Poly drug use and cycling to minimize dependency & tolerance risk - In other words this idiot's addicted to being high

[placebonaut]

I'm a poly drug user and could use some advice on how to minimize dependency and tolerance build up risk. I'm also clearly addicted to being high despite no specific drug dependency, I'm cutting back to address this by reducing dosage to threshold and increasing use of less harmful drugs.

I use something almost daily, mainly as a way to reduce my alcohol problem. I'm trying to keep everything I take at as low a dose as possible with intervals between uses of everything to prevent dependency and tolerance build up. I rotate drug uses as much as possible and try to also rotate drug classes where I can to minimize hitting the same receptor classes too frequently. Low dose cannabis eddibles almost daily, alcohol use significantly cut down to a few units a week with a view to stopping again (had a 3 month break already), currently experimenting with micro/threshold dosing of psychedelics as they carry less risk that the other drugs I'm using.

My drug use plan

Soma use has been too high at about 3-4 times a week, but no noticeable tolerance build up, I still nod out taking 600mg subliminal unless I have some caffeine with it (weird given it's rep for rapid tolerance build up, no issues when I stop using for a week or 2 either).

I love GABA, but scared of benzo dependency, my DOC is Pregab, I've been taking it recreationally weekly for ~10 months, it's an amazing base for lots of different combos and I use that a lot when I binge going through multiple different combos with it in a single day but may fav is with diazepam (it stops the hyperactivity phase) and cannabis , but then also add methedrone/cocaine/alcohol/caffeine/ketamine in the mix through the day depending on mood - NOTE I'm very experienced with these drugs, understand half lifes & dosing well, have carefully titrated doses up when I combo them while keeping trip logs so I can establish safe baselines based on my own body. Please don't start dicking about with these combos unless you know what you are doing & the risks, there's real danger in the mix here with CNS stacking, some of these are additive and some potentiate each other.

I think I've recently reset pregab back to baseline after a tolerance break, and will be cutting down usage going forward to prevent tolerance build up. Plan is to add in psychedelics at threshold level instead as a safer alternative.

I've been binging far too often when life is tough and for fun, have cut back on these sessions and aim to do it no more than once a month or 2 as a big treat.

Target rotation plan - Generally these are all at threshold/low doses unless I'm binging

Right now I'm taking more than this I would like but starting to implement this plan after a months GABA break. Cocaine has to date been an occasional treat once every 3 months or so.

My honest goal with all this is to make this a long term sustainable life style choice, I'm complementing my drug use with nootropics to help reduce drug usage further, but I have no intention to stop taking drugs, I know the risks, I'm taking drugs for fun not to mask any mental issues. I think my alcohol use has been driven by undiagnosed mild ADHD, I'm on a waiting list for diagnosis, but experimenting with ADHD nootropics seems to have a very positive effect at work so far, if I do have ADHD I don't plan on taking meds for it. The move from alcohol is also done for health reasons, drugs are simply less harmful. Have tried amphetamines but don't feel they fit in with my usage needs, I don't find them as much fun recreationally as other drugs.

Don't ever want or plan to start using opiods or meth, have tried and like Kratom very much but using it's not an option sadly given home situation.

I'm exercising more and eating better both of which are helping reduce drug use. Drug use is also help me eat less and coupled with exercise lose weight.

So in summary I'm an informed idiot who's addicted to being high but wants to try and do it in a safe way.

any advice? please give me double barrels!

 

[cnnka]

Honestly man, I have to say, I’ve never seen an addict actually use a blueprint or an Excel sheet to track their usage that’s a first! LOL. But in all seriousness, I think you’ll be fine if your goal is to ditch the "hard" drugs like benzos and stick to cannabis. If smoking weed 24/7 is what it takes to keep you away from the darker stuff and the heavy addiction problems, then I’d say it’s a win.

The thing with psychedelics is that they kind of regulate themselves. If you have a really intense experience, you usually don’t even want to touch them again for a while. Just be careful with low dosages because they can sometimes leave you "hungry" for more. My advice is to stick to your daily weed and then, every once in a blue moon, go for a solid dose of psychs and you’re good to go.

