6219 replies to this topic

[Adaptogen]

really looking forward to results on dual-n-back, cambridge brain science, iq tests, etc. It would be nice to see a nootropic effect beyond just a greater sense of well being, although just that is plenty profound

[AwesomeName]

I have erratically taken NSI due to extenuating circumstances, but I'll update a little bit on my experiences thus far. After trying a couple different dosages, I have landed on 20mg 3x daily sublingually as my ideal dosing. Taking NSI has a very...clear effect on me, albeit hard to describe. It's not blatantly "in my face" when I take it, but rather a very subtle uplifting clearness that seems to be compounding. I've noticed it most in that, when I miss a dose, I notice I don't feel as good as I do in comparison to after taking a dose. Interestingly enough, the most noticeable effects seem to be apparent upwards of an hour after taking it (even though I'm using it sublingually)

Notable perceived effects thus far:
Better verbal fluency, less word stumbling
Higher creativity
Increased sense of smell (I've generally lacked a sense of smell for upwards of 4 years now, which I believe came as a result of my last concussion)
Generally minor increase in well-being.

It's been a good experience so far, however if this were the extent of the effects, I wouldn't be that excited about it. Of course, it's dramatic neurogenesis we're supposedly talking about here, so I'm assuming the effects are going to compound into something beautiful and fantastic. This is of course my wish for the future, not the experience in the present--I want to make that clear.

To summarize the stack I'm taking with the NSI:
144mg Magnesium L-Threonate 3-4x daily
30mg Solaray OptiZinc
B-complex vitamin
Phosphatidylserine at night before sleep
Astragalus root
Curcumin at night
Will be adding fish oils as soon as I buy more
And recently, adding today, Lithium Orotate starting at 2.5mg elemental lithium and perhaps changing to 5 after evaluation.

So yes, obviously I'm not taking strictly NSI as I would if I were looking to test solely the efficacy of NSI itself. I'm looking for self-improvement instead, though, so I'm taking these other things alongside it that I believe should not be harmful in any way, and will potentially help. I'll continue updating as I go along.

Thanks for the update, I ordered some myself and the subjective reports by people look promising.

How many days/weeks have you taken it?

[Mr Matsubayashi]

Quick update. I did a 33 day cycle averaging 10-15 mg twice per day. During the cycle, I noticed that I experienced usually positive interactions with coworkers, felt more positive even thought I'm normally a glass half full kind of person, noticed I felt more introspective, and less stressed in stressful work situations. I've been off cycle for about a month and there has certainly been lasting changes. The subjective effects have shifted from on cycle to off however. Although I still feel many of the same effects, mental energy has gradually increased over the past month off. I seem more sensitive to caffeine due to this. The first 2 weeks off, I was sleeping alot on weekends much like I remember as a teenager...even though I'm 56. I've got maybe 30% of the original amount left and will do a mini cycle soon....and I'm in the next group buy for 20 grams which should speak for itself. Even if I decide I don't need to do many more cycles, I know friends and family that would surely benefit like I have.

This sounds a lot like the experiences with Cerebrolysin. Maybe we are pinning down the effect of growing new neurons?

[Renegade]

I am considering to get stuck into my NSI-189, however I do have some concerns over safety of the compound.
Could someone please explain to what degree we would be reasonably satisfied of the safety, based on the studies which have already been carried out? What further testing is due to be conducted before the drug is to be made commercially available, and what potential safety issues are yet to be studied / addressed? I am a little uneasy about using a substance which is still in the research stages, with no long term data, and has therefore not been approved as being safe and therefore commercially available.

I appreciate your observations and thoughts. Thanks

Edited by Renegade, 27 October 2013 - 05:20 PM.

[pro-v]

Is another group buy coming up any time soon?

[typ3z3r0]

The second group buy thread is here. Join the group and post the amount in here.

[Renegade]

I took 10g this morning. It seems to have given me a nice, clear headed and wakeful effect, though placebo is a possibility.

