Phenylpiracetam — a Logic Drug
Another Russian Racetam, derived from the Czar of Nootropics, Piracetam. It’s regarded as the mathematician’s smart drug for the powers of cognition it stimulates.
This article is mostly going to focus on decoding what the human studies are saying about Phenylpiracetam and how this squares up with the anecdotal experiences of Biohackers online.
Scientific Research
While a more expensive Racetam, it is 30–60 times more potent than Piracetam (see this infographic). You can find double-blind, placebo-controlled human studies done specifically on Phenylpiracetam on Pubmed in addition to hundreds of more studies on the Racetam family of drugs.
Better than Piracetam?
According to a 2007 Russian study, Phenylpiracetam is superior to Piracetam for the following…
- Neuroprotective
- Psychostimulatory effects
- Anti-amnesiac
One of the most cited reviews of Racetams, published in 2010, identified it as a powerful anti-cognitive decline agent, both in the elderly and the young. These studies involved:
- Dosages 200mg (100mg twice daily) up to 600mg (200mg thrice daily)
- Over a period of 1 month.
To quote a 2005 Russian study:
Patients exhibited higher mobility and daily activity, along with lower discomfort, anxiety and depression. EEG study showed more intensive alpha- and beta-rhythms…
A Logic Drug
It’s supposed to be amazing for highly technical tasks requiring hours of focus but it apparently impedes the creative side of the brain, which probably makes it something of an antisocial smart drug. To quote Abelard Lindsay, the obsessive stack experimenter:
“…this stuff goes great with CILTEP, and massively improves my programming focus when taken with it. The only problem with it is that it completely turns off the right brain… What am I talking about when I say it turns off the right brain? I try and image stream and I just can’t do it when I’m on phenylpiracetam… The thoughts just evaporate. It’s great for left brained stuff though (e.g Programming, Math, etc) because it pretty thoroughly prevents your right brain from interrupting any thought processes.”
Another video blog review shared this sentiment “It did nothing to improve my ability to speak or express my thoughts.”
“I’m a stock analyst/trader, so I use phenylpiracetam to read for a long time various documents without getting interrupted. It’s great for getting a lot of work done that doesn’t require you to be totally precise. I say “precise” because it might make you overconfident in some situations because you’re so focused and powerful for an extended period of time.”
Cold Resistance
It is a banned athletic performance-enhancing substance; a 1999 Korean study found it increased cold resistance (which seems beneficial in Russia!) and physical endurance.
It’s a favorite of professional athletes unable to resist the siren call of performance enhancers, over the years it has caused some scandal in the arena of cold-weather sports, in fact, Olympic Silver medalist Olga Pyleva was disqualified after the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy.
To quote an athlete on Longecity:
“I’m an athlete and only take 200 mg and It greatly improves my tolerance to cold during cross country.”
This account and many others suggest that (provided you don’t have to pass an athletic doping test!) it would make an excellent pre-workout supplement.
“Phenylpiracetam makes me feel light on my feet” to quote another Racetam comparison.
Anxiety & Depression
A 99 person study reported “a general tendency to its normalization.” for those suffering from Encephalopathy. Encephalopathy is not a specific disease but rather a set of symptoms that manifest as a host of demons in the mind and body; anxiety, depression, distractibility, lethargy, tremors, seizures, and twitching.
It’s a potent anti-depressant, a 2009 Latvian study found it attenuated the R-isomer.
These studies demonstrate one of the most subtle advantages of Nootropic supplementation…
The challenges we face staying healthy today are less like changing the oil to maintain a car and more like the dubiously disastrous check engine light. Symptoms like…
- Chronic fatigue
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Poor sleep
- ADHD
- Stress
- Alcoholism
…Could be due to something as simple as a Vitamin B3 deficiency (which could be fixed for about $13/monthly) or as complex as a failing adrenal gland due to an exotic cancer. The Racetams are demonstrated to have such a variety of positive effects on disparate domains of the mind and nervous system that they will often fix sets of problems simultaneously that individually you could spend many thousands of dollars and years troubleshooting.
History
It originated from research centers in Moscow in 1983.
Communist and capitalist Russia has produced some excellent smart drugs, but a significant disadvantage of them is that many of the human clinical studies have not been translated to English or their supporting data is not accessible online.
Mechanisms of Action
The mechanism of action mirrors Piracetam’s; although…
- Lipophilicity is enhanced by the extra phenyl group attached to the molecule.
- It appears to be more effective in crossing the blood-brain barrier than Piracetam.
- It fits into the Nootropic category of Ampakines, modulating the AMPA Receptor which defines many dimensions of our experience of reality. Ampakines are so effective at increasing our awareness of the world around us that DARPA has investigated them for military applications.
- It’s an immune hack as it modulates IL-1, IL-4, and IL-6 cytokines
Unlike Piracetam it’s not really a smart drug for everyday use as it’s expensive and you will build up a tolerance over time, the predominant theory on this has to do with it binding to the NMDA receptor and possibly decreasing receptor density.
A Mitochondrial Hack
The godfather of Biohacking, Dave Asprey lists Phenylpiracetam as one of his favorite Nootropics in his Mitochondrial manifesto, Head Strong:
Racetams are some of the best studied and the oldest cognitive-enhancing pharmaceuticals on the planet, and they have very few side effects… My second favorite is called phenylpiracetam, which gives you quite a lot of energy. Both of these drugs are available online and are virtually ignored in Western medicine because they’re off patent. I take 800 mg of aniracetam and 100 mg of phenylpiracetam most mornings, and I can feel the difference in my brain as a result. This entire book was written on higher doses of those two substances (as well as every other supplement in the book!). (pp. 287–288)
A 2015 Russian paper evaluated Phenylpiracetam and several other Nootropics as stimulators of the neuronal mitochondria of cerebral cortex.
