually netting 900mg.

More to come

Edited by Absolution, 10 June 2012 - 05:30 PM.

[Heraclitean]

Interesting, keep us updated on your progress.

Could you disclose what other "light-moderate" level nootropics you are using?

Also, what was your experience with Ginkgo-Ginseng? It was also my "gateway" to the nootropic world ha!

All the best.

[Absolution]

It seems that I cannot continue editing my first post... so I guess this will have to be a scattered mess, instead.

Before I mention what else I'm using, I should specify what I mean by ''light to moderate''. Light by my definition is something that many might not consider a nootropic - such as the aforementioned ginkgo and ginseng. Heavy would be the hardcore drugs such as adderall, modafinil, maybe Prami. Everything else falls in as moderate.

So, the Ginkgo and Ginseng. It would be about a year ago that I first tried them. Funny, back then I felt as if I was going hardcore trying those out! I went with 500mg American Ginseng and 120ng ginkgo. The ginkgo def. helped with my attention span a little bit. On the ginseng I did start to feel the ''adaptogen stamina'' effect about a week in. On days that I would have been exhausted after a long day, I still had that spring in my step. Boundless energy, it seemed, at times. Overall, while very mild, I benefitted from taking them!

There are a few ''nootropics'' that proceeded the G & G. A multi, EPA/DHA, green shakes royal jelly, and grape seed extract. But the G&G were the first things I took with something other than just nutrition in mind - the first herbal supps I took.

I can see where this is going to be nice. While I've spent countless hours researching nootropics the past year on this and other forums, this is the first time I've joined one. It'll be nice to discuss these things with people - family & friends gave minimal interest in gearing about it. I've found that detailed accounts on nootropic experience is priceless when digging around for info on stuff, and now I can contribute my experience for other people.

I'll go into detail as I go along, but here's a list of my regime as it stands right now.

Drugs:

Piracetam
Aniracetam
Oxiracetam
Pramiracetam
Pyritinol


Psychoactive herbals & supps:

Rhodiola
Bacopa
Guarana
Theanine
Tyrosine
Taurine
Lion's mane


Nutrition support & cellular metabolism

GPC
Alcar
Grape seed extract
Ginkgo
Creatine
Royal Jelly
CoQ10


Base nutrition:

Green Vibrance
Rainbow Vibrance
EPA/DHA
B complex
Primarily organic diet with healthy amount of fat & protein

Some of it (Pyritinol, Ani, creatine, alcar, q10) I'm waiting on it to ship or will order next paycheck. I'll give accounts on everything, in due time : )

Edited by Absolution, 11 June 2012 - 04:08 AM.

[Absolution]

So after a couple months on the piracetam I recently decided to give the others a go. I got oxi & Prami first and took them for a few days together - I haven't tried them seperate yet. I got a strong response from them and can only guess which is causing which effects.

For one, I felt a sort of stimulation... an restless agitation almost. Slightly annoying, but usefull as I'll often choose to take a nap rather then doing something productive. This sort of agitation is usefull for just that, as it makes me want, need to do something. I'm guessing this is from the oxi.

Two, my mind kept going, even at a relaxed state... As if a motor in my head kept going when normally it would slow down when I'm not doing anything intellectually stimulating. This plays hand in hand with the aforementioned effect. This too, I think is he oxi.

Three, one of the most interesting that happens, is that I find myself analyzing everything
strongly. Example, normally when I see a bird, I just don't think much of it. In this case, I take note of it's colors, stride, shape, what's it doing here, have I seen this type of bird before, where it's probably headed... and this plays into anything, resulting in a greatly enhanced situational awareness. This I believe is an enhancement in a type of intelligence - problem solving and thinking outside the box to be exact. This effect is probably due to the Prami and likely has synergy with the first two effects I noticed.

I've definitely felt the increase in logic that many people have spoken of. It's as if the logic side of my brain is given a one up over the emotional side. This, for me, has huge potential... as it helps with my self control issues. It also helps me feel more comfortable and confident socially. The downside is that I do feel a sense of decreased emotion... not major though. Slightly irritable and easily annoyed. Emotions are there, just slightly dampered. Overall, however, this could be the biggest key to increasing my productivity. And, the emotion effect should be downplayed by things I have that improve my mood, such as rhodiola. These effects are probably the Prami.

Edited by Absolution, 14 June 2012 - 01:55 PM.

[Absolution]

Bacopa: one of my favorites, because it's so unique. It melts stress and tension away, relaxes me. This can be a bad thing though - when I take it early in the day I end up wasting it, sleeping half the time. It eats away motivation to where you're perfectly content just lounging around all day. Because it makes me sleepy when I already got enough sleep, I end up sleeping lightly in a meditative sort of way with vivid dreams. So all in all a very interesting herb!

