8 replies to this topic

[stablemind]

I'm looking to try this for my inattentive ADHD/Sluggish Cognitive Tempo. Any of you guys have any success? Currently B vitamins, Fish oil, and vitamin D all help my symptoms which may be enhanced due to vitamin deficiencies, and I'm looking to try this supplement before trying stimulants such as Nuvigil since they build tolerance.

[brain]

I'm looking to try this for my inattentive ADHD/Sluggish Cognitive Tempo. Any of you guys have any success? Currently B vitamins, Fish oil, and vitamin D all help my symptoms which may be enhanced due to vitamin deficiencies, and I'm looking to try this supplement before trying stimulants such as Nuvigil since they build tolerance.

Yes, I'm having success. I didn't always have success with piracetam, and up until this point had only experienced glimpses of it. The drug was effectively then being a frustrating tease. It's been working for me consistently now for the last 3 - 4 weeks, the longest it ever has, and unlike the previous times which I've tried it, the effects only seem to be growing. I now take around 6 - 9 grams a day without any choline source, and have a fairly elaborate theory for why piracetam doesn't need choline after several weeks of dosage (If you're interested, a thread I made about it is in my user history). I feel convinced, at this point, that this is at least true for me. Others with deficits in acetylcholine may benefit from addition choline on a regular basis, so this all depends on individual chemisty. I'd suggest that people take a choline source for several weeks, then try without one, potentially using DMAE as an intermediate stage which increases choline levels without actually directly adding any additional choline to the body, as I understand it. If this works, and you may have to give it a couple of days, I think its probably preferable than the outrageous choline precursor doses a lot of people around here and elsewhere use.

Why would it be helpful for adhd-/sluggish cognitive tempo? Because the etiology for many of the symptoms of Adhd-pi can be caused by a lower speed of neural communication. This actually has the effect of weakening the storage and encoding of working memory, and there are studies which show this. Working memory is actually very largely responsible for the neural substrate of attentional faculties. I would guess that many neural circuits (I'm probably using fairly incorrect nomenclature here, I know) are somewhat dependent on signaling speed for proper functioning.

In any event, It might help you, it might not, but its probably worth a shot considering it's availability and affordability. I'd suggest getting enough cholesterol in your diet while you're taking it, and preferably getting enough exercise. Drinking enough water is also important, as I and others have found that piracetam can be dehydrating and that drinking more water is prudent. I don't always seem to know I'm dehydrated, either, so I have to be sure to drink water even if I'm not. I noticed that during one day I drank about 24 Oz of water and hardly had to urinate any more than would be usual.

I'd suggest a combination of piracetam and deprenyl, and if you want to go all out, throw in 100 - 200mg of modafinil a day. From one popular supplier, if you were to buy 60 tablets, this would cost around $145 with shipping, and if you were to take 100 mg a day (which may be plenty if you're also taking piracetam and deprenyl), this would last you 4 months, which is $36 a month, and seems reasonable enough to me. I just ordered 200 5mg selegiline tablets for $50, which is also very cheap. PM me for the best sources. In my opinion, this is probably the most effective nootropic-based adhd-pi stack you could go with. Keep it up the fish oil and vitamins, too.

500 grams of piracetam should also last you around 4 months. Its cost is negligible, and could be as little as $6/month. If you bought the same amount of deprenyl as me and from the same supplier, it would cost around $8/month. So, in total, for the awesome and effective adhd-pi stack that is piracetam, deprenyl, and modafinil, you would pay around $50 a month if you were to take it every day. I don't know about you, but that seems like more than fair game to me.

Edited by brain, 24 February 2010 - 03:30 AM.

[brain]

Sorry, when I read your post, I didn't know what nuvigil was, and so ignored that part. I also posted my response long after reading your post. So ignore my section about modafinil.

[stablemind]

I'm looking to try this for my inattentive ADHD/Sluggish Cognitive Tempo. Any of you guys have any success? Currently B vitamins, Fish oil, and vitamin D all help my symptoms which may be enhanced due to vitamin deficiencies, and I'm looking to try this supplement before trying stimulants such as Nuvigil since they build tolerance.

Yes, I'm having success. I didn't always have success with piracetam, and up until this point had only experienced glimpses of it. The drug was effectively then being a frustrating tease. It's been working for me consistently now for the last 3 - 4 weeks, the longest it ever has, and unlike the previous times which I've tried it, the effects only seem to be growing. I now take around 6 - 9 grams a day without any choline source, and have a fairly elaborate theory for why piracetam doesn't need choline after several weeks of dosage (If you're interested, a thread I made about it is in my user history). I feel convinced, at this point, that this is at least true for me. Others with deficits in acetylcholine may benefit from addition choline on a regular basis, so this all depends on individual chemisty. I'd suggest that people take a choline source for several weeks, then try without one, potentially using DMAE as an intermediate stage which increases choline levels without actually directly adding any additional choline to the body, as I understand it. If this works, and you may have to give it a couple of days, I think its probably preferable than the outrageous choline precursor doses a lot of people around here and elsewhere use.

