The first step was research.  At the time the internet was limited in both search capability and real information.  There were hours spent staring at a lynx session, and I'll spare you the details but the results were: a small list of drug names and a large list of side-effects.  Living, as we did, only fifty miles away from Mexico, we had an opportunity to pick up pharmaceuticals from any farmacia in Juarez, the large city just across the border from El Paso.  Two of us would do the buying, since we had very little fear of either the city or the law.  The law is pretty murky on these things, but our understanding was: we could buy quite a bit of what we needed (more than we had money for, to be sure), and as long as we didn't sell it once we got across the border, all was well.  We had read stories about people getting pulled aside by the Customs agents, getting grilled as to the legality of the substances themselves, and getting detained for hours while the DEA pored over their book of scheduled substances, looking for anything that could implicate the individual.  The border crossing in El Paso is notorious for being a harsh, unfriendly, all-business border crossing.  The Customs, DEA, and Border Patrol personnel were infamous for their severity and ruthlessness.  We had only one thing going for us: the substances we were purchasing were legal to own, but illegal to distribute.

Specifically, my friend Gabe and I would be buying a large quantity of "smart drugs."  The idea was to change our heads, experiment with the neurons, extend our thinking.  We didn't want to be "smarter," and the goal was never intelligence.  The goal was: speed of change.  Our heads, our human biology, was too slow to change and adapt.  We intended to force the biology into a new pathway.  To change our minds.  In our list, we had settled on three different drugs: deprenyl, piracetam, and hydergine.  Of the three, I was most interested in Hydergine.

Hydergine is derived from ergot.  Those of you who know your street drugs will recognize Sandoz Labs, the "inventor" of Hydergine, as well as the ergot derivitive they are most famous for (Hint: it rhymes with LSD).  Hydergine was developed in the late 1940's as a treatment for hypertension.  In clinical trials, it was found to be effective (though only marginally) at treating certain types of dementia, including Alzheimers.  It has been approved by the FDA for use as a treatment for "senility" and for cerebrovascular insufficiency.  There are claims that it helps guard against free radical damage, boosts oxygenation in blood cells in the brain, and speeds up cell metabolism in the brain.  It has been fairly well studied, with over 3000 clinical studies performed on it.

Hydergine "stacks" well with piracetam, meaning that the two complement each other.  Our first trip to Juarez was focused on procuring only piracetam (sold under the name Nootropil) and hydergine, with any left over funds going toward deprenyl purchase.  We chose a Saturday, mid morning, and walked across the border from downtown El Paso, and one of the busiest foot bridges in the world.

The goal was to get to at least four farmacias and find the lowest prices on the drugs we wanted.  This is a fairly popular shopping destination for many gringos in Juarez, and the farmacias are geared toward freindly, prompt attention.  A tip: avoid the state run farmacias, the ones that look like a sterile Walgreens.  They are usually further off the "strip" than most, and have the least amount of advertising.  They are also sticklers for things like prescriptions.  Most farmacias in Mexico will sell prescription-only drugs to you without a prescription, provided they aren't opiate derived painkillers, or any scheduled narcotic.  The most popular purchases in farmacias in Juarez are anti-biotics and viagra, and they are advertised heavily.  Competition between farmacias is fierce, and they will consequently undercut each other if you are willing to do the legwork.

Our first stop ended up being the lowest price we would see, so we purchased eight boxes of piracetam (30 pills per box) and four boxes of hydergine (two to four times more expensive than piracetam, each box is 20 pills).  The net cost was in the neighborhood of $120.00, though I don't remember the specific amounts (more on this below).