I am still however concerned (as also expressed in my post above) regarding safety, and I am unfortunately unsure about whether I will continue to dose. This is the first of its class of neuroregenrative substance, and if there were at least similar chemicals before it, we may have a better idea of the potential risks. For example, can rapidly increasing brain cells lead to tumours? To what degree has the risk of cancer and other diseases been covered in the testing already carried out? What will be the purpose of Phase II and Phase III?

If anyone has any facts and viewpoints which may put my mind at rest, then please feel free to chime in, as I really want to be in a position to get the potential benefits from this, due to my cognitive issues.

Thanks

[meatsauce]

I took 10g this morning. It seems to have given me a nice, clear headed and wakeful effect, though placebo is a possibility.

Wow that's an expensive dose!

[focus83]

Hi everyone,

I just received my 2.5g from ScienceGuy. I took approx 20mg about an hour ago. 10mg orally (acccidentally) and 10mg sublingually although I don't know how much of the latter ended up in my stomach. I'm not used to taking things sublingually and the NSI-189 is a really fluffy powder that I found hard to place where I want it to. Can you guys give me some tipps how you get the NSI from the scale to under the tongue? That might sound like a stupid question, but I had problems with it in particular because the NSI is so fluffy that is easily scatters. Do you use a spoon to place it under the tongue? Or any other auxillary tools?

Do you also find that the NSI-189 is numbing your tongue? I found it felt a bit like the numbing you would get from cocaine, only much less pronounced

About the effects...Not much to tell here at the moment:

- mild head clearing effect
- mild stimulation
- slight increase in heartrate (subjectively, not measured)
- mild head pressure
- forehead feels a bit flushed and warmer (maybe due to increased blood flow)

I should however note that I took 75mg pregabalin about 3 hours earlier so I wouldn't interpret too much into my initial response as the pregabalin is a pretty numbing drug. Tomorrow I will start my trial. Today was just a tolerance test.

Edited by focus83, 29 October 2013 - 02:29 PM.

[spookytooth]

Hi everyone,

I just received my 2.5g from ScienceGuy. I took approx 20mg about an hour ago. 10mg orally (acccidentally) and 10mg sublingually although I don't know how much of the latter ended up in my stomach. I'm not used to taking things sublingually and the NSI-189 is a really fluffy powder that I found hard to place where I want it to. Can you guys give me some tipps how you get the NSI from the scale to under the tongue? That might sound like a stupid question, but I had problems with it in particular because the NSI is so fluffy that is easily scatters. Do you use a spoon to place it under the tongue? Or any other auxillary tools?

Do you also find that the NSI-189 is numbing your tongue? I found it felt a bit like the numbing you would get from cocaine, only much less pronounced

About the effects...Not much to tell here at the moment:

- mild head clearing effect
- mild stimulation
- slight increase in heartrate (subjectively, not measured)
- mild head pressure
- forehead feels a bit flushed and warmer (maybe due to increased blood flow)

I should however note that I took 75mg pregabalin about 3 hours earlier so I wouldn't interpret too much into my initial response as the pregabalin is a pretty numbing drug. Tomorrow I will start my trial. Today was just a tolerance test.

I place a small piece of paper on the scale onto which I put the powder. Once I have weighed out the desired amount I pour the powder from the paper directly under my tongue.

Edited by spookytooth, 29 October 2013 - 02:38 PM.

[focus83]

I place a small piece of paper on the scale onto which I put the powder. Once I have weighed out the desired amount I pour the powder from the paper directly under my tongue.

Thanks! That should work.

[mrkosh1]

Hello Everyone,

I've been doing a lot of research in reading about NSI-189, and I'm very excited about its prospects for treating conditions such as Alzheimer's and depression. However I have also formulated several questions.

First, does this drug actually repair neurons in the hippocampus or does it only add additional neurons? if it can actually heal neurons that already exist, I think the potential of this drug is even more amazing.

