Nootropic Brain Drugs Rise in Popularity for Today’s Cutthroat Corporate Climbers

The Observer ^ | 04/15/2015 | Jack Smith IV

[Kid Shelleen]

Andrew started his college graduation day at 6 a.m. with a wakefulness agent called modafinil, sometimes known as Provigil—it was the first time he remembers nootropic brain drugs having such a startling effect. He was juggling family and celebrations along with two ceremonies, engineering in the morning and economics in the afternoon, with a band competition in between, which he won. For 22 waking hours he was happy, alert, firing on all cylinders, oblivious to any fatigue.

“At that point, it was like, ‘Holy crap, this stuff can be very powerful,’ ” Andrew told the Observer.

Now that he’s a corporate strategist working with health care companies on their mergers, Andrew, who requested we use a pseudonym, will sometimes call upon some chemical assistance for business trips requiring long flights, client meetings, back-to-back dinners and work hours back at the hotel. He doesn’t want a pedal-to-the-metal amphetamine: He wants focus, creativity and clarity without the side effects or dependencies.

[Bob434]

ive been taking it for awhile ‘sulbutiamine’ or soemthign like that- I have fibromyalgian and bad ‘brain fog’ that makes it very hard to concentrate and even think (think of having a bad flu where you just sit around like a zombie- can’t think straight- )

I think it’s working- hard to tell- I seem to be aBLe to maintain focus better-

As for health concerns about nootropics- in my case I feel “Meh who cares!” But healthy people should look into the safety concerns before trying these

There are many different kinds of nootropics- some more powerful, some pretty benign- Coffee is a ‘nootropic’- and we do know there are both health risks and benefits with coffee- so any nootropic has potential issues with htem

[Bob434]

[[My understanding is that’s it’s a class IV drug. Yes, you will need a prescription.]]

No, they are not illegal. You can buy them off amazon- and hey are legal to use in the US at least- Perscription ‘nootropics’ are a different story- but there are ‘natural nootropics’ that you don’t need prescription for

[Bob434]

[[“happy, alert, firing on all cylinders, oblivious to any fatigue”
How long will it last without serious consequences.]]

Until your teeth fall out and you develop schizophrenia ... ohj wait, that’s meth I’m thinking about

[Billthedrill]

Very old news.

My impression as well. Durk Pearson and Sandy Shaw have been writing about life extension and cognitive enhancement drugs for decades. Saw some of my Silicon Valley compatriots amp up on the stuff back in The Day. They swore by certain of them - choline, certain amino acids - but I couldn't honestly tell any difference in their behavior or efficiency. I began to suspect that what they were reaching for is a state a good number of us find ourselves in most of the time without help.

[TigersEye]

These pharmaceutical chemo-witches brews are legal but Kava Kava is banned. How could we ever make it without Big Brother controlling what we can and can’t have?

[ourworldawry]

These are the people that most companies will hire FIRST, before they hire someone that actually HAS good sense...which is exactly why we’ve got what we’ve got, TODAY. Hahaha. O foolish people.

[Organic Panic]

Provigil is great stuff. It’s not a stimulant. It is prescribed for narcolepsy and sleep apnea. I got a prescription when I trAvelled more frequently to combat the jet lag.