1565 replies to this topic

[Dissolvedissolve]

is it difficult to weigh <10mg sunifiram with this scale?

I have a scale pretty much identical to the one pictured (no level on mine). It will start weighing at ~10 mg. It'll go down to the milligram, but you just need to add something to it, say 50 mg, and then add from there. So if you're measuring super low doses, you can just turn it on without the tray and then add it on and then use that weight as your zero point.

[xsiv1]

Excitotoxicity is not a good feeling at all and I've suffered through it a number of times. A gabaergic may be warranted at this time in case your symptoms are still prevalent. The brain and body always try and keep glutamate and Gaba in balance and but this imbalance us normally caused by lengthier use of a direct Gaba receptor agonist no? Somehow Sunifiram has over - sensitized glutamate receptors this in what length of time? Aside from headaches, do you have anxiety or insomnia? Both are primary symptoms of glutamate excitotoxicity. I'm a recovered (ing) alcoholic (7yrs) and have never had an affinity or liking to benzos, but sure did when I came across phenibut. Tapered off and was fine but I'm wondering is their anything to suggest that sunifiram may modulate or mimic Gaba in any way other than through indirect mechanisms. I haven't seen any indication in the research, but I'm missing something here in sure. My smallish order should be here by tomorrow.

[Climactic]

Excitotoxicity is not a good feeling at all and I've suffered through it a number of times. A gabaergic may be warranted at this time in case your symptoms are still prevalent. The brain and body always try and keep glutamate and Gaba in balance and but this imbalance us normally caused by lengthier use of a direct Gaba receptor agonist no? Somehow Sunifiram has over - sensitized glutamate receptors this in what length of time? Aside from headaches, do you have anxiety or insomnia? Both are primary symptoms of glutamate excitotoxicity. I'm a recovered (ing) alcoholic (7yrs) and have never had an affinity or liking to benzos, but sure did when I came across phenibut. Tapered off and was fine but I'm wondering is their anything to suggest that sunifiram may modulate or mimic Gaba in any way other than through indirect mechanisms. I haven't seen any indication in the research, but I'm missing something here in sure. My smallish order should be here by tomorrow.

I did have insomnia for the first two nights. Since this happened, I haven't been able to fall asleep without using L-theanine and melatonin, both of which are weak even in combination. Drinking even just an ounce of alcohol makes my temples-headache symptoms worsen significantly - this I haven't figured out the reason for.

If using gabaergics to help recover from glutamate excess, I think the trick is to use long-acting gabaergics to provide 24x7 coverage, otherwise the glutamate may upregulate during the hours when the gabaergic is not active. And yes, tapering off is important too. I think it's better, however, to not use gabaergics, but use more direct NMDA antagonists instead, e.g. memantine, acamprosate, etc. These can be combined with various excitotoxicity protectors, e.g. curcumin, B1, B2, B6, NAC, PQQ, magnesium, L-theanine, lithium, and many others that I haven't named.

Of course, this still hinges on the excitotoxicity hypothesis. Yesterday I retried 2mg sunifiram in an attempt to retest and maybe reset things, and it was one of the worst days of my life. My goal is to reset my brain to the pre-toxicity state, either naturally or using drugs, but soon.

Afaik, sunifiram has no direct effect or even any significant indirect effect on gaba.

Anyhow, why would people use something that might give them cancer? It's one thing to correct a deficit with short-term dosing, but a whole other thing to use it everyday in the long-term. We're not from Krypton.

Edited by Climactic, 17 June 2013 - 10:01 PM.

[Sunwind]

nobody has still really explained how it's supposed to cause brain cancer, and why this and no other noots before that all seem operate in the same basic manner? (BDNF, NMDA, AMPA, all that crap) and yet those are fine?

Edited by Sunwind, 17 June 2013 - 11:55 PM.

