15 replies to this topic

[yomo]

I am very, very new to Nootropics...only just heard about all of this weeks ago. This site seems very informative and I hope someone can help me.

I just received my first bottle of Picamilon that I hope will help me with anxiety. My question is: What is the best way to split the dosage up? They are 100mg capsules and I would like to try 50mg twice a day. Should I empty it out into water, mix that up and only drink half in the morning, then half later? Will that change it's properties or anything staying in water? Or, is it better to invest in empty capsules, filling machine thing, scale, etc? Just looking for the simplest way to do this... Thanks for your help.

[enigma]

yomo,

Taking it in water wont change it's properties.

If Picamilon doesnt work for you, there is a whole host of nootropics which can help reduce anxiety.

Good luck.

[REGIMEN]

I would just take a single 100mg capsules in the morning for the first week or until you notice it wearing off mid day. You should be fine with 100mg outright, and then possibly and expectably up to two 100mg capsules a day(before breakfast then before lunch). The water trick you mentioned sounds like an excellent way to slowly and cautiously begin taking Picamilon at 50mg twice a day. Give it a try and proceed from there.

If you find this works for you still while getting near the end of your bottle of capped Picamilon, consider buying bulk powder and capping it yourself...but only then when you can be more sure of wanting to invest the time and money in this particular compound which should still be effective. The effects of most nootropics only "seem" to diminish over time, but what really happens is your brain reattenuates and what may seem like magic the first few days and weeks may become systemicly mundane...but still working nonetheless. Continue to socially and intellectually test your bounds even if this "weakening" occurs and you may find that you're still reaping benefits regardless of any perception of "tolerance".

If you decide to cap your own you'll realize that 100mg is difficult to encapsulate by itself so you'll need a "filler" powder to mix with the Picamilon. Consider mixing with Theanine, Bacopa, AlphaGPC, or any number of other items that you may come to find as helpful for your anxiety.

I personally would continue to research other compounds while trying what sounds like is a bottle of Picamilon you seem pretty sure about enough to have already bought. Try it out and continue learning. A few weeks isn't nearly enough time to have read up on all the backlogged threads here and at the brotelligently riddled forums of Avantlabs.

[spider]

Hello yomo,

The safest way to split your picamilon is to buy big empty capsules at your local health food store. The bigger the capsule, the easier it is to tip over the picamilon. Also, I recommend you to cycle every one to two months.

Other alternative 'drugs' to combat anxiety are phenibut and l-theanine. Phenibut should be cycled about every two weeks.

Combatting anxienty should be done in a multi-faceted approach. Try to do some kind of sport every day, eat healthy, improve your sex- and social-life, etc. I strongly belief that almost nobody has been cured from anxiety by taking drugs only. Drugs can give you a helping hand at best.

Good luck.

[yomo]

Thank you all very much for the good info. I have actually been taking the entire 100mg, twice a day. I found that mixing it with water was tricky because it didn't dissolve too good. And, it sounds like I would need to invest in some things to split the dosage.

As for the dosage, I still am not sure exactly what works. I read that 50mg is better for anxiety, and 100mg is more of a stimulant. Well, so far (and it's only been 3 days) taking the 100mg 2x a day is working well. It's always hard to know, because I actually have been changing other things in my life (far less alcohol, caffeine, better diet, etc.). But, I feel good, less anxious, less racing-type thoughts that can lead to high anxiety. Maybe for me 100mg twice a day is good (I always seem to need more of a dose of something for it to work).

liplex, very interesting what you have to say about the effects of nootropics. So are you saying I should continue with taking the picamilon everyday and not worry about taking any time off? Spider, you mentioned the cycling. Can you tell me, when you say cycle every one to two months, what does that mean? I was considering after a few weeks of using picamilon, I would try to just use it as-needed, or every other day, something like that.

I have tried L-theanine but didn't feel like it did anything. I have also started taking Inositol, Taurine and B-6 as well as B-complex. I know there are other things like you mention, phenibut. Maybe if I read a lot of good about that I'll try it as well. But, like you said, I agree that simply taking these nootropics, or vitamins won't do it by itself. But, just doing calming breathwork or whatever didn't do it for me either. Just have to find the right combo of everything and stick with it.

