Piracetam for BiPolar and other mental illness -- Miracle Cure?

[bluedolphin]

So, a little background.

Both myself and my girlfriend have our share of what could be called "mental illness".

Mine came about 4-5 years ago, with symptoms of stress, general and social anxiety, deep depression, reckless behavior, excessive drug and alcohol use, insomnia, and so on. I was eventually evaluated and diagnosed "Bi-Polar II" after I had to drop out of my fifth year of college due to my condition. I was prescribed drugs including Trazadone, Ambien, and Lamictal. I found Trazadone gave me a shitty buzz before knocking me on my ass, and had no positive effects on my mood, instead making me more tired and depressed. Ambien was fun at first but ultimately useless. I never took the Lamictal after reading it's bizarre side effect profile. It was during this time that I became dependent on unprescribed benzos, especially Valium and Xanax. These drugs allowed me to sleep and deal with social situations. Much of the time I counteracted the sedation with a steady supply of unprescribed Adderall. And this is not to mention chronic Cannabis smoking and frequent use of psychedelics.

My girlfriend, who I hesitate to describe in much detail, well I'll just say that she has been diagnosed and prescribed here there and back again. Our mental condition has a lot in common, but I am three years older (25) and have had more time to reflect and heal.

Over the last three years since I finally quit benzos, left a long and destructive prior relationship, spent some time in the woods and got a steady job, I am mostly healed. Or, possibly, mentally more fit than I ever would have been otherwise.

But when I met the girl I now love completely, she was still on Seroquel, Topamax, and Ativan which were really dulling her life. She wanted to get off them and I was convinced it was possible if she had loving support, determination, and maybe I could show her a few things from my experience as somebody who "recovered", at least in great part, by my own will and changes in lifestyle.

To make a long story short, this has not been easy. There have been good times, there have been bad times, you know. Since my sense of wellbeing is now connected with hers, we find ourselves in a position where we are now really having to look out for each other as we look out for ourselves. Through this we have formed an incredible bond.

===This is where I get to the point...===

Piracetam was first discovered by me, oh, about 2004. I would take it with my Adderall to smooth the effects and give me an extra mental boost for class. Like, before I flunked outta college...

Fast forward to now. We have been through everything from fish oil to 5-HTP to vitamins to kava tea to every homeopathic style medicine. Greatly reducing alcohol intake. Regular ganja (works for me!) but only after the day's tasks are done. Going to the gym.

And you know all this stuff is great. But Piracetam is a miracle cure.

About three weeks ago we both have been regularly taking Piracetam. Myself usually in once a day 4000mg or so doses, sometimes with other dosing patterns though. She, I guess, has been taking similar doses.

For me, I have more positive energy, appreciation of daily life, much more stable mood, things don't bother me as much, more focus, and I feel more rational. I don't get wrapped up in negative thoughts. My sex drive has increased as well.

For her, it stops the "bad thoughts"... well I can't say in as much detail but she actually told me, "This Piracetam is saving my life". She is always her wonderful self when she takes the Piracetam and as a result our relationship is absolutely wonderful.

I am thinking about getting some Hydergine so maybe we can take lower doses with great effects.

Piracetam

 

[Newmoonrecord]

cool! . glad to hear you found a chemical that is able to help your life in such a positive way!

if you're thinking about hydergine, look up info on its serotonin agonist properties and cardiac fibrosis. i hate to sound like a downer and a broken record but, after reading about that stuff i stopped taking it. (it was cool though and made life sparkle, as if i had taken a quarter hit of weak acid).

if you dont mind telling did the fish oil help you?? ive recently started using it for depression and anxiety and it seems to be helping enormously

 

[Tryptamine*Dreamer]

I have also found piracetam to be helpful in reducing depression and maybe even anxiety, but it sounds like it is working much better for you than it is for me. It also looses its effectiveness if I take it for too long without a break. I do definitely notice increased energy when I use it.

Glad to hear it has worked so well for you and your girlfriend, Bluedolphin.

 

[Jabberwocky]

I am going through a bit of a rough phase in my life and piracetam I KNOW is helping me a lot. It really is a great chemical.

Of course, it doesn't substitute for exercising, eating right, staying hydrated, meditation, and correct regular (once a month) use of healing psychedelics (DMT, psilocin, LSD, etc).

It can help though. Its inspiring to hear your story though and I hope you do keep doing well with her.

peace and love friend,
S_S

 

[colors]

dolphin, did you experiment with methylphenidate?

i think of piracetam as 'instant nerd'. it eliminates that wild card from human nature. demolishes your soul's poker face. extroversion, verbosity, propensity to sum things up rank and file, and delude yourself into thinking that you're on to something.

has to be cycled to maintain perspective imho. it's ok. at least it's cheap.