Let’s be real, most of us here are addicted to getting high one way or another. Personally, I stabilize myself with a low dose benzo daily combined with an antihistamine or a muscle relaxer, but in the past, I could just go 24/7 on cannabis and didn’t feel the need for anything else. The trick is to find a stable, safe combo for your baseline and then save the "special" highs for rare occasions. You could do an LSD trip in April, wait a month, then do mushrooms the next, and maybe mix some benzos with your weed here and there to stay level.

At the end of the day, drugs are only a real problem if they start creating problems in your life or the lives of people around you. It’s a problem if you want to stop but can’t, or if they’re making you do things you regret. If you can stay functional and keep things under control, just find your balance and stay safe.

 

[N0ph0n0]

I tried this originally, it works well but the problem is one day something that feels like the end of the world is gonna happen, wether it's a heart break, dead pet/friend/family member something like that and when that happens you will feel like nothing matters and you might be able to tough it up but one day you wont. Stay away from benzos and opiates (you dont want to live through withdrawal), as for the psychedelics dude it's psychs just have some fun out of all the drugs it's the one that will positively affect your life.

 

[paranoid android]

I do this with my benzos and morphine and zopiclone. I take benzos for about 3 weeks of the months, zopiclone for one and also morphine for about 1. Been doing that for about 5 years now with no problem. I was a huge junkie before but didnt cycle shit then lol

 

[placebonaut]

Honestly man, I have to say, I’ve never seen an addict actually use a blueprint or an Excel sheet to track their usage that’s a first! LOL.

you have no idea!

I think this is part of my ADHD brain, when I'm into something I really enjoy researching it and tracking stuff, it's really interesting. I've a tab in a spreadsheet for each of the main drugs I take that includes potentiators, cross tolerance info, receptors etc. trip log

if your goal is to ditch the "hard" drugs like benzos and stick to cannabis. If smoking weed 24/7 is what it takes to keep you away from the darker stuff and the heavy addiction problems, then I’d say it’s a win.

I don't plan to ditch the hard stuff, just reduce the usage, and although I like weed I was a stoner earlier in life and don't really want to go back to that, it rotted by brain too much. And I'm already hitting a bit of weed induced anxiety when I use it too much.

The thing with psychedelics is that they kind of regulate themselves. If you have a really intense experience, you usually don’t even want to touch them again for a while. Just be careful with low dosages because they can sometimes leave you "hungry" for more. My advice is to stick to your daily weed and then, every once in a blue moon, go for a solid dose of psychs and you’re good to go.

yeah I'm aware of that, not sure I really want to go for a full trip to be honest just yet, been there done that, might do it occasionally, but I'm experimenting with low doses as a way to just get a bit high via something that's much less harmful. Low dose 2C-B is so far working very well like that

If you can stay functional and keep things under control, just find your balance and stay safe.

just the plan, but need to cut back a bit I think

I tried this originally, it works well but the problem is one day something that feels like the end of the world is gonna happen, wether it's a heart break, dead pet/friend/family member something like that and when that happens you will feel like nothing matters and you might be able to tough it up but one day you wont. Stay away from benzos and opiates (you dont want to live through withdrawal), as for the psychedelics dude it's psychs just have some fun out of all the drugs it's the one that will positively affect your life.

this happened recently and sent me into a bit of a bender, part of the reason I'm trying to pull back and calm things down.

As for Benzo's I never taken them just on their own, to be honest I seem to struggle to get that high off them in the way I'd like without taking pregabalin, and the added benefit that with pregab I need a much much lower dose of diazapam as well.

Challenge with psychedelics is having the space to do them at full strength, I'm having a similar positive mind experience with Ketamine though which is much more practical given how I have to use. It's very much a reset button for me.

I do this with my benzos and morphine and zopiclone. I take benzos for about 3 weeks of the months, zopiclone for one and also morphine for about 1. Been doing that for about 5 years now with no problem. I was a huge junkie before but didnt cycle shit then lol

are you using daily? or just a couple of times a week? interested if your benzo tolerance is increasing while your in your 3 week cycle

 

[paranoid android]

you have no idea!

