Consciousness Cafe - Entheogens and Psychedelic Cultural Transmissions

I thought I would pass on a personal discovery about nootropics that may be of benefit to other.

Following the advice of many other nootropic (cognitive-enhancing) users, in March 2003 I started a regimen of daily doses of 4.5 mg hydergine (brandname Novartin) and 800 mg piracetam (Nootropil). I did find that the synergistic combo increased my alertness. The piracetam alone makes me much more sensitive to all psychoactives, by increasing the permiability of the blood-brain barrier. The hydergine seems to supply a stimulating action.

Ever since I have been using it I have intermittently felt what appears to be occasional heart arhythmia, feelings of light-headedness and dizziness, and a general lightness all around. Sudden physical activity would result in feelings of my heart "lurching" and other unpleasant sensations. I have especially noticed this in the last six months.

In December I had an unexpected interruption in my supply of hydergine so I have been off it for about two weeks now. (I am still taking piracetam.) Ever since the hydergine ended, all of my chest discomfort, feelings of lightness and dizziness, have ended. I also feel more calm than I have in months. I have come to the conclusion that the hydergine, perhaps in combination with the caffeine in the coffee I routinely drink, had me excessively stimulated. I think the hydergine is probably a performance enhancer for the same reason any stimulant like Ritalin is. I probably get enough of that effect just from the coffee I drink.

So a warning to others who already partake in some kind of stimulant. Monitor yourself when initiating a hydergine regimen. Watch for heart palpitations, apparent arhythmia, and other kinds of discomfort when you take it.

I do not feel any difficulty with piracetam alone, and will try to continue to take piracetam.

Shai responds . . .

well guys......as a medical doc i have to say that you should be weary of both because ultimately they become a dependent factor for the physiological fnxn of the bod.....although nootopril is used in men for increased oxygen utilization....once your body is used to metabolizing piracetam...it will fall down a curve of productive action once you stop and the body, espceically the brain will feel the effects of decreased o2 ouput......  So what's the catch? One problem, to which not all authorities on nootropics give enough emphasis, is the complex interplay between cognition and mood. Great care should be taken before tampering with the noradrenaline/acetylcholine axis. Thought-frenzied hypercholinergic states, for instance, are characteristic of one "noradrenergic"
sub-type of depression. A predominance of forebrain cholinergic activity, frequently triggered by chronic uncontrolled stress, can lead to a reduced sensitivity to reward, an inability to sustain effort, and behavioural suppression.

         This mood-modulating effect does make some sort of cruel genetic sense. Extreme intensity of reflective thought may function as an evolutionarily adaptive response when things go wrong. When they're going right, we don't need to bother. Hence boosting cholinergic function, alone and in the absence of further pharmacologic intervention, can subdue mood. It can even induce depression in susceptible subjects. Likewise beta-adrenergic antagonists (e.g. propranolol (Inderal)) can induce depression and fatigue. Conversely, "dumb-drug" anticholinergics may sometimes have mood-brightening - progressing to deliriant - effects. Indeed antimuscarinic agents acting in the nucleus accumbens may even induce a 'mindless'
euphoria.

 






P.S. READ THIS ...ITS REALLY INTERESTING: http://www.biopsychiatry.com/index.htm  Italks about all drugs in a snap shot....but dont beleive everything you read.......!!!!!!!