 

[feelgoodhit]

wait... does piracetam really have the above side-effects? i suppose it's subjective, but if that's true, i don't want to be taking it. that's the reason i got off adderall...

 

[PARooolller]

I could've written the same post as the original poster...I know exactly what you 2 are going through...

I've been dosing a minimum of 1,600mgs of Piracetam every morning for 3 months, and it has actually changed my life...I'm more mentally alert, verbally articulate, and much much better during social situations...I'm a very healthy college student in his young 20's who definately feels that a nootropic like Piracetam has the ability to make an individual more cognitively complex......

Try stacking it with Choline...No need to take 4,000mgs...That's 5 of my 800mg pills.

 

[Tangalang]

Try stacking it with Choline...No need to take 4,000mgs...That's 5 of my 800mg pills.

Have you ever considered ordering the bulk powder? I find it's much more economical than using the pills. You could either gelcap them, or mix them in something like water or orange juice. I personally find the orange juice a great mask of the horrid Piracetam taste.

Oh, happy first post me. I've been lurking for a while..

 

[Newmoonrecord]

happy first post!

 

[Cthulhu]

An interesting article discussing (and cautioning against) piracetam/nootropics:

well guys......as a medical doc i have to say that you should be weary of both because ultimately they become a dependent factor for the physiological fnxn of the bod.....although nootopril is used in men for increased oxygen utilization....once your body is used to metabolizing piracetam...it will fall down a curve of productive action once you stop and the body, espceically the brain will feel the effects of decreased o2 ouput...... So what's the catch? One problem, to which not all authorities on nootropics give enough emphasis, is the complex interplay between cognition and mood. Great care should be taken before tampering with the noradrenaline/acetylcholine axis. Thought-frenzied hypercholinergic states, for instance, are characteristic of one "noradrenergic"
sub-type of depression. A predominance of forebrain cholinergic activity, frequently triggered by chronic uncontrolled stress, can lead to a reduced sensitivity to reward, an inability to sustain effort, and behavioural suppression.

This mood-modulating effect does make some sort of cruel genetic sense. Extreme intensity of reflective thought may function as an evolutionarily adaptive response when things go wrong. When they're going right, we don't need to bother. Hence boosting cholinergic function, alone and in the absence of further pharmacologic intervention, can subdue mood. It can even induce depression in susceptible subjects. Likewise beta-adrenergic antagonists (e.g. propranolol (Inderal)) can induce depression and fatigue. Conversely, "dumb-drug" anticholinergics may sometimes have mood-brightening - progressing to deliriant - effects. Indeed antimuscarinic agents acting in the nucleus accumbens may even induce a 'mindless'
euphoria.

full article here: http://www.consciousnesscafe.org/2005/01/nootropics-alert-on-hydergine.html

Piracetam is a drug with an effect on the brain, and there is the view that any disruption of the "natural" balance of our neurochemistry is ultimately detrimental (I don't necessarily subscribe to this view, but I do think it is true to some extent). For these potential problems, and also to maintain a varied perspective (as colors said) I think piracetam should be cycled. However, the safety of piracetam is well-established and any unwanted side effects should be mild in comparison to those caused by "harder" drugs such as adderall. It's great stuff.

 

[Pretty_Diamonds]

Oh wow........awesomeeee!

Have you noticed any improvement with your memory?

 

[B9]

Bluedolphin I found that post ~ moving ~ long may it continue for you both.

My problem is I need some piracetam to get my arse into gear to order some.

 

[Jamshyd]

First off, I'm glad you've managed to stir both your lives to a positive direction. Pircetam is one thing I never tried but keep hearing great things about.

I do have some perspective to add. I am diagnosed with your same condition. My miracle cure is low doses of Ketamine, but thats another story.

What I wanted to say is that I've tried oxyracetam and nefiracetam, and both of these produced profound depression in me after 3-5 days of continued use. Maybe piracetam is different.

One thing to note, there is a 'racetam drug (forgot which, marketted is "Keppra") is actually indicated for epilepsy and therefore it can probably work the same way for bipolar (since most epilepsy drugs are also rxed or bipolar).

 

[Dondante]

Keppra (Levetiracetam) is a weird one, yet very interesting. It's different from other anti-epileptics in that it's the only one with high affinity for a synaptic transporter, SV2A. There are a few similar drugs in the pipeline that not much is known about at this time (Brivaracetam and Seletracetam).