I think this is part of my ADHD brain, when I'm into something I really enjoy researching it and tracking stuff, it's really interesting. I've a tab in a spreadsheet for each of the main drugs I take that includes potentiators, cross tolerance info, receptors etc. trip log


I don't plan to ditch the hard stuff, just reduce the usage, and although I like weed I was a stoner earlier in life and don't really want to go back to that, it rotted by brain too much. And I'm already hitting a bit of weed induced anxiety when I use it too much.



yeah I'm aware of that, not sure I really want to go for a full trip to be honest just yet, been there done that, might do it occasionally, but I'm experimenting with low doses as a way to just get a bit high via something that's much less harmful. Low dose 2C-B is so far working very well like that


just the plan, but need to cut back a bit I think


this happened recently and sent me into a bit of a bender, part of the reason I'm trying to pull back and calm things down.

As for Benzo's I never taken them just on their own, to be honest I seem to struggle to get that high off them in the way I'd like without taking pregabalin, and the added benefit that with pregab I need a much much lower dose of diazapam as well.

Challenge with psychedelics is having the space to do them at full strength, I'm having a similar positive mind experience with Ketamine though which is much more practical given how I have to use. It's very much a reset button for me.


are you using daily? or just a couple of times a week? interested if your benzo tolerance is increasing while your in your 3 week cycle

I use daily and hava a tolerance ya

 

[Mushoku_Sensei]

I'm a poly drug user and could use some advice on how to minimize dependency and tolerance build up risk. I'm also clearly addicted to being high despite no specific drug dependency, I'm cutting back to address this by reducing dosage to threshold and increasing use of less harmful drugs.

I use something almost daily, mainly as a way to reduce my alcohol problem. I'm trying to keep everything I take at as low a dose as possible with intervals between uses of everything to prevent dependency and tolerance build up. I rotate drug uses as much as possible and try to also rotate drug classes where I can to minimize hitting the same receptor classes too frequently. Low dose cannabis eddibles almost daily, alcohol use significantly cut down to a few units a week with a view to stopping again (had a 3 month break already), currently experimenting with micro/threshold dosing of psychedelics as they carry less risk that the other drugs I'm using.

My drug use plan

Soma use has been too high at about 3-4 times a week, but no noticeable tolerance build up, I still nod out taking 600mg subliminal unless I have some caffeine with it (weird given it's rep for rapid tolerance build up, no issues when I stop using for a week or 2 either).

I love GABA, but scared of benzo dependency, my DOC is Pregab, I've been taking it recreationally weekly for ~10 months, it's an amazing base for lots of different combos and I use that a lot when I binge going through multiple different combos with it in a single day but may fav is with diazepam (it stops the hyperactivity phase) and cannabis , but then also add methedrone/cocaine/alcohol/caffeine/ketamine in the mix through the day depending on mood - NOTE I'm very experienced with these drugs, understand half lifes & dosing well, have carefully titrated doses up when I combo them while keeping trip logs so I can establish safe baselines based on my own body. Please don't start dicking about with these combos unless you know what you are doing & the risks, there's real danger in the mix here with CNS stacking, some of these are additive and some potentiate each other.

I think I've recently reset pregab back to baseline after a tolerance break, and will be cutting down usage going forward to prevent tolerance build up. Plan is to add in psychedelics at threshold level instead as a safer alternative.

I've been binging far too often when life is tough and for fun, have cut back on these sessions and aim to do it no more than once a month or 2 as a big treat.

Target rotation plan - Generally these are all at threshold/low doses unless I'm binging

Right now I'm taking more than this I would like but starting to implement this plan after a months GABA break. Cocaine has to date been an occasional treat once every 3 months or so.

My honest goal with all this is to make this a long term sustainable life style choice, I'm complementing my drug use with nootropics to help reduce drug usage further, but I have no intention to stop taking drugs, I know the risks, I'm taking drugs for fun not to mask any mental issues. I think my alcohol use has been driven by undiagnosed mild ADHD, I'm on a waiting list for diagnosis, but experimenting with ADHD nootropics seems to have a very positive effect at work so far, generally if I do have ADHD I don't . The move from alcohol is also done for health reasons, drugs are simply less harmful. Have tried amphetamines but don't feel they fit in with my usage needs, I don't find them as much fun recreationally as other drugs.

