That sounds incredibly pleasant..and a bit contradictory.
You've managed to pique my interest in it when Charlie's weeks' long praise did nothing of the sort
Well, dissociatives in general sort of seem like a contradiction if you ask me. One of their primary effects is to cause excitatory activity (glutamate release) by blocking inhibitory activity (GABA release) by blocking excitatory activity (NMDA receptor activation) of a type (glutamate receptor agonism) that is directly induced by the type of excitatory activity they cause.
I’ve actually compared dissociatives to alcohols a lot personally, although they are directly related; recreational alcohols like ethanol and 2M2B generally are relatively potent NMDA receptor inhibitors in addition to being GABA(A) receptor positive allosteric modulators, although the former doesn’t seem to be enough to overcome the latter enough to make the effects more hallucinogenic than depressant generally. It’s not unknown for a drug called a dissociative to have both of these activities too though, as is the case for nitrous oxide and diethyl ether. In my personal experience, dissociatives tend to remind me the most of being drunk at a party with good friends, as opposed to having a few drinks alone which generally feels more GABAergic to me.
This being said, there is something about it with respect to how memantine produces the effect which does still stand out more to me. Something that is often said about memantine is that it appears to not have as much of an anesthetic effect as other dissociatives, and I tend to agree with this and might lump analgesic effects in with that as well, so I find it to be somewhat alike one of the dissociatives that people might criticize for not having as much “warmth” as something like methoxetamine, which I’ve directly compared to drugs like oxycodone and MDMA as well as 4-HO-MET and 2C-C, but in some ways it does remind me more of 2’-Oxo-PCE, a drug which I have heard several people call “cold” before, which I have tended to compare more so to things like mushrooms, 4-HO-DET, and LSD. 2’-Oxo-PCE does still feel quite anesthetic when dosed high enough, although I think this may somewhat hide the fact that it can already be severely intoxicating at lower levels that are not particularly disorienting at all, other than again feeling like a great ethanol replacement to me, with greater confidence and euphoria and fewer subjective side effects; I really liked using 10 mg for this kind of experience.
Memantine stands out in a similar way to me, except with the anesthetic effects further removed away from the lowest active dosage so that they seem less accessible overall, but it still has plenty of the other effects, like the parts that make me feel intoxicated like ethanol and receiving quasi-psychedelic-like effects, like some geometric and visionary effects that I actually find more colorful and crisp than with other dissociatives, although I’m always smoking cannabis with it too which obviously helps. I also find memantine to be stimulating in a way that feels a bit more psychedelic-like than I would normally expect a dissociative to feel, like the memantine high often feels sexual for me in a way that other dissociatives don’t too which I suspect relates to its relatively lower anesthesia and analgesia, and that also goes well with its intoxicating headspace in a way I can compare to a memorable ethanol buzz.
Memantine is specifically touted as being a NMDA receptor antagonist that has higher NMDA receptor subunit selectivity than other dissociatives, so I can’t help but wonder to what extent that activity might explain some of these interactions. I find it fascinating that dissociatives directly increase glutamate release from pyramidal neurons that are directly stimulated by 5-HT2A receptors and do so by blocking excitatory activity at NMDA receptors through a coincidentally anti-inhibitory mechanism involving GABA, as it suggests to me a clear path by which a set of drugs we tend to think as inhibitory and depressant, like alcohols, can overlap with a set of drugs that clearly have excitatory, hallucinogenic and psychotomimetic effects through a shared mechanism like NMDA receptor antagonism because blocking NMDA receptors does have a generally inhibitory effect, and it’s only in select places where NMDA receptors superficially paradoxically excite inhibitory neurotransmitters where an excitatory effect would be expected instead, but the alcohols also directly increase the efficacy of the very same inhibitory neurotransmitter whose release is being blocked by the NMDA receptor antagonism, essentially converting them into inhibitory agents all the away across the board, while the NMDA receptor antagonists that don’t have simultaneous significant GABAergic effects produce breakthrough excitatory effects instead. This is a quality shared by most drugs we call dissociatives, so memantine doesn’t just inherently stand out in this way, but I can’t help but wonder if perhaps while memantine is more like other dissociatives in this way, something about the NMDA receptor subtype selectivity it has causes it to be more alike alcohols, even paradoxically quasi-psychedelic rather than depressant ones, relative to things like arylcyclohexylamines which clearly have high potency in blocking the NMDA receptors whose antagonism produces anesthetic effects too, causing the former kind of effect to shine through more brightly and purely with the memantine. Perhaps a relationship exists such as that blocking more NMDA receptors relative to those involved in anesthesia relative to more anesthetic dissociatives causes memantine to feel more depressant-like at still mobile dosages, and simultaneously having fewer anesthetic NMDA receptors blocked at already active dosages allows for more of the quasi-psychedelic glutamatergic effects to develop more completely quasi-psychedelically.
Memantine, not being an arylcyclohexylamine, also lacks the bladder toxicity of ketamine, methoxetamine, and other similar drugs, does not have the same sort of temporary side effect profile of DXM, and lasts more than a minute unlike nitrous oxide, and I like all those qualities combined. It’s one of my favorite drugs, and truth be told, I actually think the super long duration is a cool thing about it, it’s just also super inconvenient.
I'm having trouble with the winter on it, though. Usually I can bear through cold, to such extent I don't even get the heating fixed. But on acid the cold really starts bothering me. Alcohol helps, but it's a filthy solution. I would like, have to exercise constantly to keep blood flowing properly for eight hours? Just walking it off doesn't seem enough. I dunno, anyone else feeling gravely uncomfortable tripping in the cold?
I don’t like it either. I already feel that way about having to exercise on certain higher efficacy 5-HT2A receptor agonists so I assume it’s probably just the significant cold compounding the issue that basically all psychedelics already do have to one degree or another. I always start my trips with a hot shower and like taking baths and swimming in the summer while tripping for this reason.
Memantine might help with keeping the trip contained under the blanket, I suppose?
Memantine is super cuddly.