[xsiv1]

Excitotoxicity is not a good feeling at all and I've suffered through it a number of times. A gabaergic may be warranted at this time in case your symptoms are still prevalent. The brain and body always try and keep glutamate and Gaba in balance and but this imbalance us normally caused by lengthier use of a direct Gaba receptor agonist no? Somehow Sunifiram has over - sensitized glutamate receptors this in what length of time? Aside from headaches, do you have anxiety or insomnia? Both are primary symptoms of glutamate excitotoxicity. I'm a recovered (ing) alcoholic (7yrs) and have never had an affinity or liking to benzos, but sure did when I came across phenibut. Tapered off and was fine but I'm wondering is their anything to suggest that sunifiram may modulate or mimic Gaba in any way other than through indirect mechanisms. I haven't seen any indication in the research, but I'm missing something here in sure. My smallish order should be here by tomorrow.

I did have insomnia for the first two nights. Since this happened, I haven't been able to fall asleep without using L-theanine and melatonin, both of which are weak even in combination. Drinking even just an ounce of alcohol makes my temples-headache symptoms worsen significantly - this I haven't figured out the reason for.

If using gabaergics to help recover from glutamate excess, I think the trick is to use long-acting gabaergics to provide 24x7 coverage, otherwise the glutamate may upregulate during the hours when the gabaergic is not active. And yes, tapering off is important too. I think it's better, however, to not use gabaergics, but use more direct NMDA antagonists instead, e.g. memantine, acamprosate, etc. These can be combined with various excitotoxicity protectors, e.g. curcumin, B1, B2, B6, NAC, PQQ, magnesium, L-theanine, lithium, and many others that I haven't named.

Of course, this still hinges on the excitotoxicity hypothesis. Yesterday I retried 2mg sunifiram in an attempt to retest and maybe reset things, and it was one of the worst days of my life. My goal is to reset my brain to the pre-toxicity state, either naturally or using drugs, but soon.

Afaik, sunifiram has no direct effect or even any significant indirect effect on gaba.

Anyhow, why would people use something that might give them cancer? It's one thing to correct a deficit with short-term dosing, but a whole other thing to use it everyday in the long-term. We're not from Krypton.

Well, I've used curcumin, my B's, I still use NAC daily and magnesium daily as well. L-theanine (suntheanine for me) works wonderfully and I've been upto two grams per day with no adverse effects. Tolerance is the only issue with this compound and because of this, I take breaks. Similarly, taurine could be used in gram amounts to help out. I never responded well to more direct NMDA antagonists although I haven't tried memantine, I've read enough about it to know that it's a crapshoot dosage wise. You really have to find what's working for you. I did try DXM with is like a sledgehammer approach to things and couldn't exceed 30mgs per day and still function sharply enough at work to feel comfortable. It actually agitated me. A gabaergic, whether it's a benzo or a mimetic like Gabapentin or Lyrica, can be used for a short period to eliminate that glutamate excess until you feel normal again. Regardless, you could try the NMDA antagonists although I think you'd 'feel' better taking a longer acting benzo, like Klonopin or even Valium for a week before bedtime. I'd personally opt for Klonopin and perhaps vary days with a calcium channel blocker/glutamate blocker like Lyrica. I'm near certain what you're experiencing is transient and a gaba/glutamate balance will return along with the normal function of NMDA receptors. In the interim, I'd continue to take the supplements, especially if you're getting some positive effect from them. When I went through an incorrect tapering plan and once aprupt cessation of phenibut, it was an experience that 'nearly' bordered on panic at times and then transitioned to plain anxiety and insomnia. It was only after a proper and slow taper along with the list of excitoxicity protectants (bacopa seemed to help me as well), I did it the right way. Another guy I knew went through it with Klonopin and it didn't serve him as well during the day at work lol.
Anyways, please keep us apprised. I'm hesistant to try Suni after reading your account and, in fact, found it in the mailbox this evening. If I do try it, it'll be in the 5-8mg range and I'm not looking to exceed a couple days on it in a row. With phenylpiracetam, I also use it sporadically with good effect. With Noopept, I could only handle it for 4-5 days in a row before irritability got to me. After cycling it for 2 months, I took a break and decided to try others..but have always received the most beneficial effect from it in lower doses like 10mgs and some days nearing the end of that week, at only 5 mgs with 750-800mgs of Aniracetam.

