• 💊 OTHER DRUGS 💊 Welcome Guest
    Posting Rules Bluelight Rules
    Notable Threads 1 Notable Threads 2
    Dangerous Combos Addiction Support
    Emergency Services Benzo Guide v.1
    Addiction Stories Scary Case Studies
    Biology, Pharmacology & Drugs 101
  • Select Your Topic Then Scroll Down
    Alcohol Bupe Benzos
    Cocaine Heroin Opioids
    RCs Stimulants Misc
    Harm Reduction All Topics Gabapentinoids
    Tired of your habit? Struggling to cope?
    Want to regain control or get sober?
    Visit our Recovery Support Forums

Opioids I was under the impression that opioids are supposed to be sedatives.

Bomb319

Bomb319

Bluelighter
Joined
Nov 26, 2011
Messages
583
Location
Kelowna, B.C.
I know that they ARE depressants, however in my case this coudn't be further from the truth.

When I'm high, or even just have them in my system, very few people want to be around me. Why? Because I drive everybody within eatrshot absolutely fucking crazy, because I literally can't stop talking! The stronger the opiate, the greater the effect in general. Now that I'm on methadone maintenace, this has become particularly challenging due to it's long half life and subsequently high levels in my bloodstream at nearly all times. I'm not even kidding; it's quite hard to control. If no friends or family are around anfd I go out, I will even strike up conversations with random strangers, or at least say hi to everyone. When someone is talking to me, they claim to find it hard to get a word in edgewise. While I do make a conscious effort to allow them a turn, I often have to be told since I just keep having thoughts that I feel compelled to express pop up in my head. These in turn give me other thoughts, and so on.

It even extends to typing online! For example, I was just going to write my mom a relatively short email about one thing or another. It ended up taking me nearly an hour and a half, and it's over 5 pages long! It's dumb because I know nobody wants to read that much, even family, but I honestly feel like I can't really help it. I'm usually highly introverted normally, although I think this is because I'm used to being by myself; I'm an only child, and I like to read a lot of non-fiction like science articles for hours a day. It's not like I have anxiety or a social disorder or anything, although when I'm not high I tend to be fairly quiet, and listen to a conversation before contributing to it. I'm not afraid to talk to people or anything, I just have little to no motivation or interest to do so. An hour after a strong dose of methadone though, and people start to become pissed off, telling me to just shut up already.

Even NOW in this topic here; had I not taken my methadone, I very likely would not have made it, despite it being true of past experiences. Now, not only do I write it, but I keep going, adding details, explaining more details etc. Until it gets to be several paragraphs and I have to purposely cut myself off and edit it. Does this ever happen to anybody else to this degree?? I mean I've certainly heard about some paradoxical stimulation in some people, but never to this extent and whenever I take my dose.:D
 
Opiates give me tons of energy too. I have a similar reaction except not as extreme, I definitely don't annoy people any more when I'm on them. If anything I annoy people when I'm not on opiates because of how much back pain I have and how miserable I am in general. I find that they make me more productive, and also more social but not excessively so. I find it strange too as I thought they were supposed to be sedating... I rarely if ever nod, it's higher doses that tend to be more sedating for me (and that ruins it for me because I love the stimulation... drugs classified as stimulants just make me anxious. But if I redose, then I get sedated too and it sucks, so to get these positive effects I have to moderate my use to low doses spaced out. The stimulation is just how the perfectly productive, focussed, and motivated version of myself would behave without drugs, if I didn't have any physical or mental ailments.

Maybe you should try a lower dose if you're so chatty that you're pissing people off? Sounds like it gets you into trouble haha. And yes right now I am wired the fuck out on them too, and probably would not have replied otherwise.
 
Last edited:
Yeah it depends.. Initially they can make u energetic, but that's just because you're excited to do them. They're not actually making u physically amped like meth or coke. You just seem hyped up because you're just really happy. You see what I'm saying?...
 
Trust me if you take a high enough dosage you wont be able to keep your eyes open.

Its very common to be hyperactive on lower doses, the beginning of the high, and on particular opiates like oxy. The more often you use the less that chatty hyper effect happens.
 