Don't ever want or plan to start using opiods or meth, have tried and like Kratom very much but using it's not an option sadly given home situation.

I'm exercising more and eating better both of which are helping reduce drug use. Drug use is also help me eat less and coupled with exercise lose weight.

So in summary I'm an informed idiot who's addicted to being high but wants to try and do it in a safe way.

any advice? please give me double barrels!

Yo! I don't use exel or spreadsheet, but the psychonaut journal. I'm tracking everything ( not all supplements, ok). I started by cycling Tram, Pregabalin and Ketamin as I'm not one for stims and psychs just need way too much prep for me to do them more than every few months .
Cycling got me addicted to Tram in the end, I would just combine them all... So you're wise to avoid opis obviously, but at least for me benzos are creating tolerance and rebound terribly fast, so those are risky as well, I agree with the former comments. Anyway you already know it all it seems, what kind of advice do you wish for,?

 

[Allylbenzene]

I use daily and hava a tolerance ya

There's a practical guide for lowering tolerances which is applicable to all drugs. It's written with harm reduction in mind but really it's for preventing acute withdrawals and long-term relapse issues. All items are OTC and inexpensive, no experimental or "exotic" items.

 

[placebonaut]

Yo! I don't use exel or spreadsheet, but the psychonaut journal. I'm tracking everything ( not all supplements, ok).

never heard of the psychonaul journal before but love the idea of it, having a quick look at the screenshots and I'd certainly be able to make use of it. Not sure I want to be uploading this level of personal info anywhere though, and the limit of 3 types of drugs without paying is a bit of a issue for me given privacy and the range of drugs I take!

links for the lazy

PsychonautWiki Journal

PsychonautWiki Journal is an app that helps users log their ingestions, make notes and get an overview of their experiences. It also makes key PsychonautWiki data such as dosage, tolerance, duration and dangerous interaction info accessible offline.

psychonautwiki.org

PsychonautWiki Journal - Apps on Google Play

Substance Journaling

play.google.com

PsychonautWiki Journal App - App Store

Download PsychonautWiki Journal by Isaak Hanimann on the App Store. See screenshots, ratings and reviews, user tips, and more apps like PsychonautWiki Journal.

apps.apple.com

Cycling got me addicted to Tram in the end, I would just combine them all... So you're wise to avoid opis obviously, but at least for me benzos are creating tolerance and rebound terribly fast, so those are risky as well, I agree with the former comments. Anyway you already know it all it seems, what kind of advice do you wish for,?

combining is certainly an issue, I love playing around with getting the perfect mix, the risk is certainly that I'll end up addicted to multiple things though.

So as for advice needed, I really could do with comments on frequency between taking different substances to avoid addiction/tolerance, especially where there is cross tolerance and/or drugs that are hitting similar receptors, especially GABA even though I'm consciously mixing GABA-A /GABA-B/calcium channel modulators.

My usage is more likely twice as frequent as my target currently, worried I'm lining myself up for a problem and I need to back off, the question is if I hit my plan will that be safe enough for me to relax a bit and stop worrying about things

 

[Mushoku_Sensei]

never heard of the psychonaul journal before but love the idea of it, having a quick look at the screenshots and I'd certainly be able to make use of it. Not sure I want to be uploading this level of personal info anywhere though, and the limit of 3 types of drugs without paying is a bit of a issue for me given privacy and the range of drugs I take!

links for the lazy

PsychonautWiki Journal

PsychonautWiki Journal is an app that helps users log their ingestions, make notes and get an overview of their experiences. It also makes key PsychonautWiki data such as dosage, tolerance, duration and dangerous interaction info accessible offline.

psychonautwiki.org

PsychonautWiki Journal - Apps on Google Play

Substance Journaling

play.google.com

PsychonautWiki Journal App - App Store

Download PsychonautWiki Journal by Isaak Hanimann on the App Store. See screenshots, ratings and reviews, user tips, and more apps like PsychonautWiki Journal.

apps.apple.com

combining is certainly an issue, I love playing around with getting the perfect mix, the risk is certainly that I'll end up addicted to multiple things though.

