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  • BDD Moderators: Keif’ Richards | negrogesic

Misc What exactly is the deal with GHB (gamma hydroxybutyrate)?

JohnBoy2000

JohnBoy2000

Bluelighter
Joined
May 11, 2016
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2,596
Is it primarily a GABA based drug?

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Obvious one segment (wikipedia page) claims it's merely a WEAK agonist of GABA, the other claiming the majority of its effects are mediated via that receptor.
 
It has a dual mechanism of action. At low to medium doses GHB acts as an "euphoric stimulant" as it binds to a G protein-coupled receptor called the GHB receptor. When activated by an agonist it promotes de release of dopamine and growth hormone.
At higher doses its gabaergic effects (through GABA B) overpower the "stimulant" effects, so GHB becomes a heavy duty sedative.

At the right dose, you get the best of both worlds.

It also promotes REM sleep, unlike most sedatives. It can be used to treat insomnia but it has to be used responsibly, it's sold under the brand name Xyrem (the sodium salt of GHB) which is used to treat narcolepsy (the dose is around 4.5g a night divided in 2 doses).
Dosing multiple times a day can eventually get you physically addicted, some people end up having to redose every ~2h to avoid WD, which sounds like a nightmare...
 
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When narcoleptic with 2 prescribed doses a day. It might be manageable. And a necessity, as its a seriously f*ckd condition.

Otherwise it will probably end in a 24/ 7 addiction. That is how good it is. It grabbed me hard, one advantage over alcohol is that the WD's seem shorter and its not for sale on every street corner.
 
HOOH said:
No. Nothing can be used long term to treat insomnia. There's barely even something that works short term, maybe melatonin at most.
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GHB ime has an ceiling. So it would in contrary to what you write be an excellent sleep med. The dosage that i used daily never went up.

In my personal case I took GHB during week day's after work. So during work i went through wd's. Only weekends were 24/ 7.

But would I have restrained myself to two nightly dose i see it working for on and on.
 
emkee_reinvented said:
GHB ime has an ceiling. So it would in contrary to what you write be an excellent sleep med. The dosage that i used daily never went up.

In my personal case I took GHB during week day's after work. So during work i went through wd's. Only weekends were 24/ 7.

But would I have restrained myself to two nightly dose i see it working for on and on.
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It may be an excellent sleep med. Too bad sleep meds suck.
 
HOOH said:
It may be an excellent sleep med. Too bad sleep meds suck.
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The difference, ime is that with Benzo's, Ethanol and from what i Read Barb's. The dosage of GHB has a ceiling, offcourse an addict can take dosages way higher then a firsttimer. But it seems not very prone to forming tolerance to the effect's. My personal experience yours may vary.

But After some weeks you get to a sort of max, Kratom has that for me to. Very unlike the other GABA-ergic's where a higher dose is needed to produce the same effect's.

In the case of Barb's this led to people dying as their effective dose eventually was above the lethal dose.
 
GHB is one of the best sleep medications out there. It is also only used in extreme scenarios due to being HIGHLY physically addictive.
 
I personally never found GHB to produce much physical dependence, even when used multiple times a day,

Maybe I'm just lucky?
 
sekio said:
I personally never found GHB to produce much physical dependence, even when used multiple times a day,

Maybe I'm just lucky?
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I've never really used it for more than a week at a time. No withdrawal but only a week of use will cause sleep paralysis in me for a couple of days.

Which oddly is something it's prescribed to fix but well known to exacerbate it for a few days at first.
 
SnafuInTheVoid said:
I've never really used it for more than a week at a time. No withdrawal but only a week of use will cause sleep paralysis in me for a couple of days.

Which oddly is something it's prescribed to fix but well known to exacerbate it for a few days at first.
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Now you mention it 'sleep paralysis' was something I directly connect to use and sessation of GHB/ GBL.

Weirdest sleep state I was in ever besides fever dream's.
 
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