Hey guys,
haven't been posting much or involving myself too much in discussion here recently so I apologize for that.
Just kinda rudely pokin my head in here.
I hope you guys have been doing swell,
and won't mind me mentioning that I've been having some success with guanfacine for ADHD.
However, not at doses regularly perscribed by a doctor.
I think the doses they perscribe are 0.5mg up to 4 mg and even 8 mg sometimes. I will detail my dosage in a minute...
Some people say guanfacine is the opposite of a nootropic and it dumbs them down.
I disagree- I find it helps me focus without causing much for negative side effects. It also appears to be enhancing my memory (both imprinting and recall)- particularly if I try to remember.
However the dosage I use for this has been converted from a rhesus monkey study into a human dose, rather than using what's regularly perscribed to a human.
0.0015 mg per kg
in rhesus monkey would be
0.000486486486486486486486486486486
in human. . . .
per kg.
x 66 kg (my weight)
=0.03 mg
Dissolving powdered guanfacine (pure) into distilled water and using a dropper to dose.
My dropper:
dropper= 1 mg per mL
5 drops per 0.25 ml
meaning 1 divided by 20
=0.05 mg .
So I'm using about the same dosage as the monkey.
But why use this dosage, you say?
Because I found that 0.25 mg of guanfacine and anything above that causes too many side effects.
The side effects are- depressive mood swings, worsened insomnia , clouded mind and, it's almost actually bordering on this wierd half awake/half asleep psychotic kind of symptom which is hard to describe.
I decided going down to that super low dosage was reasonable because it works to enhance a monkey's memory and attention, and is mostly side effect free for me. (well, not 100%, but it's to a point where the benefits exceed the side effects). I'm also under the impression that I'm building up the levels of guanfacine in my blood day by day and helping maintain an effect while combatting any tolerance, since it's half life is 17 hrs, though I am not sure if this would actually translate into my brain still being under effect of whatever guanfacine has already been metabolised from the previous day.
Problems:
- I haven't objectively measured attention and memory. I've simply noticed that on the days of dosing guanfacine, I am able to recall song names, album names, artists names and sounds for songs. Usually I can remember the sound if it starts playing, but with guanfacine I can actually take multiple points of data, remember them and tie them together and if I remember one thing, it cascades into the other memories that were imprinted.
It is also easier to focus on one task and get lost in doing it, rather than becoming bored and giving up.
It hasn't cured all ADHD symptoms but has made it easier to focus and take an interest in what I am doing.
At times it is easier to organize categories of information; seperate them into specific functions and then relate them together.
I would also say it is different than amphetamines in the sense that it is more subtle.
Also, although it's said that guanfacine shouldn't be motivating but only calming, it is actually motivating to some degree. Because you feel like you want to pursue your interests due to this new found mental ability, and you feel more confident that you can actually complete a task.
Anyway thought anyone curious about that or with interest would consider, hypothetically, that this dosage might work if other dosages haven't turned out well for them, due to side effects or comorbid disorders.
I have also taken a lot of nootropics over the years and I'd say most of them didn't work out for me, but guanfacine works better than those for me personally.
Edited by protoject, 04 July 2013 - 05:22 PM.
