(F-Phenibut, Fluorophenibut / 250mg) - First Time - More physical than mental

[someazn]

(F-Phenibut, Fluorophenibut / 250mg) - First Time - Xanax Lite

Some Background:
I have mild social anxiety where I tend to overthink things and hold myself back from saying things that should be totally okay to say, due to some weird fear of something going wrong. Recently I looked up alternatives to benzodiazepines recently as I've been feeling a bit anxious about socializing at my new job, and I don't want to get a script or deal with the life-threatening withdrawals. I found Phenibut and F-Phenibut, but chose to go with the latter because of its shorter onset time and lower doses required.

Experience Report:
0:00 Weighed out 250mg and parachuted the F-Phenibut on an empty stomach.

0:30 Feeling a little less stressed, could be placebo.

1:00 This is where it gets interesting. I stood up and felt a tiny bit lightheaded (kind of like the beginning of a DXM trip), then went to sit back on my couch. I felt "stuck" to the couch and wasn't feeling as anxious anymore, if at all, about going to work in a few hours. I wasn't feeling a "push" to go socialize as I would on stimulants, but I was definitely feeling very comfortable.

1:15 "Melting" into the couch. Slight enough that I barely notice if I go on my phone and divert my attention there, but significant enough to make me go "whoa" if I put it down and just focus on the feeling.

2:00 It seems to have peaked/plateaued. I walk outside to start driving to work, and I feel that lightheadedness a little more than before.

2:30 I'm at work, and I still feel that fear of speaking what's on my mind and starting conversations with my coworkers, but it's less intense and I'm physically relaxed. Not sedated or tired, just comfortably UNtensed and melty. If I took a higher dose I'd probably be talking to everyone really easily right now.

5:00 The peak was pretty steady, and I seem to be coming down a little, but it's not bad at all. I just feel like I'm on my way down to the baseline and not headed for an unpleasant plummet.

9:00 The big relaxation seems to have dropped off, but still I'm still feeling its effects a little.

Conclusion
Mild, but enjoyable experience. Less mental than physical relaxation (kinda like the opposite of a GABA-A substance like Xanax). I'll note that at work later, I took a 350mg dose followed by another 350mg redose 8 hours later (with some tolerance built up), and THAT hit the sweet spot for me. I went out 2 hours later and was chatting up coworkers more than usual and was totally confident, kind of like a low-plateau DXM trip without tolerance, except without intoxication. I just felt GOOD and smiled a lot more easily with a small body buzz going. Kind of similar to a low dose of codeine.

Sorry I keep comparing it to other substances but it's basically a research chemical at this point and I'm trying to communicate the effects properly. Hope this helped!

Tagged by Xorkoth
substancecode_fluorophenibut
substancecode_gabapentinoids
substancecode_gabaergics
explevel_firsttime
exptype_positive
roacode_oral

 

[Volsam]

Thank you for the TR on the lesser known substance, someazn! Sweet and short

Probably by combining regular Phenibut with the F-Phenibut and finding the right dosages for both in combination, it's possible to have a nicely working anti-anxiety help...8)
I find that Kratom on top of Phenibut would make me feel really mellow and ready for social interactions.

 

[Solipsis]

Interesting but somewhat expected that F-phenibut may be closer to baclofen than phenibut, though still a bit ambivalent / dually active.

Xanax is more 'mental than physical' but this is not because of GABAa vs GABAb activity. There are just various possible ways of acting on GABAa: benzos like xanax are not typical agonists but enhance the effect of GABA on that receptor, the preference for certain subunits these receptors can be composed of (there's a bunch of them) determines whether a benzo has more physical (sedating), anxiety-relieving, anti-convulsant, addicting or hypnotic effects so each benzo has its own effects profile. But there are also GABAa agonists which are muscle relaxers just like the GABAb agonist baclofen is.

Actually I don't know whether GABAb might have similar potential through such selective activity... it doesn't seem to have all those different possible subunits to compose various types, so I guess that is rather limited...

I would personally not use any of these substances too randomly but very consciously of whether they are calcium blockers like pregabalin and other gabapentinoids, and also phenibut.. or GABAb agonists. They have their own therapeutic purposes and dependency risks even if GABAb agonists are not really associated with addictive substances.

It's becoming more and more clear than phenibut is not really to be fucked with and baclofen is hardly appreciated - just check a baclofen thread in the NSP forum - so please be aware of what these "anti-anxiety helps" really are since it is exceedingly rare to have anxiolytics that are forgiving and responsible to take in the long run. Most come at a serious price or are considered to subtle to take very seriously.

