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My nootropic retrospective

modafinil coluracetam kava noopept aniracetam depression anxiety

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#1 toto75015

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Posted 26 July 2014 - 10:07 AM


Hi there,

 

it's been a while since I didn't post a message.

 

Here is a summary of my experience with different nootropics in order to fight depression and anxiety symptoms and the different things I discovered in the 4 past years. The experiment is still ongoing. Any comment is very welcome.

 

Background:

 

I'm in my early 40's. I deal with a depression since my early 20's. The degree of my depression varied through the years, but even when it was bearable and compatible with a social and professional life, it was still there and present. 4 or 5 years ago, I was searching alternative solutions to classical antidepressants, in order to recover some stamina and clarity of mind. This is when I discovered the nootropics and this forum. During my journey, I found that not only nootropics and supplements could help with brain function, but also could impact depression and anxiety. 

 

Past experience with nootropics and supplements:

 

I experimented with different supplements with various results:

 

  • piracetam
    • I didn't felt any noticeable effect, so I stopped after finishing a bottle. May be it was fake, or may be I didn't took enough (I took doses of 1.6g)
  • aniracetam
    • anxyolitic and stimulating effect at 750mg/1500mg. I loved this one, and was totally amazed at first. Unfortunately after one or two month I started to feel uncomfortable with my daily dose, the anxiolitic effects were not so present and then I stopped. 
  • oxiracetam
    • I felt some effects, but I was not comfortable with them... I didn't like how I felt and I stopped.
  • picamilon
    • felt not much, I stopped
  • noopept
    • very noticeable effects. On this one I was able to be a lot more efficient at work. My mind was clear, and I could dealt with my software challenges (architecting, developing, bugfixing...) with a lot of success. Unfortunately after some times, I became aggressive on it, and I started to develop bad headaches, and I think I also had elevated blood pressure. May be it was related to the fact that I never was able to accurately dose my intake. I was eyeballing the powder and I think I took doses ranging from 60 to 100mg which is high. Another side effects was that noopept diminished my libido a lot and also the intensity of the orgasms. One day I woke up and I was not able to see with one of my eye (the left one if I remember well). I know that it was related to the side effects of noopept, since I had a strong headache on this side of my skull. One hour after I recovered, but it was really frightening. When the side effects became unbearable I stopped.
  • Theanine
    • significant effect on my anxiety level. I felt much more myself with theanine. This is when I experimented with this one that I noticed that my baseline anxiety level was not normal. Suffering from anxiety for 20 years it became part of my life and I couldn't be aware anymore that I was too much anxious. Taking theanine and being relieved from anxiety made me realize that by contrast. Unfortunately I built tolerance I think and so I stopped. Now the last couple of times I took theanine, I had similar reaction like when I'm in hypoglycemia. I don't know why.
  • Saint John's Wort
    • I tried powder, and then caps (perika). I definitely felt effects, but unfortunately I didn't felt comfortable. I was slow and my emotions were numbed... May be I don't respond well to serotoninergic drugs, or I never found the right dosage. I still plan to try again since I have some perika bottles remaining.
  • CILTEP stack
    • definitely felt the effects. At first I loved them, but I became overstimulated, and people at work started to think that I was on some drug, because I was so speedy and nervous. At some point I felt that my thyroid was being exhausted by this stack and I stopped... I think I will try it again but with various dosage to try to reach a better balance between stimulation and nervousness.
  • Selegiline
    • definitely noticeable effects... Unfortunately I never was consistent in my selegiline consumption, since I felt tired with 2.5mg or 5mg a day. I plan to reintroduce it in my stack in the future, I don't know exactly how.
  • Iodine
    • I've tested lugol solution. Noticeable effects, stimulating and calming at the same time... Consistent with the CILTEP effects wich also affect the thyroid, I'm now pretty sure that I should check my thyroid activity. I don't take iodine consistently though, because I'm afraid to mess with my thyroid with chronic intake. But from time to time I dose some lugol solution when I think I need iodine.

Current experiences with nootropics and supplements:

 

For a certain period I stopped all nootropics and I only took supplement like magnesium, b-complex etc. But I could still feel the anxiety and depression symptoms and the bad effects it had on my life (not being able to live at my full potential). So I started to document again, with new stuff to try. I'm focusing on finding a stack against anxiety. This is the list of substance I'm experimenting at this moment:

 

