I perused hundreds of user reports and came across a statistically significant number of anecdotal accounts of people who used the Smart Drug Piracetam for a while and experienced transformative benefits to their…

* Verbal intelligence

* Long-term memory

* Working memory

* Mood and mental health

* Energy and motivation

…BUT when they discontinued the use of Piracetam, for some, there was an unmistakable deficit in their cognitive abilities, below what their baseline was BEFORE using Piracetam. This is clearly not desirable.

10%-15% of anecdotal reports mention a post-Piracetam intelligence deficit; it occurs in a minority of Piracetam users. I have a couple of explanations for this…

* In many of the cases, people reporting this used Piracetam at excessive dosages for extended periods without breaks or cycling.No Choline, ALCAR, or Potassium. Piracetam does exhaust your ACh system over time, which is why, in the Piracetam Protocol, I recommend supplementing these three cofactors to nourish the delicate ACh system that Piracetam stimulates.

* Histories of drug abuse and psychological instability seem to be correlated with those who report a deficiency of intelligence when they go off their Piracetam.

* Poor self-knowledge or lack of mindfulness is probably somewhat to blame for some of these cases. People go on Piracetam and, for several weeks or months, feel much better and are more productive, then they go off it, and their new normal subjectively feels worse than their old normal because of the new heights of brainpower they reached thanks to the Piracetam.

* There are a few edge cases where it sounds like the Biohackers used Piracetam responsibly and yet still experienced Post-Piracetam Intelligence Deficit.

So you might be asking…

So if I’ve NEVER used Piracetam before, then I probably should NOT use it because it might leave me stupider than I was when I eventually have to go off it?

No.The vast majority of Piracetam users find it a quintessential Smart Drug that improves productivity in the short term and memory in the long term.

In my case, I’ve gone on Piracetam and off Piracetam numerous times over the years. I can say confidently that my smart drug usage has improved my baseline intelligence in every domain, even when I’m off smart drugs. Most people that I talk to report something similar. The majority of the respondents to these two surveys reported…

I’m smarter than I was before I used Racetams. Racetams have permanently changed my mind for the better!

Survey on the Nootropica Facebook groupSurvey on the Longecity forum

What I suggest is that you use Piracetam responsibly and that you channel some of that extra brainpower it imbues into other activities that exercise your mind, like...

* Dual N-Back brain training

* Mindfulness practice

* Reading deep books (and writing a few books myself)

* Language learning

* Exercising

These things will improve your mind alongside Piracetam and will more than make up for any perceived or actual post-Piracetam intelligence deficit. If you assume that Piracetam is a done-for-you-wonder drug for personal development and you use it alone, in extreme dosages, you may end up complaining about an intelligence deficit like some of these people on the Biohacker forums.

If you’re into Smart Drugs and brainpower boosting shortcuts…

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