Why would it be helpful for adhd-/sluggish cognitive tempo? Because the etiology for many of the symptoms of Adhd-pi can be caused by a lower speed of neural communication. This actually has the effect of weakening the storage and encoding of working memory, and there are studies which show this. Working memory is actually very largely responsible for the neural substrate of attentional faculties. I would guess that many neural circuits (I'm probably using fairly incorrect nomenclature here, I know) are somewhat dependent on signaling speed for proper functioning.

In any event, It might help you, it might not, but its probably worth a shot considering it's availability and affordability. I'd suggest getting enough cholesterol in your diet while you're taking it, and preferably getting enough exercise. Drinking enough water is also important, as I and others have found that piracetam can be dehydrating and that drinking more water is prudent. I don't always seem to know I'm dehydrated, either, so I have to be sure to drink water even if I'm not. I noticed that during one day I drank about 24 Oz of water and hardly had to urinate any more than would be usual.

I'd suggest a combination of piracetam and deprenyl, and if you want to go all out, throw in 100 - 200mg of modafinil a day. From one popular supplier, if you were to buy 60 tablets, this would cost around $145 with shipping, and if you were to take 100 mg a day (which may be plenty if you're also taking piracetam and deprenyl), this would last you 4 months, which is $36 a month, and seems reasonable enough to me. I just ordered 200 5mg selegiline tablets for $50, which is also very cheap. PM me for the best sources. In my opinion, this is probably the most effective nootropic-based adhd-pi stack you could go with. Keep it up the fish oil and vitamins, too.

500 grams of piracetam should also last you around 4 months. Its cost is negligible, and could be as little as $6/month. If you bought the same amount of deprenyl as me and from the same supplier, it would cost around $8/month. So, in total, for the awesome and effective adhd-pi stack that is piracetam, deprenyl, and modafinil, you would pay around $50 a month if you were to take it every day. I don't know about you, but that seems like more than fair game to me.

Thanks thats a lot of helpful information, could you describe how it has helped you and in what ways? Do you have SCT?

Edited by racingmind, 24 February 2010 - 07:30 AM.

[chrono]

I've had significant luck using piracetam to treat my attentional problems. I have some moderately severe difficulty with both focus and motivation. Piracetam encourages me to stay on-task, but also allows me to multitask more effectively. Normally I have a very hard time not jumping from task to task after a very short time, usually forgetting what I actually want to be doing, and only working on a small number of the threads I have going with any effectiveness.

Haven't heard of SCT before, but I don't think I have it. Piracetam definitely helps me with analysis, concept formation, and parsing concepts into language. I'd hesitate to say it helps with the speed of my processing, however.

Something that definitely does is ALCAR. It synergizes very well with piracetam. Really gets the juices flowing, and speeds up my thinking noticeably. Piracetam by itself does help, but I would definitely combine it with ALCAR (+ALA) after you're familiar with what piracetam does for you.

[aLurker]

I haven't tried ALCAR myself yet but I want to offer this supporting piece of evidence that ALCAR is effective for people suffering from ADHD-PI.

Acetyl-L-carnitine (ALC) in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: a multi-site, placebo-controlled pilot trial.
"There was significant (p = 0.02) moderation by subtype: superiority of ALC over placebo in the inattentive type, with an opposite tendency in combined type."

[unregistered_user]

I think I've had marginal success with piracetam combined with a choline source to offset my ADHD-PI symptoms. I've been using both for almost a month now. It seems to produce a subtle effect not comparable to amphetamines or methylphenidate. My main gripe right now is the inconsistency of the effects and the difficulty honing in on what the ideal dosage should be.

In terms of inspiring creativity, motivation or giving me added energy, I can't claim to have experienced any sustained effets in these ways outside the first several days of use (which most users will say are the most significant when taking Piracetam). I am still learning about it and think it's a worthwhile part of my stack but so far it hasn't been responsible for any revolutionary transformations (re: Isochroma) :P

[UKADHDs]

Any tips or advice from users in terms of 'bedding in' period? I've just started on Piracetam, did:
800mg, twice a day, no choline (other than 2 scrambled eggs for breakfast) no effect,
1600mg twice, no eggs, took 4 fishoil capsules & 8 lecithin capsules in the afternoon. very mild feeling of stiffness/soreness at top of neck/brainstem (this is today)
not going to take it for the next few days (thur-mon), and will recommence on tuesday.
> Can I expect to have no effects for two weeks or so while my receptors upregulate?
> Could I have no effect without choline (to what extent do eggs, lecithin, fish oil count?)?
Thanks in advance!

[UKADHDs]

update: based on this thread i tried taking it with citicholine (CDP-choline) and sulbutiamine (& bacopa, somewhat irrelevant) and noticed effects. Not massive, game changing, "a whole neeeew world...." effects, but defo more concentration, easier. Ran out after a few hours though, so I'm going back to my research to see about repeat dosing throughout the day.
[also taking 5x1g fish oil caps & Vit D12 under tongue & vit D droppers]
Currently researching meditation as well, sounds like it has beneficial effects...