I posted a link in ADD a while back about the successful use of Keppra in treating visual symptoms of HPPD. The results could be confirmed on EEG recordings! This isn't to insinuate that piracetam would have even remotely similar effects. It's interesting nonetheless. Just felt compelled to add.

http://www.bluelight.ru/vb/showthread.php?p=5481595&highlight=levetiracetam#post5481595

Glad to hear piracetam is working for you, BD. Your post motivated me to go dust off the container of piracetam and measure out a few doses. :D

 

[Jabberwocky]

^ lol yeah seriously, I got my tub back out and going to start regularly taking it again.

Jamshyd, I've taken oxiracetam and aniracetam and they are not nearly as good. Oxi is almost as good, but definitely has a different effect on my mood (much less an effect). Aniracetam is like an anti-nootropic for me. I threw away the rest of the crystals I had, that stuff did not make my brain work good.

Piracetam for me from now on!

 

[Cthulhu]

Keppra (Levetiracetam) is a weird one, yet very interesting. It's different from other anti-epileptics in that it's the only one with high affinity for a synaptic transporter, SV2A. There are a few similar drugs in the pipeline that not much is known about at this time (Brivaracetam and Seletracetam).

I posted a link in ADD a while back about the successful use of Keppra in treating visual symptoms of HPPD. The results could be confirmed on EEG recordings! This isn't to insinuate that piracetam would have even remotely similar effects. It's interesting nonetheless. Just felt compelled to add.

http://www.bluelight.ru/vb/showthread.php?p=5481595&highlight=levetiracetam#post5481595

Glad to hear piracetam is working for you, BD. Your post motivated me to go dust off the container of piracetam and measure out a few doses. :D

Personally I've noticed an improvement in my hppd symptoms after several weeks of regular piracetam use. Overall, my visual disturbances are less intense, especially the static, and they seem to have stabilized (I used to have good days and horrible days, now they are consistently good).

 

[bluedolphin]

if you dont mind telling did the fish oil help you?? ive recently started using it for depression and anxiety and it seems to be helping enormously

I never noticed any effects from Fish Oil, and I took it steadily for at least a few months.

 

[bluedolphin]

dolphin, did you experiment with methylphenidate?

i think of piracetam as 'instant nerd'. it eliminates that wild card from human nature. demolishes your soul's poker face. extroversion, verbosity, propensity to sum things up rank and file, and delude yourself into thinking that you're on to something.

has to be cycled to maintain perspective imho. it's ok. at least it's cheap.

l

Methylphenidate is garbage IMO. But yes I've tried it.

I actually don't really understand your assessment of Piracetam... but I'm sure it's not for everybody.

 

[bluedolphin]

Oh wow........awesomeeee!

Have you noticed any improvement with your memory?

Maybe it seems to negate the usual morning-after-ganja affects. My memory was never really that bad anyway though, even with a decade of daily pot smoking under my belt.

 

[colors]

l
Methylphenidate is garbage IMO. But yes I've tried it.
I actually don't really understand your assessment of Piracetam... but I'm sure it's not for everybody.

sorry it wasn't fleshed out too well. i'm not the most articulate person (part of the reason i started experimenting with piracetam in the first place ). wasn't trying to rain on your parade, but it was in part a reaction to the phrase 'miracle cure'. the psychedelic illuminati here love it, and all it ever gets is unquestioned praise.

i guess i feel like it turns your personality inside-out a little bit. i have a friend who criminally overstates everything, and it drives me nuts. there is no mystique to him at all. he wears his entire disgusting personality on his sleeve and rubs it in everyones face. i've always prided myself on being his counterpart, yet after 30 days of piracetam and centrophenoxine, i found myself thinking and behaving just like him. i felt so sure of things, so confident and satisfied in my mental faculties, my emotion and intuition had been suppressed and i kind of lost touch.

it was great for focus and reading, but deceptive in the same sense that weed is. losing the forest for the trees you know? you think the seemingly heightened awareness is allowing you to push deeper and further, but it's just like mental masturbation ... like you're blowing your own mind with your own capabilities to accomplish the simplest things. one thing leads to another and you think you're drawing connections and putting it all together, but what have you got? you lose the instinct to call bullshit via getting wrapped up in the process.

anyways i do like it. it's a pleasant feeling, not unlike a tiny bit of coke, or bupropion and a cigarette. but after the 30 days were up i reflected on what i had been 'accomplishing' and the stubborn behavior and fights it caused, and i felt kind of foolish.

you like weed and i don't. maybe they balance each other out and you'll never run into these problems? and i guess i've been exaggerating them grossly, because it's really not that powerful of a drug. anyways i'm sorry i vented in your thread. it's cool that you're happy ... i hope it continues to work for you guys. good luck carry on. again, sorry.