Has anyone had any luck boosting their cognitive abilities with nootropics?
 

For those unfamiliar, nootropics are drugs taken to enhance cognitive performance, the most popular of which are generally regarded as safe, nonaddictive, and sustainable.

Pretty much any aspect of cognition you're seeking to target - memory, focus, fatigue, emotional intelligence, social capability, abstract thinking, creativity, etc. there are generally a bunch of drugs hundreds of people attest to being effective, many with impressive scientific research to back them up.
A lot of the drugs are used to treat disorders of cognitive impairment - Alzheimer's, ADHD, etc. which have subsequently been discovered to be just as effective in healthy people.

I've seen some people discuss their usefulness in various mental illnesses, disorders, etc. but for the most part the anecdotal reports of success with these kinds of drugs are from healthy people. I was just hoping to know if anyone here had given them a shot and if they've been of any use!

Drugs I'm particularly interested in hearing about are those which are known to promote production of new neurons and synapses (neurogenic and synaptogenic drugs), as logically (though perhaps simplistically) they sound like they could be of use in TBI and PCS.

All the drugs I've heard of along these lines are fairly new and experimental (names like NSI-189, Dihexa, 7,8-dihydroxyflavone, etc.), though "cerebrolysin" is one I've heard of which is currently on the market... Has anyone tried it?

First, you need to realize that neurogenesis and synaptogenesis is a VERY slow process. Nootropics are controversial due to limited legitimate testing. Many are promoted through the human potential arena, not the brain rehab arena. I would focus on brain nutrition with vitamins and supplements first.

Cerebrolysin looks expensive since it requires an intravenous infusion.

I've had a good experience with nootropics so far. I've been taking them since I was a junior in High School (2005-2006) and can say that I have noticed an improvement in my overall memory recall. I've dabbled with my nootropics that I take, and have been trying and re-trying different "stacks" to see what will work best for me in any given situation (well situations I can plan for that is).

I've googled this word to try to learn what nootropics are...

I'm still a little unclear exactly... it looks like some herbal supplements are nootropics.

I've taken L-Carnitine, Phosphatidylserine, CDP Choline before I was prescribed the HRT and I seem to remember liking the effects of them.

This thread is making me read about these things again and I'm considering taking them all again... with the approval of my Dr.'s, of course.

Edit to Add: I was just reading about some of these supplements on Dr. Ray Sahelian's website, which I've found to be a wealth of reliable information about supplements over the last few years (since the concussion). Anyway, he says patients with hormone imbalances (like me) need to be especially careful when taking supplements and recommends avoiding it altogether... maybe that's why I stopped in the first place?

http://www.raysahelian.com/

I would have to agree with Mark with this one. I took Piracetam back in August of last year before I suffered from PCS. It affects the Neurotransmitter GABA and for me it caused severe anxiety that lasted for nearly 2-3 months. I thought I was going to have a heart attack and a host of other absurd issues that anxiety placed upon me.

Any of these Nootropic drugs that affect Neurotransmitters in a major way should be used with extreme caution. You are essentially shooting a gun blindfolded hoping it hits the right spot. If your brain is pre-sensitive to the substance you are ingesting, then you will potentially have very unwanted changes in your neurochemistry leading to enhanced unwanted side effects.

At least do not use any of these supplements chronically. Acute use for needed situations could be beneficial, but with any synthetic substance tolerance will occur because the Neuron you are inhibiting and trying to enhance will run out of the chemical you are trying to force out eventually leading to worse symptoms.

Natural "Nootropics" that could be of benefit in my experience if you would even consider them that would be: Omega's, L-Theanine, Amino Acids, Coconut Oil, MCT Oil, and other natural mostly unharmful substances.

I would focus on ensuring your diet is providing the proper vitamins and protein building blocks to repair the damage and ensure optimal healing if you want to take that approach.

Best of luck,
Joey Powers