A Review of N-Acetyl Semax Amidate from Ceretropic
In recent years, we’ve seen a lot of interest in the nootropics community for peptide molecules. Specifically, ones like noopept and cerebrolysin that exert a clear nootropic effect through a variety of different mechanisms.
Besides noopept, which is fairly easy to find, peptides often sit on the side of public knowledge of nootropics. Here, many of them aren’t getting the attention and media coverage they truly deserve. One possible reason for this is that many of them need to be delivered into the body by injection – which is not a smart option for biohacking novices and a scary option regardless for many.
Here’s where we bring in Semax, a peptide that is both highly effective and does not need to be injected. Today, we’ll explore the properties of semax and review a bottle of it from the bold seller of unique nootropics – Ceretropic.com.
What is Semax?
Semax is what’s called a synthetic heptapeptide, meaning that it’s a chain of 7 amino acids as a single molecule. Interestingly enough, the semax molecule mirrors a fragment of adrenocorticotropic hormone, which is released in the pituitary gland of humans in response to environmental stress.
It was originally developed in Moscow, Russia as a treatment mostly for neurological-related disorders, such as poor memory, depression, ADHD, and post-stroke treatment.
Additionally, Semax can be used as an immune-system booster or as a treatment for peptic ulcers, strangely enough.
Semax can also be used off-label as a nootropic, with many properties that make it quite suitable for regular use.
What are the Effects of Semax?
I once heard that the best way to describe the feeling of taking semax is like “the feeling you get when you saw your crush in grade school, but without the anxiety”.
Semax works by chemically inducing a state of stress, but not in such a negative way as many would jump to conclude. Your mental state becomes one that is primed for action – letting go of avoidance and procrastination.
The way this happens is through a variety of systems in the brain. In the hippocampus (the center of emotion and memory), levels of brain-derived neurotropic factor (BDNF) are increased. This chemical is important for the process of neurogenesis, or the creation of new nerve connections which are responsible for our great learning ability.
If your brain detects that you’re under stress, it’s usually in your best interest to learn to deal with whatever situation you’re in. Semax helps to put you in this state in a controlled manner which facilitates activities like studying or knocking out tasks on your to-do list.
In addition, you see increased dopaminergic and serotonergic activity after taking Semax. This could further explain the drug’s ability to relieve symptoms of depression and boost motivation. Users have anecdotally reported a lessening of overall anxiety, as well as “tunnel vision” in the sense that focusing on a task is easier.
How do you Take Semax?
Earlier in this article, I mentioned that despite being a fragile peptide, Semax does not need to be injected in order to work.
When I shopped for my bottle of Semax on Ceretropic.com, I found that there were in fact two options for administration – injection and intranasal spray. Both should be plenty bioavailable, with the injection being slightly better but we’ll have to cover that procedure another time. For my trial, I decided to go with the intranasal spray to prove my point about the simplicity.
After some searching around on sites like /r/nootropics, I found that a good way to ensure that the nasal spray works well is by first blowing out your nose, spray once or more up each nostril, and then holding your head slightly towards the ceiling for a moment. This ensures that the semax solution gets adequate contact with the mucous membrane of your inner nose.
To care for your Semax between uses, make sure to put it in the fridge and do not shake the bottle. The Semax molecule is a fairly fragile one, so you want to do your best not to disturb it. Cold and lack of light help maintain the solution’s potency as long as possible.
Dosage
A good starting dose for semax is approximately 400mcg intranasally every 4-6 hours. At Ceretropic, there are two concentrations of NA Semax Amidate you can buy – 100mcg or 300mcg spray.
It’s also worth mentioning that I purchased a potent formulation of semax as N-Acetyl Semax Amidate. Users on reddit have reported that this version of their semax spray is indeed stronger than the ordinary semax product, but only slightly. The price is hardly different either. N-Acetyl seems to have a more energizing effect, while N-Acetyl with the Amidate seems to be more conducive to deeper thinking.
As you become comfortable with the base dosage and want stronger effects, you can gradually increase the number of sprays as needed.
Tolerance doesn’t appear to happen quickly – if at all – with Semax, so once you reach a sweet spot, you won’t likely need to ever change the dose. This is a rather noteworthy property as a nootropic substance and seriously bolsters the case for taking Semax on a regular basis.
Side Effects
Besides, the powerful mental effects that Semax causes (which is totally relative to each person), Semax doesn’t appear to have any other effects on the body. Even with increased dosages and regular use, Semax is safe and keeps its benefits without any simultaneous annoyance.
The one thing you might complain about however, is the price. Semax is a fairly pricey nootropic, so it can lighten one’s wallet if bought often.
My Personal Experience with Semax
After ordering a bottle of 100mcg NA-Semax Amidate spray from ceretropic.com, I quickly took delivery of a small parcel in the mailbox. Inside the soft packaging was the semax along with a gel cooling pack, which was certainly doing its job.
The 10ml bottle itself is quite small, and comes with a little clip for the nozzle so you don’t accidentally spray the expensive liquid contents everywhere. On the equally small label, you see that you get between 0.1ml and 0.13ml of solution in each spray, which yields you up to a maximum of 100 sprays per bottle.
Over the next few days, I took a conservative dose of two sprays per nostril, making sure to keep my nasal mucosa as clear as possible beforehand. This is the first substance I’ve taken intranasally, so I wasn’t sure what quite to expect. It was a bit weird-feeling at first to take the sprays, but I quickly got used to it.
The effects come quickly, within two minutes of application. While the onset is fast, it is smooth and subtle enough that you it’s not so much something you can feel happen. However, a few minutes after taking the semax, I definitely notice what is going on.
Similarly to modafinil, I get a solid push to start…doing stuff. Usually this means kickstarting a task for work or well, even writing this article! It’s like a benevolent demon pushing you on a rail – you’re getting moved fast, but you’re enjoying the ride.
Like with phenylpiracetam, my thought patterns are quite fluid and efficient. My bodily movements are quick and precise, and the same goes for the flow of my ideas. I just think about doing something, and I do it with little hesitation. This state of mind allowed me to quickly think of and locate all of the holiday gifts for my family – something that usually takes me multiple nights of thought and with a lot of procrastination involved.
My mood always gets an improvement from semax as well. Not in such a happy, wanting to sing and dance sort of feeling though. More like a feeling of clarity and successfully melding into my environment effortlessly – being in the zone. I can definitely see how it’s linked to a positively-acting stress hormone, because I feel quite naturally activated. That’s really the best way I can describe it.
The effects stay strong for me for about 3 hours, and then start to taper off over the next hour. However, the extra drive tends to last throughout the day for me, even if I only take it once around noontime.
Conclusion
Ceretropic’s N-Acetyl Semax Amidate is definitely a substance I would keep using again and again. Even at the normal ~4mcg dose I enjoy the experience, so I’m curious about trying the higher potency bottle ceretropic offers. I experienced no side effects at all during my trial so far, and I am confident that I never will. This is such an incredibly clean feeling substance, but motivating enough that it’s almost scary.
Update May 2019: Ceretropic.com is permanently closed. I have not found any legitimate vendors to buy from, most have bad rep, sell fakes or non-pure products.
Selank is still available on Amazon (Semax vs Selank)
About Ceretropic
Ceretropic is an online seller of nootropics and other bio-enhancing substances. They have a strong connection to the nootropics community through Reddit user MisterYouAreSoDumb and are often the first company to procure and sell breakthrough substances because of this. Some of their notable products include Hydrafinil, SARMs, Semax, and Selank.