So as for advice needed, I really could do with comments on frequency between taking different substances to avoid addiction/tolerance, especially where there is cross tolerance and/or drugs that are hitting similar receptors, especially GABA even though I'm consciously mixing GABA-A /GABA-B/calcium channel modulators.

My usage is more likely twice as frequent as my target currently, worried I'm lining myself up for a problem and I need to back off, the question is if I hit my plan will that be safe enough for me to relax a bit and stop worrying about things

Are you aware of f-droid? It's like the play store but only with privacy focused apps. There you can find the last free version of the psychonaut journal - no limit to the amount of drugs to track. (Version 11.11, in case you're looking it up elsewhere,) That's the one I use.

And yeah, I was told in the very beginning when I first joined the bl discord, that rotating drugs ends in poly addiction most of the times. I didn't believe it but it really turned out that way... I combined Pregabalin with Tram and the first time was Bliss (as were the first times of Tram and Pregabalin), unfortunately that magic was quickly gone and I tried to chase it... Trap shut. That's the issue really. Even if your schedule is perfect - you, nor anyone else is. So we don't stick to the rules, just once... Then once too often. Dang.

 

[placebonaut]

Are you aware of f-droid? It's like the play store but only with privacy focused apps. There you can find the last free version of the psychonaut journal - no limit to the amount of drugs to track. (Version 11.11, in case you're looking it up elsewhere,) That's the one I use.

great tip thanks, will have to research it

And yeah, I was told in the very beginning when I first joined the bl discord, that rotating drugs ends in poly addiction most of the times. I didn't believe it but it really turned out that way... I combined Pregabalin with Tram and the first time was Bliss (as were the first times of Tram and Pregabalin), unfortunately that magic was quickly gone and I tried to chase it... Trap shut. That's the issue really. Even if your schedule is perfect - you, nor anyone else is. So we don't stick to the rules, just once... Then once too often. Dang.

this is spot on, would be very keen to hear more detail about it.

I think I'm already over the dang line and trying to pull back if I'm being honest before it gets worse, but so far I seem to be managing it, though I'm starting to get cravings as well (assume this is an addiction sign??).

Already gone too far on pregab and got a mild tolerance, taken a break but that was longer than I hoped (though no hard), things seem to be resetting but think I must go easier on it going forward.

 

[Mushoku_Sensei]

great tip thanks, will have to research it

Welcome! You're not even loading up anything, btw. It all stays on your phone (or whatever you use)

this is spot on, would be very keen to hear more detail about it.

Hmm.. Well, the one who told me was the late cdin (you can look him up in the shrine), who was a mod at the time. I had come my way using various psychedelics, then found 2-fdck, around the same time started abusing Tram and then learned that something like Pregabalin could be abused - so got myself a bunch. My use became more frequent as tram and pregab can very easily fit into a "normal" life style, so in order to avoid getting hooked I decided to rotate them with K for the times I was more free. Cdin was moderator of the opioids section, and man he was experienced for sure. I didn't know it that time but he WAS a legend for many reasons. He said something like this: "Rotating doesn't work. It's just gonna end in poly addiction. When I was young, I was considering myself very smart, taking a different drug every day of the week and then starting all over again..." - I argued " but it should work when the gaps are long enough!? " Damn that was in 2024... And I was using daily that time already... T_T.. Anyways I was lucky to meet him then because a few months later he died of an overdose. He probably knew everything there is to know about harm reduction, but addiction can never ever be truly harmless. Or as his mom put it: harm reduction can only do that much...

I don't remember how long it took from a relatively long stable phase before suddenly I had to tripple my dose of Tram within a few weeks that I took to admit it to myself... Things went fast from there. Not sure when I started combining my main drugs. But I had a bad day once rather early on and was asked how many things I had taken that day. They were 9 different substances. Not all serious drugs, one was Magnesium, but also BSO, Amanita, dph, hhc, etc.pp. I used min 3 "boosters" a day, "normally" around 7 substances. And I tried to slow down things for the last 1,5 years, again and again, almost permanently - just to burn any progress I made with the next experiment or just trying to have a break from the break...
Not sure whether you're aware of the "kindling effect", meaning the more often you took a drug (and withdrew), the faster you regrow your tolerance as well as physical dependence. It's the addiction memory of the brain. For me it basically means I'll probably never get high off a single 100 mg Tram again, while initially I couldn't even take more without getting nauseous . It also means withdraw and relapse once and I'm back at my last stable dose, with full WD upon cessation again. ... Guess I'm rambling. I fell asleep here last night and lost the line somehow.