Second, does this drug deplete the replicative potential of the stem cells in the hippocampus?

Third, let's consider a situation in which someone take this drug and the volume of the hippocampus increases by 20 percent. Then let's say five years or 10 years later they need to take it again. Would they have exhausted the replicated potential of the stem cells and their neurons?

Fourth, is there any indication and the patent applications that this drug has an impact on other parts of the brain other than the hippocampus?

Fifth, an animal testing, did they monitor the animals for the rest of their life to make sure the drug did not increase the chance of cancer years later?

Sixth, with many new neurons being grown, I think that people who take this drug should do you memory exercises to help program them. Has anyone who has taking this drug attempted to reprogram the new neurons?

Seventh, has anyone with Parkinson's disease took this drug and did it help them in any way?

Hello Everyone,

I've been doing a lot of research in reading about NSI-189, and I'm very excited about its prospects for treating conditions such as Alzheimer's and depression. However I have also formulated several questions.

First, does this drug actually repair neurons in the hippocampus or does it only add additional neurons? if it can actually heal neurons that already exist, I think the potential of this drug is even more amazing.

Second, does this drug deplete the replicative potential of the stem cells in the hippocampus?

Third, let's consider a situation in which someone take this drug and the volume of the hippocampus increases by 20 percent. Then let's say five years or 10 years later they need to take it again. Would they have exhausted the replicated potential of the stem cells and their neurons?

Fourth, is there any indication and the patent applications that this drug has an impact on other parts of the brain other than the hippocampus?

Fifth, an animal testing, did they monitor the animals for the rest of their life to make sure the drug did not increase the chance of cancer years later?

Sixth, with many new neurons being grown, I think that people who take this drug should do you memory exercises to help program them. Has anyone who has taking this drug attempted to reprogram the new neurons?

Seventh, has anyone with Parkinson's disease took this drug and did it help them in any way?

[igorpanarin]

I wanted to order nsi-189

I wanted to order nsi-189

can anyone tell me how I can order this nsi-189 . IM NEW TO THIS. Let us start a group buy. email me

[focus83]

Concerning cancer risk, this is the response I got from Neuralstem's CEO Richard Garr:

"thanks for the note and your interest in our programs. Of course the ultimate answer to your question can only come through extensive, well run clinical trials. In our pre clinical animal studies, both long and short term, we have never seen any signs of anything like this, not even hints. Nor to date in any patients. So we do not expect to see this as an issue, and we do not believe we are subjecting our trial participants to any such risk. But again, All safety issues are the primary focus of early stage human trials."


EDIT: Is it actually OK to post contents of private conversations? Let me know if not and I will promptly delete my post.

Edited by focus83, 31 October 2013 - 02:03 PM.

[focus83]

I decided to quit the experiment. Honestly, I don't feel comfortable ingesting a substance which has only preliminary safety data. I didn't realize that until I actually took the NSI-189 a couple of times. Once my initial euphoria subsided, my anxiety ridden personality shone through again I suppose.

I was also hoping for a more pronounced immediate effect which unfortunately didn't happen. What I am feeling after taking a dose is not very much decernible from placebo:

- some calimg effect
- slight cardiovascular activation
- slight increase in well being

The negatives would be:

- very mild head pressure
- some hard to describe very mild and transient form of brain fog or inflexible thinking. As if my head feels slightly clogged for an hour or so.

All in all this feels like an extremely benign drug, but I can't share the opinion of other experimenters who said that this drug has a very strong immediate pharmacological effect. Admittedly, it could very well be that I overlooked a subtle, yet decisive effect, but I do not want to search for one and thereby get deeper into placebo land.
I know that I shouldn't be focused on immediate effects, but rather on the long term benefits, but at the moment my fragile mental state doesn't allow me to take this risk any longer. I might had been willing to carry on if the immedate effects were more pronounced.
What is more, I had hoped that Neuralstem's response about NSI-189's cancerogenic potential sounded a little more confident. I can't exactely pinpoint what I wanted to read, but it had to be more than that.