Anyway it's much appreciated that you report on this still quite novel substance, you are very welcome to post this and, also just generally, to the forum

 

[LucidSDreamr]

can you comment on the next day...i always felt nausea the whole next day after a decent phenibut dose...others have noted horrible hangovers as well.

 

[someazn]

Interesting but somewhat expected that F-phenibut may be closer to baclofen than phenibut, though still a bit ambivalent / dually active.

Xanax is more 'mental than physical' but this is not because of GABAa vs GABAb activity. There are just various possible ways of acting on GABAa: benzos like xanax are not typical agonists but enhance the effect of GABA on that receptor, the preference for certain subunits these receptors can be composed of (there's a bunch of them) determines whether a benzo has more physical (sedating), anxiety-relieving, anti-convulsant, addicting or hypnotic effects so each benzo has its own effects profile. But there are also GABAa agonists which are muscle relaxers just like the GABAb agonist baclofen is.

Actually I don't know whether GABAb might have similar potential through such selective activity... it doesn't seem to have all those different possible subunits to compose various types, so I guess that is rather limited...

I would personally not use any of these substances too randomly but very consciously of whether they are calcium blockers like pregabalin and other gabapentinoids, and also phenibut.. or GABAb agonists. They have their own therapeutic purposes and dependency risks even if GABAb agonists are not really associated with addictive substances.

It's becoming more and more clear than phenibut is not really to be fucked with and baclofen is hardly appreciated - just check a baclofen thread in the NSP forum - so please be aware of what these "anti-anxiety helps" really are since it is exceedingly rare to have anxiolytics that are forgiving and responsible to take in the long run. Most come at a serious price or are considered to subtle to take very seriously.

Anyway it's much appreciated that you report on this still quite novel substance, you are very welcome to post this and, also just generally, to the forum

Thanks for the science lesson haha, and thanks for the welcome

can you comment on the next day...i always felt nausea the whole next day after a decent phenibut dose...others have noted horrible hangovers as well.

I never noticed anything like that in the past two weeks or so that I've been using F-Phenibut. I haven't used regular Phenibut before, however, so that could be the culprit for you, especially considering you'd have to ingest a lot more mass to achieve the effects of a "high" dose on regular Phenibut (and mess up your stomach in the process).

 

[Xorkoth]

can you comment on the next day...i always felt nausea the whole next day after a decent phenibut dose...others have noted horrible hangovers as well.

Damn that sucks, I feel amazing the next day after phenibut.

 

[bjhomnia]

I just got some in the mail and I am very disappointed. It is my first time using F-PHENIBUT. I tried PHENIBUT about two and three weeks ago and it feels exactly alike. Both substances had no affect on me whatsoever. Other than the horrible taste (saccharin meets citric acid) they seem to be completely inert. With PHENIBUT i started out with 500 mgs but then redosed twice after waiting for 2 hours each time for a total of 2000mgs. A week later I tried again with a single dose of 3000mgs. With F-PHENIBUT I tried 150 mgs and then I redosed twice after waiting an hour each time for a total of 700mgs. I felt no change in mood, no euphoria nor did I feel any relief from my stress, anxiety or muscle spasms.

 

[Pfafffed]

I have been really disappointed in "f-phenibut" tbh. I use phenibut HCl for sleep, and I find that it works for me at doses far lower than reported by others. 80mg is sufficient, but I usually dose under 150mg. At 200mg, I start to get side effects (drunken stimulation and next day grogginess) and at 400mg I'm getting nausea, little surges of euphoria, and a groggy afterglow during the following day. All that to say I'm plenty sensitive to phenibut HCl. As much as I like it, the long come-up makes it almost useless for acute insomnia. If after two hours of trying and failing to sleep I decide to dose, it's another two hours before it works. Neutralizing the pH for other ROAs is a pain when I'm trying to go to sleep, so I pretty much only use it if I suspect that I'm going to have a hard time sleeping in advance, which makes it of limited use.

"F-phenibut" on the other hand feels totally different to me. It's cloudy and unnatural feeling, and despite leaving me noticeably altered, it doesn't help me sleep. I can take doses of 200mg+ (far higher in terms of dosage equivalencies) with no therapeutic OR recreational activity; it just leaves me feeling cloudy in the moment and groggy the following day. This must be why baclofen is not generally regarded as having abuse potential; if it's anything like this, I can't imagine it having much of ANY potential.

 

[Xorkoth]

Wow you're really sensitive to phenibut, the most I've ever heard of I think. It takes me 1.5 grams for appreciable effects with no tolerance.

