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  • BDD Moderators: Keif’ Richards

Nodding - what it is and how it's achieved.

S

sxeandpure

Greenlighter
Joined
Feb 8, 2012
Messages
36
I've always wondered a bit about the science behind "nodding out" on opiates. I've experienced it before, but only when lying down. I would describe it simply as drifting in and out of consciousness, sorta of dreaming while you're still awake. But what I'm wondering is, can nodding occur when sitting or even standing up? According to what's been posted on these forums, it can and does - but what causes it? I assume the heavier your dose, the more likely you are to achieve a nod. But why does lying down allow this to happen easier (at least for me), and why will my nod cease when I sit up/stand? Is it just a question of raising dose? (Let's say that tolerance isn't a factor, because even on isolated binges with Oxy I don't seem to catch a powerful nod...even when I was new to the drug).
 
^ Excellent question.

I have always wanted to know this as well, but I've not been able to find much info (seems to be a lack of medical journal papers on "nodding") ;)

What there is, however, is info on hypnogogia, which is the stage between consciousness and unconsciousness, and is thought to be the state you are in when you nod. The wikipedia article is actually pretty good, although obviously not specifc to opioid nods. If anyone can find anything else that would be fantastic!

There is a kickass paper on the psychobiology behind altered states of consciousness here if anyone is interested - stolen from wikipedia ;)
 
Well that's two papers I have to read today! I am also going to look at Examining the role of mu opioid receptor endocytosis in the beneficial and side-effects of prolonged opioid use: From a symposium on new concepts in mu-opioid pharmacology. I am interested in the idea of long term BENEFITS to opiate use. Heh.

As for nodding, yes you can do it standing up or sitting down. I went to a party once and chased 850mg of Demerol with a dozen beers, and I was nodding out while standing there talking to people. I can't cite a source, but from my own experience and knowledge I would infer than nodding is as effie said, hypnogogia. Opiates depress the central nervous system, leading to drowsiness. When you are nodding it's very similar to almost falling asleep in a boring class. Your head gets heavy and begins to fall, and then just as you are hitting sleep you snap yourself awake with, I assume, a rush of adrenaline. Then when you are awake again, you calm, and slowly begin to nod off once more.

As for your own nod, laying down is more conducive to sleep. You are more relaxed, and in a more "sleepy" frame of mind. When standing particularly, you gain stronger aid of your parasympathetic nervous system in staying awake. You don't want to pass out and fall on your face, both at a concious and unconscious level. If you aren't nodding while standing, and you want to be, you should increase your dose. However it's really very dangerous, and I would think nodding when laying down, but not when sitting or standing, is the real sweat spot for opiates. I'd stick with what I was doing if I were you.
 
I achieve a full nod in/out of conscious state, laying down, sitting and even standing up. I have only achieved it using only opiates but a few times. I am prescribed 30mg oxycodone, 10mg diazepam, and 350mg soma. anyways i start with 2 of each and about 1-2 hours later dose again 2 of each. I usually catch a heavy nod leaving the pharmacy which is not safe at all but in my mind it's party time. I will come back alert but soon the nod sets in. I am not familiar with nodding only on opiates, like I said, I mix opiates, benzos, muscle relaxers which can easily cause respiratory failure so please be careful. I have been taking meds for years but to achieve "my" nod I will combine a narcotic cocktail. I do not advise mixing any of these.

I wanted to add one more thing I have over dosed and they thought I was just passed out but I was going in respiratory failure. Thankfully the paramedics and ER saved my life. stay safe everyone. BTW im on a cocktail atm this probably took 30 min lol

my HR advice is just try to avoid mixing to achieve the lovely nod state.
 
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I never liked nodding. Tends to cause me to suddenly awake abruptly like you do when dozing off on an airplane and get startled by a dream. I like opiates due to the energy and motivation they give me.

But yeah, nods seem to occur much more frequently with certain, might I say "heavier," less synthetic and more sedating opiates/oids.

Nod makers to me are:

Heroin
Morphine
Methadone
Poppy Pods
Fentanyl
Ketobemidone
Carfentanyl (haha, never tried the last two. I just love when people stick it in like they have. But I imagine they are both big nodders)

Energy Makers (no-nod) are:

Oxycodone
Hydrocodone
Codeine
Buprenorphine
Tramadol (yuck)
Demerol
 
Awesome thread title. The basic formula is sitting down+enough opioids=nodding. If you've really blasted off, you might even do the nod-about, which is just a semi conscious uncoordinated stumble.

That is a good question though, and the posts above pretty much cover it. Nodding is what happens when you are really high.
 
is nodding supposed to feel euphoric?

bc ive only nodded off opiates on a couple of occasions and all i feel is sleepy...like im really tired and trying to fight sleep. i never feel "good" or warm like opiates are known for.

in fact, no matter what dose i take of any opiates i never get that warm euphoric feeling. i get kind of a light headed feeling which is kinda nice but nothing that i can imagine getting addicted to. can it just be opiates dont affect me that way?
 