Seriously, I get really annoyed at myself for aborting, but having that constant anxiety in the background about potentially disastrous long term effects is not something I can bear in the long run.
Maybe I will resume at a later point in time.

Edited by focus83, 31 October 2013 - 05:10 PM.

[celebes]

What is more, I had hoped that Neuralstem's response about NSI-189's cancerogenic potential sounded a little more confident. I can't exactely pinpoint what I wanted to read, but it had to be more than that.

I really can't imagine a scientist being more categorical than the CEO was up there...

Would you say your anxiety gotten worse since you've been taking it?

Edited by celebes, 31 October 2013 - 09:50 PM.

[focus83]

I really can't imagine a scientist being more categorical than the CEO was up there...

Would you say your anxiety gotten worse since you've been taking it?

You are right, he was quite categorical, but still with a small portition of uncertainty in it. Maybe I had hoped for hearing something like that drugs which affected hippocampal growth have never ever been shown to cause brain cancer. Or maybe that there was no conceivable mechanism by which NSI-189 could lead to brain cancer. I don't know. As I said I might change my mind again and resume my trial. I tend to be erratic from time to time ;-)

And no, my anxiety hasn't increased. The NSI-189 is actually slightly calming.

Edited by focus83, 31 October 2013 - 09:31 PM.

[PWAIN]

You are right, he was quite categorical, but still with a small portition of uncertainty in it. Maybe I had hoped for hearing something like that drugs which affected hippocampal growth have never ever been shown to cause brain cancer. Or maybe that there was no conceivable mechanism by which NSI-189 could lead to brain cancer. I don't know. As I said I might change my mind again and resume my trial. I tend to be erratic from time to time ;-)

Personally I would find those kind of blanket statements more concerning. They sound dismissive to me and almost belittling or condescending. I like the more honest approach of so far so good but this is still an experimental drug so something could conceivably come up but it looks like it probably wont. Lets face it, we are all taking a measured risk but hopefully a reasonable one.

I normally do not seem to respond to most nootropics and quite a few other supplements. Guess I either have a very insensitive system or do not respond to placebo effects. Makes a lot of the effort here seem wasteful but I won't give up because of the very occasional success.

I was suffering from a degree of depression that seems to be both age related and situationally affected. I took NSI-189 and honestly did not feel much at first but persevered. I'm glad I did because very gradually I started to feel my mood lifting and more importantly my approach to difficulties change. I seem better able to handle things that would previously get me down and this is very much how I was when I was younger. A bit of bad news doesn't bring about a sense of gloom, sure I am still not happy about it but I take it in my stride much better.

I am signed up for more NSI-189 in the second group buy. I may not need it since I have been off for a few days and don't feel any down swing but I would still like it to have incase and if I don't end up using it, I will give it to a few people that I know would benefit. I really hope this completes all trials and comes to market soon because I think it can really help people.

At the end of the day you need to be confident that it is what you want to do since there is real risk associated with taking something that is not fully tested but at least there is some indication. Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

[focus83]

Ok, fu** it. I will pull through. 3x 20mg. The NSI is my best bet. I've suffered long enough.

Today I felt a really great, pronounced, yet pleasantly subtly effect after my morning dose. Great mood (nothing euphoric) even early in the day where I usually feel all wired and depressed. Much improved verbal fluency and greatly reduced internal chatter. What is more, there is no numbing of emotions as with e.g. SSRIs. It feels like a very natural state. I pray this will continue.
In retrospect I made two stupid mistakes when I began taking the NSI-189. On the first day I took it alongside Lyrica and on the second day I started a very strenuous high intensity interval training which made me feel very exhausted even on the day thereafter. Now I will resume with a clean slate. The NSI-189 will likely last for 35-40 days and I hope this will be enough to accomplish lasting changes.

Thanks for pushing me a little.