[REGIMEN]

Now this is just from my own personal experience, that it seems my body/brain gets used to the "ramped up" elements of some nootropics which may mellow out yet still imparts the main benefits of the drugs. Kind of like what could be assumed to be the ability of a weightlifter after using a "strength increasing" drug...they would feel "stronger" and capable of objective weight lifting gains of let's say 40 kilos... then beyond that weight they are less able to lift more than that but their gained ability to lift that extra 40 kilos is still engrained into there biological self, not lost just because there is no perceived "upward zoom" in ability. A bit tricky there...not the best analogy to format this concept to but I hope you catch my drift. Maybe,...like you notice how fast you're driving being defined by the extent of incident bug explosion...at first you notice theyre going of bigger with more colorful spills and splats when you accelerate to a higher velocity plateau, but then...hmm...you drive into an area without these "bugstacles" to gage by yet you're still going just as fast as the speed you increased to that made bugs splat bigger. The "drugs" remove the "bugs". Alright...

I'm really not in a position to say that there is no such thing as actual tolerance so take my opinion as you will. Go ahead and try another 50-100mg if the Picamilon feels like it's wearing off. I know personally that more doesn't really help here...just causes overstimulation...smeared my senses like bugs on a windshield and made me jittery(avoid smoking cigarettes while using Pica, too). But, maybe you're different. Really, I'm not pulling an a-hole posture here like I know anything better than anyone else. Just be careful.

[spider]

"Can you tell me, when you say cycle every one to two months, what does that mean? " (yomo)

This means that after you've used picamilon everyday for 1 or 2 months, you'll need to take a break for 1 or 2 months.

"I was considering after a few weeks of using picamilon, I would try to just use it as-needed, or every other day, something like that. " (yomo)

I think that picamilon is not suitable for a as-needed-usage, because for me personally it takes at least a few days to get the full effect of picamilon. But, if you decide to take it as needed, then you won't need to cycle it.

[yomo]

Ok, thanks. I guess I need to just experiment with what works or doesn't work. I'm guessing that during the off month the Picamilon maybe would still be having an effect? I also wonder why you say 1 or 2 months rather than 1 or 2 weeks on, then off. Is there even an exact science to all of this, or is it just better to experiment? As you can see I have many questions about this... but I think I just need to continue to research and see what works best for me. I do worry about the possibility of anxiety coming back worse after stopping though...I read that somewhere on here. Also, I was thinking of taking Kava in between when I'm not taking Picamilon (or possibly when I am taking it still). Anyone know if this ok??

[enigma]

I strongly belief that almost nobody has been cured from anxiety by taking drugs only. Drugs can give you a helping hand at best.

Im not too sure about that, I estimate that I have worse anxiety than most people, perhaps worse than 80% of people. When I take Rhodiola, I think I have less anxiety than 80%. But, Rhodiola isnt the strongest. Based on my personal experience and the observations I have made of others, I would say that Phenibut is capable of utterly stifling anxiety in most. In a high dose, Phenibut seems to exhibit a notable negative effect on reasoning, but in a low dose, this effect is not apparent, but possibly still present (again, only based on experience and observations). Because of this, I would say Phenibut is probably not ideal for anxiety, but to me it has served to prove that yes, certain drugs are certainly capable of alleviating anxiety to a great extent. Some drugs might be more valuable than gold to sufferers of severe anxiety, maybe much more than "a helping hand at best"

[spider]

"I also wonder why you say 1 or 2 months rather than 1 or 2 weeks on, then off. " (yomo)

One to two weeks has to be considered as a maximum, so making cycles of one or two weeks is also good.

"Also, I was thinking of taking Kava in between when I'm not taking Picamilon " (yomo)

I've tried two different brands of Kava Kava and noticed absolutely nothing. Also, Kava is almost never mentioned on this forum. But Ray Sahelian, who is a M.D., has written the book Kava: The Miracle Anxiety Herb and claims it works very effectively. So, for you to decide.

[spider]

"When I take Rhodiola, I think I have less anxiety than 80%. " (enigma)

Wow, this is very impressive. I'm happy for you that Rhodiola Rosea works so very well. I like Rhodiola Rosea too, but I think not many people have experience the same spectacular effects like you have.