Do you get a next-day effect, too? For me, I take phenibut in the morning/early afternoon (in 3 separated doses) and enjoy the acute effects the rest of the day, and sleep great, and then for the first 8-12 hours of the next day I feel great as well.

 

[pofacedhoe]

500mg phenibut is noticable anti anxiety/ effect on dancing,

the more you do it the more you notice small amounts

 

[Pfafffed]

Yeah, I'm definitely more sensitive than anyone else that I know of. While the next day effects are kind of enjoyable at around the ~300mg range, they're pretty undesirable. I take it for natural, refreshing sleep, so I want to wake up feeling sober. If I get next day effects, there's definitely mood brightening and increased sociabilization (as Claude Rifat would have said,) but I it feel kind of "high." It's quite a bit like GHB in a lot of ways, and while that'd be free on the weekends, I don't often want to be in that space at work. If I stick to 150mg or less, I never feel high, I just drift naturally off into deep sleep, then wake feeling normal but refreshed. Yeah, it's like a not fun or convenient GHB

 

[Xorkoth]

Man I find phenibut super fun, but much, much less acute in effects than GHB. I love the next day effects too, actually sometimes they're better than the first day effects because the minor intoxication is gone but the mental and emotional effects are still totally there. I find phenibut profoundly euphoric, sometimes I start crying about stuff (in a good way), or feel compelled to gush out all my feelings like I'm rolling (sort of, but different)... total fearlessness socially too. To be honest it's one of my very favorite drugs.

500mg phenibut is noticable anti anxiety/ effect on dancing,

the more you do it the more you notice small amounts

True, but it also boils down to individual sensitivity. I've been using phenibut anywhere from daily to once a week, with a few long breaks, since 2006. I get light effects from less than 1.5 grams but the full range of effects doesn't come into play until that level.

 

[Pfafffed]

Ha, yeah, too be fair I think I consciously treat the enjoyable part of the experience dismissively. I've been using it therapeutically for years and haven't had any issues with it much like I have with kratom. I suspect that if I started using phenibut for recreation, my life would likely get more complicated. I don't think I have the mental bandwidth to manage a drug that produces tolerance so quickly.

 

[SirTophamHat]

Man I find phenibut super fun, but much, much less acute in effects than GHB. I love the next day effects too, actually sometimes they're better than the first day effects because the minor intoxication is gone but the mental and emotional effects are still totally there. I find phenibut profoundly euphoric, sometimes I start crying about stuff (in a good way), or feel compelled to gush out all my feelings like I'm rolling (sort of, but different)... total fearlessness socially too. To be honest it's one of my very favorite drugs.

I get the same effects from a strong dose of phenibut on the day of, yet receive a definite sort of hangover from the drug as well. For that reason I like to take phenibut in sub 2 gram doses, usually .5-1g. My highest ever dose was 4g (an accident, I thought I had taken 2g) and the emotive effects were borderline overwhelming.

It sounds like f-p-but is similar to plain p-but with a steeper dose-response curve and more potential for bodyload or physical sensation in general.

 

[Xorkoth]

I guess I could classify the next morning as a "hangover" because it's hard to wake up and I'm quite groggy and warm feeling (phenibut produces a lot of skin heat for me, anyone else?), but the emotional state I am in the next day, until the evening/night time, it's truly great, so I think of it as an afterglow instead. Caffeine is kind of a must the next day but I do usually have caffeine in the morning regardless so it's a non-issue for me.

Pfaffed, interesting, I find phenibut doesn't produce tolerance much when used with days in between, I get basically the same effects every time without having to increase the dose. I mean if I use it on a schedule it goes from ~1.5 grams to ~2.5 grams over time, but it never goes above that.

Phenibut is a strange and wonderful substance. I've certainly had some physical dependence on it at various times. I kinda ride the edge of it but I'm at the point now where I can not take it and I have one day of feeling kinda off and having a hard time sleeping and then I feel fine again. My intent is to keep it that way because I find phenibut extremely useful and pleasant. Some days I take it, the effects are more pronounced than others, but they're always within a certain range and I've been using it for 12 years. In my first year I used it daily and at that point I did notice the beneficial effects go away, but every 3 days or less often feels sustainable to me in terms of effects at a dose you settle on that works for you.

But everyone is different. I also have talked to people who don't seem to get much from it, or who get a more rapid, GHB-like high, or who have to take huge amounts. I talked to a guy who used 10 grams at a time... I have never taken that much, even 3.5 grams is way too much for me, it makes me feel wonky and sore and extremely drowsy yet restless. Not fun.