Anxiolytic effect from amphetamines?

[Burnt Offerings]

I was just curious about this topic. I've been diagnosed on a few occasions with anxiety disorders and such, but generally it isn't that bad. I've taken benzodiazepines and I think they're actually very effective even at very low doses in my experience. They are probably the best for panic attacks. But lately I've found that amphetamine drugs also provide me with an anxiolytic effect comparable to, and maybe better than benzodiazepines. The reason I say that is because with benzos sometimes I'll be not anxious at all but I'll also be in a warm brain fog where I don't really care about anything too much and I don't get much done, whereas the amphs eliminate the generalized anxiety/social anxiety but still makes your head feel "sharp" & is better for accomplishing tasks. I've heard that people with anxiety often find amphetamines helpful because anxiety disorders and OCD are a common comorbidity but I don't know.

 

[AlphaMethylPhenyl]

I can definitely relate

 

[mr druggles]

Sometimes amphetamine reduces or eliminates my anxiety but some times it makes it worse

 

[_DankOpiAmp_]

This is why amphetamines can be the ultimate drug. They calm you while enhancing your physical and mental performance. Rather than zoning you out like benzo's you actually get a calm and collected confidence.

Tolerance to this occurs rapidly however. There comes a point when increasing dose simply causes anxiety though.

 

[RecoveringPothead]

A couple years ago I was prescribed Adderall for ADD and it basically cured my social anxiety by boosting my confidence level until I talked too much about nothing but it only increased my anxiety after it wore off. Ultimately I decided to stop taking it because of my addictive personality. I would keep using up my script way too soon then felt like absolute shit and could get nothing done.

Klonopin works for me. I take 2 to 3 mg per day and it works so well part of me wants to stay on it forever but part of me thinks I'd function better without it. I just dread the withdrawals because I've been on this crap for probably 5 years now (Fuck where did the time go) but I have pretty bad short term memory even when I haven't smoked pot or drank for a while so overall its something I wish I never took.

 

[Webbleson]

I too agree that Amphetamines are superior to benzodiazepines in regards to anxiolytic function. In fact, I get more anxiety coming up on my 15mg temazepam than I do peaking 30mg of d-amp. Here's the thing, both relieve anxiety; now choose: productivity or sleep..

 

[FrogWarrior]

Productivity (amphetamine) then sleep (temazepam). Only occasionally take the benzo though. I rack up different sleep aids so I never become physically dependent on any one of them. d-amp is physically addictive in the long run though, have to be careful.

 

[HCL]

Stimulants can make their users feel confident and powerful, which is, of course, the opposite of anxiety. They can also cause panic attacks.

The above applies to caffeine, methamphetamine, and everything in between.

 

[Jagdfeld]

I too agree that Amphetamines are superior to benzodiazepines in regards to anxiolytic function. In fact, I get more anxiety coming up on my 15mg temazepam than I do peaking 30mg of d-amp. Here's the thing, both relieve anxiety; now choose: productivity or sleep..

I've never really understood why, but I can completely relate to this.

Thought I was weird in that regard but interesting to see others who experience the same.

 

[neurotic]

Stimulants can make their users feel confident and powerful, which is, of course, the opposite of anxiety.

yes that's what i think. when i'm on coke or MPH i get very confident so social anxiety becomes nearly zero, i end up wanting to talk people ears off without thinking twice, and sometimes even end up becoming too confident. but still, at least to me, that only applies to social anxiety (because it's actually an increased confidence) not general anxiety/stress. i mean if you're stressed out about something, being amped up only leaves me more paranoid and anxious. at high enough doses, i can become anxious and paranoid out of nowhere and start worrying about everything.

edit: comparting to benzos, which imo will reduce all anxiety and make you just not care imo

 

[CorneliusDutchman]

I remember when my anxiety first started becoming a significant problem in my life, I dabbled with benzos (which helped immensely), but I couldn't get a script and didn't have any reliable source for them on the street. I happened to also start experimenting with amphetamines at the time, and they made me so confident and talkative and productive, I thought I had magically cured my anxiety. Unfortunately, the anxiolytic effects left me as I came down and the anxiety came back with a vengeance. So I would redose the amps and the crash brought the anxiety back. Long story short, this lead to a four year addiction to amphetamines. Now, mind you, I've been addicted to amps, benzos, prescription opiates, and heroin. The god awful truth is, the amps were the worst. I still have lasting damage from the years where I took them. Not even heroin had me breaking into houses, but the amps had me regularly breaking into homes where I knew there were ADD/ADHD meds. It also caused nerve damage so now I cannot hold my hands still, which has made me incapable of performing any task by hand requiring precision and care. My tremors are embarrassing and have never stopped despite almost a year off of the amps. It was so bad I was taking upwards of 400mg of Vyvanse at a time and snorting literally as much Adderal as I could fit in my nose (about 100mg at a time), staying awake for days on end with little food. At night I would regularly lapse into psychosis, having vivid hallucinations only to snap out of it and find that none of it really happened. I was six feet tall and 120 pounds on a good day, dropping into the teens when on a particularly nasty binge.

Now, I medicate myself with alprazolam and clonazepam, finding the former effective for panic attacks and the latter good for keeping me calm for longer periods. These drugs took my college grades from failing to A's. My point is, amps can be a dangerous way to relieve anxiety. Everyone is different and I doubt most people who use uppers for the anxiolytic effects will take the path I did, but it's a path that is there. I don't take benzos to the point of an apathetic haze, but maybe that's because of the severity of my anxiety (I'm diagnosed with a psychiatric condition that manifests in depression, anxiety, and obsessive compulsive disorder, among other things). Anyway, I'm starting to ramble here so I'll cut myself off.

tl;dr: Amps can lead to crippling addiction and make you come out worse off than when you started, and I am a perfect example. Be careful with them. Benzos are addictive and the withdrawals are among the very worst, but to me they have not damaged me the way amps did.

NOTE: There are no exaggerations here, that story is 100% true

Stay safe everyone

 

[_DankOpiAmp_]

^I know for a fact benzodiazepines cause lasting tremors from the nerve damage they cause. One of my friends always shakes. What makes you think it was the amps?