Better living through chemistry?

Is it possible a better living through chemistry?

I took about 300 milligrams of oxycodone a day for about 5 years (by the way, it was the best 5 years of my life, work, family etc.), but then of course the big crack down began (pill mills etc) making it extremely difficult to obtain easily, so I had to stop as I did not feel like driving around to 300 pharmacies a day trying to fill my legally obtained prescription.

Anyway I stopped it  3 years ago. Anyway, since then I feel as if it is my first day off of them. I have absolutely no energy, tired constantly, no interest in anything, my gut is all screwed up, its total crap. Now not to long before SR got shut down. But I finally had access to the things that made me feel normal again (coke, adderall, oxy’s etc.).

I really believe that I am of the sorts that just do better with proper dosing of drugs, I spent my whole life with the mantra «better living through modern chemistry». But, in today’s age it is getting more and more difficult to self medicate properly and I am paying the price dearly for it (Job, family etc).

Do you think that my brain balance will ever return to normal without drugs? Would any sort of doctor see it my way . Is it impossible or ridiculous to say that I can function better with these drugs? I think my lifetime would show that it is and today’s governmental interference is wrecking my life.

Originally posted in SR 2.0 19/10/2013. Reviewed 20/2/22

Tolerance is one of the most important characteristics of many psychoactives. It is necessary to increase doses to feel the same effect. Thus, some people take doses that would be lethal for non-tolerant people.

It is possible that some work better with drugs, but the adverse effects and long-term effects (including the risk of dependence) must also be taken into account.

I’m not sure that needing high doses of stimulants or opioids to perform daily activities is a «better life,» although I’m not judging your life or your choices.

Drugs (and here I am referring to both drugs prescribed by a doctor and controlled psychoactives) can be used for pleasure . They can also help at some difficult times in life. But, in general, medications, pharmaceuticals or drugs are never the solution for people’s lives.

Most of the «chronic brain imbalance» messages associated with illegal drugs belong more to anti-drug mythology than to scientific evidence. Most controlled drugs and prescription drugs do not produce chronic brain changes that result in chronic brain damage (with the exception of some antipsychotics and methamphetamine).

Pharmacological tolerance decreases over time, but psychological and life factors are also important. You will never get back to who you were before simply because of the passage of time.

I’m sorry but your question and situation is one of these that is difficult to assess over the internet alone. It would be a personal and long term contact to be able to help you.

 

Seizures after using 25-I-NBOMe

Is it possible to suffer seizures after using 25-I-NBOMe ?

A friend of mine bought some of these blotters. And he has suffered this problem (epileptic seizures) in at least two different occasions. But this is strange as he is not epileptic. However, he has experience with other psychedelics as LSD or mushrooms.  Can you provide any advice, dear DoctorX? 

Originally posted in SR 2.0 . Reviewed 20/2/22

Classical drugs, such as heroin, cocaine, and cannabis, are safer than New Psychoactive Substances (NPS) due to extensive research on their effects and risks. But NPS use untested chemical compounds, which can result in unpredictable and potentially dangerous effects. Additionally, the chemical composition of NPS can be easily altered to evade legal regulations, making it challenging to determine their potential health effects.

You can find thousands of studies about LSD. NBOMEs have only been tested in brain pig receptors. So, there is no experience with them in human use.

There are many cases of severe toxicity and death related to NBOMe and reported in recent years. However, the physical toxicity of LSD is non-existent.

Typical (and frequent) effects of 25-X-NBOMe are:

  • Overdose: NBOMEs is extremely potent, and even small amounts can cause an overdose. Symptoms of overdose can include seizures, cardiac arrest, and death.
  • Psychiatric effects: NBOMEs can cause intense and unpredictable psychiatric effects, including anxiety, paranoia, and psychosis. These effects can last for days or even weeks after use.
  • Physical effects: NBOMEs can cause a range of physical effects, including increased heart rate and blood pressure, nausea, vomiting, and seizures.

NBOMEs can lead to seizures in overdose, there are some reports about this in the last years:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24779864
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23872917
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23731373

In this post we discussed how to rule out some LSD adulterants with an UV-lamp

 

Drugs for opiates withdrawal

What are the best drugs for opiates withdrawal?

