Psychedelics and Anti-psychotics

[blowjay]

Hello all,

I am hoping to have some answers to a question/problem that has been bugging me for some time.

Has anyone on here successfully taken psychedelics and tripped while on anti-psychotics? I have taken LSD and DOI (each individually) while on anti-psychotics and have gotten pretty much zero effects from them. I know that this is how anti-psychotics are supposed to work, blocking the dopamine and serotonin from being taken in by the body, but has there been any luck whatsoever in those that are on anti-psychotics in tripping?

I used to trip a lot and considered it a pretty 'spiritual' thing. Now I am stuck with a VERY sober and bland outlook on life that lacks any sparkle whatsoever. To say I am battling depression is a big understatement. What I am feeling is a large lack of dopamine, that is what I am dealing with.

I know I can take synthetic cannabinoids and still get high but that isn't my preferred cup of tea. Am I stuck with drinking only? Is there anyone who has any experience in this area?

Thank you all for reading this and for any responses in advance, it really sucks being on antipsychotics for various reasons.

 

[Xorkoth]

Antipsychotics are pretty much THE trip-killing drugs. I haven't heard of anyone being able to trip on them, sorry.

In the Mental Health forum, a lot of people are dealing with the lack of dopamine. You might find some support there.

 

[white55]

even if you succeed whatever disease you have that requires you to take antipsychotics is likely to get worse by taking psychedelics

and if your don't need to be taking them you should taper off, antipsychotics are nasty stuff

 

[undertow13]

All antipsychotics as well as most antidepressants (e.g. SSRI'S) will block any serotonergic hallucinogens (LSD, Mushrooms, etc.) from working. They tend to have the same affect on MDMA as well. There's really no way around it, and obviously it's not advisable to stop taking them if you need them / without your doctor tapering you. Is depression the only diagnosis you're taking it for? Perhaps you could discuss alternatives with your doctor? I mean not because they block psychedelics, but because they have some pretty nasty side effects. I really wouldn't trip if psychedelics might exacerbate your issues.

 

[dopamimetic]

Maybe a silly question, but do you really need to be on antipsychotics, e.g. did you suffer from true delusions (not drug-induced) or were hearing voices, and the condition did not improve for quite a while or was strong enough for immediate medical need? I am asking cause I know from many first-hand examples that psychopharms are sometimes prescribed too easy and/or "wrong" (like antipsychotics for minor anxiety, depression or as sleeping aids), just don't tell that your doc.

I do not want to motivate to stop on your own at all, just for a more educated dealing with psychopharms.

I feel with you about the super-sober life and lack of magic, I do even feel like this on my natural sober and thus went into dissociatives (they can actually be "anti-psychotic" too for me, in a very different sense yet with a similar outcome - it's nothing to recommend but I've read reports from others who had this sort of effect before - classical psychedelics are much more "psychotomimetic" to me). Antipsychotics somehow exacrebate the conditions I have, and I am thankful for not needing them - I had an episode of auditory hallucinations, still don't know why but I guess it was a side effect from an antidepressant.

 

[Hodor]

Basically, most of the antipsychotics used today primarily act by blocking serotonin from activating the 5HT2a receptor, which unfortunately happens to be the very receptor activated by psychedelics.

Still, these modern-day antipsychotics are much more well tolerated than the old-timey "typical" antipsychotics that worked by agonizing your dopamine receptors.
If you are experiencing severe anhedonia, you might talk to your doctor about augmenting your antidepressant regimen with a low to moderate dose of vyvanse.

 

[dopamimetic]

There's a new atypical that selectively blocks 5HT2a without antagonizing D2, unfortunately I don't remember its name but if you happen to live in the states you might get to try it cause while it won't allow you to trip again it'll certainly be less anhedonic and akathisic [I'm from Europe so out of luck atm]. Maybe it's individually dependent but imho the D2 antagonism is kind of a relict from a time when they didn't know better.. just that next to all antipsychotics have this MOA.

Edit: Oh and dissociatives still work with 5HT2a blocked. No visuals but the majority of effects isn't dependent on this receptor (while D2 is required for feeling good)

If you are experiencing severe anhedonia, you might talk to your doctor about augmenting your antidepressant regimen with a low to moderate dose of vyvanse.

I like methylphenidate more for this, it has a greater affinity for dopamine versus norepinephrine than dexamphetamine which vyvanse metabolizes into. This and venlafaxine is also pretty good.

 

[undertow13]

"Still, these modern-day antipsychotics are much more well tolerated than the old-timey "typical" antipsychotics that worked by agonizing your dopamine receptors."
Even the newer/atypical antipsychotics primarily work by antagonizing dopamine receptors (as well as Serotonin) and as such carry the same potential side effects as typical antipsychotics, as well as others e.g. diabetes. There are conflicting studies as to whether or not the risk of certain side effects like TD is actually lower with atypical antipsychotics compared to typical antipsychotics, but the risk is definitely still there.

 

[dopamimetic]

Yeah, this passage bothered me too. The a/typical thing is completely flawed and IMHO the complete D2 antagonism is.

 

[Hexagon Sun]

Im going to rub in the wrong way.

Antypschs are truly nasty compounds, that more often that not only exarcebates the condition, and as somebody said, they are too easy prescribed by nasty doctors.

Why are you taking it? Unless they are really helpful for your condition, I would suggest you to slowly taper it down until quit it.

Just dont run to take psychedelics ATM. You will have plenty of time once you have stabilized yourself. Also, whrn you do it, go for low, low doses or microdoses. I talk from experience. I have been on antypsychs on the past, and Im pretty sure I will never take it again unless in a extreme necessity case. Currently I do some psychs microdose regimen from time to time and I have never had a more productive, lucid and happy period in my life (the last 2 years). So your mileage may vary for sure, but doctors are often more than wrong and once you know yourself you can take care of yourself better than following the pharma guidelines.

Just go slowly and using common sense. Avoid heroic doses, binges and extreme mixtures. Microdoses are godsends.... Switch to naturopaths or other kind of doctors that are not affiliated (and brainwashed) by big pharm fishes.

 

[Hodor]

Saying that atypical antipsychotics primarily work by antagonizing dopamine receptors is a bit of a stretch, but you are right, I should have been more specific about this: 2nd generation antipsychotics do retain some affinity for dopamine receptors, but the therapeutic range where they can be used without manifesting significant dopaminergic side-effects is generally much larger than with something like chlorpromazine or even haloperidol.

Risperidone is kind of a special case, because it reaches a deeper binding pocket in the D2 receptor, so its actual efficacy as an antagonist tends to be much higher than what common binding assays would suggest (this was recently demonstrated by the same team that showed how LSD gets "stuck" in 5HT2x receptors; LSD being another drug that is obviously much more potent than what you'd expect from looking at the Ki values), effectively making it not all that "cleaner" than the old phenothiazines.

Ok, there's also aripiprazole, cariprazine and brexpiprazole which work by acting as partial agonists at D2/D3, but due to their partial agonist nature (which also seems to be effective at reducing the incidence of antidopaminergic side effects) I like to separately classify these as "3rd generation" rather than "atypical" antipsychotics. In fact, the term "atypical" antipsychotic should probably be buried, but unfortunately its the one that most people still use.