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- Submitted: Dec 31 2014 02:11 AM
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Calm, Collected, Conversational
piracetam noopept alpha gpc l-theanine anhydrous caffeine melatonin protein supplement
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Hi folks! I'm a long time lurker on longecity. I'm also a Physican Assistant, so I have to state: none of this represents any official medical opinion or advice. I just wish to maximize my own talents, and appreciate life as thoroughly as possible, and I think it is important for us all to share our experiments and thoughts.
I've capped my Piracetam - they're about 500-600 mg a piece, and I take 6 of these. I therefore get between 3 to 3.6 grams a day. To simplify, I just put 3.5 grams. I've been taking Piracetam off and on during the past couple of years. I had really good results with it while in PA school - it was really good for logic/reasoning, memory, and a little boost of my mood. It's efficacy waned over time, and essentially only began working if I had a good Choline dosage and took it in a large dosage (6-9 grams at a time) intermittently, and it wouldn't last more than a few hours; after that, I'd feel a bit of fatigue/fog. I figured this wasn't optimal, so I stopped the supplements entirely. I think there have been some
I recently added the L-Theanine, Noopept and Anhydrous Caffeine. I did this while not using any Piracetam - I felt I had very good results from this. The come down was much gentler than with Piracetam. I noticed results almost immediately from this basic stack - it wasn't quite as powerful as large doses of Piracetam. I've read that some people say that any short term effects of Noopept must be entirely secondary to placebo effect; however, I disagree with this assessment. I believe that my past use of Piracetam has potentiated my synapses such that they are more sensitive to the Noopept's basic effects. How or why this works, is rather mysterious to myself, although both are thought to modulate the AMPA receptor in some way.
After about a week of L-Theanine, Noopept and Caffeine, I was feeling good, but why not feel great? I added A with P two days ago, and it seems to be even more effective. I had attempted taking Piracetam once during the previous week, and saw no benefits, but after adding the A, I could definitely tell the difference.
Today I was feeling a bit worn out at around 13:00. I wake up around 6:30 and I'm usually quite busy at work mentally. I took in a cup of strong caffeine, and had really good extension of effects. I came home and did some moderate aerobic exercise for about 5-10 minutes. Currently, its about 20:00, and I still feel some of the nootropic effects. Obviously exercise is good for overall health and stress level, but I've read other people report that exercise is very important to effective. I think this assumption is correct.
I haven't seen much improvement with the Creatine, but then again, I don't lift or do extensive workouts - usually just short aerobics with some push ups or plank position.
My position is this: I want the most effect, with the smallest dosage, with the least amount of supplements. I've chosen the above because, after a lot of research, they appear to have minimal side effects, are relatively cheap, and easily accessible.
I'd greatly appreciate any advice about altering dosages, or adding or subtracting from my stack! Thanks.
I've capped my Piracetam - they're about 500-600 mg a piece, and I take 6 of these. I therefore get between 3 to 3.6 grams a day. To simplify, I just put 3.5 grams. I've been taking Piracetam off and on during the past couple of years. I had really good results with it while in PA school - it was really good for logic/reasoning, memory, and a little boost of my mood. It's efficacy waned over time, and essentially only began working if I had a good Choline dosage and took it in a large dosage (6-9 grams at a time) intermittently, and it wouldn't last more than a few hours; after that, I'd feel a bit of fatigue/fog. I figured this wasn't optimal, so I stopped the supplements entirely. I think there have been some
I recently added the L-Theanine, Noopept and Anhydrous Caffeine. I did this while not using any Piracetam - I felt I had very good results from this. The come down was much gentler than with Piracetam. I noticed results almost immediately from this basic stack - it wasn't quite as powerful as large doses of Piracetam. I've read that some people say that any short term effects of Noopept must be entirely secondary to placebo effect; however, I disagree with this assessment. I believe that my past use of Piracetam has potentiated my synapses such that they are more sensitive to the Noopept's basic effects. How or why this works, is rather mysterious to myself, although both are thought to modulate the AMPA receptor in some way.
After about a week of L-Theanine, Noopept and Caffeine, I was feeling good, but why not feel great? I added A with P two days ago, and it seems to be even more effective. I had attempted taking Piracetam once during the previous week, and saw no benefits, but after adding the A, I could definitely tell the difference.
Today I was feeling a bit worn out at around 13:00. I wake up around 6:30 and I'm usually quite busy at work mentally. I took in a cup of strong caffeine, and had really good extension of effects. I came home and did some moderate aerobic exercise for about 5-10 minutes. Currently, its about 20:00, and I still feel some of the nootropic effects. Obviously exercise is good for overall health and stress level, but I've read other people report that exercise is very important to effective. I think this assumption is correct.
I haven't seen much improvement with the Creatine, but then again, I don't lift or do extensive workouts - usually just short aerobics with some push ups or plank position.
My position is this: I want the most effect, with the smallest dosage, with the least amount of supplements. I've chosen the above because, after a lot of research, they appear to have minimal side effects, are relatively cheap, and easily accessible.
- Piracetam: this supplement has been out for many decades, has likely been used by tens of thousands (perhaps hundreds of thousands), and I've only seen a few handful of reports of negative effects online. It helps with focus, verbal fluidity, reading speed, confidence, and mood. Even after stopping this stuff, I noticed some mild improvements in cognition. $65 for 1000 grams. This comes out to $.23 per day approximately. This is definitely the most expensive of my noots.
