Brain Pump: Sarguy plays with various nootropics...

sarguy

Member
As a means of handling life (school, work, volunteer work, and a divorce), I've taken to experimenting with nootropics to make my school time more efficient. I've been playing with several different Racetams over the last few months, and I thought I'd share my thoughts and experiences on each. I will add to this log as I change the nootropic I'm taking.

What I've taken thus far:

Aniracetam (From two different suppliers)
Phenylpiracetam
Noopept
Pramiracetam

Based upon recommendations of other sites that deal heavily with these supplements, I've been taking Alpha-GPC (cdp choline early on), Sulbutiamine, and fish oil at the same time. I also supplement w/ Mg, Melatonin, and GABA before bed.

My diet: Paleo+limited dairy, such as a bit of cheese on my chili and the occasional Quest bar.
Other supplementation:
PES-sponsored run of Alphamine, Shift, Erase-Pro, to be followed by a Run of AT-2 and Anabeta Elite.
 
Early Days

I began this due to the above-mentioned stressors in my life, not to mention the fact that I have ADHS (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Squirrel!!) and I'm taking 30mg of generic adderall a day, which doesn't seem to help all that much. After listening to a podcast with Dave Asprey, who talked about using aniracetam with a choline source and some Bulletproof coffee, I decided to give it a whirl.

My first run was Aniracetam from Asprey's site, CDP-choline (based on recommendations from Rob Regish), and Bulletproof Coffee.

Review to come shortly.
 
Saved for Ani/cdp/BP coffee
 
I tried Aniracetam/GPC/and sulbutiamine from a vendor on ebay. I ordered a month's worth of each, got a package discount, and went about my merry way.

Effects of this stack on train of thought: I talk more with this stack. Not that I'm not already talkative enough, I just happen to notice that I feel a bit more "brainstormy" or prone to "Hey, what about this idea?" It's been interesting, especially in comparison to life without this, or in comparison to noopept, where I'm trying to get rid of intrusive thoughts. With Aniracetam on board, the intrusive thoughts come, but I don't care, and they seem to be somewhat related to what I'm doing (versus doing chart review at work and then suddenly wondering when Jupiter will transit).

Stimulant effects: Not really any that I can tell. I tried a few days of just Ani/gpc with and without Adderall, and there seems to be no stimulant effect here. I can take some, work for an hour or two, and then sleep just fine. I also tried the sulbutiamine independently and in concert, and same thing, no stim sensation.

Effects on motivation: Depends on the task. If I have to write a paper, the brainstorm qualities are helpful, but when I comes to doing chemistry or math, I found no benefit. If anything, the brainstorming ended up being a distraction, which was frustrating.

Side effects: none to speak of. I even double dosed the aniracetam a few times, which did seem to marginally increase its effectiveness, but I got no headaches or sensory overload.

Overall, it's not a bad stack. I'm finding that I'm not a hyper-responder for the racetam family of drugs, which kind of bums me out. Still, I keep some around just in case I have writer's block. (Placebo effect may very well be at hand now that I have some expectations for this stack. But considering the cost, I don't really care, so long as I get my papers written.)
 
Saved for PP
 
After a few hiccups, I've finally been able to evaluate Liftmode's Noopept. Due to the small physical size of the dose, I initially attempted to place it under my tongue and wash it down with water. The taste didn't agree with me, so I ended up capping it.

Stimulant effects: None to speak of, which may be due to my tolerance for stimulants. I used it in conjunction with caffeine and with adderall as mentioned above, but felt no additional "stim" feeling. I actually prefer that.

Effects on train of thought: I noticed that once I was into the material (Organic chemistry, in this case), it was easier for me to "grok" the concepts involved. I felt rather motivated to draw things out more than I usually do. I didn't however, prevent the intrusive thoughts that still plague my studies.