That's what I thought for the longest time as well. But I've been on MMT for over a year now, and STILL drive my family nuts when I call them after dosing. Try and explain THAT lol
 
f33lg00d said:
Trust me if you take a high enough dosage you wont be able to keep your eyes open.

Its very common to be hyperactive on lower doses, the beginning of the high, and on particular opiates like oxy. The more often you use the less that chatty hyper effect happens.
Click to expand...
Yes it is like this with them.

When I used pharm opiates I enjoyed how they would make me hyper at low doses and I'd do cardio exercise, or even swim on them; but then relax on them later.

The very few times I did take a moderate dose of oxy I got very itchy, nodded, and felt nauseous like I was going to puke so I only did that once or twice.
 
Oh, they definitely make me physically amped up - it's all in the brain though, my neural circuitry is wired up like crazy. It's all about the drugs activating the receptors, and for me low dose opiate is the cleanest stimulant I have known. I have a better memory. I am more able to focus. I have much more motivation. I am more able to harness my creative energy. I am more connected in general.

Using higher doses or frequently will dull this positive energy.

I am a long term user for pain though and I don't really abuse them (it just so happens that they have stimulating effects on me) nor am I interested in high doses so I've never lost this positive energy.

I don't really enjoy getting itchy and nodding, since that dulls my emotions and drains my energy. That's more common to happen with heroin or hydromorphone, than oxycodone, but low doses of any of them are very mentally stimulating.
 
Last edited:
I can certainly understand the effect you are describing! See, to me, what you are describing makes perfect sense. Now, it certainly does not happen with everyone, and I doubt it happens to a lot of people to the extent you describe, but it does make sense. Opiates are great 'psychic stimulants', if you like; they produce a rolling creativity within the mind that often goes hand in hand with the pleasantry of the opiate experience. They will bring forth all forms of thoughts, and one becomes less guarded and loses some boundaries which would otherwise be created by discomfort; the result, in theory, is a lot of sharing of many thoughts. One may not even be aware of these boundaries normally experienced without the effect of an opiate, because they are many and small and not worth much, but they add up.

But, this makes sense for other reasons, which are related to what I above described. Opiates are euphoriants, and very powerful euphoriants, at that. Although they may cause physiological depression within the nervous systems, they have always had an exciting and exhilarating feel to them, to me, even when I am on the nod. They make me happy and comfortable, and they are quirky, too, if you really think about how they feel. They do not depress my cognition, but allow for cognition to continue, and as they relieve my fatigue, I am not so tired and I do think more. I do believe they are drugs which excite and stimulate, even if not discernible in one's demeanor. Again, they are CNS depressants, but they are certainly not GABAergic (like benzodiazepines, barbiturates, gabapentin, pregabalin, carisoprodol, z-drugs, etc.), and they don't feel like those drugs for that reason. Opiates do sedate me, where I need and want sedation - if I am very worried, the worries fall out of concern; if I am tired, they permit deep relaxation, but while doing so, relieve me of my fatigue and pain.

All of this goes to the point that they are curious drugs, which are often misunderstood by non-users. One very interesting aspect of them is that they induce a wide range of effects, which vary from person to person. So, with your case, I am not surprised. Your normal focus of energy into yourself (introversion) is dissolved, and you begin to put much more energy outside of yourself (extroversion). Frankly, this type of effect is more of an amphetamine-type effect, for me, personally, however both amphetamines and opiates work on the reward systems, much via dopamine and the action thereof.

I reiterate that they are not "sedatives" as are the GABAergic sedative-hypnotics I described above; in the sense that cannabis is a very unique drug, I would apply the same to the opiate. Opiates are unique, and what you are experiencing is not paradoxical, and though a bit unusual at the extent you have made clear, still very understandable. I do wonder, though, if you suffer from either chronic fatigue or chronic pain? I would think, based on personal experience and knowledge, that the effect you are describing might suggest that you are being relieved by opiates from otherwise chronic fatigue or chronic pain which debilitates your general capacity in life. I am not saying it is very likely, just a possible condition you didn't think to put in your post. Anyhow, hope this helps.
 