Gabe and I had been followed by at least four different people during our trip.  We didn't know the intent of the people following us, only that they were very interested in our movements.  At this point, we determined that we needed to get back across the border.  We distributed the boxes evenly between us, doing some educated guessing as to what could be considered personal use.  We had a story for the purchase if needed: that it was for our grandparents, as a treatment for alzheimers, and was cheaper in Mexico than via prescription in the US.  Walking across the border was fairly easy in the pre-September 11th 2001 days.  We were stopped, our bags checked, and the Customs agent asked us if the drugs we had were steroids.  We both laughed, incredulous.  The agent, however, was serious, and we filled him in on what the drugs were used for.  In the background, a DEA agent thumbed through a massive book, looking for the drug names.  He didn't find them in any of his scheduled substance listings, and we were free to go.

The four men following us stopped on the Mexico side, just inside the customs barrier.  I still have no idea what they wanted, but it is important to know that travel in Juarez can be fairly dangerous without the proper mindset and focus.

Before getting to Las Cruces, we stopped at a Gas and Sip, and bought some sodas.  The idea was to take an "attack dose" of both substances.  Impatient, curious, and excited by the prospect, we each took four piracetam (2400mg) and two hydergine (3mg), then settled back for the drive home.  By this time, the sun was starting to set, traffic was light, and the excitement of the day had worn off a bit.

Then, the drugs kicked in.

I don't know how to adequately describe the effects of that large of a dose of those drugs.  The immediate effect was a kind of softening of the light, like a gaussian blur had been placed on anything not in direct focus.  The neurological effect was astounding; Gabe and I both had an intense level of concentration, but it wasn't on anything of our choosing.  We'd lock into a specific idea or sound or sight, and not be able to shake it.  The underlying emotional effect was a deep, deep nostalgia.  Everything was shrouded in this heavy nostalgic feeling, and the sunset (a typical, glorious New Mexico sunset) grabbed every second of our attention, to the point that Gabe, driving, slowed and pulled over to clear his head.  We had been travelling a stretch of highspeed interstate at roughly 45 miles an hour, emotionally and logically involved with the world around us, our attention deeply focused on the beauty of the sky.

It felt, for all intents, like a very minor dose of acid.

I don't remember most of that trip except for the lovely fog of nostalgia and the amazing sunset.  I don't remember that evening, but Gabe and I did get coffee at a coffeeshop, and we spent a good deal of time staring off into space, then looking at each other and laughing at the vapid expresssions we carried.

Later, we scheduled our doses in a more realistic fashion.  The piracetam gave me a distinct headache and a copper taste in the back of my throat.  Hydergine made me so nostalgic, so whistful, I could not take it in the morning before work, and would stack my doses in later in the evening.

Most of all, I noticed no cognitive enhancement.  I can't remember any more detail from that period of time than from any other, and at the time my recall was hampered by the annoying "latch onto any thought but the one you want" side effect.  I tried focusing on specific tasks, and would inevitably have my mind wander....but this wasn't the normal "my mind is wandering" thing.  This was a "my mind is obsessed with any BRIGHT SHINY OBJECT" thing.  We played with doses, and I found that the most effective dose for me was two piracetam twice a day, and one hydergine in the evening.  At that dose, after four weeks, I felt alert and capable; my mind worked quickly, like a caffeine high only focused and efficient.  After eight weeks, the desired state was less attainable, and the side effects egregious enough that I decided to taper off.

Now, eight years later, I'm still curious enough to try it again, still desire that hydergine nostalgic hit at times.  The effects of the experiment, long term, are unknown.  We were faithful for about a year, and moved onto other mixtures later.  There haven't been any near-term side effects, and the immediate effects (headaches, strange body aches, heavy nostalgia) were quickly gone once the doses were tapered off.

Would I reccommend this to anyone?  Yes, though if you're on any medications currently, you may wish to avoid these at all cost..  I feel it is important to attempt to exceed your biology, and chemistry is an easy (and potentially fatal) way to do it.  If you can get your hands on some Hydergine (nor marketed as "Hydergina" by Novartis) and piracetam (or even some pramiracetam, a more efficient, potent version), and you don't mind mucking with the wiring in your head, give it a shot.