Why do people use NSI-189?
People who self-experiment with NSI-189 often state they use it to improve their:
- Mood
- Memory
- Learning
- Mindfulness
There is a lack of solid scientific evidence for the effectiveness of NSI-189 for any of these purposes, especially in healthy humans.
Should you use NSI-189?
One thing that is certain about the effects of NSI-189 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 NSI-189, 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 NSI-189?
NSI-189 will likely only have substantial effects if consumed daily for prolonged periods (4-12 weeks). [3][1]
In studies on the cognitive and affective effects of NSI-189 in humans, participants were given 40-120mg. [5]
What form of NSI-189 should I consume?
NSI-189 exists in free base and phosphate forms.
Some nootropic users speculate that NSI-189 phosphate might be best for oral consumption and that the free base form is best used sublingually. [15]
However, the only form that has been studied in humans is NSI-189 phosphate, which was given orally to the study participants.
From a clinical and scientific perspective is not known which of the two forms of NSI-189 is safer or more effective for healthy humans looking to use it for enhancement of mood and cognition.
Should I take NSI-189 with food?
Food did not affect the maximum blood concentration or overall concentration over time. [2] This means that whether you consume NSI-189 on an empty stomach likely has no effect on the cognitive or affective effects of the drug.
How does NSI-189 work to enhance mood and cognition?
The neuropsychopharmacological effects of NSI-189 have not yet been fully discovered by researchers.
Here are some of the mechanisms which researchers have explored and found involved in the effects of NSI-189 on mood and cognition:
- Increases volume of the right side of the amygdala in humans, but there is a high risk that this finding was due to chance and doesn't reflect a true effect [8]
- Stimulates neurogenesis (in mice hippocampus [19], human hippocampus-derived neural stem cells, [20]) and in the subventricular zone of the hippocampus (species and study type undefined) [21])
- Upregulates neurogenic factors such as BDNF and SCF (in rats with stroke) [22]
- Enhances synaptic plasticity (in mice) [23]
- Enhances neurite outgrowth and mitochondrial functions (in primary sensory neurons from rats) [24]
Is NSI-189 neuroprotective?
NSI-189 protected rats against radiation-induced cognitive dysfunction. [25]
It is likely that the neuroprotective effects of NSI-189 depend on what the factor that is damaging neurons in the brain is. For example, lack of oxygen or dangerously high glutamate levels in the brain can lead to increased neuronal death. NSI-189 is likely to protect neurons from some forms of neurochemical toxicity but not from everything you might expose your brain to.
How long does it take for NSI-189 to reach peak concentrations in the blood?
The time it takes for NSI-189 to reach maximum concentrations in the human plasma is 1-2h. [9]
How does it feel when you take NSI-189?
The following qualitative user experience reports and reviews are included to give you an understanding of what the experience of taking NSI-189 is like.
Anecdotal NSI-189 experience reports and reviews from Reddit
One person reported the following:
"There is no immediate effects or any noticeable side effects. At first i was hesitant continuing this drug, but im glad i did.
After the first week i started to wake up, in a great mood, there is a coronavirus outbreak but life is good. I have not experienced this feeling in years." [28]
This person also reported they eventually developed paranoia, insomnia, anxiety, and paresthesia, which all decreased or disappeared immediately after discontinuation of NSI-189. [29]
Mood improvement was the most frequent effect in a survey including around 50 anecdotal reports from people who used NSI-189. [30]
One person reported "weird anxiety from it here and there, usually like once twice a week". [31]
Another redditor reported that NSI-189 had good effects for them the first couple of days, but that these benefits disappeared quickly:
"I have been taking NSI 189 for 8 days now. The first 4 days were wonderful. Immediate effects, more optimist, alleviated depression, emotions much more stable. I even had to smell come back to me that I used to smell when I was younger.
Then it stopped. I haven’t had that smell. And the effects aren’t apparent. I can’t tell really if it is still working.
I began taking bromantane with it as well from 50-150 mg on day 3 and 4. I have tried days with bromantane and days without. No difference.