[deeptrance]

OK, all this crap about Sunifiram excitotoxicity or whatever-the-fuck has got to stop.

I went all guinea pig in the name of science and performed an experiment.

75mg Sunifiram, 1200mg modafinil with a 400mg booster several hours later with around 30mg noopept, maybe 1-2g of Lemon Balm, about the same amount L-Theanine and magnesium and calcium - all split over several doses.

No tinnitus, no head pressure, it's been over a week since I did this.

Get a new theory.

That is not a science experiment, that's a test of your own reaction to a single day's excessive consumption of supplements and drugs. Your comments are tantamount to saying that your personal experience is all that is needed for scientific testing of chemical compounds!

Do you not see your own insanity in posting a reckless comment like this?

To your single day experiment I can respond with my own experiment and, according to your own quasi-scientific reasoning, it nullifies your results. Sunifiram, FOR ME, is absolutely positively potent, glutamatergic, and potentially neurotoxic. But my experience does not nullify your results, it merely shows that 2 different people respond to the same chemical in different ways, and we must also take into account the fact that there were absolutely no controls on these so-called "experiments" so we cannot conclude a single thing, other than that I have to be extremely cautious with sunifiram.

There is nothing that can be said about your ability to safely take sunifiram because a single data point is meaningless. River Phoenix used cocaine countless times before the night when he dropped dead from that same substance. If you want to get some EEG and other physiological measures performed over time while taking suni, then I'll eagerly pay attention to the outcome.

[Climactic]

nobody has still really explained how it's supposed to cause brain cancer, and why this and no other noots before that all seem operate in the same basic manner? (BDNF, NMDA, AMPA, all that crap) and yet those are fine?

• Generally speaking, PKCα acts in not just the brain, but has roles in the rest of the body too. I however acknowledge that I don't know whether PKCα activation in the brain matters in this context for the rest of the body or not.
  
• Afaik, there is no relation of sunifiram with BDNF, although increasing BDNF may help with LTP too.
• I don't know of other substances that activate PKCα.
  
• The general connection between PKCα and spreading of cancer, including the mechanism, is mentioned in the PKC alpha article. I acknowledge that PKCα alone may not cause cancer - it may only help spread it, but this too is quite significant if PKCα overexpression were to occur.
  
• About brain cancer, yes, it is worsened by PKCα overexpression, and below is the updated section. We already know from at least three cases (myself, deeptrance, and R******) that sunifiram appears to be capable of causing things to go overboard.

Sunifiram activates PKCα.^[8] Although PKCα activation can enhance learning and memory,^[11]it is linked to malignant phenotype^[12] and the growth and invasion of cancer^[13] cells. High levels of PKCα are linked to malignant brain cancer.^[14] Moreover, a high proliferation rate of glioma tumor cells is the result of overexpression of isozyme PKCα.^[15]

Edited by Climactic, 18 June 2013 - 04:11 AM.

[8bitmore]

is it difficult to weigh <10mg sunifiram with this scale? [...]

No, it will work fine, keep these points in mind (grabbed from Amazon review on similar scale once upon a time and modded slightly):

• Let the scale stabilize on a hard, flat and level surface.
• Make sure the sample tray is properly seated inside the circular indent of the scale's metal measuring platform. Take care that the sample tray (as provided) does not touch the body of the scale, grossly throwing off the measurement. (fix the tray with a bit of blue tack to avoid having to re-fiddle with it)
• Tap the table that the scale is on to help everything settle.
• Calibrate as described in the manual.
• Place and remove materials to be weighed consistently and carefully - don't drop them. Even the slightest impact can throw off the measurement.
• Wait for ten seconds or so for the sample to settle. (this varies depending on specific weight: some start sliding if you wait too long, best option is experimentation)
• For minuscule samples, use the ten gram weight in addition to the sample to put the scale in the middle of its operating range. With a little care, one will get closer to the performance of a lab-grade milligram scale than anything else for this price. (for this purpose: cut out small piece of clear/blank surface paper/plastic, weigh it, write the weight of the paper on the corner of it and use this "extra tray" as a base and "additional weight" for micro doses)