I usually take it at night before bed, but I tried using it to counter the caffeine/oxi/pram stimulation and it worked out nicely. I felt calmer than I would without the bacopa, but the stimulation countered the sleepiness/ demotivation. I only did this once so idk how it'll go in future experiments.

[Absolution]

Rhodiola: arguably by favorite thing here. The first time I took it I got bad anxiety that only built up with taking it. Anxiety to the point that I couldn't sit down and focus on anything at times. The anxiety would peak a couple hours after taking, and a more mild form would linger later in the day. I got some theanine a week into this and it countered the problem.

With that problem gone the rhodiola would put me in a great mood. It... somehow motivates me to be more productive, a gentle tug in my mind addressing what needs to be done. Downside is that the rhodiola/ theanine will make me sleepy sometimes- and that counters the productivity, partially.

I no longer get the instant anxiety from rhodiola, just a great mood and a gentle push to be productive. A week or two into taking it I do get a built up anxiety effect - but it's more mild than the near panic attacks I had before. Really, it's just a matter of it getting harder to ignore my problems - and I need that.

For me, overall, Rhodiola = great mood & productivity!

Edited by Absolution, 18 June 2012 - 03:14 PM.

[Absolution]

I love caffeine. I take 900mg of gurana which is 200ng caffeine. Maybe the caffeine from gurana is absorbed more slowly? idk but it's caffeine regardless. I respond so well to it. I'm able to focus on something for hours when normally I'd burn out. The random bouts of sleepiness I get, even after I get plenty of sleep, are lessened. I'm more sociable, less timid, I'm able to focus on my speech more. It really is a miracle drug for me.

But, I'm afraid of building tolerance, so I avoid taking some more than a few times a week. Just last week, I took 3 200mg pills in 5 days, and I already started to feel like I needed it to function decent.

I'm hoping that because of my symptoms and response to caffeine, that I'll be able to get prescriptions for adderall and modafinil. I realize the problems adderall can cause so I'd only take it once a week.

The idea is to rotate stimulants to avoid tolerance/dependable. I have something like thin in mind:

Monday & Friday: Caffeine
Tuesday & Thursday: Modafinil
Wednesday: Adderall
Saturday & Sunday: Sulbutamine

Those experienced with these substances, feedback is appreciated. Do I have a good chance at getting the prescriptions, especially at such small amounts? Is this stimulant rotation a good idea? Thanks.

[Absolution]

Alright! Been a couple months. My plans kinda crumbled a bit when I lost one my jobs, when they closed. Once that happened my intentions were postponed/canceled. But as the school year is approaching I'm exploring my options. The original intention of this thread has perhaps derailed, but it's still a source to share my experiences regarding the topic.


PIRACETAM - Definitely working:

After losing my one job I decided to drop the racetams for a while, for financial and experimental purposes. Sure enough, the week following was rather annoying as my verbal fluency and social skills took a dive coming of the Piracetam. What amazed me, however, is how well I responded a month later coming back onto it. My job is socially oriented, giving instruction and corrections, teaching. Back on the Piracetam my creativity and verbal fluency on the job increased significantly.


COMBINING RACETAMS - Mixed resuts:

So far every time I've taken all 4 together dosage has been

Pira 1600mg
Ani 750mg
Oxi 900mg
Pram 400mg

On average anyways, all but the Ani I scoop up into capsules.

Effects in non study conditions have been mostly positive. I feel ''zoned in'' for typical day to day tasks, social confidence increased, speedy thoughts, more productive. Downside is some emotional blunting, and for the first hour or two a slight pressure in my head... and a sleepiness that is mild if I'm up and moving, in public, but severe if I'm sitting down at home, trying to concentrate on something. If that sleepiness sets in when I'm, say, sitting down doing math, it gets really severe and I can't focus on anything. I'm literally entranced into sleep. Meanwhile caffeine seems to help these negative symptoms greatly. The exception being difficult new math concepts. It's as if, while on the 4 racetams+caffeine, my mind is set on speedy auto pilot. Great for day to day tasks, boring things, non engaging education. But learning new math and other such things, t just doesn't work. I just get overwhelmed and can't grasp any new concepts. Mental fatigue sets in. My memory starts... malfunctioning. Concentration falters and I can't hold a conversation without stopping multiple times in a state of brain fog. Really negative experience, I don't plan on combining all four together anytime soon.

Negative effects or not, I still get the strong emotional blunting, kinda feel like a zombie. Probably the Pramiracetam that's responsible for that. My choline dosages have been 600mg GPC or 300mg GPC and 250mg CDP.