Question for piracetam users

[jj27xx]

I've read about every thread on this stuff, but I still have a few questions. If this is in the wrong forum, please move it. I got my 700 gram tub of piracetam and the choline citrate on Monday. So far I have been taking 1600 mg + 800 choline, once in the morning and once in the evening. My question if you've used it is how did it make you feel the first few days? All it's done so far is give me a foggy headed feeling and make me irritable as hell. I will be rolling on May 7th, so I definitely want to give this a chance. (Not taking it only for that purpose). I haven't really read about anyone having that type of reaction, so any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[VelocideX]

If you're feeling irritable, try taking more choline....

The dose sounds fine, however... You're right in that your reaction does sound strange.... the idea is that you feel more clear headed, not less...

Have you tried taking an "attack dose"? Some people find they get quite a noticeable effect from 3g to 4g....

I'd suggest avoiding it in the evening too. Some people report insomnia from it. It could be interfering with your sleep quality, thus making your thinking cloudy and your mood irritable...

This isn't directly related to ecstasy, though I can see why you put it here.

I'm going to move it to Healthy Living... before that I would have left it here, but now we have a specific home for things like this

 

[da_sense]

I started taking piracetam 20 days ago. It's short lived so it's better to take it 3-4 times a day. I take it 3x1gr a day, plus I take lecithin and sometimes alpha gpc. In first days I noticed nothing. I also rolled once when using it and it was normal roll. Altough there were couple of days latelty that I felt like something heavy is pressing my mind...but some coffe would clear that up.

 

[Jonny Apple]

I've been taking 3-4g. daily with 1g of alpha gpc for at least the last 6 months, and I've never felt anything from a single dose even when taking as much as 12g at once.

I continue to take it because I feel that its effects don’t start to show until you've been steadily taking it for some time. I feel that it helps give me some mental clarity and helps with my memory storage/recall during times when I am sleep depraved and abusing my brain with drugs which is a lot of the time

 

[stillbeing]

I take pirac. and choline of and on .
after a week or two suddenly it does nothing so I have to break.
when it works my handwriting is precise , i recall all my dreams , but they arent very nice. I can meditate better((empty my head of thoughts alltogether for a few moments during sitting )), I can answer questions much faster ( I am a teacher ) , I can brainstorm better, I can do dishes etc without being bothered, time flies faster, I am less shy with strangers during the peak which I can feel pretty well, and finally it makes my urine smell like catpiss and asparagus and it makes my armpits smell lilke catpiss but only if I have had caffeine or a lot of protein--at other times there is no smell, but still, its a bother. Unlike most people I do not have to take an attack does anymore, and I dont have to take it for a week or two, it kicks in rigght away for me , but I am also on neurontin 3xday.

 

[Riemann Zeta]

Piracetam alone did not produce any phenomenological effect for me. It is wonderful, however, in ameliorating short-term cognitive deficits (e.g. working-memory deficits, verbal recall) caused by [cue cheesy 1950s propaganda film voice] "the reefer."

 

[da_sense]

Piracetam is not supposed to make you feel effects. You need to take it at least from 20 days to 2-3 months to feel some changes.

 

[VelocideX]

Piracetam is not supposed to make you feel effects. You need to take it at least from 20 days to 2-3 months to feel some changes.

It will if you take enough of it. Take 8g of the powder whilst drinking. It's rather interesting

 

[Jimmy the Gun]

^^sounds preatty safe.. :D

 

[jj27xx]

Well I've been taking 3200 mg (00 gelcaps hold 800 mg right?) once in the morning with the choline. The foggy headed feeling is gone now...I think a possible reason that I've been irritable is because I started during a period of high stress - it seems to intensify the situation a bit. I still plan to take it because I think those feeling will pass and besides that, I have noticed a few moments of clarity. Also, it's only been a week. Another benefit- No Hangover! I had a little bit of a body load after a night of binge drinking, but my head felt fine.

 

[VelocideX]

Why wouldn't it be? No LD50 for piracetam has ever been found. AFAIK, no toxic effects have ever been found...

 

[VelocideX]

Well I've been taking 3200 mg (00 gelcaps hold 800 mg right?) once in the morning with the choline. The foggy headed feeling is gone now...I think a possible reason that I've been irritable is because I started during a period of high stress - it seems to intensify the situation a bit. I still plan to take it because I think those feeling will pass and besides that, I have noticed a few moments of clarity. Also, it's only been a week. Another benefit- No Hangover! I had a little bit of a body load after a night of binge drinking, but my head felt fine.

Yeah it's fantastic for keeping your head clear the day after drinking...

 

[aunty establishment]

^Yes, I noticed that too - had an absolutely huge night on Saturday and took 2400mg piracetam Sunday morning - so long hangover I thought it was psychosomatic but *shrugs* guess not. Does anyone think using piracetam and alcohol together is potentially dangerous, since piracetam's thought to increase bloodflow between the hemispheres? (This is what erowid says in the piracetam FAQ).

 

[VelocideX]

The erowid FAQ is flawed on that issue... it's not entirely clear what the story is. In any event, increases in cereberal blood flow are not the primary mechanism of piracetam's action. That appears to be something to do with ion channels...

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=8876930

Arzneimittelforschung. 1996 Sep;46(9):844-7. Related Articles,Links

Cerebral blood flow effects of piracetam, pentifylline, and nicotinic acid in the baboon model compared with the known effect of acetazolamide.

Jordaan B, Oliver DW, Dormehl IC, Hugo N.

Department of Pharmacology, Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education, Republic of South Africa.

