Misc cross tolerance between all substances?

since technically all drugs of abuse either directly or indirectly stimulate dopaminergic activity in certain areas of the brain, shouldn't there be a cross-tolerance between everything.

the reason why i ask is because i'm a polytoxicomaniac (not really, i just use things to deal with my constant anxiety) and have a rotation of methylphenidate and caffeine (which paradoxically calm me, probably adhd), kratom, and clonazepam.

supposedly i shouldn't experience cross tolerance between all these since MPH is a NDRI, caffeine an adenosine antagonist, kratom an opioid, and clonazepam a benzo.



but would being high basically every other day wear down on my dopamine systems?

on a side note, anyone else develop reverse tolerance to methylphenidate??? it seems to make me more and more stimulated every time i take it (euphoria increases too)

Not neccesarily. Inasmuch that a lifestyle of constant intoxication will become boring eventually, and lose its novelty, sure. But increasing dopaminergic activity in the nucleus accumbens is not actually the primary effect of most drugs - so you won't notice cross tolerance between, say, the painkilling effects of morphine & the effects of a typical psychedelic.

Does eating food on a regular basis 'wear down your dopamine pathways'? I don't think so.

Lopez said:

on a side note, anyone else develop reverse tolerance to methylphenidate??? it seems to make me more and more stimulated every time i take it (euphoria increases too)

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I experience this with amphetamines. I've never built a tolerance to therapeutic doses. Now several months ago I developed an IV meth habit and was injecting a gram a day. One day I couldn't get any meth and took 150mg of Dexedrine just to stay awake and didn't even get a buzz. But then I quit meth, took only 20mg of Adderall XR a day for two weeks, and then began 20mg of Adderall IR 2x daily and it makes me euphoric every day and has been increasing in intensity.

DexyDevil said:

I experience this with amphetamines. I've never built a tolerance to therapeutic doses. Now several months ago I developed an IV meth habit and was injecting a gram a day. One day I couldn't get any meth and took 150mg of Dexedrine just to stay awake and didn't even get a buzz. But then I quit meth, took only 20mg of Adderall XR a day for two weeks, and then began 20mg of Adderall IR 2x daily and it makes me euphoric every day and has been increasing in intensity.

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yeah, it's kind of bothering me though, ritalin is becoming really stimulating and calming. it has me more productive every day, and the euphoria is quite nice, especially since it's mild and not overwhelming like cocaine or amphetamines. i also notice i get no crash from it unless i mix it with caffeine.

switching to concerta however, due to convenience.

sekio said:

Not neccesarily. Inasmuch that a lifestyle of constant intoxication will become boring eventually, and lose its novelty, sure. But increasing dopaminergic activity in the nucleus accumbens is not actually the primary effect of most drugs - so you won't notice cross tolerance between, say, the painkilling effects of morphine & the effects of a typical psychedelic.

Does eating food on a regular basis 'wear down your dopamine pathways'? I don't think so.

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yeah it did become boring when i was a habitual marijuana user. now it's just low doses of various substances in a cycle to keep the anxiety at bay, i'm not going past 20 mg of ritalin split in 2 daily doses

The dopamine release is insignificant from caffeine and I think clonazepam decreases dopamine. For a long time, I had a huge rotation of drugs for anxiety: buprenorphine, phenibut, clonazepam, gabapentin, niacinamide, ritalin, alcohol and dextromethorphan. I developed a general tolerance to depressants but none of the substances ever lost their anxiolytic effects completely. As sekio said, it does leave a bit to be desired in the long term so I stopped. There's plenty of recreational substances that don't effect dopamine as well.

I think theres a vague line between becoming bored and becoming tolerant. It's the dissatisfaction with the current effects that leads to increased dosages which is eventually looked upon as tolerance developing.

there are crosstolerances between drugs that work on the same receptors, say alcohol and benzodiazepines. but i highly doubt that there's a cross tolerance between say, mescaline and GHB.