I think I'm already over the dang line and trying to pull back if I'm being honest before it gets worse, but so far I seem to be managing it, though I'm starting to get cravings as well (assume this is an addiction sign??).

Yes, it's one of the diagnostic criteria. If you want my opinion, the sheer amount of drugs you tried and are using regularly speaks a ton, also your attempt to control the use...
Mixing a lot can get you pretty far in without the classical signs of physical addiction. Doesn't mean that you're not mentally addicted.
And imo the mind is by far the more serious issue.
Along this line I attended my first ever online NA meeting this week without much prior knowledge and what struck me was their concept of seeing addiction as a chronic progressive disease that has no cure, you can only halt it at some point... There's definitely some truth in that.
However I don't want to smash you with text. >.<
But ask anything if you want more

 

[CavernsoftheMind]

At first glance at the title I thought you cycle on your bike to fight against your addiction.

I was really rooting for you!

 

[placebonaut]

Welcome! You're not even loading up anything, btw. It all stays on your phone (or whatever you use)

Hmm.. Well, the one who told me was the late cdin (you can look him up in the shrine), who was a mod at the time. I had come my way using various psychedelics, then found 2-fdck, around the same time started abusing Tram and then learned that something like Pregabalin could be abused - so got myself a bunch. My use became more frequent as tram and pregab can very easily fit into a "normal" life style, so in order to avoid getting hooked I decided to rotate them with K for the times I was more free. Cdin was moderator of the opioids section, and man he was experienced for sure. I didn't know it that time but he WAS a legend for many reasons. He said something like this: "Rotating doesn't work. It's just gonna end in poly addiction. When I was young, I was considering myself very smart, taking a different drug every day of the week and then starting all over again..." - I argued " but it should work when the gaps are long enough!? " Damn that was in 2024... And I was using daily that time already... T_T.. Anyways I was lucky to meet him then because a few months later he died of an overdose. He probably knew everything there is to know about harm reduction, but addiction can never ever be truly harmless. Or as his mom put it: harm reduction can only do that much...

I don't remember how long it took from a relatively long stable phase before suddenly I had to tripple my dose of Tram within a few weeks that I took to admit it to myself... Things went fast from there. Not sure when I started combining my main drugs. But I had a bad day once rather early on and was asked how many things I had taken that day. They were 9 different substances. Not all serious drugs, one was Magnesium, but also BSO, Amanita, dph, hhc, etc.pp. I used min 3 "boosters" a day, "normally" around 7 substances. And I tried to slow down things for the last 1,5 years, again and again, almost permanently - just to burn any progress I made with the next experiment or just trying to have a break from the break...
Not sure whether you're aware of the "kindling effect", meaning the more often you took a drug (and withdrew), the faster you regrow your tolerance as well as physical dependence. It's the addiction memory of the brain. For me it basically means I'll probably never get high off a single 100 mg Tram again, while initially I couldn't even take more without getting nauseous . It also means withdraw and relapse once and I'm back at my last stable dose, with full WD upon cessation again. ... Guess I'm rambling. I fell asleep here last night and lost the line somehow.

Yes, it's one of the diagnostic criteria. If you want my opinion, the sheer amount of drugs you tried and are using regularly speaks a ton, also your attempt to control the use...
Mixing a lot can get you pretty far in without the classical signs of physical addiction. Doesn't mean that you're not mentally addicted.
And imo the mind is by far the more serious issue.
Along this line I attended my first ever online NA meeting this week without much prior knowledge and what struck me was their concept of seeing addiction as a chronic progressive disease that has no cure, you can only halt it at some point... There's definitely some truth in that.
However I don't want to smash you with text. >.<
But ask anything if you want more

thanks for taking the time out to write this, yes I was aware of the kindling effect but not sure which drugs are most susceptible to it (that's a good prompt for me to go and find out!), and totally agree on the mental addiction point, I've been an alcoholic for 35+ years, I just need something to numb my brain most of the time which is driving the use.