[xsiv1]

I think the take home to supplementing sunifiram is really to utilize it sparingly with regards to it's plausible link with the growth and invasion of cancer and some of the other unknowns...at least until more research is conducted or more people (inevitably) continue to share their experiences with it. As for me, I'll give it a try since it's here and treat it with cautious optimism. Great thread btw.

[Suirsuss]

hmm what isoform(s) of PKC would this oxiracetam study be referring to? Without specification I would be inclined to assume many. The effects of oxiracetam on hippocampally-mediated learning performance and hippocampal protein kinase C (PKC) were examined in mice

In general I encourage spending more time supporting efforts to develop sustainable therapies for cancer rather than try and figure out all the things that are causal factors and avoid them...though malignant brain tumors are rather persuasive.

I do plan to use the remainder of what i have now but definitely will put it on hold for a good while afterwards. Its just so painfully cheap!

Edited by Suirsuss, 19 June 2013 - 01:50 AM.

[3AlarmLampscooter]

hmm what isoform(s) of PKC would this oxiracetam study be referring to? Without specification I would be inclined to assume many. The effects of oxiracetam on hippocampally-mediated learning performance and hippocampal protein kinase C (PKC) were examined in mice

In general I encourage spending more time supporting efforts to develop sustainable therapies for cancer rather than try and figure out all the things that are causal factors and avoid them...though malignant brain tumors are rather persuasive.

I do plan to use the remainder of what i have now but definitely will put it on hold for a good while afterwards. Its just so painfully cheap!

High grade gliomas are about the single worst form of cancer to get as far as low survival and painful, terrible deaths.

I'm considering also putting sunifiram use on hold until this is further explored, despite the fact that I've had nothing but positive effects (except a bit of anxiety coming off my first dose)

[3AlarmLampscooter]

After some further reading about PKCα I am wondering if taking excess Alpha-tocopherol might be a good idea? http://ajcn.nutritio...t/76/4/703.full

And PKCα clearly plays a lot of roles in addition to the spread of gliomas, so I wouldn't be too quick to jump to conclusions on any potential carcinogenicity (or lack thereof) of Sunifiram without more information.

Edit: after re-reading the paper I linked, apparently "Among the vitamin E analogues, α-tocopherol succinate (α-TOS) has been shown to be a potent apoptogen in tumor cell lines but not in primary cells", which would lead me to believe that all this worry about Sunifiram blocking apoptosis may be overblown. Regardless, extra Vitamin E certainly can't hurt.

Edited by 3AlarmLampscooter, 19 June 2013 - 07:42 AM.

[Climactic]

After some further reading about PKCα I am wondering if taking excess Alpha-tocopherol might be a good idea? http://ajcn.nutritio...t/76/4/703.full

And PKCα clearly plays a lot of roles in addition to the spread of gliomas, so I wouldn't be too quick to jump to conclusions on any potential carcinogenicity (or lack thereof) of Sunifiram without more information.

Edit: after re-reading the paper I linked, apparently "Among the vitamin E analogues, α-tocopherol succinate (α-TOS) has been shown to be a potent apoptogen in tumor cell lines but not in primary cells", which would lead me to believe that all this worry about Sunifiram blocking apoptosis may be overblown. Regardless, extra Vitamin E certainly can't hurt.

Nice find. Different tocopherols and tocotrienols have different roles to play in the brain and the body. It helps to keep them balanced so they don't negatively affect each other's bioavailability. Personally I do supplement full-spectrum vitamin E. I, however, recommend against supplementing only d- alpha tocopherol in isolation.

Clearly, malignant gliomas do occur, and certain factors make them more likely. This happens despite vitamin E.

