Introduction
Below are the nootropics and supplements I’ve been researching and the ones I plan to start taking as soon as possible, or the ones that I have already been taking.
If you are not familiar with nootropics or any of the supplements below there are little blurbs on most as well as links back to their respective Wikipedia articles. My broad goal here is to ensure I’m getting more than adequate nutrition and additionally I’m attempting to self-medicate for anxiety (primarily with Aniracetam, which has worked before). Futher, with any luck some improvements to my ability to focus and stay on task will be achieved.
No real need for a big introduction here as most of the content is inline below.
Nootropics
Aniracetam
Why? Anti-anxiety nootropic, full stop. If that’s not enough, there are potential synergistic/complimentary effects with other racetams such as Piracetam and Oxiracetam (below). Aniracetam may impact different parts of the brain and combine with Pir/Oxi-racetam to provide a broader set of benefits. As with most/all nootropics, research is arguably inconclusive but there seems to be real potential benefits and the anti-anxiety effects (if nothing else) are real as far as I’m concerned (and I had no foreknowledge of them before I started taking it).
Planned Dosage: 750 mg 3 – 4x daily = 2,250 – 3000 mg daily
Take With: 188 mg of Citicholine (564 – 750 mg daily). Risk of side effects if choline level is not maintained!
Food and/or Omega 3 supplement taken at the same time to possibly help with digestion/absorption (likely unneeded, but easy to do anyway).
Other notes: Aniracetam seems to have a very short half-life (on the order of 2-3 hours). This necessitates more frequent dosages or possibly higher less frequent dosages. Will need to experiment to find the best fit. In the past one 750 mg capsule lasted about 2-3 hours.
Updated notes: Aniracetam has a sort of powdered sugar like consistency. It is again, fat soluble not water soluble so it does not mix with water. It does seem to mix fairly well with orange or lemon juice (and probably some others). The ideal solution would likely be to buy some vcaps and fill them myself but I’m not quite ready to try that yet. I’m currently going to try blending a bit of orange juice concentrate, 2g of Aniracetam, 500mg of choline, and just enough water to make the whole mix come together. That should be pretty easy and sustainable.
I’m taking a higher dosage than originally planned as I’m not currently taking any other racetams (currently just Aniracetam, Choline Citrate, my multi-vitamin, and magnesium supplement). Assuming 750mg lasts for about two hours (which has been my experience) I’m taking about 2g which should last around five hours and I’m doing this three or four times a day.
Links:
Wikipedia
Amazon.com: Doesn’t have a Prime eligible supply.
SmartPowders: 180,000 mg for $49.99, 80 – 60 days supply.
Oxiracetam
Why? Potent racetam that may have similar effects compared to Piracetam and may compliment aniracetam’s own effects. Less important than Aniracetam, if it doesn’t seem worth the increased price may consider going back to Piracetam, looking at another “synergistic” racetam, or sticking with just Aniracetam.
Planned Dosage: 920 mg 1 – 2x daily = 920 – 1840 mg daily
Take With: 230 mg of Citicholine (230 – 460 mg daily) (see Aniracetam side-effect notes).
Other notes: Water soluble. Trying to keep dosages as low as possible especially while combining. Want to keep the benefits to cost ratio as high as possible (and the costs as low as possible).
Links:
Wikipedia
Amazon.com: Doesn’t have a Prime eligible supply.
SmartPowders: 50,000 mg for $49.99 ($39.99 on sale) 54 – 27 days supply.
Citicoline
Why? Some form of choline supplementation is needed and recommended with racetams to both avoid potential side-effects (such as head-aches) and to also allow the racetams to work fully. Choline is likely something that should be supplemented as it is (sans racetams). Further, Citicholine itself may have nootropic and other benefits and has no real drawbacks to choosing it over another choline supplement (apart from potentially the price).
Planned Dosage: 794 – 1210 mg daily (plus 100 – 200 mg of choline bitrate from multi-vitamin)
Links:
Wikipedia
Amazon.com: 120 x 250 mg = 30,000 mg for $35.34 ($30.04 with Subscribe & Save) for 37 – 24 days supply.
SmartPowders: 25,000 mg for $23.99 for 31.5 – 21 days supply.
The Supplements can be found on the next page.