Effects on motivation: Sadly, I didn't feel like taking this compelled me to sit down and memorize the ACS manual or anything nutty like that. But there may be some level of placebo effect in play, as when I take a supplement aimed at a particular task, I am more likely to do the task because I'm "ready", so to speak. So NP, as with others, helped me initiate homework and studying.

Focus: I did feel like I had better focus, in the sense that I was able to return to my task more quickly than I might otherwise, once intrusive thoughts or tangents rear their ugly head. On the down side, sensory input that's unrelated to my task became quite annoying, to the point that I started to get grumpy. This is perhaps a drug best suited for me to use in a study group, where the noise of my group would drown out other activities.

Side effects: I did note a mild headache that appeared pretty consistently with Noopept. I paired it with alpha-gpc to make sure I wasn't low on choline, but that didn't seem to reduce it.

Overall, I'd use it if I had more, it does seem to assist my focus and train of thought, but the headaches are annoying.

One final note, Liftmode's product was packaged quite nicely, and the service from their owner, Mark, has been very prompt.
 
If you take 30mg of generic adderall a day, you can´t rate the effect of you nootropic stack seriously...
Fail experimet
 
Sonntag said:
If you take 30mg of generic adderall a day, you can´t rate the effect of you nootropic stack seriously...
Fail experimet
Click to expand...

First, my experiences, as well as empirical data from other users on nootropic-oriented forums (LC, BPE) goes against what you're saying. Second, you are welcome to disagree, but if you don't provide data or at least a cogent thought, I won't take your argument very seriously. Third, dismissing my log as "Fail experimet (sic)" makes you come off as a massive tool. At the risk of being presumptuous, I will simply hazard that you are having a bad day and have started off on the wrong foot. It's up to you to prove or disprove my assessment of your character.

In regards to said dosage of Adderall, like I said, it's not all that effective. Thus, I'd rather not be taking it at all. To further clarify my experiments, I tried each nootropic with the accompanying supplementation WITHOUT adderall for a few days, and again WITH adderall for a few days.
 
Definitely interested for the results on this one! I have tried a few of these and will post some of my results after you give your review! Don't want to spoil the fun or effect the outcome.
 
OHlympia said:
Definitely interested for the results on this one! I have tried a few of these and will post some of my results after you give your review! Don't want to spoil the fun or effect the outcome.
Click to expand...

I just hope hes still going to give the reviews it has been a bit since he posted the original thread
 
I'm back. Sorry for the delay; not long after I posted this I began to prep for the ACS chemistry exam, and the nuttiness of the end of that semester rendered this post completely forgotten. I updated a couple of posts, and since then have tried some others, with reviews to follow.
 
Oxiracetam/Alpha GPC

I tried this stack after researching LC for different racetams. Seeing reports that people found music to be more "rich", I elected to by a small amount to see how it would work for a "lecture day" stack.

Oxiracetam is a water soluble racetam, so I took it well before breakfast (often eggs and bacon) to let it absorb. The taste isn't horrible, but I've just taken to capping just about everything after a bad run-in with pramiracetam (more on that later).

Stimulant effects: None to speak of, considering my tolerance to stimulants.

Effects on focus/train of thought: The main effect of oxiracetam does seem to center around auditory input. It does little to obliterate intrusive or wandering thoughts. Taking it before lecture brought about a "harshness" effect, in which my biochem professor's voice seemed a bit grating. It was certainly easy to pay attention thanks to the novel sound quality, but it didn't seem to enhance recall of the subject matter.

Side effects: The enhanced auditory richness can be handy in the right setting, but sounds are all too often distracting to me, and I found myself frustrated by the new level of intrusiveness that sounds became. Another unanticipated factor is that despite being water soluble, oxiracetam lasted quite a while, making sounds at work rather unappealing.

I only got through about two weeks worth of oxiracetam. I'd be interested in trying it with music that I enjoy, but the length of action doesn't really make me want to start another day-long round of jarring sounds, just to listen to an album or two.
 
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