Posted 27 January 2006 - 07:13 PM
My feeling, after using piracetam for a long period and also reading a good deal about its effects and many user reports, is that piracetam is an example of a drug that makes very apparent the importance of carefully complementing one's neurochemical makeup, instead of getting excited over a hasty reading of the effects list and hoping for similar results. I was guilty of this myself, but eventually came to find that my natural disposition, behaviorally-neurochemically speaking, is highly acetylcholine dominant. While I believed I was experiencing slight enhancement after longterm use, I eventually ceased use and found that my focus and clarity improved, with no detriment whatsoever to my verbal facility. The piracetam and choline synergism, in my opinion, is best recommended to those whose neurochemical profiles are low in acetylcholine. If you try to augment your greatest strength, you could be inviting interference instead of improvement.
That having been said, if I were to start my nootropic journey anew knowing what I know now, I would have spent all the time I devoted in the beginning to drooling over different noops and their purported effects searching out my own neurochemical profile, psychological characteristics, difficulties and goals. I would combine all of this information to gain a comprehensive understanding of where you are now in terms of mentality and where you want to go. But it is absolutely imperative, in order to achieve success and also to avoid side effects and interference, that you give your own mental state an unflinching examination and learn to the best of your ability your natural disposition.
You may think this sounds overcautious, as I would have when my initial excitement urged me on, but I'm not so much warning against harm, for indeed, most of the substances now termed nootropics you will run across are, compared to pharmaceuticals, relatively benign even when they don't agree with you. I am speaking to achieving optimal brain states with a more measured approach as opposed to time-consuming trial and error.
E.g, Two nootropic neophytes want to improve their "focus". One Is Gaba dominant and has problems with maintaining vigilance, the other is acetylcholine and is too often distracted by anxiety and digressive thoughts to pay attention. If both of them reach for piracetam because it is purported to enhance "focus", only one might reap its benefits. The acetylcholine dominant person is likely to do more harm than good. If, however, the acetylcholine dominant person had a good understanding of his personal weakness in terms of focus - mainly that he cannot turn down the noise long enough to focus- he might instead reach for some L-theanine or Rhodiola Rosea and, in so doing, increase his focus by tweaking his unique mentality until optimized. There are a great deal of substances available cheaply, and there is a respectable amount of research and insight into their usage and effects lying around. Any time you spend developing a picture of your own mental jigsaw and a knowledge of the various pieces, will be repaid tenfold down the line when you are able to make clean fits the first time around.
