My experience with nootropics: piracetam & choline

I’ve had some interesting experiences related to taking nootropics, so I wanted to share my thoughts on the subject here. I’m certain that I’ll continue to take a choline supplement, but I’m not entirely sold on the benefits of piracetam at this point.

I was interested in taking piracetam for the effects it supposedly has on verbal fluency. Frequently writing and posting videos can be quite time consuming. The research that I conducted on nootropics led me to believe that using them could improve my efficiency at these tasks.

The benefits of piracetam have been somewhat mixed. While my thinking has become more subtle and clear, it has also become quite intense. On the 3rd and 4th days of taking 800mg of piracetam, supplemented with choline from eggs, I found myself thoroughly exhausted. I’m not sure if my exhaustion was the result of my brain consuming energy at a faster rate, or just a side effect of the drug. Even after drinking 2-3 cups of coffee, I was feeling physically worn out.

Along with the noticeable changes to my thinking was another welcome benefit – improved mood! Although the piracetam made me tired for the first few days, I also felt more relaxed. I didn’t have any problems with negative thinking, and I seemed to find things more humorous. It’s tough to say whether it was a feeling of giddiness that made me laugh so much or just being happy, but either way it was enjoyable.

I was hoping that the piracetam would also facilitate my dream studies. Due to the fact that it made me so tired, I thought it would be easier to stay on the sleep/awake border; making it easier to enter sleep paralysis in order to induce a lucid dream. Fortunately it did work to some extent. I have only been taking the supplements for a short amount of time, but there were two instances were I made significant improvements into reaching lucid dream states. I believe that with the benefit of improved dream recall, caused by the choline, I’ll be able to take some serious steps over these next few weeks. I’ll discuss the benefits of choline in a moment, but I want to briefly describe the dream experiences I had.

The first lucid experience I had was awareness of a warbling sound that transitioned into a lucid dream. It was brief but memorable. Another day, during a brief nap, I woke into full consciousness and could hear my heart beating very heavily. My body was still asleep, and it was only my awareness that caused me to disturb the state and wake up. It seems that in both cases I was able to remain mentally aware while my body was at rest.

As far as choline goes, aside from improved dream recall there are several benefits. After a brief internet search I learned that choline “… has been recognized as an essential nutrient with a variety of significant roles in human metabolism. Lack of choline is thought to contribute to a wide range of diseases, and possibly neurological disorders.”

Choline plays an important role in mental health. When I learned of it’s importance, I started eating eggs every morning. According to wikipedia, eggs contain about 145mg of choline each. The recommended daily allowance for choline is 500mg/day (for an adult male). Combining eggs with another dietary source will probably be sufficient for your needs. I recently purchased a supplement, but have not noticed a major difference compared to just eating eggs.

While I cannot wholeheartedly endorse using piracetam, I would definitely recommend taking a choline supplement. The health benefits and improved dream recall brought on by choline are not accompanied with a downside . I’m going to adjust the dose of piracetam, to see if I can find the right balance. I enjoy the intensity of thoughts (caused by piracetam), however if it constantly leads to physical exhaustion, then it may not be the right thing for me.

I hope you found my personal account helpful. I’ll be writing more on this topic as I learn more about nootropics. Thanks for reading, please don’t hesitate to check back 🙂

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