Schizophrenia and street drugs

[Vetthaartist]

I have been digonose with schizophrenia since 2008 and no prescribed medicine has worked. I abused alcohol ever since, but it gives me anxiety and panic attacks. Swim was wondering is there a street drugs that swim can take that won't affect swim's schiz, anixety, or panic attacks, that will get me a high with no side effects of anixety or paranoid symptoms

 

[MilzyWilzy]

Street drugs should not be used if you have a mental health problem.

Things could get very worse, very quickly.

 

[GolemGolem]

Nothing safe I'm afraid. The safer street drugs still play havoc with paranoia and anxiety. A hard drug addiction won't do you any favors, except maybe nicotine but that wont get you high...

 

[Vetthaartist]

Thanks for the help

 

[MafiaInsane]

I've been in the same position for years. The anti-psychotics currently available are fucking pitiful. One thing, though, that a large percentage of schizophrenics do is smoke cigarettes. I smoke and while it doesn't fix symptoms at all, cigarettes for me personally helped me keep a little more calm.

In my case personally, my DOC has been heroin ever since I tried it. It keeps me calm and collected, and seems to have really cooled down a lot of my symptoms I've been having.

However, this is a harm reduction site, and I want to point out that I'm giving my story, not advice. The cons of using heroin outweigh the pros either way. And the best way to form an addiction is if you're using to self medicate for a problem you have, and become dependent on the substance to fix that problem.

My best advice is to keep close contact with your mental health team, and do your best to find a medication that might work for you. Good luck.

 

[kratomman420]

weed
also i use valium and subutex daily and adderall occasianally and they help my schizophrenia more than anything else except weed, but i am addicted to those (except for the weed), and you will probaly abuse them, most of us schizophrenics tend to get addicted easily

 

[closeau]

Man, my advice is to get to a place where you can see a dr and get meds. I have bipolar I with schizophrenia like symptoms when manic. I went to a place and got into a state program where I could see a dr and most meds, at least for awhile, will be free with samples. If you got money for street drugs you can do that. You have a terrible disease and any kind of street drug is gonna flare your symptoms and I don't want you to hurt yourself man. I thought the cigs were a good idea. I smoke like crazy. Don't get high but it will calm you. I'm a weed advocate but it might make you freak out if you get the wrong strain. Please seek help. I know you don't wanna hear that shit and if I could think of a drug you could do safely I would tell you but with untreated mental illness it's like Russian roulette. Just my opinion man. Good luck

 

[Burnt Offerings]

CNS depressants

 

[Steven325]

GHB maybe? It's anti anxiety/panic for most people and pretty safe.. I'd say one of the safest drugs possible. Also really cheap, even dosing 24/7 for me cost me only 2-5 euro a day. It gets rid of 80% of my anxiety (still a benzo works better for me). Maybe there are long term side effects that are not known yet, but I know people who (ab)use it daily for months and don't have a single problem with it, even after quitting for a week they had no withdrawals whatsoever. Withdrawals come really late (many months of literally 24/7 dosing) and you can basically function everywhere on it.. often even better than sober. Working, picking up girls, eating, everything is better on G. Which makes it addicive in a weird way, because you won't be craving it at all.. you just don't see a reason not to take it.

 

[Doctor.K]

Schizophrenia is caused by high levels of dopamine if I'm not mistaken, which most street drugs increase. This being said it is not wise to do that to yourself. Although, Benzos bring down dopamine levels anywhere from not at all to a medium amount (depending on amount and the individual). This mechanism is thru the GABAergic action (I'm not going to look it up rn I'm working on college but thought i'd share this with you.) These would probably be the type of drugs that would be safe for you to take but I am NOT RECCOMENDING you to take benzos, be forewarned, the withdrawal is literally hell on earth and is the WORST withdrawal you can go through (as voted by me and many others on this site through a poll thread.)

Another bit of advice for you. Learn as much as you possibly can about your specific illness. You need to know whats going on in your brain and how you can help yourself. Just make sure its not bullshit information.

Best of luck to you.

 

[belligerent drunk]

It is risky to take any kind of drugs if you have schizophrenia. I think certain no-nos are amphetamines and cannabis, as dopamine has been implicated as a player in psychosis and the symptoms of schizophrenia; cannabis just fucks with the head and can exacerbate symptoms. I think the safest option for you is opioids. I really don't recommend going for the strong ones, like heroin, as that's just playing with hell fire, go for something subtle. Maybe kratom? As far as I know opioids don't really mess with the head. Definitely stay away from GABAergics like alcohol, GHB and benzos. While it may initially seem like they don't do much to your psyche, later on (and especially in withdrawal) they claim your soul and fuck you in your head. GABAergic withdrawal itself induces all kinds of hallucinations, panic, anxiety and all that. Just don't do that.

A lot of schizos smoke cigarettes. I don't know whether the nicotine is the cause or they just like the routine, but maybe nicotine can give you some relief. I'm talking about snus and the like. It is obviously a bad idea to start smoking, because it's unhealthy as fuck.

Personally I would recommend trying to find a non-drug related activity to take your mind off things. There are many beautiful possibilities in life. Taking drugs is risky especially if you have a mental illness. But if you decide to take 'em, then follow mine (or someone else's who knows what the fuck they're talking about) advice and tread with extreme caution.

 

[Doctor.K]

As far as I know opioids don't really mess with the head.

A lot of schizos smoke cigarettes. I don't know whether the nicotine is the cause or they just like the routine, but maybe nicotine can give you some relief. I'm talking about snus and the like. It is obviously a bad idea to start smoking, because it's unhealthy as fuck.

While you're pretty on point in the original post, opioids/opiates certainly do mess with the brain and that is dangerous advice for him as they cause a significant increase in dopamine (even Kratom).