  • Modafinil
    • strange stuff! First time I took 100 mg I was flying: confidence, motivation, socialization, anti-anxiety... But after a few days all of this faded, and only the stimulation, clarity of mind and anti-fatigue remained. I found that I'm very sensitive to this drug, and if I took 100mg several days in a row, I'm being really wired in an uncomfortable and unnatural way. Nowadays I take 50mg on week days, nothing during the weekend. I'm still experimenting the dosage, but with 50mg I'm feeling that some subtle but deep anti anxiety effect is occurring in my brain. This week I discovered in this forum that Modafinil diminished the activity of the amygdala and I was not surprised. I know that amygdala is overdeveloped in people exposed to chronic stressful situation. I always was interested to find something to help me control the activity of my amygdala, and it seems that Modafinil may be one option. It's part of my current daily stack.
  • Kava Kava
    • strongest anti anxiety substance I ever tried. I don't abuse it, because the preparation takes time, but when I feel too much nervous, this is really efficient. You can physically and mentally feel it. I'm still planning to try new batches, since many different brands and variety exist. I actually consume Kava on week ends, because I'm afraid to appear "to cool" during my week days.
  • Coluracetam
    • So far the best racetam for me. It has anti anxiety in a cleaner way than aniracetam. And I don't feel any side effects, only good ones. I took 10mg two times a day, or sometimes 20mg in the morning (very noticeable effects) and then 10mg on the afternoon. It's part of my current daily stack.
  • Noopept in 10mg tabs
    • I reintroduced noopept, but this time in tabs to avoid improper dosing. First the effects were not very noticeable, but it builds up, and after one week you definitely feel it. But then after one month the sides like aggressiveness, lack of patience, or headache starts again. It was part of my daily stack, but I stopped it. I took 20 mg (10 in the morning, 10 in the afternoon). I think I will cycle it, since it definitely has benefits.

Conclusion, future plans and questions:

 

Recently I reached the conclusion that a significant problem in my life is excessive anxiety.

 

I'm not a neurologist, but I know that many of the problems related to anxiety and depression are related to some brain structures, like the amygdala and the hypocampus. When exposed to significant and chronic amount of stress, amygdala become overstimulated, and hypocampus shrinks. Correct me if I'm wrong.

 

I follow with attention the threads related to NSI-189. Since it targets hypocampus, I'm very interested in it. For the moment, I'm still waiting: no trusted source has been identified yet, and the drug is still being tested clinically. But I must resist the tentation to test it right now...

 

So I hope that my retrospective will be helpful to people of this community.

 

Here are some questions: I think that a combination of drugs to reduce amygdala activity on one side, and boost hypocampus on the other side could be a the ultimate stack.

 

Aside from Modafinil for amygdala and NSI-189 for hypocampus, do you know any other substance that could affect those brain structures? Do any of you has experience with synergetically targeting both amygdala and hypocampus in order to improve anxiety and depression?


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#2 brucebanner

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Posted 26 July 2014 - 11:57 AM

Nice (and sincere) post. I enjoyed reading that. Viva le Tour!

 

I've not had any luck with Kava Kava. I am using the KAVA KAVA 500mg 60 Capsules from http://biovea.net/uk...0mg-60-Capsules. I've tried taking three capsules - with one capsule three times a day being the recommend dose - and I have still not felt anything. I am waiting for the sublingual solution to arrive from the same company.

 

I definitely agree that Coluracetam has a better anti-anxiety effect than Aniracetam, and in my opinion, it also has a cleaner effect than Phenibut. Sunifiram and Coluracetam together are like magic, but it's probably not that safe. I've recently added Tianeptine from Ceretropic and do notice it's anti-anxiety effects, it's a bit more subtle than any of the ones I've just mentioned but it's effects are still present.


Edited by brucebanner, 26 July 2014 - 11:58 AM.


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#3 toto75015

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Posted 26 July 2014 - 01:51 PM

Hi Bruce.

I never tried kava capsules, I've heard that they are ineffective. Instead I tried powdered root. It takes some time to prepare (you have to mix, knead and filter), it tastes disgusting and the effects build up with time (it's said to have a reverse tolerance effect, ie the more you use it, the more you feel it). I've found that by using a fat source like olive oil and preparing an emulsion (ie mixing oil, water, kava and air fast enough so that you create a kind of cream) I get the most potent beverage. The first few times I tried the effects were barely noticeable so one day I mixed three tablespoons of dried root kava with one cup of water and half a cup of olive oil, used a mixer like when you prepare a mayonnaise then filtered the emulsion and when I drunk it, I was hit so strongly I couldn't believe. I felt so good! You should try it this way. There is an interesting blog if you want to find reviews of the different varieties of Kava, just type Kavasseur in a search engine and you'll find it.

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#4 noot_in_the_sky

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Posted 30 July 2014 - 03:24 PM

Have you concider pramiracetam?  Many of us have expirence a drop of emotions and anxiety.   Altough I don't if this is because of some effect on the amygdala.


Edited by noot_in_the_sky, 30 July 2014 - 03:25 PM.






Also tagged with one or more of these keywords: modafinil, coluracetam, kava, noopept, aniracetam, depression, anxiety

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