Sorry for annoying all you guys here with my serious lack of decisiveness.

Edited by focus83, 01 November 2013 - 12:29 PM.

[blood]

Today I felt a really great, pronounced, yet pleasantly subtly effect after my morning dose. Great mood (nothing euphoric) even early in the day where I usually feel all wired and depressed. Much improved verbal fluency and greatly reduced internal chatter. What is more, there is no numbing of emotions as with e.g. SSRIs. It feels like a very natural state. I pray this will continue..

I would have guessed that it would take days to weeks to months for an increase in neuron growth in the hippocampus to manifest. So why are people expecting (or claiming to have experienced) acute effects (alteration of mood, improved verbal fluency, blah, blah)? Have most users noticed acute effects (other than a headache, which I do recall reading about in this thread)?

Edited by blood, 01 November 2013 - 01:39 PM.

[Hebbeh]

Yes, it did have some subtle acute effects on mood for me. Fairly soon after starting, i noticed stressful work situations seemed insequential, interactions with co-workers seemed unusually positive, and i felt more c calm and in the moment.

[focus83]

I would have guessed that it would take days to weeks to months for an increase in neuron growth in the hippocampus to manifest. So why are people expecting (or claiming to have experienced) acute effects (alteration of mood, improved verbal fluency, blah, blah)? Have most users noticed acute effects (other than a headache, which I do recall reading about in this thread)?

Why shouldn't short and long term effects be able to coexist? Other things which regrow hippocampal neurons like SSRIs, meditation and exercise also have an immediate effect although they can hardly be compared to the novel mechanism of action of NSI-189. I think it was to be expected that there would be some short term effects as well, because it's highly unlikely that you would wake up one morning with a 20% larger hippocampus and feel like you want to rule the world.

Edited by focus83, 01 November 2013 - 04:10 PM.

[focus83]

I got another response from the CEO which might be of interest for you all:

"The animal trials are mandated times for the FDA and go out as far as 12 months; we do not talk about MOA publicly except to say that this is a new MOA, it is not mediated by the known pathways you reference (neurotransmitters, neurosteroids); and there aren't neural stem cells in any other region of the adult brain for the drug to act on..finally, it is much too soon to be thinking about when a possible pivotal trial would be completed. irg"

So we shouldn't expect neuronal growth in any other brain region. And concerning the mechanism of action, we are dealing with something entirely novel.

[mrkosh1]

I am worried about the replicated capacity of the stem cells being used up.

[Hebbeh]

Maybe that's why it may be best cycled.

[Rior]

I am worried about the replicated capacity of the stem cells being used up.

As far as I'm aware, the stem cells already contained in the hippocampus undergo constant reproduction/splitting so that there is a fairly steady supply of them. It's the one area of the brain that does that, seeing as it undergoes a much more massive amount of plasticity than any other area of the brain. Someone correct me if I'm wrong here. Also, I believe the ventrolateral Prefrontal Cortex undergoes a fair amount of plasticity as well--it regulates largely emotion/decision making, as well as incorporation of smell.

Edit: Also, I've temporarily stopped my NSI trials until what will probably be 3 days from now. Halloween came, I'm in college, I didn't want to waste/affect the NSI in any poor way while I was...well, doing what kids in college do. (Last night involved MDMA, certainly don't want any bit of the NSI to be concurrently affecting my body while that's happening) But, now that halloween has past and it's been the last "go crazy" holiday for the next couple months, I'll be recommencing my NSI soon, uninterrupted, in a healthy fashion.

Before I list the effects I've seen from it so far, I'll give a small background on my neurological state. I've had about 5 concussions from soccer over the years, one or two of which have been fairly bad. So I'm clearly coming from an already-damaged state. After my last concussion, my capacity for thinking was diminished, my sense of smell slowly dissipated, and my enjoyment of music was dulled slightly. It was pretty sad. So, going into NSI I was already pretty damaged.