I am talking Kratom with it as well with multivitamin and fish oil. I was taking ashwghanda, no longer anymore.
I was also using SAMe a few days prior to starting NSI.
Any theory’s or suggestions why the sudden change? It’s quiet frustrating. It seems to be decreasing my athletic performance as well. This may all be mental.
Dosages of NSI have been 40 mg, 20 mg twice daily." [32]
Two people reported impaired short-term memory after use of NSI-189. [33]
Finally, one user reported the following effects:
"Something I had been missing for a very long time was my ability to be passionate about certain topics. I'm 19 now, but up until 2 years ago I was prone to getting very interested in certain topics. From 10-12 it was radio controlled cars and plans, from 12-15 it was technology and phones, from 15-17 it was politics, and then for the last two years there hadn't been anything I was enthusiastic about, not in the same way as I was before at least, but now, it's back. I'm very interested in politics again, I'm beginning to take an interest in finance, and I love science and futurism.
My memory seems to be vastly improved, not my working memory but my ability to recall things in the past. This is both good and bad, because while it makes life easier, it's also drudging up negative memories, though I don't perceive them as negatively as I used to.
I'm much wittier, I'm happy to provide light commentary on things, something I was never able to do previously, not to the same extent.
I'm both more and less sociable. By this I mean that I'm not as desperate to engage in conversations as I have been in the recent past, something I've needed to feel appreciated/have a sense of self worth. Instead, my less frequent conversations are more in depth.
I'm less intimidated by life. Recently I had to search for a house to sublet a room in since I'm starting college in a new area next semester, and in the past, that task would have seemed incredibly daunting to me, given the number of steps, social interactions, and the importance. This time, I didn't think about how difficult the task would be, I just thought about the steps and started doing.
I'm more confident. I support a certain political candidate, and I recently got a hat with his logo on it which is somewhat of a conversation starter simply because of it's weirdness. When people ask about it I'm able to fearlessly provide a short pitch about the candidate, and I even ended up speaking to a guy at the mall for about 6 hours about everything from politics to simulation theory.
Negative experiences weigh on me less. As a result of my support of this candidate, the day after Christmas my stepfather decided to gather the family and attempt to berate me over my support of him, calling me all sorts of names, making threats to withdrawal financial support, the whole nine yards. After all was said and done, I wasn't happy, but I wasn't unhappy either, I took it very well, significantly better than I would have thought possible before.
I can enter into a state of flow more easily - I've been able to maintain focus on things such as podcasts, writing, and even reading for short periods of time, an ability I thought I had permanently lost. When I was much younger I was an incredibly heavy reader, but as time went by and I had more exposure to the internet and social media, I lost the ability to focus on one thing. I'd turn on a youtube video, then switch over to twitter and reddit as it played in the background, absorbing none of the information from any of the sources. Last year in college I would be scrolling through reddit on my computer, and 5 minutes later I'd find myself scrolling through reddit on my phone while it was still open on my computer right in front of me.
I can function better on less sleep. I used to require a minimum of 7-7.5 hours of sleep every night, or else I would go through the entire next day feeling mentally and physically destroyed. No focus, no abstract thinking, easy physical activity would make me incredibly tired. Since I started NSI-189, I haven't gotten less than 5 hours, but even on 5 hours I didn't feel as though I was in that same zombified state, instead I felt a little bit slower, a little bit more tired, but not like a different person altogether.
I feel smarter - perhaps this is due to me being less stressed out by things and less inward looking, but for a long time after my heavy drinking phase I felt as though I was less intelligent than before. This could have been due to a number of things such as synaptic pruning, or the fact that I went from being one of the smarter kids at my highschool to being about average at my college. Of course we know that people function as though their IQ is 13-14 points lower when they're stressed. Stress and dysthymia and alcohol likely all played into that, but I feel as if a lot of that lost intelligence has been restored.
No negative side effects yet, except for an increase in the amount of time I spend posting shit like this online." [34]
