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Phenibut vs Piracetam for mood

Short answer: For mood, more users report improvement with Phenibut — 90% of 181 reports, versus 74% of 116 for Piracetam.

Phenibut has 3 meta-analyses and 1 randomized trials on PubMed; Piracetam has 119 and 117.

Based on 1,030 reports about Phenibut and 1,463 about Piracetam. Not medical advice.

Phenibut
Substance
Piracetam
Supplement
Users say it helped43%helped628 reports · high confidence53%helped688 reports · high confidence
Verdict
Mixed
Mixed
ResearchBResearch: ModerateAResearch: Strong
Meta-analyses / RCTs3 / 1119 / 117
Mainly used for
Focus
% reporting improvement
72% (47)80% (458)
Anxiety
% reporting improvement
89% (419)86% (57)
Mood
% reporting improvement
90% (181)74% (116)
Memory
% reporting improvement
40% (5)89% (241)
Energy
% reporting improvement
79% (38)78% (69)
Common side effectswithdrawal, tolerance, addiction, dependenceheadache, drowsiness, irritability, insomnia
Typical dose reported500 mg250 mg / daily
Phenibut
Latest review conclusion

Phenibut withdrawal appears to have a range of severity. It is important to recognize that patients undergoing phenibut abstinence may have progressive symptom worsening during early withdrawal. All published cases of abrupt phenibut abstinence were admitted inpatients for symptom management. Benzodiazepines or barbiturates with adjunctive baclofen appear to be the most commonly used drugs for moderate to severe withdrawal. Outpatient management via slow phenibut tapers with or without adjunctive gamma-aminobutyric acid agonist therapy may be successful. However, there is no standard treatment

Clin Toxicol (Phila), 2023 ↗
What a user said
“Phenibut every 3 days. Hands down most effective I've tried. Plus you wake up feeling amazing.”
Full Phenibut profile →
Piracetam
Latest review conclusion

High-level evidence related to pharmacological strategies for managing Lewy body dementia is rare. Strategies for important areas of need in Lewy body dementia, such as autonomic symptoms and caregiver burden, have not been investigated, nor have the views of patients and caregivers about pharmacological strategies.

Am J Psychiatry, 2015 ↗
What a user said
“The effects were wonderful, they still are to me-- verbal fluidity, increased motivation, quicker thinking, better recall, pro social, wake up in the morning with ZERO grogginess.”
Full Piracetam profile →

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Percentages come from first-hand user reports and are not clinical outcomes. Talk to a doctor before starting, stopping or combining anything. How we rate