That said, here are the effects I've noticed thus far, and why I believe, so far, that this has been one of the greatest things to happen in my life:

1. First and foremost, my sense of smell has come back slightly. Not full force, but definitely improved over what it became after my last concussion.

2. My decision-making abilities have been noticeably improved, and I'm starting to think about my life a little longer-term rather than short term "always in the moment, no plan for the future" kind of thinking.
---->As such, I've actually as a result of this came to a major life realization that may change my career path.

3. Where previously I felt very scatter-brained and disconnected, from taking the NSI I feel a pretty slight but noticeable difference in my ability to hold onto my train of thought and stay focused on things.

There are some others that I'll list perhaps in the future, but my head is pretty foggy right now after last night. Looking forward to this hangover to be done and past, so I can get back on track with the NSI.

Suffice to say though, everything so far with it has been great.

Edited by Rior, 01 November 2013 - 06:11 PM.

[mrkosh1]

Rior,

it would be interesting to find out if they tested the telomere length of the stem cells in micebefore and after the drug was taken.. I wonder if stem cells in the brain are immortal. The effects you have had are impressive. Have you done any memory tests to see if your ability to memorize numbers and words has improved?

[MizTen]

Ok, fu** it. I will pull through. 3x 20mg. The NSI is my best bet. I've suffered long enough.

Today I felt a really great, pronounced, yet pleasantly subtly effect after my morning dose. Great mood (nothing euphoric) even early in the day where I usually feel all wired and depressed. Much improved verbal fluency and greatly reduced internal chatter. What is more, there is no numbing of emotions as with e.g. SSRIs. It feels like a very natural state. I pray this will continue.
In retrospect I made two stupid mistakes when I began taking the NSI-189. On the first day I took it alongside Lyrica and on the second day I started a very strenuous high intensity interval training which made me feel very exhausted even on the day thereafter. Now I will resume with a clean slate. The NSI-189 will likely last for 35-40 days and I hope this will be enough to accomplish lasting changes.

Thanks for pushing me a little.

Sorry for annoying all you guys here with my serious lack of decisiveness.

Your questions and comments expressed intelligent caution in my reading, not indecisiveness.

It seems to me you were just asking smart questions about the ratio of risk to efficacy. Anyone considering doing what people on this thread are doing should be asking this things. We are pretty much on our own here, as far as long term data on that riskefficacy ratio.

For me, without any doubt, the efficacy has been quite high. The positive changes have remained, so I say with certainty that I have a new and higher baseline of functioning. I am not experiencing any side effects at all at this point. There were very mild side effects initially, which subsided and then disappeared after about 3 weeks. Hunger, occasional very mild headaches, and some periods of a rather languid mental state requiring more solitude and introversion, also more sleep. These effects were not strong (except for hunger) or problematic and they all ultimately went away. My first trial of this lasted about 4 weeks, dosing between 20-40 mg 2-3 times per day. Lower doses seemed to work as well as higher, in terms of positive effects. I did not experience a feeling of burn-out on the higher doses. It just seemed to work as well at lower doses, though I can't be totally sure on that.

Then I took a two week break. The positive changes remained, though lower in magnitude. There was no feeling of come-down or crash during cessation. On approximately the 6th day of the break I experienced a very large and continuous surge of motivational drive for about a week which then gently subsided. The surge in drive during this break was not hypomanic or unbalanced in any way and it did not cause insomnia or irritability.

Now I am in the 6th and last week of my second round. I have a strong feeling the NSI-189 should be cycled in some fashion, though not really sure exactly how. I will probably stop for 4-6 weeks.

I also think that anyone considering taking this, especially anyone who has reason to believe they have some degree of acquired brain injury from causes such as toxins, pathogens, aging, stress, glycation, or inflammation of unknown origin, should be doing whatever they can to support the overall health and repair of their nervous, metabolic, and immune systems and their brain. I was fortunate to have had many supportive habits of diet, fitness, and lifestyle already in place. Although altogether they were only partially effective before taking NSI-189, those habits may have enhanced the positive effects. I'm also pretty sure my brain had been taking some serious damage for a long time, so my improvements were more noticeable for me.

