TL;DR: I’m starting a Cerebrolysin cycle and trying to document it in a useful, grounded way. Day 1 was 8 mL IM instead of the planned 10 mL because I had trouble extracting the full ampule and had a vasovagal response during the second injection. No clear cognitive or emotional effects yet, though I did sleep unusually long that night.

Background

Demographics:
43 years old
Male
140 lbs
American
White

Issues:
I am generally healthy, but I have struggled with cognitive, and emotional issues my whole life. My motivation is inconsistent. My personal organization is weak. Some days it feels like I never really wake up. Over the years, I have made progress on these problems, but I still feel like my biggest obstacle is my own mind.

History of nootropics and psychedelics:
I discovered ayahuasca in my mid-twenties. It helped me a lot. In fact, it saved my life. Only recently have I ventured into the world of nootropics in an effort to address these issues. Some have had profound effects. Others haven’t had any noticeable effect at all.

Current stack:
I am phasing out all nootropics except tea, alpha GPC, creatine, and fish oil. I also take enclomiphene for testosterone support, a multivitamin, and magnesium glycinate. I am on a low dose of retatrutide and winding down a cycle of MOTS-C.

Day 1

July 2

Injection:
8 mL intramuscular

I had trouble getting all 10 mL out of the ampule and into two 5 mL syringes. I got 6 mL into the first syringe and about 3 mL into the second. I have longer filter needles being delivered Monday, July 6, so I’ll wait until then before trying again.

I’ve never done IM injections on myself before. The first injection went fine, but I started feeling lightheaded during the second. I have a strong vasovagal response. I stopped and pulled out the needle after only 2 mL. I sat back and let the feeling pass. Afterward, I threw the final 1 mL away, so I only took 8 mL total.

Effects:
I cannot say that I really felt much. I had a vague feeling of dissociation, but it was subtle, and I cannot say for sure that it was due to Cerebrolysin.

Later, I got the afternoon sleepies and took a 20-minute nap at about 6 p.m. That night I got 8 hours and 56 minutes of sleep. It’s unusual for me to sleep that much, but again, I cannot say for certain that it was from Cerebrolysin.

I’m about to start my first Cerebrolysin cycle, and I’d like to document it in a way that the people find informative and entertaining.

I’m not looking for advice on dosing, stacking. I’m specifically asking how people would want this documented.

What information would you want me to track and report?

Some possibilities:

• mood
• sleep
• focus
• verbal fluency
• productivity
• side effects
• photos of the product, supplies, or process
• a daily log in a Google Doc, with Reddit posts as summaries

I want to track a few metrics in an objective way, and also include subjective assessments.

Would people prefer periodic updates, one full write-up at the end, or a linked Google Doc with more detailed notes?

My friend and I are traveling to Mexico City from June 22nd to June 30th and will be staying in the Roma neighborhood. We are looking to hire a local to help us practice our Spanish. We’re a gay couple with an interest in history, architecture, and music, and we’d like to connect with someone who can chat about these topics and help us improve. Does anyone have advice on how to find someone for this?

Mi amigo y yo viajaremos a la Ciudad de México del 22 al 30 de junio y nos hospedaremos en la colonia Roma. Estamos buscando contratar a alguien local para que nos ayude a practicar nuestro español. Somos una pareja gay con interés en la historia, la arquitectura y la música, y nos gustaría conectar con alguien que pueda charlar sobre estos temas y ayudarnos a mejorar. ¿Alguien tiene algún consejo sobre cómo encontrar a alguien para esto?

I’m starting my first month-long cerebrolysin cycle this July. I’m traveling to Mexico to personally source genuine Everpharma product and will be returning to California to complete the cycle at home. My plan is to start at 5ml per day and ramp up to 10ml. I have experience with nootropics, but this one is new for me, and I want to maximize the potential for growth.

The Plan

1. Skill Building: Piano, Spanish, Ear Training, Singing.
2. Physical/Mental: Yoga, Cardio (walking and rowing).
3. Other: Reading novels, home organization/redecoration.
4. Spiritual: Daily meditation, one Santo Daime ayahuasca ceremony

I plan on avoiding activities that supply quick dopamine hits, like porn, alcohol, doom scrolling, etc. My aim is for this to be a time of deep austerity, reflection, and growth.