- Noopept: I've seen a lot of good reviews, and I'm interested in its ability to hopefully prevent alzheimer's as well as promote long term memory formation and learning. It's also supposed to give you confidence. I certainly feel more confident on this - probably more so than Piracetam itself. I can't help but wonder if perhaps I'm throwing away money, as most of the short term benefits seem much like Piracetam. I think I feel some slight uptick in the effects combining it for now, but my hopes are more long term, as everyone states it takes nearly a month for the true effects of this one to come about. $80 for 100 grams. This comes out to about $.02 or so per day.
- Caffeine: obviously this is used by billions across the planet, and if used reasonably has little to no side effects. It helps with focus, energy, and can cause some excitement. $22 for 1000 grams. This comes out to <$.01 per day
- L-Theanine: as far as I can tell, there are no side effects from this one. It's meant to give peaceful emotions, and work well with caffeine. I find it interesting that it converts to glutamate in the body. Glutamate is the substance that binds to the AMPA receptor that Piracetam and Noopept are suppposed to modulate. $47 for 500 grams. This comes out to about $.02 per day
- Alpha GPC: this is supposed to replenish the acetylcholine that is being used up due to the nootropics. I feel like it definitely helps with the Piracetam, but I'm not convinced it will have much effect on the Noopept, other than whatever positive effects I receive from having Piracetam and Noopept simultaneously. $85 for 250 grams. This comes out to $.10 per day.
- Melatonin: this is quite simple - I love using electronics with screens (which has been shown to confuse the light receptors in your eyes, and thus delay melatonin release naturally), and the gears in my mind are constantly turning. Melatonin helps me get to sleep in a reasonable time. Its very safe, being a chemical thats produced in the body, and is naturally available. I also think it enhances my dreaming. I do have mildly lucid dreams, especially if I use the melatonin. I try to only take it on weeknights when I know I need to wake up early in the morning. $8.50 for 120 (10mg doses). This comes out to about $.07 per day.
- Creatine and protein - I don't necessarily consider these part of my stack, more like a secondary stack that I take as needed. I also take Vitamin B Complex about once a week or so, and Vitamin C. I've tried fish oil, ginkgo, and lecithin in the past also.
I'd greatly appreciate any advice about altering dosages, or adding or subtracting from my stack! Thanks.
| Ingredient | Dosage | Frequency | Administration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Piracetam | 3.5 gram | Daily | Every Morning |
| Noopept | 25 mg | Daily | Every Morning |
| Alpha GPC | 300 mg | Daily | Every Morning |
| L-Theanine | 200 mg | Daily | Every Morning |
| Anhydrous Caffeine | 100 mg | Daily | Every Morning |
| Melatonin | 10 mg | Daily | Every Night 20-40 minutes prior to bed. A smaller dose is probably effective. |
| Protein Supplement | 30 gram | Twice a week | At least twice a week, sometimes 3 or 4 times depending on workouts. |
| Creatine Monohydrate | 3 gram | Weekly | Between about 3-5 grams. I take this infrequently. |
Thanks protoject. I've confirmed your statement - my mom had some .3mg Melatonin that I swiped from her, and it seemed to be effective even though I've been used to taking the 10mg caps five days a week.
To update you all, I've found the Noopept has more or less seemed to plateaued in terms of noticeable, day-to-day interval changes. The greatest changes were in the first 1-2 weeks. I intend to travel out of the country for two weeks this coming Monday, so I will stop using my stack at that time - I'd rather not have to try and explain what Noopept is and why I use it to nosy border agents. I'll try to take note of the withdrawal effects, if any, though it will be difficult to distinguish, as I will be suffering from some pretty severe jet-lag as well.
I've only been trying to use 1.5-3 g of Piracetam perhaps 2-3 days a week to avoid tolerance and brain fog. Honestly, 3 grams with all of the other things is a bit much - I sometimes feel overwhelmed by the flood of thoughts and the overall sensory input, though I'd reason that I can read about 300-400 words per minute, with my normal being only 100-200 when focusing normally. (It has essentially zero impact on my typing speed, lol) The Piracetam also continues to have a beneficial impact on my mood even at 1.5 grams.
Of late, I've been doing more research on Noopept. While some studies seem to paint a very rosy picture of its safety profile (1), I was a little surprised by one of its mechanisms, namely the effect of increasing Nerve Growth Factor (NGF). This protein is surprisingly very important in a number of cells throughout the body. Importantly, it works on neurons to promote growth (who'd have guessed?) and prevent apoptosis. However, it doesn't simply have this effect on neurons; in fact, it has a surprising impact on cancer cells! (2) This includes but is not limited to: melanoma, breast cancer, and prostate cancer. (3) NGF works to prevent apoptosis and encourage growth. This is particularly worrisome, as we all have at least some small number of cancer cells in our bodies, which our immune system naturally destroys.
My question now is this: does Noopept encourage NGF to be generated in all tissues throughout the body, or only in the nervous system? If it is effective outside of the nervous system, this could be quite worrisome, as it would essentially increase the risk of all major cancers over a long period of time. I can't imagine I'm the only person to consider this unfortunate possibility.
One other good note is that the substance seems to have anti-inflammatory/anti-oxidative effects. (4) This may counterbalance any potential cancer inducing effects, but I don't know if I feel safe assuming this going forward.
1) http://www.ncbi.nlm....ubmed/12025790
2) http://www.sciencedi...212492614000621
only 0.3 mg melatonin is required in humans to acheive the desired physiological effect. (can be achieved using liquid melatonin supplements)
If that doesn't hit the spot you could always try between 1 and 3 mg, 10 seems a bit high for daily purposes.