Other things that may have increased the efficacy of NSI-189 for me: 200 mg of ubiquinol, 50-70 mg of idebenone, 200-400 mg of phosphatidylserine, and 1-2 grams of Omega-3s.

I hope this is helpful to someone.

[typ3z3r0]

(Last night involved MDMA, certainly don't want any bit of the NSI to be concurrently affecting my body while that's happening) But, now that halloween has past and it's been the last "go crazy" holiday for the next couple months, I'll be recommencing my NSI soon, uninterrupted, in a healthy fashion.

Good idea. You may be aware of this already, but MDMA is neurotoxic and excitotoxic, and does appear to reduce hippocampal volume.

"The hippocampal volume in the ecstasy using group was on average 10.5% smaller than the hippocampal volume in the control group (p=0.032)"
http://www.ncbi.nlm....pubmed/21444322

"Our results indicate primary memory dysfunction in heavy ecstasy users, which may be related to a particularly high vulnerability of the hippocampus to the neurotoxic effects of MDMA. Hippocampal dysfunction after ecstasy use may be a risk factor for earlier onset and/or more severe age-related memory decline in later years."
http://www.sciencedi...278584603001143

A prospective study of learning, memory, and executive function in new MDMA users:
http://onlinelibrary...12.03977.x/full

Depression, impulsiveness, sleep, and memory in past and present polydrug users of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, ecstasy):
http://www.ncbi.nlm....pubmed/24114426

A study in rats showing that "dosages approximating the recreational use of MDMA may impact the male reproductive axis":
http://www.ncbi.nlm....les/PMC2753463/

A study showing that neurotoxic metabolites were found in human urine after MDMA ingestion:
http://www.ncbi.nlm....pubmed/19349378

A study in rats showing that "MDMA may constitute a risk factor for dopaminergic neuron degeneration":
http://www.ncbi.nlm....pubmed/24108425

A study using human SH-SY5Y differentiated cells as dopaminergic neuronal model, showing that MDMA may be neurotoxic to dopaminergic neurons in relevant concentrations:
http://www.ncbi.nlm....pubmed/24101030

18 more studies are linked to here:
http://www.reddit.co...se_in_a/c7mvi4i

Edited by typ3z3r0, 01 November 2013 - 08:41 PM.

[Rior]

Yeah I certainly understand this. I'm fully aware that MDMA is neurotoxic, however I believe that in small enough doses, spread out over long enough period of time, with proper preparation and post-roll accommodations it's possible to at least minimize the danger/risk. That, and I only take it a couple times a year, I'm not one of those crazy ravers that goes out and does it every weekend or something. But yeah, I load up with 5-htp in the days leading up to the event, take a fair amount of magnesium l-threonate with hopes that it might slightly reduce the excitotoxicity, then immediately following the roll I dose up on a shit ton of anti-oxidants. Like a huge amount. Use benzodiazepines for the comedown as well, as reduced glutamatergic firing would result in less excitotoxicity and damage. So yeah, does it damage my brain? Absolutely. However, taking it once (or once in a while) won't cause much damage, and I feel that with proper supplements it's very possible to greatly minimize any of the damage that is done. So far, as far as I'm concerned, I haven't seen any long-term damage beyond the day or two following the roll.

But yes. Of course, I don't want to mix NSI with the MDMA as that sounds like one of most unintelligent things I could possibly do :D

I will say I'm incredibly looking forward to coming off/down from all of this post-roll and recommencing NSI though, as its benefits I've found to be quite remarkable.

It's hard, ya know, being in college right now and wanting to be extremely healthy and maintain a good healthy regimen, however I'm also not looking to miss out on the college experience and going out with friends at the same time. So I've been trying to balance and make it work.