Coluracetam: A quintessential mood-stabilizing antidepressant
I filmed my vlog about this smart drug in front of the Parliament Building in Bucharest, Romania. As you can see it’s a very gray, brooding building, in a part of the world where this time of the year it’s also very gray and brooding during winter.
For the past four months or so I’ve been living in Eastern Europe, which is a nicer part of the world than you might guess from the headlines but during this season it’s a global hotspot for SAD (seasonal affective disorder) which — unless you live somewhere that you need to worry about coconuts falling on your head — is something you’ve probably experienced. During the winter season there’s a whole lot less sunlight, the days are shorter, you spend more time indoors, you sleep more, you might gain some weight, you’re less likely to go to the gym, hang out with friends, and a lot of people suffer from mild depression as a result for a couple of months out of the year.
So there are some holistic ways to beat SAD, like setting up a home gym, following a strict diet, or even installing special lights in your bedroom that signal to your neurobiology that its summertime. However, I’m a digital nomad and none of these is an option that works great for me. For me, Coluracetam has been an irreplaceable Biohack for beating SAD.
It’s not a hardcore focus drug like Modafinil, nor does it give me a bunch of energy and pep like caffeine or Piracetam. What it does is just add a subtle and underlying positivity to my mood. There’s a noticeable difference between on it and off it, especially in this dreadfully gloomy part of the world.
It’s a quintessential antidepressant
Some comedian made a joke about…
What happens if you take antidepressants when you aren’t actually depressed… Do you just become more awesome?
In the case of Coluracetam, not so much, I would say it improves my mood by 25% — 75%. One day I did about 20 milligrams 15 minutes before my afternoon meditation session. During the meditation session, I deeply appreciate the optimistic mood it put me into and this sensation lasted about four hours.
It’s not great for mood permeability, I did it a few times near the end of my workday when I was in zombie borg drone mode and headed out to do something social. It does make me slightly more optimistic which is helpful but it didn’t help me get in a carefree social mood like Phenibut, Kratom, or even meditation does. It won’t be my go-to social smart drug…
Nootropics can be enablers of Nihilism…
One day I started watching documentaries about ISIS and the European migrant crisis and I found myself getting drawn into the rabbit hole of Nihilism. The healthy thing to do would be to not watch the depressing content, but I found myself using the antidepressant as an excuse to indulge my Nihilism.
Subjective effects
I tried Coluracetam for the first time in the amount of about 20 milligrams when I was doing a walking tour of Berlin. Despite walking around an amazing city center on a beautiful summer day I didn’t quite experience this often-praised effect of the outdoor world seeming more vivid.
Stacking
A commenter suggested stacking Coluracetam with L-Theanine, which I tried and it’s a pretty good stack, especially in combination with some delicious Bulletproof-style coffee. The creative mindset that L-Theanine puts me in is nicely complemented by the optimism that Coluracetam stimulates, this has become my go-to stack since I ran out of Piracetam. Speaking of coffee, anecdotally Coluracetam has this cool effect of reversing caffeine tolerance. I, unfortunately, did not experience this, at least not noticeably.
Another consistent way to reverse caffeine tolerance is just to stop consuming caffeine for about ten days and your caffeine tolerance will almost completely go away. After consuming just a single cup of coffee you will again feel like a Greek god consuming ambrosia in the fields of Elysium. Coluracetam did not have the same effect for me.
Scienceguy on Longecity suggested it potentiates Oxiracetam, I’ve taken it now a couple of times with Caballo which has Oxiracetam but I’m not sure if I’ve experienced this yet.
Aesthetics
It has a rocky, clumpy consistency that reminds me of cocaine — the tiny rocks feel like boulders under my tongue. You may need to break it up before consumption. I’ve been taking it sublingually because it’s so expensive that I don’t want to waste a single granule of it. Its taste is not pleasant and it kind of lingers on your palette, I don’t recommend taking it before a meal. It doesn’t taste great but it’s not as bad as some smart drugs I’ve tried.
Vs sleep deprivation
One day I was operating on about four hours of sleep, so I was somewhat sleep-deprived and kept slipping back into an unfocused funk. I took Coluracetam around 1 PM and 4 PM and there was a disappointing absence of an effect.
Bottom line
I wish I could rate Coluracetam higher, but I’m deducting a whole two stars because it’s just not a great value. There are plenty of Nootropics that, gram for gram, cost a 3rd or 4th of Coluracetam and have just as helpful an effect on mood, focus, and memory. For mere economics, I wouldn’t reorder it.