[Climactic]

On one hand, we have people taking NMDA-agonist like drugs like sunifiram to boost their cognitive function, and on the other, we have people seeking NMDA-antagonist drugs like NitroMemantine to boost their cognitive function. Do you see the irony? There is such a thing as going overboard with NMDA agonism. If what you wanted initially is an AMPA receptor PAM (positive allosteric modulator), it doesn't make sense to take something that doesn't cleanly serve this purpose.

Edited by Climactic, 19 June 2013 - 07:39 AM.

[adaptogentleman]

http://www.ncbi.nlm..../pubmed/9193380

Randomised trial of alpha-tocopherol and beta-carotene supplements on incidence of major coronary events in men with previous myocardial infarction.

INTERPRETATION:

The proportion of major coronary events in men with a previous myocardial infarction who smoke was not decreased with either alpha-tocopherol or beta-carotene supplements. In fact, the risk of fatal coronary heart disease increased in the groups that received either beta-carotene or the combination of alpha-tocopherol and beta-carotene; there was a non-significant trend of increased deaths in the alpha-tocopherol group. We do not recommend the use of alpha-tocopherol or beta-carotene supplements in this group of patients.

In patients with vascular disease or diabetes mellitus, long-term vitamin E supplementation does not prevent cancer or major cardiovascular events and may increase the risk for heart failure. (4,000 subjects over 7 years) http://jama.ama-assn...93/11/1338.long

http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=201172 Conclusions The data from this large trial indicated that 600 IU of natural-source vitamin E taken every other day provided no overall benefit for major cardiovascular events or cancer, did not affect total mortality, and decreased cardiovascular mortality in healthy women. These data do not support recommending vitamin E supplementation for cardiovascular disease or cancer prevention among healthy women.

http://www.ncbi.nlm....les/PMC2774210/

Conclusions

In this large long-term trial of male physicians, neither vitamin E nor C supplementation reduced the risk of prostate or total cancer. These data provide no support for the use of these supplements for the prevention of cancer in middle-aged and older men.

[Climactic]

...

Studies frequently use dl- alpha tocopherol. There is no reason to use unnatural non d- isomers. Moreover, vitamin E must not be supplemented if it's not balanced full-spectrum (all 8 tocopherols and tocotrienols) to ensure that one of the 8 does not interfere with the others from diet.

Similarly, while I'm not proficient with beta carotene, it may very well have multiple isomers, not all of which may be natural. In particular, the synthetic isomer may not be the one found in food. Moreover, even natural beta carotene must not be taken in isolation - it must be part of mixed carotenoids, especially including alpha carotene.

These points are a big deal.

Edited by Climactic, 19 June 2013 - 09:45 AM.

[xsiv1]

Hmm, I'll have to reconsider my use of a one a day Vitamin E..not to mention, ensuring that it's full spectrum in the first place. Like I said, with these recent finding and the plausibility of serious adverse ramifications down the road, sporadic use of said nootropics is most likely the best plan of action.

[3AlarmLampscooter]

One thing to point out, the expected rate of developing gliomas in the general population is 4.7/100,000 person-years (from http://www.ncbi.nlm....les/PMC1907421/)

And low vitiamin E is apparently a risk factor: http://www.ncbi.nlm....pubmed/11341043

Edited by 3AlarmLampscooter, 19 June 2013 - 04:54 PM.

[xsiv1]

One thing to point out, the expected rate of developing gliomas in the general population is 4.7/100,000 person-years (from http://www.ncbi.nlm....les/PMC1907421/)

And low vitiamin E is apparently a risk factor: http://www.ncbi.nlm....pubmed/11341043

Thanks for the links. Apparently, unless you were born with a disorder that affects it's aborption, Vitamin E deficiencies are extremely rare in Westernized nations. Some concise information - with some history behind it's initial beliefs about supplementation - as well as a synopsis of the existing research pertainin to cancer and overall health can be found here: http://www.cancer.or...erals/vitamin-e

An excerpt: a 2007 review of 68 studies of antioxidant vitamin supplements found that people taking vitamin E supplements had a shorter life expectancy than those who did not take these supplements.