Cutting out alcohol is the first major step for me, but I seem to be stuck in a drink or do drugs loop instead, however I'm drinking less and loosing weight slowly, exercising more, but my drug use has increased. The goal is to keep reducing use of everything and increase my fitness.

I might have to take a look at NA meetings, but too be honest I simply don't want to stop, maybe I've got stupid expectations but I would love to find a sensible balance where I can recreationally do some drugs without it becoming a problem.

At first glance at the title I thought you cycle on your bike to fight against your addiction.

I was really rooting for you!

That's prob a much better idea to be fair!

 

[Mushoku_Sensei]

thanks for taking the time out to write this, yes I was aware of the kindling effect but not sure which drugs are most susceptible to it (that's a good prompt for me to go and find out!), and totally agree on the mental addiction point, I've been an alcoholic for 35+ years, I just need something to numb my brain most of the time which is driving the use.

I see, and welcome again. Benzos and opioids including Kratom are, that's for sure. The rest I'm leaving for you to find out

Cutting out alcohol is the first major step for me, but I seem to be stuck in a drink or do drugs loop instead, however I'm drinking less and loosing weight slowly, exercising more, but my drug use has increased. The goal is to keep reducing use of everything and increase my fitness.

That target is legit. So basically shifting addictions to less harmful ones.

I might have to take a look at NA meetings, but too be honest I simply don't want to stop, maybe I've got stupid expectations but I would love to find a sensible balance where I can recreationally do some drugs without it becoming a problem

I get that completely. Why would you want to stop as long as you're getting a benefit out of it? I'm no different. Still not quite ready to give up completely. But it's rarely fun anymore.

 

[TheLightBringer]

Hmm, the psychedelic doses seem quite frequent. Although psychedelics are usually significantly less of a problem than other classes when it comes to addiction.

I must say, the large majority of people Ive seen who have tried something like this end up getting addicted anyways, either they end up with a polysubstance addiction or they start making excuses and pushing boundaries like ”oh well, If I dont take x substance next month I can use y substance 2 more times!” Or they tell themselves that they can have one extra day of a substance since theyre not addicted to it and so forth. Not saying it will happen to you, but just something to be mindful of. Really like the spreadsheet though lol

Maybe you could implement a certain day for the monthly substances so it doesnt become
an arbitrary day in the month, like having a:

”Im only allowed to take pregabalin the last friday of each month, if I dont take it that day I dont have the option until next months last friday”

Type of rule, might work better than leaving the option open to taking it whenever you want any day of the month.

 

[TheLightBringer]

If you implement one of those rules I would look up for example each date of the last friday of every month and log them down in the spreadsheet so you know all days when consuming said substance is allowed for the whole next year. If you miss one of those days or something gets in the way, well then the option is gone until the next date.

Although the ramifications of that could be that you end up taking a substance on a date that overlaps with an event where you need to be sober as to not ”miss” that window. So it depends on how you feel you can prioritize and delay your use vs responsibilities.

 

[TheLightBringer]

Would be something like this:

Dates allowed to consume X substance, if a window is missed you must wait until the next date:

• March 27, 2026
• April 24, 2026
• May 29, 2026
• June 26, 2026
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[notsmokeymcpot42088]

I'm a poly drug user and could use some advice on how to minimize dependency and tolerance build up risk. I'm also clearly addicted to being high despite no specific drug dependency, I'm cutting back to address this by reducing dosage to threshold and increasing use of less harmful drugs.

I use something almost daily, mainly as a way to reduce my alcohol problem. I'm trying to keep everything I take at as low a dose as possible with intervals between uses of everything to prevent dependency and tolerance build up. I rotate drug uses as much as possible and try to also rotate drug classes where I can to minimize hitting the same receptor classes too frequently. Low dose cannabis eddibles almost daily, alcohol use significantly cut down to a few units a week with a view to stopping again (had a 3 month break already), currently experimenting with micro/threshold dosing of psychedelics as they carry less risk that the other drugs I'm using.

