4 ms·

I was about 21, they prescribed 24 pills I think? I used one, and really just a preemptive use before I went to work (I only took a half day off). The weird t

by mod 4y ago

I was about 21, they prescribed 24 pills I think? I used one, and really just a preemptive use before I went to work (I only took a half day off). The weird thing is, though, I felt very normal at work. I had never tried a drug, so I wasn't sure what to look for, but I just felt normal. No pain, no other effects. I have some from a dentist thing last year, too, and I would say similar now, but with a mild high. I was never tempted to take extra. I threw them away before I moved countries.

munificent 4y ago
> I just felt normal. No pain, no other effects. Reminds me of this excellent comment from Reddit about what heroin is like: --- Actually this is an obvious question but it's not what you might think. Let me explain it to you, I've been an opiate addict for a long time and tried many drugs. Drugs that are 'uppers' have the most 'obvious' euphoria. For example if you take adderall/coke/meth/speed/MDMA you will get this shining bright euphoria, self confidence, energy, and other drug-specific feelings (for meth like you are king or for MDMA like you love everyone). However, you owe these drugs back what they delivered to you. After a meth binge, or lots of MDMA use, or staying up all night on coke you will feel like shit. To an extent this aspect is similar to an alcoholic hangover. On the other hand, for many people who experiment with heroin they are underwhelmed (not including IV usage, but most experimenters rarely ever IV first time). They just feel good, chill, happy, but they feel like this spooky drug 'heroin' hasn't delivered. They are just mellow. Oh obviously it has all been a lie they will think. Heroin isn't spooky, it's chill. It's not addictive like everyone else thinks. It doesn't make you do stupid shit or stay up all day and hallucinate like amphetamines or coke. It doesn't empty your serotonin like MDMA or give you a hangover like alcohol. People tend to just think oh, what a nice drug. So the next day they wake up and everything is normal. No headache or shitty feeling--just a slight afterglow of that nice feeling. Oh it was cheap as well! It only cost $10 for a whole night of being high! I thought people said heroin was expensive? And then next weekend comes... There are all these drugs I could do but I liked heroin. It didn't 'fuck me up,' I could still think clearly. No hangover. No feeling like shit later. I still was awake. It just made me happy and content with life. Oh and it's only $10! Well, I should get some more for the whole weekend. This is great! I will use Heroin on the weekends now! Now let's say this person works and has responsibilities. He knows he can't go into work drunk, or on MDMA, or high. So he doesn't. It's actually simple. But heroin... Well the user might actually find they do better work on heroin. Instead of being sad or grumpy or depressed with his job... he is just... happy. Mellow. Content. Everything is fine and the world is beautiful. It's raining, it's dark, I woke up at 5:30AM, I'm commuting in traffic. I would have had a headache, I would have been miserable, I would have wondered how my life took me to this point. This point I'm at right now. But no, no, everything is fine. Life is beautiful. The rain drops are just falling and in each one I see the reflection of every persons life around me. Humanity is beautiful. In this still frame shot of traffic on this crowded bus I just found love and peace. Heroin is a wonder drug. Heroin is better than everything else. Heroin makes me who I wish I was. Heroin makes life worth living. Heroin is better than everything else. Heroin builds up a tolerance fast. Heroin starts to cost more money. I need heroin to feel normal. I don't love anymore. Now I'm sick. I can't afford the heroin that I need. How did $10 used to get me high? Now I need $100. That guy that let me try a few lines the first time doesn't actually deal. Oh I need to find a real dealer? This guy is a felon and carries a gun--he can sell me the drug that lets me find love in the world. No this isn't working, I need to quit. --- https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/wnj2d/iama_heroin_addict_been_clean_now_for_4_months/c5ez7ne/?context=1 https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/wnj2d/iama_heroin_add...
- noptd 4y ago
  Honestly that reads like a creative writing exercise given the amount of inaccuracies in that rose-colored description. I'd recommend anyone reading take that with a large grain of salt.
  - heavyset_go 4y ago
    Found it incredibly accurate myself.
- MontyCarloHall 4y ago
  So if you are miserable, opiates will make you feel content. Not euphoric, but merely content, normal. But if you already feel content, opiates will not make you feel much different. That’s sad if true. Opiate users are not chasing a high, they’re merely chasing a normal.
  - nvrspyx 4y ago
    That's what research is starting to suggest for at least some opiate addicts. Opiates have a very strong anti-depressant effect, that also tends to make the depression worse after coming down. Well, really it's the activation of "opioid" receptors (becoming a bit of misnomer) that have a very strong anti-depressant effect, which is the same mechanism that the anti-depressant effects of ketamine derive from despite not being an opioid (anti-depressant effect is almost entirely negated if taken with naloxone, aka NARCAN, to inhibit the opioid receptors). This worsening of depression symptoms after coming down from opiates causes a vicious, psychological feedback loop in addition to the physical dependency. This also may be why ketamine has higher risk of addiction than other psychedelics like psilocybin.
    - heavyset_go 4y ago
      Dissociatives seem to be in their own class when it comes to addiction, and I wouldn't compare them with your classic psychedelics that work at 5HT2A on that metric. A lot of people get addicted to dissociatives like DXM where you don't that kind of dependence and abuse with most 5HT2A agonists. Many dissociatives also inhibit dopamine and norepinephrine transport, or induce their release, which can have rewarding and addictive results on their own.
Zagill 4y ago
Yeah that was basically my experience. I took a few of them but nothing noticeable happened so I just didn't bother taking more. Funny enough that was also true when I tried a couple ADHD meds. Didn't feel a difference, not even withdrawal symptoms from going cold turkey after a few months. Maybe I'm just weird...
- mod 4y ago
  Same--tried adderall twice, couldn't tell the difference. I'm not high-caffeine intake or anything either. Nothing that should mask it.
  - 1659447091 4y ago
    vitamin C can stop/reduce the absorption of adderall...took awhile to figure that one out when I restarted while on an orange juice/smoothie/berry kick