Good point on the nicotine, while it does cause a slight increase in dopamine, its not very significant. But if he/she wouldl ike to try nicotine I would recommend vaping nicotine oil and NOT cigarettes. cigarettes are never ever, ever, ever a good idea in any situation.

Definitely agree on finding a non-drug related activity to try to help, while I may be a hypocrite on this aspect myself, this is the best way to do it.

 

[Ozle]

[Dupe, mods please delete; delete option on edit page isn't working for some reason]

 

[Ozle]

Psychedelics are obviously the biggest category you want to avoid, but frankly that's so obvious I shouldn't even need to say it. Amphetamines are another big no-no (although IMHO I think amphetamines are a big no-no for a lot of people in general; I loathe those things with a passion). If alcohol gives you panic attacks, then I'd also rule out benzos since they're likely to have a similar effect.

I'd caution people against over-generalising with arguments such as "more dopamine == more psychosis" (keep in mind that this is exactly the same sort of reasoning as the "low serotonin == depression" theory that's been ripped to shreds over the past several years). This idea is based at least in part on the fact that stimulants, particularly those in the amphetamine class, are notorious for provoking or worsening psychosis in people who use them. But many types of drugs raise dopamine levels, most of them having no association with psychosis whatsoever, and many of the most effective antipsychotic drugs known today (e.g. clozapine and cannabidiol) have relatively minimal effects on dopamine receptors, so the dopamine hypothesis is simplistic at best.

I'm hesitant to make this sort of suggestion, since the last thing I want to do is lead somebody who's already suffering down the slippery slope of addiction, but I'd suggest giving opiates a try in moderation. Definitely start with something mild, such as tianeptine or even plain old codeine, and see how that does you.

Something else you'll want to do - and I speak as someone who has been diagnosed BPD (which can be seen very crudely as a cross between schizophrenia and bipolar, and definitely shares the overwhelming emotional states found in both of those) - is find yourself a good major tranquilizer (i.e. anything that isn't a benzo) that you can use as an "off switch" when you really need to rest and recover. Seroquel has been a godsend to me and allows me (by varying the dose, within reasonable limits) to drift off at times where I thought getting any sort of rest would be impossible and even 10mg of Xanax had been unsuccessful; obviously anything this strong has the potential to leave you with a sort of hangover the next day, but IME it's nowhere near as bad as you would expect, and I've had worse morning-after effects from both alcohol and benzos.

EDIT: You didn't actually specify what sort of effect you're looking for. I presumed, based on the fact that you had schizophrenia and what you described in your first post, that you're looking for something calming. If I'm wrong in that assumption and you're instead/in addition looking for something stimulating to compensate for a lack of energy, then I'd recommend giving modafinil/armodafinil a go. Effective naive doses vary wildly from person to person, with some finding that 50mg is more than enough, while others need as much as 400mg, so I recommend an initial trial dose of 100mg which you can then adjust up or down depending on your reaction; bear in mind that tolerance is similar to Adderall, so you might over time need to raise your dose to roughly 150% or 200% of your initial effective dose (although you should really try to not go far above the 150% mark unless you find it's really necessary; again, this is something that depends on individual metabolism so I can't give you any specific advice other than to increment your dose in small steps once you're absolutely sure that the effect is starting to diminish, and to make sure not to forget that your mind is also getting used to working with the benefits provided by the drug, and that this is absolutely NOT the same as the drug having a lesser effect). Also, don't be scared off just by the fact that it's a stimulant; I regularly take up to 600mg in one day with no side effects other than a slightly increased heart rate, whereas pretty much any dose of Ritalin sends me straight into stim psychosis. Stims get a bad rap in a lot of places, but I now honestly believe that providing mental stimulation is not inextricably linked to causing anxiety or sending one into psychosis, it's simply an unfortunate coincidence that the first class of drugs we discovered that has a stimulant effect also has these as a side-effect. Having an unfortunate dual diagnosis of BPD and ADHD has forced me to realise this and work around it. :-/

 

[closeau]

I agree with ozie. I experience phycosis if my bipolar gets out of control. That's why my Latuda dose is so high. Serequil was a nightmare for me. That's just me though. Vettaartist, I think you should chime in on some of these suggestions and give us a better idea of what your looking for. I agree with ozie that a weak opiate like codeine may be good. I would stay away from stimulants and phycadelics for sure. Syd Barrett. Like I said in my earlier post, I think weed is a bad idea cause wrong strain could set you off. I'll say again too, seek a dr and some meds man. If you do that it will open door a bit for you. I'm on 5 pchy meds but I still enjoy an occasional opiate buzz and get one without freaking out. If I wasn't on pain contract I would smoke but I can pick my strain. Strains are important. Some are great for me and some put me right into manic state or panic attacks. Benzos just put you to sleep so if you're looking to get high I don't think their good but I think if your dr put you on them for your illness by all means take them. I just get really touchy and your sit is close to my heart cause so many people have mental illness and are walking around untreated and suffering. What kind of schizo do you have? I know when I hallucinate it's so scary and I've seen a little boy since I was 10 and no meds make him go away. He just points and laughs. I thought he was real for a long time till it hit me he's not aging. So a little personal touch on my post. I understand why you wanna get high...I do too but you gotta find a dr man. You could get desperate and take some shit that wil fuck you up permantly. So let us know what you want and people out here are great about harm reduction and helping. Some are just plain fucking idiots but that's life. Anyway you can PM me and I can try to help you anyway I can but if you just wanna know what to take, prob opiates. Like pop codeine pills, not banging heroin or nothing. Good luck to you man and hope it works out for you but if you wanna get personal, please PM me and we'll chat. Lata