Questions

1. How much should I socialize? Staying secluded has a certain appeal, but some socialization is probably good for me. I have a partner whom I live with, so I will definitely be spending time with him, but I feel like maybe I should try to spend time with others as well. I’m a teacher, so my work is naturally social; however, I won't be working in July, which leaves me unsure of how or with whom to socialize.
2. Should I stack Cerebrolysin with other substances? I plan on continuing to use basic supplements: multivitamin, creatine, fish oil, and magnesium glycinate. Additionally, I take enclomiphene for testosterone support. But maybe I should add MOTS-C, or bromantane, or something else. Part of me wants to give cerebrolysin space to work its magic without confounding factors. But maybe I’d get more out of the cycle if I were to also take TAK-653 or something.
3. Am I being too ambitious? Maybe I am taking on too much. How much progress can I really make on piano and Spanish in a month? If I commit to a few simple things my compliance might be better. On the other hand, maybe it's better to try a lot of things and see what works.
4. How should I document my journey? I am committed to tracking my results rigorously to satisfy my own curiosity and, hopefully, create a useful resource for others to learn from. Any advice on the best metrics to track or methods for documentation—as well as input on balancing intensity and potential stacking—would be greatly appreciated.

I want to increase the rigor of my self-experimentation and would like advice on study design and analysis.

I’m planning a personal N=1 self-experiment with TAK-653, a compound purported to improve mood and cognition. I’m not asking for medical advice. I’m simply asking how to make the design simple and useful.

TAK-653 reportedly has a half-life somewhere around 33–48 hours, so I assume carryover effects and washout periods matter.

My goal is not to prove anything generalizable. I know an N=1 experiment cannot establish population-level efficacy. I’m trying to make a more disciplined personal inference and eventually write a maximally useful Reddit testimonial rather than another vague “I tried it and felt something” report.

My rough plan:

• Publicly announce the design before I start, then follow through even if the results are boring or inconclusive
• Establish a baseline period without intervention
• Use a blinded placebo-controlled condition
• Use an active condition
• Include washout periods between conditions
• Track pre-selected daily outcomes
• Avoid other nootropics during the trial
• Keep caffeine, sleep schedule, exercise, and workload as consistent as possible

To keep the tracking manageable, I’m considering only a few daily measures:

• Sleep quality/duration
• Mood/irritability
• Focus/productivity
• One objective cognitive measure, though I’m not sure which one

My questions:

1. Given the reported 33–48 hour half-life, how long should the condition periods and washout periods be?
2. How many repeated observations would make the results at least somewhat interpretable?
3. What would be the cleanest way to handle possible dose escalation without breaking blinding? For example, would a blinded multi-dose design — placebo vs low dose vs higher dose — make sense if someone else coded the conditions?
4. Would an ABA design (where I know that I start and end on a placebo, but I don’t know when I switch to and from the treatment condition) be a good approach? 
5. How should I analyze the results afterward? Visual inspection, difference in means, randomization test, time-series approach, Bayesian model, or something simpler?
6. How should I account for confounds like sleep, caffeine, workload, exercise, and day-of-week effects?

I’m not a professional researcher. I’m just a guy trying to approach self-experimentation in a more scientific manner. Any advice would be appreciated. 

Hi, nootropics have had a monumental impact on my life. They have helped clear the mind of fog, reduce anxiety, and improve motivation. I'm profoundly grateful.

I’ve talked with my partner about trying some, but he’s skeptical. He does deal with anxiety and occasional motivation issues, but he is also already very intelligent, and productive. That makes me wonder: are nootropics mainly useful for people with noticeable deficits, or can they meaningfully improve cognition in people who are already operating at a high level?

Part of me wonders whether something like Semax, Noopept, or ACD-856 could make him sharper or more emotionally resilient. But another part of me thinks that if his mind already works well, maybe there’s more downside than upside in interfering with it.

For those of you who were already cognitively strong before trying nootropics: did they actually improve anything meaningful? Or did the benefits mostly show up in people dealing with brain fog, anxiety, low energy, ADHD-like symptoms, or other problems?

Hello everyone, I've tried various nootropics, but I have yet to partake in Cerebrolysin. I am going to Mexico City next month, and plan on buying some at a pharmacy there, and then bring back to the USA on the plane. I have a few questions. Has anyone done this before? Can I really obtain cerebrolysin in a Mexican pharmacy without a prescription? I've read that I can bring a 90 days supply back to the states without a problem. Is this true? Thanks?