Health - Epistaxis (Bloody Nose) From Nootropic Use?

[Shampoo]

Sitting at lunch today, swim felt a strange sensation in his nose. Looking down, he noticed he was beginning to drip thick, dark red blood from his nose. Perplexed, he grabbed some tissue and lay in the grass, waiting for it to end, which took almost 20 minutes of steady flow. He has not had a nosebleed since he was much younger, and they usually were the direct result of some major change in altitude, a swift kick to the face, or something of the sort. I was wondering for the sake of my worried friend if anyone has had similar experiences with epistaxis following the use of nootropics or perhaps had some insight as to potential causes of such a phenomenon.

Background: Swim has been a successful nootropics user for the past several months. He began by using Piracetam, between 1250-2400mg per day, coupled with Lecithin. He rarely received headaches or tension, but continued the lecithin nonetheless, knowing all the while it had less than an easy time crossing the blood brain barrier. He soon replaced it with Alpha-GPC at 600mg per day spread over 2 doses, occasionally with a 3rd 300mg dose close to bed time. He added Huperzine after about 1 week of regular Piracetam work, primarily due to its symbiotic action with other nootropics as an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor. DHA has always been an integral part of his nutrient intake, and he recently added Vinpocetine before replacing Piracetam with Aniracetam. He has been successfully taking the following study stack 5 days out of the last week, with 2 intermittent days of partial cessation with only Alpha-GPC, DHA and Huperzine intake. Other pertinent information: He smokes cannabis on a daily basis for mood and pain regulation (suffers from a peptic ulcer) from a highly efficient vaporizer, usually in the afternoon and near bed-time. He has never snorted anything before, nor does he have allergy issues, so his nasal passage should be in tip-top shape. Other drug use includes occasional psychedelic ingestion and some theanine and melatonin (3mg) on occasion before sleep. His nootropic regiment leading up to the epistaxis was:

10mg Vinpocetine (x2 daily) (8:45am & 2pm)
300mg Alpha-GPC (x2-3 daily) (8am, 1pm, & 7pm)
200ug L-Huperzine (x2 daily) (7:45am & 1:30pm)
650mg Aniracetam (x2 daily) (8:15am & 1:45pm)
700mg DHA (once daily) (8am)


Any insight as to possible causes for epistaxis? He is a bit worried and is considering total nootropic cessation, however he has come to develop a fruitful symbiosis with them and would like to continue their use. None of the doses are excessive and he is not on any medications they could be interfering with. Thoughts? Suggestions? Similar Experiences?

[Euphoric]

Nosebleeds are not that uncommon to SWIM. He also uses nootropics, but not even daily, and not in large doses. He is unsure of any correlation between their use and his nosebleeds. This info isn't too useful, but if SWIM notices a connection, he will report back.

[snapper]

Maybe some of the vasodilating properties of some of these could be a problem. Vinpocetine has been said to be an anticoagulant. :

"Vinpocetine inhibits blood platelets from forming clots,1 and for this reason it couldcause problems if it is taken by individuals with bleeding problems, during the period immediately before or after surgery or labor and delivery, or in combinationwith medications or natural substances that also affect platelet activity, such as aspirin, clopidogrel (Plavix), ticlopidine (Ticlid), pentoxifylline (Trental), garlic, ginkgo, policosanol, or high-dosage vitamin E."

http://healthlibrary.epnet.com/GetCo...chunkiid=21841. That's probably the culprit.

Reputation Comments on this post:

	Great find, I really appreciate the hard work you do digging in archives for answers for the forum. Keep it up!
	Interesting snippet: Thanks

[Shampoo]

Sounds like a reasonable assumption. Vinpocetine is the only one that drastically increases cerebral blood-flow and vasodilatation. If not the cause of the bloody nose, it may certainly have played a role in prolonging the leakage.