Thank you - yes, I agree completely with your post. I don't have chronic pain or fatigue, but I love opiates so much and had such a hard time becoming "clean" without methadone, that I strongly suspect I have always suffered from lower than normal endorphins. This also would explain aspects of my personality and psyche such as very high introversion, frequent depression, stomach and headaches constantly, tendency to have only one or two good friends instead of many acquantainces, being overly analytical etc. I AM a lot "happier" on them, if that's the right word. Some of this I can certainly attribute to lack of pain, knowledge that I'm "covered" if you know what I'm saying (don't need to worry about scoring) and then the stimulating effect that comes with it, especially for me. I totally agree about lowering your guard; sometimes I say stuff to my parents or even my friends while I'm high, and later look back on it with embarrassment and wishing I had never said it. I've also been told it's very obvious when I'm under the influence.

The funny thing now though is that I've been on MMT for over a year, and no longer take any other opiates, recreationally or otherwise (they would do nothing anyway). I still get that long-lasting energy burst and even a certain although subdued euphoria when they kick in, which in some cases lasts the entire day, especially if I take a fair bit more than I'm supposed to. I haven't yet developed any real tolerance to speak of to this type of euphoria, and can still easily discern the feeling as "being opiated" with not much difference from years ago when I used to take a handful of percs for the first time and just mellow out. It's not quite as potent now, of course. Nor as profound since I know what to expect. All I can say is I certainly feel it, always know it's there, and it's a very different feeling from simply feeling "normal" but without the influence of the methadone.
 
Then again, a lot of it has to do with how I always used to build it up in myhead - suffering from withdrawal while desperately anticipating the relief opiates bring. To this day, if I have my methadone earlier than normal, and am facing a day in which I haven't taken it and am unable to until the next day, I will revert to my semi-bedridden, brooding and highly depressed and anorexic state. This is in spite of the fact that I admittedly still feel completely normal physically. It's very powerful stuff, and I've plowed through and feared so many episodes of withdrawal over the years that I can only function when I've had my methadone, and like I said this is generally regardless of how I actually feel physically. Even if I'm hungry, I won't or can't eat. Even if I'm bored or restless, I won't leave the house or start any activity or basically anything involving effort. I'm only and barely comfortable just lying down in my room watching TV and counting down the hours until my next dose - with increasing apprehension of experiencing actual uncomfortable withdrawal. It's a very hard cycle to break, although I'm sure I'm just telling myself that.

By the way, do you guys know what I mean when I say that I can easily "look for" the opiate high when present in the background, almost like a switch? Like I always feel it, the stronger the more I will feel it. But after awhile it tends to fade into the background as I concentrate on other things. Yet if I stop what I'm doing, close my eyes and concentrate on the feeling, it comes over me again just as noticeably, and considerably more powerfully. I'm not even sure exactly what it is I'm doing to cause it, other than the fact that it's just become a natural and constant experience for me which I can only describe as switching to the zone by focusing or even just thinking about it. This is also absolutely not placebo, as it coincides fully with my strongly constricted pupils in a dose-dependent manner, as well as the fact that once it wears off to a large degree, I can't feel it at all until my next dose (or get there to use another phrase) no matter what I look for, or how hard I try. This is always at it's strongest from the moment it kicks in around 45 minutes after my dose on an empty stomach, and usually lasts for several hours while slowly fading - although it will hit me again at nearly any point later in the day if I take diphenydramine. If I purposely take a fair bit more from my next dose such that I've had way more than my prescribed dose indicates, I can easily feel very high/opiated all day and into the night - like I am right now. There's even a very subtle twinge of nausea which is something that never happens if I take my dose as I'm supposed to. The advantage of doing this is that I get unusually high on the day I take it, yet still feel something the next morning while not noticing any of the earliest withdrawal symptoms until much later that night, if that. In a way, it's the best of both worlds - one day high, one day normal. At least it would be if not for that psychological block of mine that I described above; the one that psychologically primes me toward depression and lethargy if I know I have no dose for the day - almost entirely independent from how I actually DO and WILL feel physically.


It's crazy stuff...
 
Last edited:
I do know the switch you are referring to. I experienced it just a few days ago, where only 10 mg hydrocodone got me feeling quite opiated, where I would normally take between 40 mg and 60 mg. Very odd, indeed.
 
Alex000 said:
I do know the switch you are referring to. I experienced it just a few days ago, where only 10 mg hydrocodone got me feeling quite opiated, where I would normally take between 40 mg and 60 mg. Very odd, indeed.
Click to expand...

