I'm hoping that by presenting my case to neuro/biochem enthusiasts I'll be able to get a deeper insight than what I've gathered from the medical community.
Before all this happened I considered myself a normal 24 year old with a normal life-style. I worked hard, ate healthy, and engaged in some sort of sport every second day. I did always have a passion for experimenting with new recreational substances, but always tried to be respectful and cautious.
In my first couple of years at university I'd take Tramadol around once a week (150mg) simply because I enjoyed the relaxing sensation. This lasted until around my last year of university when I discovered Phenibut. I quickly learned about the addiction/withdrawal issues related to this chemical compound so I spaced out my experiences and would rarely take it more than 250mg maximum twice a week.
When I finished my studies I was first introduced to the racetams, I started with aniracetam and Alpha GPC and saw little effects (never taking more than the recommended doses for each). After three weeks on this combo I decided to drop the aniracetam and saw that just from Alpha GPC I'd get very noticable effects. My mental and physical abilities were superior, and it made me look younger and healthier than I remember looking. My hair looked thicker, my face had brighter stronger color and I had more energy and higher libido. Very impressed, but at some point I had to discontinue Alpha GPC since a subtle feeling of anxiety/nervousness started to creep in (cortisol/NE?).
After this I looked to achieve the same effect from CDP choline. Although I did get exactly the same results (more energy, better hair, face color, libido, no eye-bags) as soon as I started experiencing the exact same background anxiety as on Alpha GPC so I was forced to discontinue this aswell as it significantly impaired my social abilities. From there on I set off to search for another nootropic and this is when I came across noopept. Love at first sight. Noopept made me a happier, smarter more sociable and charismatic person. I continued dosing it on its own (15mg on mornings) for around a month. While on noopept I had the motivation and zest for life that I had been looking for to carry out all the long-term projects I had planned for myself. It's important to mention that while on noopept there were some days where I still tried phenibut and on a two seperate ocassions Inderall.
Towards the end of my love affair with noopept I started experiencing a host of several symptoms. The first symptom came up one afternoon with my girlfriend, where I experienced erectile dysfunction and in the next weeks I started to experience a host of other very alarming symptoms, including:
-Lack of circulation to my hands and feet
-Itchy back
-Digestion problems to the point of constipation
-Easy bloating
-Lack of motivation
-Impaired ability to think and speak (brain fog)
-Pale face, bad hair, bags under eyes - generally looking much older
-Complete loss of libido, loss of feeling, and ability to achieve and maintain an erection.
-Susceptible to flu’s and infections and difficulty healing
-Loss of muscle
-Inability to do sports
This alarmed me to cease all nootropic and supplement use. given some of the symptoms initially I was convinced it was a kidney problem. But after a medical check up this theory was dismissed. I gave myself a month to see if everything would return to normalcy on it's own - but unfortunately that didn't happen. Some of the findings I gathered during that month:- If I would try taking noopept or piracetam (tried once) I would still feel great effects from it. But my body would shut down its ability to achieve an erection. I would lose all feeling and sensitivity down there. As if my body lost it's ability to relax in that sense. I would also feel discomfort on my lower back where my adrenals/kidneys are located.- Any type of sports would make me too fatigued and looking tired and worn out instead of energized.- sensitive to all chemicals or supplements even coffee makes me shaky and anxious (NE effect?)- Adaptogen herbs stimulate me way too much (they give me crazy libido but right after it goes back to normal) and I’m left with a‘hangover effect’
Determined to find a solutions, the next step was to visit an endocrinologist who ran a couple of tests, rendering the
following results:
Cortisol A.M :
241 nmol/l (171-536)
87ng/ml (62-194)
Free T4
15.46 pmol/l (12-22)
1.21 ng/dl (0.94-1.72)
TSH
2.50 microUL/ml (0.27 -4.20)
LH
6 mUI/ml (1.7 - 8.6 )
Prolactin
12 ng/ml (4-15)
254 microUI/ml (85-318)
Testosterone
6.47 ng/ml (2.49 - 8.36)
22.45 nmol/l (8.64 - 29.00)
C-reactive protein
<3.0 (<5.0)
The conclusion taken from the tests where that I was deficient in Vitamin D and both my AM cortisol and Testosterone were too low considering my demographic. From there I was put on vitamin D to correct my deficiency and daily dose of 50mg DHEA to try and support my hormone levels back to normal.Besides being a good endocrinologist, he was unable to give me a precise medical explanation on what exactly was happening.
My personal theory is that my HPA axis has taken a toll these last couple of years with the enhancing supplements and perhaps the pressure of a stressful life-style. Also the low levels of hormone (particularly cortisol) could be considered indicators that indeed my HPA axis is hypofunctional. Could this possibly explain my strange reactions to piracetam and noopept? As soon as I tried them I would feel great mentally but my body would shut-down its sexual function. Immediately I’d lose all desire, become numb down there, and lose all abilities to achieve and maintain erection. The only explanations that come to mind is that they further suppress my hormone system or that in some way they activate my fight or flight response in a way that blocks all sexual function. In any case I find it very surprising such well documented substances can have such a profound effect on my functioning.
Either way, It’s been three months I’ve been off all supplements living healthy but I’m trying to find how to correct this issue in the hopes that
(1)I can fully heal and return to baseline
(2) someday I can experience the same benefits I did from noopept or piracetam without the debilitating side effects
Ofcourse I’ve read into Ex-Dubios very helpful posts on what constitutes the HPA axis hypofunction arsenal (SSRI’s, SJW, Stimulants). It’s my belief that CDP Choline and Alpha GPC were also activating my HPA axis and perhaps that’s why I looked and felt younger while I was on it (hair,skin,morphology really improved!). However, I’m hesitant to use these as I’m scared since I get a anxiety (NE/adrenal?) effect from them and perhaps they where what worn down my endocrine system in the first place or perhaps were responsible for strong enough fluctuations resulting in lowered baseline HPA output. However this is all speculation.
Ultimately, my aim is to try and achieve a better understanding of what could be going on. Your experiences and insights are certainly welcomed and I’m glad to provide any other information which might provide a better understanding of the case.
LongeCityAdvocacy & Research for Unlimited Lifespans