It has been established that course administration of phenylpiracetam, citicoline… improves the processes of learning and storing conditional skill. At the same time, the nootropic activity of studied drugs was comparable to their effect on the functional state of mitochondria… the maximum potential was observed for citicoline and phenylpiracetam… The results point out the importance of mitoprotective properties in nootropic effects of studied drugs.
Sleep
One of the studies cited noted a slight correlation of sleep disturbances but the study is unavailable online and none of the better studies showed the same effect on sleep.
However, several anecdotal reports seem to confirm this, according to one self-experimenter:
“the effects are noticeable and productive but I have trouble sleeping even 12 hours later. The sleeping issue appears to be cumulative…”
Careful sleep monitoring (quantifiable with an app like Sleep Cycle) is important and it’s probably not a good idea to take Phenylpiracetam after midday or within 12 hours of sleep.
Vs Sleep Deprivation?
Once upon a dawn, following a crazy (yet sober — for me!) night, I took Phenyl to combat the exhaustion, which it did a great job of for about 2 hours then the lack of sleep got the best of me, I got really unfocused and unproductive.
Vs Anxiety
To quote a 2011 study:
Phenotropil exhibited the psychoimmunomodulatory effect under these conditions, which manifested in prevention of anxiety and fear response, increase in horizontal locomotion and exploratory behavior, and improvement of immunoreactivity.
Vs Weight Gain
A 2017 animal study, evaluated its effect in making biology more adaptive to hyperglycemia (high blood pressure)
Our findings suggest that selective DAT inhibitors, such as S-phenylpiracetam, could be potentially useful for treating obesity in patients with metabolic syndrome with fewer adverse health consequences compared to other anorectic agents.
Vs Epilepsy
A double-blind placebo-controlled randomized 2014 trial of 90 patients found that…
Phenotropil reduced the frequency of seizures and improved cognitive function in the absence of epileptiform EEG abnormalities.
Vs Mental Disorders
A 2014 Russian study evaluated pantogam active and phenotropil in mild neurotic, somatoform, stress-induced and depressive disorders developed in patients with cardiovascular diseases.
It concluded:
Statistically significant results demonstrated the advantages of pantogam active has advantage on a number of values. The treatment effect of pantogam active gradually increased while the effect (in particular anxiolytic one) of phenotropil decreased after 4–8 weeks of treatment. The tolerability of both drugs was satisfactory.
Vs Radiation
A 2016 animal study identified it as a cofactor of a drug that protects patients from radiation in chemotherapy.
These data show the appropriateness of a combined administration of Palonosetron and Phenotropil to prevent a reduced work capacity in the individuals participating in elimination of the consequences of accidents associated with overexposure to radiation.
Sources
Phenylpiracetam is a hardcore Biohacker’s smart drug. Even though it’s highly praised by those who have used it, it has not pervaded into the mainstream as a supplement. There are no consumer-grade products that it’s a significant constituent part of. This is likely just because it’s expensive stuff; it requires a very complex synthesis and purification process which its price reflects. It’s a good idea to try it alone and conduct some self-quantification experiments. You want to be a bit selective and make sure you are getting it from a pharmaceutical grade source that is verified by a 3rd party analysis to be at least 97% pure, otherwise, you’re kind of taking a chance.
- If you want to get the patented, branded version that would be NANOTROPIL NOVO® (use cryptocurrency for a nice discount from RUPHARMA.com).
- You can get PHENOTROPIL® direct from Russia.
- If you’re looking for the best value (and don’t mind the bad taste) I suggest getting Phenylpiracetam or as a solution from Science.bio — my go-to source for COA-verified racetams.
- Pure Nootropics in the USA offers it capsuled, so you don’t have to enjoy the powder’s taste.
- In Europe, I recommend Intellimeds which sells capsuled and powdered Phenylpiracetam.
Experiential
I used it myself for about 6 months and found that besides being a quintessential smart drug it made me optimistically narcissistic…
About the optimistic narcissism…
I did 500 milligrams normally and it always made me really positive about myself, which I think speaks to the potent antidepressant effects of the drug.
Recommended Daily
A total daily dosage of 200 to 600 milligrams. Split up into 100 to 200 milligrams per dose.
Cofactors
Modafinil is actually my favorite thing to combine with Phenylpiracetam. The two together I did not find overstimulating or anxiety-inducing but I combined them not more than twice a week. The focus zone of relentless productivity that they put me into is unequaled.
Since it’s a Racetam it’s a very good idea to take it with an acetylcholine precursor, like Alpha GPC or CDP Choline.
The CILTEP Stack and the racetams have synchronistic actions. Many biohackers report that it nicely complements the social racetam, Aniracetam. Although the three together create an undesirable sensation.
Semax in combination with Phenylpiracetam may make you scary smart. A Biohacker who thoroughly experimented with both reported:
By the way, Phenotropil works wonders when I take it with Semax. Has anyone experienced that or it’s just me?
Semax and Selank are a highly renowned stack in elite Biohacker circles. Selank is the one Semax cofactor that is supported by the published scientific research. An American Biohacker reported:
I had stacked it with selank a few days back, and took a very small dose of ritalin (2.5mg), and went on the most productive 5 hours I had in the last year.
Conclusion…
If you are going to shell out the cash for Phenylpiracetam, combine it with some of the very potent cofactors listed above, and then get to work on something deserving of some serious cognitive horsepower.