by mod 4y ago

munificent 4y ago

> I just felt normal. No pain, no other effects. Reminds me of this excellent comment from Reddit about what heroin is like: --- Actually this is an obvious question but it's not what you might think. Let me explain it to you, I've been an opiate addict for a long time and tried many drugs. Drugs that are 'uppers' have the most 'obvious' euphoria. For example if you take adderall/coke/meth/speed/MDMA you will get this shining bright euphoria, self confidence, energy, and other drug-specific feelings (for meth like you are king or for MDMA like you love everyone). However, you owe these drugs back what they delivered to you. After a meth binge, or lots of MDMA use, or staying up all night on coke you will feel like shit. To an extent this aspect is similar to an alcoholic hangover. On the other hand, for many people who experiment with heroin they are underwhelmed (not including IV usage, but most experimenters rarely ever IV first time). They just feel good, chill, happy, but they feel like this spooky drug 'heroin' hasn't delivered. They are just mellow. Oh obviously it has all been a lie they will think. Heroin isn't spooky, it's chill. It's not addictive like everyone else thinks. It doesn't make you do stupid shit or stay up all day and hallucinate like amphetamines or coke. It doesn't empty your serotonin like MDMA or give you a hangover like alcohol. People tend to just think oh, what a nice drug. So the next day they wake up and everything is normal. No headache or shitty feeling--just a slight afterglow of that nice feeling. Oh it was cheap as well! It only cost $10 for a whole night of being high! I thought people said heroin was expensive? And then next weekend comes... There are all these drugs I could do but I liked heroin. It didn't 'fuck me up,' I could still think clearly. No hangover. No feeling like shit later. I still was awake. It just made me happy and content with life. Oh and it's only $10! Well, I should get some more for the whole weekend. This is great! I will use Heroin on the weekends now! Now let's say this person works and has responsibilities. He knows he can't go into work drunk, or on MDMA, or high. So he doesn't. It's actually simple. But heroin... Well the user might actually find they do better work on heroin. Instead of being sad or grumpy or depressed with his job... he is just... happy. Mellow. Content. Everything is fine and the world is beautiful. It's raining, it's dark, I woke up at 5:30AM, I'm commuting in traffic. I would have had a headache, I would have been miserable, I would have wondered how my life took me to this point. This point I'm at right now. But no, no, everything is fine. Life is beautiful. The rain drops are just falling and in each one I see the reflection of every persons life around me. Humanity is beautiful. In this still frame shot of traffic on this crowded bus I just found love and peace. Heroin is a wonder drug. Heroin is better than everything else. Heroin makes me who I wish I was. Heroin makes life worth living. Heroin is better than everything else. Heroin builds up a tolerance fast. Heroin starts to cost more money. I need heroin to feel normal. I don't love anymore. Now I'm sick. I can't afford the heroin that I need. How did $10 used to get me high? Now I need $100. That guy that let me try a few lines the first time doesn't actually deal. Oh I need to find a real dealer? This guy is a felon and carries a gun--he can sell me the drug that lets me find love in the world. No this isn't working, I need to quit. --- https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/wnj2d/iama_heroin_addict_been_clean_now_for_4_months/c5ez7ne/?context=1 https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/wnj2d/iama_heroin_add...

noptd 4y ago
Honestly that reads like a creative writing exercise given the amount of inaccuracies in that rose-colored description. I'd recommend anyone reading take that with a large grain of salt.
- heavyset_go 4y ago
  Found it incredibly accurate myself.
MontyCarloHall 4y ago
So if you are miserable, opiates will make you feel content. Not euphoric, but merely content, normal. But if you already feel content, opiates will not make you feel much different. That’s sad if true. Opiate users are not chasing a high, they’re merely chasing a normal.
- nvrspyx 4y ago
  That's what research is starting to suggest for at least some opiate addicts. Opiates have a very strong anti-depressant effect, that also tends to make the depression worse after coming down. Well, really it's the activation of "opioid" receptors (becoming a bit of misnomer) that have a very strong anti-depressant effect, which is the same mechanism that the anti-depressant effects of ketamine derive from despite not being an opioid (anti-depressant effect is almost entirely negated if taken with naloxone, aka NARCAN, to inhibit the opioid receptors). This worsening of depression symptoms after coming down from opiates causes a vicious, psychological feedback loop in addition to the physical dependency. This also may be why ketamine has higher risk of addiction than other psychedelics like psilocybin.
  - heavyset_go 4y ago
    Dissociatives seem to be in their own class when it comes to addiction, and I wouldn't compare them with your classic psychedelics that work at 5HT2A on that metric. A lot of people get addicted to dissociatives like DXM where you don't that kind of dependence and abuse with most 5HT2A agonists. Many dissociatives also inhibit dopamine and norepinephrine transport, or induce their release, which can have rewarding and addictive results on their own.

Zagill 4y ago

Yeah that was basically my experience. I took a few of them but nothing noticeable happened so I just didn't bother taking more. Funny enough that was also true when I tried a couple ADHD meds. Didn't feel a difference, not even withdrawal symptoms from going cold turkey after a few months. Maybe I'm just weird...

mod 4y ago
Same--tried adderall twice, couldn't tell the difference. I'm not high-caffeine intake or anything either. Nothing that should mask it.
- 1659447091 4y ago
  vitamin C can stop/reduce the absorption of adderall...took awhile to figure that one out when I restarted while on an orange juice/smoothie/berry kick