Vinpocetine: Nootropic Mechanisms, Experience, and Discussion

Right off the bat, Vinpocetine is one of my favorite nootropics. It requires incredibly low doses, and works quite quickly.

This nootropic caught my attention years ago after studying meditation’s effect on cerebral blood flow (it increases it). I was hell bent on finding a nootropic compound that worked on the brain similarly.

Vinpocetine comes from a plant. The periwinkle plant, in fact, and is thought of as an anti-aging compound. It’s used primarily in Europe for issues with cognitive decline and is said to improve oxygen and blood flow to the brain after administration.

One of the particularly fascinating elements of this nootropic is that it’s neuro-anti-inflammatory. It seems to be one of those compounds that isn’t particularly stimulating or overtly noticeable, but that is useful to take for brain maintenance and perhaps, working memory. More detailed reading on mechanisms here.

When I take the compound, I do notice a slight increase in mental energy, similar to the feeling I get when I meditate (but perhaps scaled down a few echelons). I notice a slight improvement in working memory while taking the compound, and have found it to stack pretty well with a regular dose of Noopept.

But what may be even more interesting about Vinpocetine is its potential to help one of the longstanding mysteries in the land of nootropics which is racetam headaches.

“Racetam headaches,” are headaches that people get in particular regions of their heads when taking any of the racetam smart drugs. It has been hypothesized that the reason for these headaches is that the racetams invoke a larger release/usage of the neuro-chemical acetylcholine than the brain is use to.

Therefore, if there isn’t enough acetylcholine to keep up with the directive from the racetam to release a lot of it.

I’m not so sure of this, because plenty of people take adequate amounts of acetylcholine precursors (compounds like Alpha GPC, CDP Choline, and Choline Bitartrate), and still have headaches when taking racetams. So recently, I postulated the notion that because Racetams change blood flow in the brain where they activate certain regions/hemispheres, the headaches people are getting may be because of blood flow imbalances, and Vinpocetine, via its ability to optimize blood flow, may help/fix the situation. Watch the full video here.

So Vinpocetine may be useful in a variety of ways, and has a variety of applications. A couple key pieces of information on Vinpocetine before we get to the video below:

The dose on Vinpocetine is incredibly low, at 5MG. In the Examine.com literature, one study demonstrated noticeable results at 40MG, which is exceptionally high compared to the regular dose. If you’re going to take any more than 5MG, titrate wisely.
Vinpocetine, in my N=1 stacks pretty well with Noopept. It gives me a subtle mental energy and alertness boost with the memory boost that Noopept brings. They stack quite well for me.
Vinpocetine is a natural nootropic compound, is 100% legal to have and take in the United States, and can be found at most vitamin stores in the brain function isle.