What are some of the best ways to mitigate opiate/heroin withdrawals? Besides not doing opiates/heroin of course… In the country I live in , methadone is illegal so I have to buy it in SR

Originally posted in SR 2.0 13/10/2013 . Reviewed 20/2/22

Detoxification with opioids (descending dosages of methadone, codeine or buprenorphine) is the simplest and less umconfortable way for heroin/opiate withdrawal. If, for any reason, these drugs are not used, clonidine could be an option

To minimize opioid withdrawal symptoms and signs, it’s essential to reduce the opioid dosage gradually. Tapering plans should be personalized based on the patient’s goals and concerns. The longer the duration of previous opioid therapy, the longer the taper may take. Tapers are often better tolerated if they are slower, especially following opioid use for more than a year.

Slower tapers involve a dose reduction of 5% to 20% every 4 weeks

Faster tapers decrease by 10% of the original dose per week or slower.

Clonidine acts on abdominal pain, shivering, muscular cramps and other physical symptoms but it is not very useful for anxiety and insomnia. Short time use of benzodiacepines like chlorazepate or midazolam (oral) can help.

L-acetyl-carnitine acts on pain in methadone detoxification. According to my professional experience it is useful for other opiates detoxification, too

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18978503‎

General measures: good hydration, soft meals, resting…are useful, too.

These are general orientations, pattern of treatment and selection of drugs must be personalized. If you think this can help we can chat or skype

 

LSD tolerance and microdosing

LSD tolerance and microdosing

Hello, I have a question about LSD tolerance and microdosing. Yes.  I know is unknown territory but please let me know if this is a wrong line of thought.

Average trip 200ug needs at least 14 days for you to restore tolerance. But with less amount wouldn’t you also need less time for that?

So if I take 10ug that’s 5% then I would need only 5% of the restoring time, that is 0.75 days. According to this logic only 1 day after that dosage will be more than plenty to recuperate and don’t build tolerance.

And if you take even lower amount, let’s say 5ug or 2.5% that’s 0.375 days of recovery time. So if you take it at the morning, for example 8:00 AM, next morning at the same hour you will be more than recovered. So you could take 5ug all week?. This will require testing and I guess is variable to each individual.

I’m very interested in this and help is much appreciated.

Originally posted in SR 2.0 13/10/2013. Reviewed 20/2/22

To develop tolerance to LSD, a minimum dosage and frequency of administration are necessary. Tolerance depends on the chemical characteristics and metabolism of each drug. Also, to develop tolerance it is neccesary a minimun dosage and frequency of administration.

Minimum psychoactive dosage of LSD is 25 μg (micrograms, 1/1000 mg). Most people achieve full psychedelic effects with 100-200 μg.

Tolerance to LSD develops quickly (for most people it is very difficult to use LSD 2 or 3 consecutive days) and also disappears quickly. Studies show that tolerance dissapears tipically 4 days after last administration

Although reducing dosages theoretically reduces tolerance time, dosages lower than 20-30 mg have virtually no psychological effects. And daily administration of very low dosages could still affect tolerance development neurochemically.

The linear relationship between dose and tolerance is likely true within the full dose range of 75-200 μg. But this is less clear at lower doses.

The problem with microdoses is the lack of established guidelines and appropriate doses. According to different surveys, microdose users take between 5 and 20 mg. Some people do it daily, others twice a week, and others once a week.

However, there are not enough clinical trials to determine the most appropriate regimen that does not produce tolerance or psychedelic effects.

It is also unclear what the exact effect of microdoses is and which group of patients or healthy individuals can benefit from this use.

Given that this is a highly active field of research, more exact data is likely to emerge in the near future.

Amphetamine neurotoxicity

Combining D-amphetamine  and methylphenidate: Effects on Amphetamine Neurotoxicity

I am prescribed D-amphetamine (Dexedrine® ) and methylphenidate (Ritalin®).
So…would it be a good idea to combine the two drugs to avoid effects on amphetamine neurotoxicity?

Originally posted in SR 2.0 13/10/2013 . Reviewed 20/2/22

Some animal models have shown neurotoxic effects of dextroamphetamine at very high doses. However, the dosages prescribed for humans are typically below the neurotoxic threshold. The neurotoxic potential of methylphenidate, an amphetamine derivative, is even lower and considered insignificant. Therefore, there is no need for concern about neurotoxicity when taking these drugs at the prescribed dosage via oral route.

So, combining D-amphetamine (Dexedrine® ) and methylphenidate (Ritalin®) would not have any effect on neurotoxicity as it is unlikely to occur at therapeutic doses. However, combining the two drugs can increase the risk of adverse effects, and therefore, it is not recommended. 

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9365033 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22289608
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2440058