Last updated June 27, 2019
All humans grow old at some point and when this happens, like an outdated car, our brains start to falter. Memory slips, the connections we once made aren’t as crisp and sharp, and cognition falters. This is simply a fact of life. Yet, many in the nootropic world consider oxiracetam to be a neuroprotective saving grace. Can oxiracetam really be that powerful?
Oxiracetam is a synthetic smart drug similar to piracetam with a minor structural change [1]. This change makes quite a difference in human trials because oxiracetam is considered a more powerful nootropic for preventing cognitive decline in elderly patients [2]. Besides supporting elderly, oxiracetam is helpful for improving memory formation and learning ability [3].
Similar to aniracetam, this smart drug is a potent member of the racetam family and continues to be a favorite amongst humans interested in maintaining their cognitive abilities into old age.
Also Known As
4-hydroxy-2-oxo-pyrrolidinoacetamide, ISF-2522
Oxiracetam Benefits
There are many oxiracetam benefits, but some of them are more unique than others. We will dedicate an entire section to the unique benefits of oxiracetam that include neurological protection.
Memory formation and learning is the bread and butter for the racetam family. Compared to most smart drugs and nootropics, which typically support concentration, oxiracetam is in a completely different class. Specifically, oxiracetam helps with a process called “long-term potentiation” (LTP) [4], which is significant for enhancing memories and learning ability.
One of the cognitive tests that scientist often perform is called “verbal fluency”. In this process, researchers detect certain cognitive processes (or lack thereof) in order to make a judgment on general cognition. In the case of persons suffering with dementia, the study found an increase in verbal fluency [5].
Besides purely decreasing the rate of cognitive decline in elderly patients, oxiracetam actually makes quality of life higher [6]. One study focused on the subjective quality of life of elderly patients with early stage dementia, which found “significant improvement with supplementation.”
While the benefits of oxiracetam might not seem much different from other racetams, it is actually quite special.
Unique Oxiracetam Neuroprotection
Racetams all support memory formation and learning in some way, but oxiracetam is special given the neuroprotective aspect, which is both unique and highly effective. Multiple double-blind and placebo controlled studies have showed a significant decrease in cognitive decline after using oxiracetam [7].
Another interesting piece of this puzzle is how oxiracetam stands up against trauma to the brain. In scientific experiments, researchers use a chemical called “scopolamine” in order to test a drug’s efficacy against trauma. One study showed oxiracetam could prevent loss of neurological connections when tested with this trauma [8].
If you have a history of cognitive decline, dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, or you just want to prevent your kids from growing up with a forgetful parent (ha!), then oxiracetam might be the best neuroprotective nootropic that you are going to find.
How Does Oxiracetam Work?
Understanding how oxiracetam works to improve your memory formation or prevent neurological decline is sometimes a complicated affair. Scientists refer to the concept as a “mechanism of action”, which is another way of saying “how it works”.
In any case, oxiracetam is considered an AMPA modulator, which is similar to aniracetam and piracetam. It has a similar structure and thus acts similarly upon the human brain. However, there is evidence oxiracetam may also increase specific brain chemicals, such as glutamate, acetylcholine, and D-Aspartic Acid [9], which are beneficial for your brain.
If you don’t understand or the terminology seems bizarre, not to worry. There will be no nootropic quizzes for you!
Oxiracetam Side Effects
Some people like to have stimulants and others do not. For the purpose of concentration and focus, stimulation can be great, but for others it is a distraction. Depending on your desires, oxiracetam side effects might include overstimulation especially before sleep.
Otherwise, the only side effects of oxiracetam are comparable to that of piracetam and aniracetam. These nootropics sometimes create nausea, irritability, and insomnia as mentioned above. Finally, if you are deficient in a brain chemical called acetylcholine, you might find that a headache accompanies your oxiracetam. To get rid of the oxiracetam headache, just take a choline supplement like alpha GPC or citicoline.