Yeah. I think the best way to describe it is simply as focusing on the internal state/feeling of your body, much as you would focus on breathing if you were trying to meditate.
 
Thanks, I completely agree with what is being said in these posts. Opiates are a curious class of drugs indeed. There is certainly a lot more to them than being painkillers or an escape from problems.

I also think that I might have always had naturally low endorphins. "very high introversion, frequent depression, stomach and headaches constantly, tendency to have only one or two good friends instead of many acquantainces, being overly analytical etc." - that describes me very well, and I have also always had extreme anxiety.

It's a very misunderstood class of drugs. Before I used them, I had a pretty condescending view of the general opiate user, but not anymore. It's kind of like weed in the sense that it is a very complex high, probably couldn't be replicated by anything else, and offers a combination of stimulant and depressant properties. Weed doesn't vibe with me at all, though. It provided a more "in-your-face" high than opiates with more straight-up euphoria, but it always made me really anxious, depressed, antisocial, it wasn't a good painkiller and it had all these side effects that made it impossible for me to function. Opiates on the other hand, I find that it is a very subtle high and performance enhancing high. Apart from addiction, I can't think of any side effects at all. I'll be feeling really good and then suddenly remember, oh right I took that pill earlier. Usually it's when my back pain returns. Weed was intrusive, I was always fiending another hit like it was crack or something. Me and smoking anything is not a good idea, way too "moreish" for me.

I also love doing yoga / meditation / analyzing my life from a clear perspective while on them. I find them to be highly spiritually connecting in a sense. I experience a lot of synchronicity and cosmic connection type stuff, again it's very subtle and i have to be paying attention but it has been happening more often. I don't like psychedelics because they get me too fucked up, I dislike anything that alters my consciousness too much, or that feels hard on my system but this subtle change in perspective can offer a lot of valuable insight - I just have to take more action than say, being rocked by a mushroom trip. Which isn't really for me.
 
Last edited:
Depends on the opiate tbh.

Oxycodone and DHC give me a bit of a high buzz.
Tramadol and Tapentadol are very stimulating and make me a little manic.
Morphine and Fentanyl are very sedating.
 
This is called paradoxical CNS stimulation. It usually indicates you are taking more than a therapeutic dose of the drug. However, based on everyone's different body chemistry, it could just be that you process opiates differently and thus your effects are different. Generally, they will be sedative for anyone when taking them for the first time/at a beginner level and as you take them more, that sedative effect wears off unless you increase your dose, and then you'll get to a point in usage where there is no longer sedation.
 
Opioids in low doses don't affect my energy, but like you they make me confident, chatty, and talkative; almost like having a couple of drinks. But believe me, opioids in higher doses will make you nod out/fall asleep. Also, the amount of sedation varies with different opiates. (Hydrocodone makes me much more sedated than oxycodone even at equivalent doses)
 
The pills can make you confident and chatty. But once you take them regularly they have you hooked. The pills can make you a prisoner. You will always be trying to find ways to replenish your stash. It's best to try and become chatty another way.
 
funny thing, when I started using I had a ton of energy.. i was cleaning the house ten times over, but now I don't have energy at all.. my receptors are all shriveled up. But - on suboxone, I get a bit of a high for a few hours after my morning dose.. I feel good, more motivation.. but not nearly as energetic as I was when I first started.
 
I don't think they're classified as sedatives (hypnotics &/or tranquilizers). They're analgesics. They depress some parts of the CNS & stimulate others. Overall they're more of a CNS depressant than CNS stim. The euphoria and reduction in anxiety is why you want to talk so much. Wanting to talk to people doesn't mean you're stimulated, have u ever tried xanax. You can't tell me opiates don't help you sleep easier!

I become more energetic on opiates at normal recreational dosages too. This is all from the euphoria, if you're feeling good you tend to be more active. Also you won't feel exhausted from the pain killing effects. BTW some are more stimulating than others such as oxycodone and suboxone, but even heroin/morphine makes me wanna run around at times.

They're analgesic respiratory depressants not really sedatives. Again, they stimulate some parts of the CNS while depressing other areas, mostly they depress the CNS. Sedatives/hypnotics will make people much more talkative from the reduction of anxiety anyway.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top