My drug use plan

Soma use has been too high at about 3-4 times a week, but no noticeable tolerance build up, I still nod out taking 600mg subliminal unless I have some caffeine with it (weird given it's rep for rapid tolerance build up, no issues when I stop using for a week or 2 either).

I love GABA, but scared of benzo dependency, my DOC is Pregab, I've been taking it recreationally weekly for ~10 months, it's an amazing base for lots of different combos and I use that a lot when I binge going through multiple different combos with it in a single day but may fav is with diazepam (it stops the hyperactivity phase) and cannabis , but then also add methedrone/cocaine/alcohol/caffeine/ketamine in the mix through the day depending on mood - NOTE I'm very experienced with these drugs, understand half lifes & dosing well, have carefully titrated doses up when I combo them while keeping trip logs so I can establish safe baselines based on my own body. Please don't start dicking about with these combos unless you know what you are doing & the risks, there's real danger in the mix here with CNS stacking, some of these are additive and some potentiate each other.

I think I've recently reset pregab back to baseline after a tolerance break, and will be cutting down usage going forward to prevent tolerance build up. Plan is to add in psychedelics at threshold level instead as a safer alternative.

I've been binging far too often when life is tough and for fun, have cut back on these sessions and aim to do it no more than once a month or 2 as a big treat.

Target rotation plan - Generally these are all at threshold/low doses unless I'm binging

Right now I'm taking more than this I would like but starting to implement this plan after a months GABA break. Cocaine has to date been an occasional treat once every 3 months or so.

My honest goal with all this is to make this a long term sustainable life style choice, I'm complementing my drug use with nootropics to help reduce drug usage further, but I have no intention to stop taking drugs, I know the risks, I'm taking drugs for fun not to mask any mental issues. I think my alcohol use has been driven by undiagnosed mild ADHD, I'm on a waiting list for diagnosis, but experimenting with ADHD nootropics seems to have a very positive effect at work so far, generally if I do have ADHD I don't . The move from alcohol is also done for health reasons, drugs are simply less harmful. Have tried amphetamines but don't feel they fit in with my usage needs, I don't find them as much fun recreationally as other drugs.

Don't ever want or plan to start using opiods or meth, have tried and like Kratom very much but using it's not an option sadly given home situation.

I'm exercising more and eating better both of which are helping reduce drug use. Drug use is also help me eat less and coupled with exercise lose weight.

So in summary I'm an informed idiot who's addicted to being high but wants to try and do it in a safe way.

any advice? please give me double barrels!

I had a chart like that in like the 9th grade -- it was pretty lofty. looked something like

Pot - Daily
Ritalin/speed - Monday
Tues - Benzo's
Wed -- Muscle relaxers
- Thursday - Alcohol
Friday - Mushrooms/tripping
saturday - cocaine
Sunday is the sabboth -- so whatever I feel like I would enjoy most. (MDMA is what was wrote down I believe)

Being an adult that simply isnt sourceable/affordable/physically possible (For me at least) --- I just try and keep a balance of the few substances I do use..... Right now I am cutting down on pot a bit for 420 so my sub and benzo use is a little up for example

PS -- at the time I was growing up with top notch hydro weed harvesting like a few lbs a month --- I had 1 oz per day wrote down as how much pot I wanted to smoke lmao. 8 blunts a day was the plan if I recall -- Silly but I remember having dreams! (Glad I did not accomplish these particular ones...but still)

 

[placebonaut]

Hmm, the psychedelic doses seem quite frequent. Although psychedelics are usually significantly less of a problem than other classes when it comes to addiction.

yeah they are, i'm not sure what I'm doing with them yet to be honest, but my current thinking is to micro dose or just hit threshold, not a full on trip.

and so far all I'm done is 2C-B, but my thinking is very much that they are less harmful, so better to swap out for other things even at a light dose with weed it's a worthwhile buzz and seems to be a workable alternative.

”Im only allowed to take pregabalin the last friday of each month, if I dont take it that day I dont have the option until next months last friday”

Type of rule, might work better than leaving the option open to taking it whenever you want any day of the month.

that's kinda how this plays out, fun days are Weds & Saturday, I rotate which drug I use each week, ~8 different drugs means I take each 1 once a month. then use the less harmful things in between