"certain drugs are certainly capable of alleviating anxiety to a great extent" (enigma)

Yes, I agree. For example, Valium is capable of alleviating anxiety, but at what costs? I mean the anxiety is finally alleviated, but the person in question is still not able to function because of slow cognition. And, there are even more serious side-effects when taking anti-anxiety drugs.

[yomo]

I wonder why that is, that Kava is hardly mentioned. I have heard a lot of good things about it, and I know of Dr. Sahelian as well. There is a lot of fear about it, but I think used minimally it can be good--according to Dr. S. and others. And I do think brands have a lot to do with if it works well or not. Also, I think it takes more than is recommended on the bottle to have an effect.

I have tried Rholiola as well and didn't get anything out of it. Maybe I did not take enough or take it for a long enough time. I wonder if brands have a lot to do with the efficacy of that also. But, maybe some just work better for other people.

[xanadu]

I've tried kava though only a few times. It does work, no doubt about that at all. If yours didn't work it was likely in the form of a capsule bought at a health food store. I've heard from many people who use kava that they tried the capsules with no effect but when they tried the ground root, it worked. Don't waste your time or money on capsules from GNC or the like. It's a lot more work to make a cold infusioni from the root than to pop a pill and americans are trained to go the pill route but the traditional way of making a drink is about the only way. Now having said that, I have to admit that there are one or two sources of extracted kavalactones (active ingredients in kava) that will work. I'm not sure if we are supposed to mention sources in this forum and I haven't ordered any but I hear on the grapevine that a couple places do have the real thing in capsule or resin form. You won't see it in gnc however.

I tried phenibut recently and it's good stuff, IMO. It seems like a long lasting valium. While on it I tried balancing on one foot and my balance was about as good as average. I took only about 900 to 1000mg for my first time. I would not use it everyday because I don't like drugs that make you dopey though the dopeyness was minimal. Since it's tollerance forming I'd only use it as needed. BTW, does anyone know a good source in bulk? I tried the sources listed, tried google and froogle but everyone is out except one or two high priced items. PM me if you can't post the source. Thanks.

I'm growing rhodiola but haven't tried it yet.

[spider]

I wrote: "One to two weeks has to be considered as a maximum, so making cycles of one or two weeks is also good. "

[glasses]

Oops! Of course I meant: One to two MONTHS has to be considered as a maximum, so making cycles of one or two weeks is also good. [wis]

"I wonder if brands have a lot to do with the efficacy of that also. " (yomo)

Make sure to buy standardized supplements. To give you an example, I always buy this standardized Rhodiola Rosea:

5.4-6.6% total rosavins, including 3.6-4.4% rosavin and 0.9-1.1% salidrosides.

"But, maybe some just work better for other people. " (yomo)

Yes, this is true. It is said that this has something to do with the unique biochemical system of each individual.

[spider]

"If yours didn't work it was likely in the form of a capsule bought at a health food store. I've heard from many people who use kava that they tried the capsules with no effect but when they tried the ground root, it worked. " (xanadu)

I've tried Kava from very respected brands, both standardized, and, if I remeber correctly, one of these two contained grinded root. Nevertheless, zero effects.

Can you tell us which brand you specifically recommend?

[xanadu]

spider, you haven't said if you used capsules or made the cold infusion drink. I would wager it was caps or something similar. I am not a regular user of kava and the last batch I bought was off ebay. I'm just saying that you need to make it from the root and as far as I know, the capsules you get from stores are bogus. I've heard from people who took up to 50 caps without getting effects. To make a drink you need a mininum of a tablespoon of ground root. As for brands, there is a website called kava kowii but I'm not sure of the spelling. It may be kavakauwi.com but probably isn't. Another good one I've heard of is "kick back with kava". You can get the real stuff from hawaii and some of the islands where they grow it. The natives have been using it for centuries and I'm quite sure it's not just the placebo effect. It's possible to really get drunk on the stuff. There is a kava bar about 40 miles from where I live. I doubt it would be in business if the stuff didn't work. When I tried it it was a nice mellow feeling. I've been meaning to try it again, I have some in the fridge. Do a google search on google and you'll find tons of info.