How To Dose Oxiracetam
Due to the wide variety of response that each person’s body has to this supplement, a very wide range for dosage is seen. As low as 600mg and up to 3,000mg taken over the course of a day, either in two to three evenly spread dosing periods (such as three doses of 400mg or 800mg).
If you are a beginner, start with a very small oxiracetam dosage to be on the safer side. For optimal benefit take a little scoop in the morning after waking up, then again a few hours later, and finally one dose in the early evening that would be the best way to get desired results.
It is not evident whether or not oxiracetam would benefit from being taken with a meal, but it should be taken approximately one hour prior to a learning activity. The peak levels of this supplement is reached within one to three hours of ingestion. Additionally, oxiracetam powder is characterized by a faintly sweet taste, making it one of the most palatable nootropics.
The key thing to realize is that there's not any exact or fixed ratio of oxiracetam dosage. You’ll want to use it and than see how it performs with your body, meaning you have to experiment a bit to figure out the exact oxiracetam dosage that’s best for you.
Oxiracetam experience is different for different individuals, but many users report of significant increase in sensory perceptions. It is a genuine cognitive enhancer, and has become popular with students preparing for a big test. Here’s what some people are saying about their own usage:
“First of all I just want to say that I am aware that taking 12 grams of Oxiracetam is potentially dangerous. This semester there were circumstances that led me to fall behind significantly in my university studies. I managed to keep up for the most part except for one unit where I was literally 6 weeks behind with two nights left before the exam.
The night before the exam I took about 12 grams of Oxiracetam plus some caffeine and 10mg of dexamphetamine to help stay awake. The oxiracetam was taken in 3.2 gram doses spaced 1-2 hours apart. While studying I felt little to no effect from the Oxiracetam. The next day after just 2 hours of sleep I sat my exam. My memory was the best it has ever been. I remembered many paragraphs of text almost word for word and my memory of diagrams/images was extremely detailed as well. Considering how content I covered in one night I was quite amazed with my recall.”
and another detailed account:
The oxiracetam does improve memory, but I like it more for its effect on my outlook. It shuts down brain chatter and makes me emotionless and extremely logical. That is, it seems to greatly reduce compulsion so I can just make clear decisions. It also makes it easier to focus on long-running tasks such as studying in my experience.
Personally, I take 4.8g of piracetam per day, 750mg of aniracetam and 1200 mg of oxi. This is the balance that I found worked the best for me. The mix that works best for you may be very different. It's not just about individual chemistry, but also the specific tasks you are trying to optimize for as well. That's why testing it on its own for a while can be helpful. It lets you get a feel for the effects of a given racetam and inform you about the importance of those benefits so you can make intelligent decisions about how to stack it later to fine-tune what you are looking for.
Also, any given improvement tends to have multiple components. If you want the biggest memory improvement, you'd do even better if you applied the book “Maximize your memory” by Ramon Campayo alongside taking smart drugs. The two are synergistic. One being a software thing and one revving up the brain itself.
One last share:
Oxiracetam is the first Racetam that I've noticed the effects of, here's my experience… I tried Oxiracetam from Intellimeds (UK) today after trying Piracetam, Aniracetam and Phenylpiracetam in the past to no avail. I wouldn't notice any effects and my lack of motivation and focus would remain stagnant. Therefore I didn't expect Oxiracetam to do anything when I took it for the first time today. I dosed ~1g (the capsules I received were 650mg each, so I took one and split up the second) at 1.30pm before lunch alongside Choline Inositol (250mg of Choline Bitartrate and 250mg of Inositol) in order to attempt my own homeostasis of acetylcholine. I didn't notice the ‘Oxiracetam headache' nor serious brain-fog so I'm assuming that this was a beneficial addition. As usual I did notice some neck tension which can infer a surplus of the acetylcholine.
