Piracetam - My Experience

You may have heard of the nootropic drug piracetam. According to the claims on the jar of it that I recently purchased, it is supposed to support memory and concentration as well as reduce stress and fatigue. These claims have not all been proven, but there have been studies done on this substance. Wikipedia cites studies that show it increases blood flow and oxygen to the brain and enhances cognition and memory among other effects.

A double blind study reported in the journal Psychopharmacology as far back as 1976 found that Piracetam significantly increased verbal learning and memory in college students after two weeks of daily supplementation. Interestingly, the effects did not show up after only a week. This seems to be contradicted by the anecdotal reports I have read online by users, who often get immediate effects.

A meta-analysis of nineteen double blind, placebo controlled studies, reported in In the journal Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders, found that older subjects with cognitive impairment (all of the subjects of these studies were older patients suffering from cognitive impairment) had "clinically meaningful improvement" from using piracetam.

I am sure that more studies will be done, and at the moment piracetam is unregulated in the United States, so we get to do our own experimentation. Although I haven't heard or read about any side effects nastier than a headache, I am not recommending that you try taking this nootropic. Nonetheless, I though it worth reporting on my own experience with powdered piracetam.

I bought a little plastic bucket of the powder (500 grams) for under $60 online, and after leaving it in my cupboard for months, I finally decided to try it. I put about 1500 milligrams in a little water and drank it. It is extremely bitter, which is not a big deal - I just washed the taste away with a sip of orange juice. Then I went to work. I wrote 12 articles in the following few hours - more than I normally write in a day.

Two days later I decided to use it to help me with some blog posts I needed to write. I use these posts to promote our various websites and it is sometimes difficult to get a reader interested and sum up a point in 150 words or less. I have written as many as 30 or so in a day before. I took about 1500 milligrams of piracetam and went to work.

I wrote 110 posts in two sessions totaling about six hours. I didn't get "stuck" on some like I often do (not knowing what to say on a topic), and I averaged about 120 words each. I'm not sure if I have ever written 13,000 words in a day - and I reviewed and spell checked it all. It seems that Piracetam may help with focus, and may even prevent mental fatigue.

It's only anecdotal evidence, but interesting. I'll certainly be using the powder again when I have projects which require hours of concentration. I might try daily use for two weeks, as in the experiment with the college students. If so, I'll report on this in the Brainpower Newsletter. I was introduced to Piracetam by a friend, and if he gets back to me about his experiences, I may report on that as well.

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