Some people on various sites will say you shouldn't mix alcohol + piracetam because piracetam may increase the flow of blood to the brain---and in turn, send lots of alcohol directly to your brain. The thing is, that is only one of the speculated mechanisms as to how piracetam works. Has anyone found definitive proof that it is unsafe to mix the two?
Alcohol + Piracetam: is it really unsafe?
#1
Posted 23 July 2012 - 12:16 AM
Some people on various sites will say you shouldn't mix alcohol + piracetam because piracetam may increase the flow of blood to the brain---and in turn, send lots of alcohol directly to your brain. The thing is, that is only one of the speculated mechanisms as to how piracetam works. Has anyone found definitive proof that it is unsafe to mix the two?
#2
Posted 23 July 2012 - 12:52 AM
Piracetam in alcoholic psychoses: a double-blind, crossover, placebo controlled study", but I can't access the abstract...I'm guessing it deals again with the acute withdrawals. Its title suggests a positive synergy, but for all I know, it could find that piracetam co-administered with alcohol worsens psychoses.
Too many anecdotal reports suggest a negative synergy where the scientific evidence isn't in yet. I mean, the users generally report that piracetam sharply decreases tolerance to alcohol. We don't know if these anecdotes are true, or if they are just the result of people imagining an effect where there is none (aka placebo). It seems intuitive that vasodilation is what causes this synergy, but we're only guessing. There is one study suggesting it attenuates the "effects" (the psychoactive effects? we need someone with access to pubmed to tell us this) of alcohol:
http://www.ncbi.nlm..../pubmed/6677895.One more anecdote to support the idea that alcohol ought to be contraindicated with vasodilators (ginkgo is thought to be a vasodilator, enhancing micro-circulation [also in the brain]): http://community.myp...nk-alcohol.html. Ginkgo seems to reduce alcohol-induced hepatotoxicity, but this mechanism appears to be independent of vasodilation (http://www.ncbi.nlm....pubmed/17154234).
My experience is that piracetam will decrease alcohol tolerance for several hours to days. I recommend drinking much slower, so you don't overshoot the desired effects. I sometimes need less than 1 oz of wine to achieve the same effect for which I usually need 3-4 oz to achieve. I've gotten drunk off of a single glass...but I hate being drunk. A few sips (less than 0.5 oz?) is what I usually drink now (1-3x weekly), and that's enough to get a slight buzz, and all the therapeutic effects I'm after. I might just drop alcohol soon due to reduced tolerance and the fact that it's not very good for you, even in moderation. Would you really drink acetaldehyde or take benzos? There's mixed evidence, but I'd rather not use a potent drug that's only been in use for less than 10,000 years.
Edited by dasheenster, 23 July 2012 - 01:13 AM.
#3
Posted 23 July 2012 - 01:05 PM
#4
Posted 23 July 2012 - 08:22 PM
Drinking seems to be one of the simplest mental retardants... Might-as-well stick to a glass or two.
I have regularly done 1-2 bottles of wine without any more damage than a hangover.
#5
Posted 06 May 2013 - 04:39 PM
I think it has been shown that piracetam increases blood flow to the brain. This probably isn't its mechanism of action; it's probably a side-effect of other things it does to the brain requiring more blood. Nevertheless, more blood flow to the brain would make you get drunk faster, and that has certainly been my experience.
Normally I can hold my drink quite well, but after piracetam I notice myself buzzing and feeling very happy and slightly dizzy after only one beer. Normally one beer would barely affect me. Getting drunk faster would be a good thing if you drink alone or are an alcoholic, because it means you need less alcohol to get drunk, which saves your liver. However, I mainly drink socially with friends, and if I take piracetam it means I can't keep up with them. My friends will drink 6-7 pints or more, shots, wine, cocktails etc. over the course of a night. I used to do that too and was fine with it. But when I take piracetam (and for a while afterwards) I am getting quite drunk after only a few pints. Towards the end of the night I am having to go and throw up in the toilet to keep up.
I can't always know when my friends might want to drink (it's not always planned weeks in advance), so I may have been taking piracetam.
I don't want to stop taking piracetam because I like its effects. On the other hand, I don't want to stop drinking with my friends. I would miss out on a lot.
Piracetam also seems to reduce tolerance to or improve the experience of caffeine, which is an effect I consider beneficial. I get a nice buzz and alertness without being jittery from one mug of coffee - maybe even feel euphoric. The fact it also reduces tolerance to or improve the experience of alcohol could be beneficial, but not when your mates expect you to keep up with them and keep buying rounds at the pub.
#6
Posted 06 May 2013 - 06:54 PM
anyway I've taken piracetam with lots of drugs. psychedelics, amphetamines, alcohol, benzodiazepines, weed, cigarettes, ketamine, dmt.. the only time it felt a bit unsafe was on dmt, but that was because it took away the dissociation and increased the... chaos.. a lot like if.. uhmm.. someone spilled water on my motherboard or something. Never had any noticeable increase in side effects the next day or anything with any of those combinations. I also don't notice increased increased tolerance to any of them and it enhanced the positives of everything but ketamine and dmt. Psychedelics were hit or miss, sometimes it seemed to make things cooler sometimes I'd feel like it was dampening the visuals.
So from my experience, its not worth worrying about especially with alcohol.. plus is it not similar to just drinking more(if piracetam did increase blood flow to the brain and that in turn increased the brain alcohol content)?
Edited by golden1, 06 May 2013 - 07:01 PM.
#7
Posted 06 May 2013 - 07:58 PM
Logically speaking, you are correct. I guess it's peer pressure and me not wanting to seem less of a man. The drinking culture in the UK is such that you are expected to go out and get wasted or you aren't cool. And we buy drinks in rounds, so one person will go to the bar and buy a drink for everyone. Then the next person goes... If there are 5 people then that's 5 pints. It's rude to exclude yourself from this, but lately I've been having to tell people "don't buy me a round" and just buying my own and drinking 1 drink for every 3 of theirs.^ Why do you have to keep drinking if you're already as drunk or more so as your friends
Edited by Debaser, 06 May 2013 - 08:01 PM.
#8
Posted 06 May 2013 - 09:44 PM
Also, there was/is a compound that could greatly reduce the amount you get drunk. It was posted here, name is on the tip of my tongue, but I can't find it. Maybe you could try that..? idk just an idea
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