I'm going to go ahead and remove that one from my arsenal since I'm getting off this statin I use anyways.

[Climactic]

An excerpt: a 2007 review of 68 studies of antioxidant vitamin supplements found that people taking vitamin E supplements had a shorter life expectancy than those who did not take these supplements.

There we go again with the "studies" that use the wrong kind of vitamin E and then claim results that are wholly useless. Show me one study that either used either d- alpha tocopherol OR preferably d- mixed-tocopherols OR more preferably full-spectrum d- vitamin E and showed negative results.

Not only are there 8 forms of vitamin E, but there are also 8 stereoisomers of alpha tocopherol itself, with only 1 of these 8 stereoisomers being of interest to us. You can't dumb this down. Thanks for the cancer.org link, however.

Edited by Climactic, 19 June 2013 - 05:33 PM.

[xsiv1]

An excerpt: a 2007 review of 68 studies of antioxidant vitamin supplements found that people taking vitamin E supplements had a shorter life expectancy than those who did not take these supplements.

There we go again with the "studies" that use the wrong kind of vitamin E and then claim results that are wholly useless. Show me one study that either used either d- alpha tocopherol OR preferably d- mixed-tocopherols OR more preferably full-spectrum d- vitamin E and showed negative results.

Not only are there 8 forms of vitamin E, but there are also 8 stereoisomers of alpha tocopherol itself, with only 1 of these 8 stereoisomers being of interest to us. You can't dumb this down.

I'm unsure what this review deemed as Vitamin E when it selected it's 68 studies. I can say that it must have contained at least the alpha-tocopherol, but what about the rest. Was the broad spectrum E supplement available to them or was known to be an important variable? After having looked at a typical broad spectrum E supplement such as this one: http://www.swansonvi...enols-120-sgels
makes me think WOW, that's not cheap but for it's antioxidant role, it may be worth it. Do you take a Vitamin E supplement currently? Also, how's things progressing?

[Climactic]

After having looked at a typical broad spectrum E supplement such as this one: http://www.swansonvi...enols-120-sgels
makes me think WOW, that's not cheap but for it's antioxidant role, it may be worth it. Do you take a Vitamin E supplement currently? Also, how's things progressing?

I take this exact supplement, one a day, though I may try taking it twice a day temporarily now to see if it helps my symptoms. I do believe it is worth taking daily. There are times when Swanson has a buy-one-get-one-free deal. It also has a 15% or more discount during the Thanksgiving weekend.

Yesterday I retried modafinil, at a very low test dose of 50mg, and since then my symptoms have worsened. This makes sense because modafinil increase glutamate in the hippocampus.

Now we have three people with ongoing temple headache+pressure symptoms from sunifiram. These include myself and two that have messaged me on Longecity within the past week - these two have not posted on this thread. It's becoming a public health issue.

Based on my knowledge of their doses so far, to avoid immediate side effects, I do not recommend that anyone take more than 1mg of sunifiram twice daily, and not combine it with any glutamatergics. To minimize any risk of malignant cancer, I recommend that it probably not be dosed for more than 3 days at a time.

Edited by Climactic, 19 June 2013 - 06:41 PM.

[xsiv1]

Well, thanks for sharing that information Climactic. Now I'm reconsidering it's use. Damn it. This isn't good. Contaminated batch can't be ruled out either as many have went waaayyyy beyond without ill effect (for now at least) but now I may be out some cash unless I try it at 1mg which I suspect won't do a thing that I can perceive. Than again, I've only ever used Noopept regularly at 5-10mgs and found it worked far better for me at those dosages than anything beyond.

[3AlarmLampscooter]

Calling this a public health issue is going a bit far, it is important to remember that all experimental nootropics are very much caveat emptor.