In normal aging humans there is a progressive decrease of oxygen and glucose consumption with a reduction of cerebral blood flow (CBF), which could be responsible for age-related changes in cognitive functions. A baboon model under anaesthesia using single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) of the brain and the radiopharmaceutical hexamethylpropylene amine oxime (99mTc-HMPAO) has been developed and found to be sensitive to the effects of drugs that are known to increase CBF. In the present study, the effect of two haemorrheologically active drugs, viz a combination of pentifylline (CAS 1028-33-7) and nicotinic acid (CAS 59-67-6) vs. piracetam (CAS 7491-74-9) were compared with the known effect of acetazolamide (CAS 59-66-5) on CBF in the baboon model using the 99mTc-HMPAO split dose method. Acetazolamide (p < 0.05) and the combination of pentifylline and nicotinic acid (p < 0.01) increased the CBF when compared with the control baseline. The CBF was not significantly increased upon treatment with piracetam, pentifylline alone and nicotinic acid alone, when compared with the control values for total brain ratios (p > 0.05). However, an increased regional effect was observed for piracetam. These results indicate that the above haemorrheologically active drugs exhibit specific but different effects on cerebral blood flow with possible clinical implications.

Compare with this study
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=9890490

Clin Nucl Med. 1999 Jan;24(1):29-34. Related Articles,Links

SPECT monitoring of improved cerebral blood flow during long-term treatment of elderly patients with nootropic drugs.

Dormehl IC, Jordaan B, Oliver DW, Croft S.

Atomic Energy Corporation, Institute for Life Sciences, University of Pretoria, Republic of South Africa. [email protected]

PURPOSE: In normal aging persons, oxygen and glucose consumption progressively decreases with reduced cerebral blood flow (CBF), which could be responsible for age-related changes in cognitive functions. A data processing model with the use of Tc-99m SPECT of the human brain has been developed and found to be sensitive for monitoring the effects of drugs that increase CBF. In this study, the effect of two vasodilator drugs (the combination of pentifylline and nicotinic acid versus piracetam) was compared with the effect of placebo on CBF. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty elderly volunteers had three different procedures using the Peelproc method to spatially standardize and compare CBF patterns by SPECT before and after drug intervention. The 30 patients were divided into five groups of six persons each who were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to the treatment sequences consisting of three phases: the combination of pentifylline and nicotinic acid (C), piracetam (N), and placebo (P), or C-N-P; P-N-C; P-C-N; N-C-P; C-P-N; or N-P-C. Phases 1 to 3 each consisted of a baseline recording of parameters (day 0), treatment for 60 days (days 1 to 60), and recording of parameters after treatment (day 61). RESULTS: In elderly human volunteers (ages, 52 to 70 years), after 2 months of oral treatment with a combination of pentifylline and nicotinic acid (800 mg pentifylline, 200 mg nicotinic acid daily), SPECT results for the Peel-proc program indicated a statistically significant improvement in CBF of the total brain, with a more pronounced improvement in the cerebellum and frontal regions, where a definite shift from abnormal to normal blood flow was detected. Spontaneous communication from most of the volunteers suggested that they experienced an improvement in memory and general well-being from the combination treatment. After 2 months of oral treatment with piracetam (2.4 g daily) in elderly human volunteers, SPECT results indicated a regional improvement in CBF, particularly in the cerebellum. However, no beneficial effects with this drug were spontaneously reported. CONCLUSION: The in vivo method to quantitatively monitor the progress of long-term drug therapy on CBF described here could be useful to assess and even direct changes in therapy.

 

[Riemann Zeta]

I realize that acute treatment with piracetam produces little or no phenomenological results. I have been taking it for several months, however. Other than amelioration of cognitive deficits induced by other drugs, I don't know if it has been of any benefit. I usually take 800 mg BID, of the brand-name Nootropil (UCB Pharm) pills. Has anyone gotten more intense or noticeable effects from larger doses?

If only some of the other -racetam AMPA receptor modulators were cheaper (e.g. pramiracetan).

 

[jj27xx]

By the way you worded your post it sounds like it's working a little. I'd suggest you buy the piracetam and choline in bulk and make your own capsuls...it's loads cheaper than what you're buying. Experiment with the dose and see what works. You (I) can definitely feel effects with a larger dose. You may want to try 1600mg twice daily and see how that feels.

 

[Insane Platypus]

I've experimented with my daily dosage the last couple of days and have found 3200mg a bit too much for me (overstimulated and stressing out a bit). 1600mg in the morning with breakfast this morning gave me a nice pick-me-up and it lasted all the way through to the evening.

I've been taking it for two weeks now (with centrophenoxine) and the most noticeable effects to me have been mood lift and less propensity to procrastinate. I have noticed slight boosts in cognitive ability and articulation.

 

[da_sense]

Piracetam doesn't stimulate me at doses up to 5 gr (didn't try more). I've been taking it for little more then a month, and while I can't really "feel" effects I think something is changing. I seem to be able to handle more mental work, and my love for music is even greater. I also feel like i'm more easy going.

 

[Jimmy the Gun]

Why wouldn't it be? No LD50 for piracetam has ever been found. AFAIK, no toxic effects have ever been found...

i guess you're right.

my comment was probably just a knee-jerk reaction to, "8 grams of powder whilst drinking." :D

 

[smartshop]

I can say most (except soy lecithin)acetylcholine related products (A-L-Carnitine, vinpocetine and those actylcholinesterase inhibtors) make me very angry and irritable. Don't like them.