I’m experimenting with Piracetam and Noopept while learning coding. With a morning coffee I feel incredibly focused in ways I normally am not with caffeine alone.
A general question I've been wondering about -- ever since it seemed half of some CS departments' undergrads were on meds, at the start of the dotcom bubble -- is what are the costs to discretionary use of meds as performance enhancers, by people who don't have abnormal brain situations to start with?
I'd like to know in general, and it might be important to public health or societal direction. But this doesn't seem the kind of thing that a non-researcher/doctor can ask individuals about, since it can be extremely personal.
And you have to keep in mind with any sort of pharmaceutical there's a major bias in research. There's billions of dollars to be made by showing that things are effective and safe. There's much less of an incentive to to show that things are ineffective or unsafe. Even for those who are genuinely completely altruistically motivated, there's far more interesting research to pursue and topics that don't come with lovely consequences such as making influential enemies within the industry you're dependent upon grants for.
Consider things like cigarettes, leaded fuel, or whatever else. There's invariably decades of "science" proving it completely harmless before some crisis points triggers a 'reevaluation'. And for things intended to interact with your cognitive abilities, if there are negative effects it's entirely possible we might never reach that crisis point as any negatives effects may likely manifest in ways that are rather less apparent than the effects of e.g. lead or tobacco consumption.
Sides during first week or so: increase in blood pressure, slightly higher heart rate, decreased appetite, teeth grinding, could feel a "crash" in late afternoon, some difficulty sleeping ~1030pm
After the second week: unsure about blood pressure, body has adjusted some and I believe it to be more normal now. Heart rate still increases slightly, appetite still suppressed throughout the day (I eat a banana early and try and get ~20g protein by noon), not getting those "Crashes" that i had first week (or if anything, not so bad), I can sleep now and I am aware of the teeth grind thing but that has definately decreased.
Overall I think body adjusted to this well, may consider 40mg instead of 30mg. Don't think i'll go over 40mg personally. The focus benefit throughout the day really helps me with my productivity
Oh I should note I kept drinking coffee during all of this. When I first started (with those sides) I went from 4 to 2 cups a day. Now I'm back at around 3ish cups a day.
Idk if that helps, overall I feel great
These medications are often strong enough and have enough addiction potential that even people _with_ ADHD end up abusing them. Be careful.