Why do people use coluracetam?
People who self-experiment with coluracetam often state they use it to improve their:
- Memory
- Mood
- Learning
- Focus
- Intelligence
There is a lack of solid scientific evidence for the effectiveness of coluracetam for any of these purposes, especially in healthy humans.
How does it feel when you take coluracetam?
The following qualitative user experience reports and reviews are included to give you an understanding of what the experience of taking coluracetam is like.
Anecdotal coluracetam experience reports and reviews from Reddit
One redditor said the following:
"It is my favorite social nootropic, moreso than phenibut. The verbal fluency I get on it is insane." [4]
Another person said they did not notice anything from 30mg coluracetam. [5]
A third redditor said the following about their experience with coluracetam:
"It's like a less stimulating but more "natural euphoria" version of phenylpiracetam (the slight euphoria is closer to perfectly balanced marijuana). I feel it more in my mind than in my body. It pairs nicely with phenylpiracetam and L-tyrosine for endurance running. Also good for a quick pickup of energy in the evening without causing insomnia ..." [6]
Yet another person who combined coluracetam with noopept said the following about coluracetam on Reddit:
"Sadly, when I tried it I experienced nothing except for a phenomenally bad mood. I've never been so angry in my life, and it's not because I'm disappointed, it just put me into this hyper aggressive pessimist mood." [7]
"It's weird in that it's somehow subtle but strong at the same time. It's not immediately noticeable, but if I think about it for a minute I can clearly tell my mood is highly improved. Say -10 is the worst mood I could be in, 0 is neutral, 10 is fucking unbelievable joy, it can take me from a -5 to a 5 or higher easily. I'm not sure if I have "HD vision" like a lot of people report. If colors are brighter it's less than ~10% difference, barely noticeable but maybe there. Something is going on with the vision, but nothing groundbreaking ..." [8]
How does coluracetam work?
The neuropsychopharmacological effects of coluracetam have not yet been fully discovered by researchers.
Here are some of the mechanisms by which coluracetam works:
- Enhanced high-affinity choline uptake (HACU, which is the rate-limiting step in acetylcholine synthesis) into neurons in the hippocampus [9]
- Enhanced acetylcholine release from neurons in the hippocampus [10]
- Enhanced acetylcholine synthesis in neurons in the hippocampus [11]
What is a racetam?
Coluracetam is a nootropic in the racetam family of compounds.
All racetams are similar in chemical structure but different in nootropic effects.
Other racetam compounds that are used by some self-experimenters for cognitive enhancement include:
- Piracetam
- Oxiracetam
- Phenylpiracetam
- Omberacetam, also known as Noopept (sometimes classified as a racetam, sometimes not)
- Fasoracetam
- Pramiracetam
- Aniracetam
Should you use coluracetam?
One thing that is certain about the effects of coluracetam is that we know relatively little about them. There is a lack of high-quality research, especially in healthy humans.
Because of the lack of research on coluracetam, we never recommend that people use it.
If you have already decided to use it, here are some guidelines to maximize the benefits and minimize the risks.
How much and how often should you dose coluracetam?
Anecdotal reports from dosages used by self-experimenters posting how they use it on the web tend to be between 5 and 30mg of coluracetam.
Is sublingual coluracetam dosing better than oral dosing?
We don’t know since no research has been conducted on the sublingual dosing of coluracetam. In theory it is likely that the effects will be shorter and stronger with sublingual administration.
Due to the lack of research on the effects of sublingual dosing of coluracetam, we never recommend that people engage in this practice.
What substances may stack well with coluracetam?
There's no high-quality research on the effects of combining coluracetam with other substances, such as nootropic drugs or supplements. The safety and efficacy of the below-listed combinations are supported only by anecdotal reports.
People tend to report better effects from coluracetam when they also use:
- Choline sources, such as Alpha-GPC, Choline Bitartrate, or CDP- Choline
- Theacrine
- Phenylpiracetam
- L-Tyrosine
Before combining any drugs or supplements, talk with your trusted medical professional about the risks involved.
Is coluracetam neuroprotective?
Coluracetam was found neuroprotective against chemical insult in a cell study on rat neurons. [12]
The study authors concluded that the duration of exposure to coluracetam was crucial to its neuroprotective effects.
This was an in vitro neuronal cell culture study. While we humans do have neuronal cells that are likely going to respond similarly to coluracetam as the cells in this study did, it is always a big step to go from findings in a cell study to practically useful conclusions in humans. The results of this study should be interpreted with a grain of salt.
