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Counteracting pupil dilation through supplementation

Renz Envy

Renz Envy

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Sep 29, 2010
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I am the kind of person with pupils in which dilate very easily. While sober they are normally larger than normal and under the influence of my medication (40mg vyvanse) people tell me I look as if I am rolling or high on meth.

As far as I understand pupil dilation is the result of a certain receptor.

I would like to know if there is a compound that can be used to shrink the pupils. As I cannot wear contacts due to having fairly dry eyes.

My pupils have gotten me into a number of bad situations at work even while sober.
 
Well off the top of my head, choline supplementation might be a good idea to keep the parasympathetic nerves well stocked. Perhaps coloured contacts are a more reliable fix though?
 
If you have a legit rx for stimulants, you should have nothing to worry about, tell people who think you have big pupils to fuck off.

There are no drugs that "reverse" pupil dialation, without significantly interfering with your amphetamines, sorry. The general consensus I have heard is that pupillary dialation is caused by norepinephrine release/activity at adrenergic receptors.

Contact lenses are really your only option. Choline supplements are unlikely to help if you're on amphetamines, & the only drugs off the top of my head hat cause small pupils are all abusable opioids.

Again, if you have a rx for a drug whose side effect is pupillary dialation, I don't see why that's a problem... nor do I see how that would affect your sober pupils.
 
Renz Envy said:
As I cannot wear contacts due to having fairly dry eyes.
Click to expand...

I read this as though you were implying contact lenses would lessen the pupillary dilation ?
I wear lenses and like to trip now and then and I can tell you, my pupils are the size of those black holes at the center of galaxies... .

On a sidenote, I have noticed that when I remove my lenses and check my pupils (not tripping) they are larger than normal. I would guess because they catch less light, hence blow themselves up to take more light in ?
 
I honestly think it's the reason I lost my previous job. I was sober for months and people were still making comments about how large my pupils were. People didn't want to be friends with me, because they thought I was a drug addict. (Didn't use vyvanse).

I would always make the same comment 2 or 3 times a week, "Oh nah, my eyes are always like this." and typically making eye contact with my boss was unnerving, because she would stare into my eyes like she thought she knew something. But I wasn't terminated for failing a drug test, it was much shadier and underhanded.
 
I think that's getting into the realm of employment law. Having large pupils is not a crime.

Then again in an at-will employment state, your boss could fire you because he didn't like your haircut, and as long as he never mentions that it's OK.

Perhaps you can look into cholinergic eyedrops? My knowledge of the pupil is that ACh will constrict it (atropine = blown pupils), and NE will dialate it. So perhaps an antihypertensive combined with a cholinergic?
 
Opioids are by far not the answer. Being strung out on drugs, to avoid looking stung out on drugs, is totally opposite what you're trying to accomplish.
 
This would be a really useful find if there was a way to counteract this. Having also been cursed with pupils that dilate easily, this is something I've wondered about.
Anyone look into pilocarpine eye drops ? Never tried it but it might work - dunno about side effects though.
 
One of my best friends has a brother, with some condition where, he always has mydriasis. Seriously looks like he's on 10 tabs of acid, and 3 rolls at all times. People never assume he's high, I've only heard of a few people asking if he was under the influence. I think alot of it is the way you carry yourself, more than the dilated pupils. He is a pretty sober cat(unlike his brother), so when he looks into someone's eyes he doesn't get anxious or tense. If they still ask, he says whatever his condition is called and that's it.

However if you're afraid people are going to think you're high on drugs(because you are; legal or not), and you act real uncomfortable with eye contact, you're going to come across as a liar or hiding something. You're going to strike people the wrong way, because you're self concious about your pupils and how they relate to drugs of abuse. Perhaps other things in your appearance hint towards drug use/tolerance of use, and that further makes you nervous about the pupils.

I see it this way, instead of finding a way to shrink your pupils, you need to either: A.) Straight up not give a fuck that your pupils are dilated from your prescribed medication, or B.) Learn about some disease that would make your pupils dilated.