[Southern_Lights]

I hope this isn’t as bad as that, but I too am concerned.
For a while I have debated posting a symptom I believe is due to Sunifiram.
I took Suni for about very short period of time at dosages of around 3-5mg. I never really noticed any effect, except maybe some anxiety and maybe some insomnia if taken too late in the day, but even those could have very easily been attributed to placebo.
Now something I have noticed since my trial, is a heightened sense of sound. I don’t really know how to explain it, and it isn’t really pleasant. It’s not that I can hear “better” exactly, but if ambient noise is clear, I can hear really distant sounds. I have heard neighbors conversations etc. that are much more clear and pronounced than before. Now I can’t be sure by any means that this is due to Suni, or even a real effect, as I have no objectivity. However it is something I have noticed.
I think I’m going to stop taking nootropics, at least those with little research.

[Climactic]

I hope this isn’t as bad as that, but I too am concerned.
For a while I have debated posting a symptom I believe is due to Sunifiram.
I took Suni for about very short period of time at dosages of around 3-5mg. I never really noticed any effect, except maybe some anxiety and maybe some insomnia if taken too late in the day, but even those could have very easily been attributed to placebo.
Now something I have noticed since my trial, is a heightened sense of sound. I don’t really know how to explain it, and it isn’t really pleasant. It’s not that I can hear “better” exactly, but if ambient noise is clear, I can hear really distant sounds. I have heard neighbors conversations etc. that are much more clear and pronounced than before. Now I can’t be sure by any means that this is due to Suni, or even a real effect, as I have no objectivity. However it is something I have noticed.
I think I’m going to stop taking nootropics, at least those with little research.

The obvious hypothesis is the (over)activation of NMDA receptors in the ear by sunifiram. Gradual hearing loss is a concern from overactivation. NAC and ALCAR should be of use. In contrast, aspirin would make it worse. Obviously, the simplest thing to do is to not take 3-5mg sunifiram.

[Southern_Lights]

The obvious hypothesis is the (over)activation of NMDA receptors in the ear by sunifiram. Gradual hearing loss is a concern from overactivation. NAC and ALCAR should be of use. In contrast, aspirin would make it worse. Obviously, the simplest thing to do is to not take 3-5mg sunifiram.

Alright well now you have me slightly worried haha. I haven't used sunifiram since late April, early May; does it make sense for the NMDA receptors to still be over-activated months later? I don't want to just be a hypochondriac but I REALLY don't want to lose my hearing... I guess I'll see what I can get in terms of NAC, ALCAR maybe I'll notice an improvement.

[Climactic]

The obvious hypothesis is the (over)activation of NMDA receptors in the ear by sunifiram. Gradual hearing loss is a concern from overactivation. NAC and ALCAR should be of use. In contrast, aspirin would make it worse. Obviously, the simplest thing to do is to not take 3-5mg sunifiram.

Alright well now you have me slightly worried haha. I haven't used sunifiram since late April, early May; does it make sense for the NMDA receptors to still be over-activated months later? I don't want to just be a hypochondriac but I REALLY don't want to lose my hearing... I guess I'll see what I can get in terms of NAC, ALCAR maybe I'll notice an improvement.

At this point, it's difficult to establish cause and continued effect. I don't know how long the effect of sunifiram lasts. I forgot to mention that magnesium is #1 for hearing, as it helps counteract NMDAR overactivation, but it's not a real fix. If you really think that sunifiram did this, and would like to undo it, then people have suggested "long-acting" gabaergics or NMDA antagonists, but we're going on thin evidence here.

Edited by Climactic, 19 June 2013 - 08:40 PM.

[3AlarmLampscooter]

An interesting paper on PKCα and memory: http://www.ncbi.nlm....les/PMC3365172/

[Geoffrey]

According to the paper cited in this post, galantamine also activates PKCalpha. Why haven't we heard anything about this as a cancer risk? Similarly, Oxiracetam is said to activate PKC, although I haven't found a study where PKC-α is specified. Could this be a common mechanism of many nootropics?