By 2.15pm – some 45 minutes later, I noticed a subtle change. I was sitting at my laptop as I was earlier, and instead of forcing my way through my coursework, I was able to stay focused on the task while driving myself to do as much as I could. I felt organised and able to get tasks done without the normal hesitation and distraction I felt before.
The typical dosage of oxiracetam is less than that of piracetam, but that does not mean a small amount will suffice. A typical dosage is between the range of 1200 mg and 2400 mg taken over the course of the day [10].
This dosage should ideally be taken over the course of the day in 2 – 3 doses. One great place to start would be to take 800 mg x 3 per day and total 2400 mg over the course of that time.
- References (Click to Expand)
How and Where to Buy Oxiracetam
Luckily, the flavor of oxiracetam is sweet, with some bitterness at the end. If you buy oxiracetam powder, it will not be a terribly uncomfortable experience that prevents you from consuming the rest. Sometimes the oxiracetam capsules are more convenient, however.
Sometimes buying nootropics, especially within the unregulated racetam family, can be easy but nerve-racking. Due to the fact the U.S. Food and Drug Administration does not intentionally track and monitor the oxiracetam smart drug, it makes sense to only stick with vendors who have a solid reputation and proof for what you are buying.
To this end, it is important to look for assay and / or heavy metals testing on all oxiracetam for sale. There are plenty of online vendors that provide good quality oxiracetam without providing proof of their product. The unfortunate thing is that many of these producers are supplied from China, where the laws and regulations are even less strict than the United States.
Nootropedia sincerely hopes you decide to purchase oxiracetam from a vendor with these testing certificates and a solid reputation. We recommend Pure Nootropics oxiracetam because this vendor has consistently included third party certificates of analysis for their products.
Selected Community Experiences
“It gives me an energy boost, but not one as strong as caffeine. It also feels a little “racy” to me, similar to adderall. This creates a problem since I am able to concentrate but I will randomly get up and feel like I have something to do even though I don't. It makes memorizing equations for class much easier, the difference is immediately noticeable. It also completely clears up my head, I generally feel better after taking this stuff than I do off of a full nights rest. I also feel a strange increased curiosity and desire to do math, this is odd, but definitely noticeable, it's helpful for my math based classes. This product would be great if I could concentrate on it. I also feel an odd desire to dance when I hear music on this stuff which normally doesn't happen, I thought that this was placebo but after testing around I really do think this is a side effect.” [11] – gelgamek
“now that I have done Oxiracetam over a dozen times I think I can safely say it seems to have a very noticeable mood lifting effect for me. I wouldn't quite call it recreational… I don't really feel that different, just in a good mood. The effect seems to reliably kick in about one hour after dosing and fade about five hours after dosing.” [12]- SurfaceThought
“Today I absolutely smashed my Psychology exam on Oxiracetam and I just want to share my experience with this noot because I noticed so much difference in my cognition, especially memory, verbal comprehension and verbal fluency!!! I just can't help it…I am definitely switching from Modafinil to Oxiracetam as my study nootropic.” [13]- Psycho_student
Editors’ Thoughts on Oxiracetam
I have used oxiracetam a few times and felt that it was pretty similar to aniracetam in the effects I felt. That isn’t to say there weren’t more things going on, but at the time I was not tracking the cognitive differences in order to get a good read on it. I would conclude for many youths, it is similar to aniracetam.
That being said, friends who have had trauma or concussions often experience oxiracetam better than I have. I suspect it is most useful for elderly and those with brain trauma even though I could feel the positive effects myself.
My grandfather, who was struggling with dementia and early stage Alzheimer’s, benefitted from it a lot in his final months.
Mansal Denton, Nootropedia Editor
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Why is oxiracetam so much more expensive than others
Good question, Peter.
I don’t have a “good” answer for you, but I do know that oxiracetam is one of the more rare in the family. It is also a little more complicated to synthesize thus the cost, but it is still cheaper than phenylpiracetam.