I have a d-amp script, whether or not I actually have a legit reason for them is questionable, but some doctor decided I had ADD so now they all give me refills. Occaisonally, and honestly not sure why, I will get massssssivvveee pupils. Like as bad as buddy's brother I was talking about. When/If I get asked about them, I reply with something very blunt. "Yeah my medication does it sometimes." You're prescribed drugs, and having big pupils isn't a hazard... unless you really like bright lights or something. Hell on the contrary, dilated pupils are a sign of attraction. You could probably wheel mad bitties with your dilated eyes :)
 
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I think the third piece of the puzzle is that 5-HT2a agonism (don't cite me on this) also dialates pupils. That would explain serotonergics dialating pupils much more than "plain" monoamine releasers.

I do know that topically applied adrenergics are used to dialate pupils, also cocaine, so there has to be some credence to the NE theory too.

It was also my understanding that the NE-release-induced dialation is actually counteracted by opioids and is what causes them to constrict pupils in normal use.
 
wether or not it is helpful when i drop cid my eyes swell up like pennies but weed usually helps shrink also with my perscription adderall, 2, 30mg
 
Be proud of your dilated pupils. Belladonna, which is known to dilate pupils, have this name because in Italian it means Beautiful Woman. It was used back in the centuries by women to dilate their pupils and look more attractive. I personally love people with dilated pupils, they even seem subconsciously more trustworthy to me than people with pinpoint pupils. I am on MMT and i would love to have pupils like yours! Stop being so self conscious about it!!!

best wishes!!!
 
With some its so much more noticable, like my red head brother with green eyes. I dont want to get high with him because I dont want him to get caught.
Also, when he looks at me its like he can see directly into my soul... Not a good line of thought on high dose meth lol.

Prob be a silly question but if its caused by NE, cant you antagonize NE while leaving dopamine flowing as preferred?

Lastly with the work situation, while you are safe from law, you are at risk of people making up their minds about you like not trusting you or deciding you need to gmo without you knowing and thus they make it happen in a legit way.
It can screw up your career and you cant do nothing about it really... Office politics can make your life hell. And I have studied this shit. The unsaid things are the most dangerous and most work peers and superiors that matter dont mention things like thinking you are on drugs, leaving you in an undefended position. And you cant bring it first either, just in case.
 
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Clonidine is often prescribed together with dexamphetamine to reduce certain side-effects although I am not sure which. It helps regulate catecholamines although I am afraid that includes dopamine.

The reason you are taking Vyvanse is for the same thing that causes the mydriasis. Opiates are a bad idea for a number of reasons but they would compensate that specific effect, not counteract it. Counteracting monoamine release means cancellation of catecholamine action so I am not sure if you can have your cake and eating it, too.

I would agree though that adding more drugs is asking for trouble, often substituting one side-effect for another. You are advised against this, and I only posted about clonidine because it is prescribed that way so I hope I can safely assume that means they are not wildly contraindicated. Tread very carefully before making any rash decisions. I'm sure there are far worse things than comments on dilated pupils so don't get yourself into trouble.
 
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Pupil dilation is a neutral effect of intoxication.

The only way to counteract this is advanced psychologic or physiological study or medical experitise.

Translation: get some eyedrops.
 
The only eyedrops I am aware of that affect pupil size is the classic belladonna drops, and they dilate.

What do you mean?
 
What I mean is that eye dillation is neither positive nor negative. Given the amount of work and expertise to counter act dillation it would be ineffective. Therefore within the given scenario the most effective option is over the counter eyedrops. For future reference my posts are as is. I can't waste my time arguing them. And I have never heard of any "classic belladona eyedrops". Sorry.
 
"Over the counter eye drops" can be a variety of things, none of which will actually help.

If you mean the saline lubricating eye drops that are meant to lubricate dry eyes, those will do nothing of use.
If you are talking about shit like Rohtos/Clear-Eyes, those are optical vasoconstrictors that will help stop red eye but not much else. (adrenergic a1 agonists) These will not effect purpil diameter.

Soli is talking about the eyedrops used opthamalically (not OTC I don't think) that contain, for instance, anticholinergics like tropicamide (short acting) and atropine (long acting) that are used to dialate the pupil. These are used regularly, to e.g. image the cornea and retinas.
There are also of course eye drops like lidocaine, bupivicaine etc (anesthetics) and e.g prednisolone (corticosteroid anti-inflammatories) too.

Unfortunately there are few drugs that are considered to reverse pupillary dialation. Certainly nothing OTC will help.
 
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