I was at a Wendy's today in harlem..there was this homeless guy high as hell, nodding off literally into his ice-cream..face covered in the shit hah. I should have asked him..he looked like an expert on nodding.

I personally don't really like the nod..especially if I have shit to do or have to be around people..it's not a very attractive or productive side effect.
 
mr.scagnattie said:
I was at a Wendy's today in harlem..there was this homeless guy high as hell, nodding off literally into his ice-cream..face covered in the shit hah. I should have asked him..he looked like an expert on nodding
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a true nod-ologist! Like pawn stars, I don't know too much about this area but I have a friend that's an expert in the field of nod-ology
 
Yea, ive nodded out while sitting in my chair playing xbox.and i think it happens easier when you lay down because your relaxing. If you are up and about you have more stimuli to keep your mind and body from dosing off..
 
skittlezzzz said:
is nodding supposed to feel euphoric?

bc ive only nodded off opiates on a couple of occasions and all i feel is sleepy...like im really tired and trying to fight sleep. i never feel "good" or warm like opiates are known for.

in fact, no matter what dose i take of any opiates i never get that warm euphoric feeling. i get kind of a light headed feeling which is kinda nice but nothing that i can imagine getting addicted to. can it just be opiates dont affect me that way?
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lol its cuz your not doing enough!
 
Chasing the nod is much more dangerous, addiction-wise, than chasing the euphoria and motivation from opiates, as much larger doses are needed for nodding out versus just feeling good. The nod is definitely interesting though, and is almost psychedelic at times, with auditory hallucinations and waking dream states.


Samuel Taylor Coleridge wrote Kubla Khan after coming out of a nod on Opium.
 
skittlezzzz said:
is nodding supposed to feel euphoric?

bc ive only nodded off opiates on a couple of occasions and all i feel is sleepy...like im really tired and trying to fight sleep. i never feel "good" or warm like opiates are known for.

in fact, no matter what dose i take of any opiates i never get that warm euphoric feeling. i get kind of a light headed feeling which is kinda nice but nothing that i can imagine getting addicted to. can it just be opiates dont affect me that way?
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Nodding is exactly as you described it. That's exactly it: it's feeling really tired and fighting sleep, except it's not as annoying. Of course fighting natural sleep might not be annoying either if I were hopped up on oxycodone.....

You are using hydrocodone correct? It's not available in Canada, but I am currently travelling in Texas and had a doctor write me some Norco 10/325s. I find hydrocodone to be very... for lack of a better term, bleh. It's not particularly euphoric except perhaps subtly, but you have to know the feeling to appreciate it. Mostly I get the same effects from it as you do. Light headed, dizzy, kinda tired and sluggish. Oxycodone on the other hand it quite euphoric for me, and I don't begin to feel tired until after the euphoric buzz begins to subside.

As for inducing nodding, I found it was best it take my normal euphoric dose, and then re-dose in small bumps until I hit the sweet spot. Nodding is a result of the drug depressing your CNS to the point where you are right on the edge of passing out. Trying to achieve it in one go is a good way to overdose, particularly if you aren't 100% sure of your tolerances.

Another thing for me, as I said previously, is that I tend to feel tired when the euphoria begins to subside. So it's easier for me to take a euphoric dose of oxycodone (say 100mg), then wait 4-5 hours and redose with say 40mg more, then 20mg an hour later, 20mg more an hour after that, and so on until I can barely stand. Actually, thinking back on it now, what a terrible waste of oxycodone that was. heh.
 
When I first started to use Black Tar Heroin, I would start to nod out after injecting around 2 grams (within 3 hours). Then I started to use "Pure" heroin and would nod out after injecting .10 of a gram. I personally like to nod out at home right before bed. My friends and I once saw this woman with a serious nod (from her morning methadone dose) in Downtown Seattle with a smoke in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other. I have to hand it to her because she didn't spill her coffee, drop her cigarette or fall over.
 
Saying you're not doing enough is horrible advice.

If he says he's done enough to "nod", then he's done enough to figure out whether he likes opiates or not.

Some people LOOVE opiates, while plenty other people don't get much, if any euphoria from them.
 
CitioKid said:
Saying you're not doing enough is horrible advice.

If he says he's done enough to "nod", then he's done enough to figure out whether he likes opiates or not.

Some people LOOVE opiates, while plenty other people don't get much, if any euphoria from them.
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Agreed, if opiates don't work for you, leave 'em be. The last thing you want to do is to be dependent and have to take opiates to not get sick if you don't like the feeling, opiate addiction is bad enough as it is.
 
^ at first, opiates were dysphoric for me

@OP it's just the dose where maximum euphoria is achieved. there is considerable CNS depression at that point. it's tricky to get there, a little more and you doze off into hypnogogia (which is not the same thing, and nodding isn't necessarily dreamy), a little less and you're just "buzzed"

it's like sitting on a beach...
 
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