A personal study on the effects of nootropics

Welcome!

My research on this subject originally began in the search to discover an alternative to the ADD medication Adderall.  I was diagnosed with ADD around my teens, but avoided pharmacological treatment (based on the research I did at the time regarding amphetamines addictive, kidney, and liver damaging potential, not to mention general over-diagnosis/medication). 

Throughout my life I've learned to "deal" with being absent-minded, easily distracted, finishing basic tasks, etc. etc.  Sometimes I've felt it has actually benefited me...a short attention span when reading online news sources for instance, allows me absorb a LOT of information on a plethora of topics much faster than the average person.  I have used this trait to my advantage in discussions, work, skill-building, and many other random nameless instances.

So that's the good part.

MOST of the times I can't ignore the fact that it has caused strain on most all aspects of my life. I struggled throughout high school (and dropped out of every college class I tried) as a result of my inability to focus consistently on one specific thing...teachers lecturing, current assignment, homework no matter how basic it was.  Really the only reason I graduated was that I'm lucky to have a relatively decent level of natural intelligence, so I could basically short-term memorize book material 5-10min before a quiz or test and ace it.  Problem is, getting good test scores and Fs or "Non-Complete" on everything else makes you look like a slacker in the eyes of educational administration...not a great source of sympathy there!

From beyond education, my relationships both personal and career related have been stunted.  Poor multi-tasking, active listening, and general communication are always a constant battle.

So fast-forward.  I'm now 31.  No degree, no career, a rocky relationship, a couple friends and family I don't see too often.  Jack of many trades (sales, IT, car repair, music, martial arts, management, DIY, photography, random info sponge, etc.) and master of forgetting what I was supposed to be doing.  It's taken me THREE days to get to this point in writing this!!

Something needs to change.

Back to the adderall.  I tried it once a few years ago...a friend at the time had a prescription and gave me 5 15mg pills to try over the course of the week.  Hyperfocus on specific things was the result.  I could for instance, work on a piece of music, write the melody and lyrics, record and play all the instruments needed, mix it all down, and burn a mastered copy in about an 18hr span.  The same amount of work would normally take 5-10 days to accomplish along with sticky notes throughout my residence reminding me what I was supposed to do next.

The problems associated: extreme irritability and ironically, hyperfocus.  ANYTHING would piss me off if it wasn't relevant to what I was doing at the time, and doing one thing for an extended time span (recording music for 18hrs) and NOTHING else (eating, sleeping, showering, taking a piss, etc.) disables your ability to continue living healthily.

So adderall...effective, but not for regular use.  A couple weeks ago, I remembered I had done all this before and started searching for alternative options.  This is how I discovered racetam nootropics.

From here on, I will be posting about two specific racetam drugs, aniracetam and pramiracetam.  I will record both general observation during intake of each, along with a battery of mental tests.