Stimulants Gabapentinoid use in stimulant (meth) addiction

[Fourofakind]

6Hi, I have been using methamphetamine for aprox. 10 years, always daily use, with around 6 rest of aprox. 4 months each one between the 10 years. I used to do all kind of drugs between this time, and most times have polydrug dependence.

Im actually using meth daily, pregab 3 times per week, and clonazepam 2mg when i dont take pregab.

I have been experencing when i use pregan instead of clonazepam, im MUCH MORE able to control my meth use, generally i wake up, take my pregabs, wait aprox 30 min, then take my first food, after that, i start smoking methamphetamine.

The pregabs really make much more soft the stimulant effects, its more helpful than benzos, the difference is that in benzos anxiety reduction i end smoking more methamphetamine than i really need, maybe becouse is hard to get overstimulated,. A difference with pregabalin, I can easily smoke more than desired if i want, it even increases the general experience wellbeing, and maybe the recreational effects, but feel much more in control and the cravings mostly dissapear after few hits of meth, I can continue and end my day being productive, without any depression or anxiety, using one third part of meth that i used to do before.

Its possible that pregabalin is helping me with my addiction?, im not searching to quit the stimulants, but always desired to use lower doses, so i can sleep 8 hours daily without a need of knock out shit like quetiapine or alcohol, i was using mirtazapine to help at sleep, but i dont need it if i use pregabs.

I notice a that appetite is much better with pregabs, helps much more than weed or any other drug, any other drug doesnt help me to eat after stimulant use, but pregabs... they kick after i use my dose of meth, and 1 hour after my first food, and im able to eat again if needed, and trough the day im eating much normally, like if im not using meth, without any effort, im enjoying again to eat.

Anyone has experienced similar effects?, im impressed in how this drug have improved my life quality, it quit the craving of any drug, incluide meth redosing, i can work better without the devil in my head asking for a redose, i feel even happier and not loosing weight. Im using this since 10 Oct 2023, after a 15 week sober, and its really doing the difference, even in the economical side.

I know about fast tolerance and dependence risk, but im thinking about use it daily a month to watch and compare my drugs use, sleep patterns, eating, and other important things when pregab is helping so much, like mental health and welbeing,

Any similar or different experience with gbapendinoids and methamphetamine chronic use?

Thank you for share your experience.

I hope all of you are great and send you all a lot of blessings ,

Sorry for my redaction, english is not my native language.

Interesant read if you want, and related to discussion: https://www.ibroneuroscience.org/article/S0306-4522(10)01553-8/fulltext

 

[Vastness]

Hmm... it's sketchy. Using any drug to counter the negative effects of another is almost always very sketchy and probably inadvisable. I don't think it's "helping your stimulant addiction" as such, since it's really just giving you a way to feel better about keeping on using a very harmful stimulant. Obviously it is mitigating some of the negatives. This probably is a good thing in the short term, for sure, in terms of your general health and subjective wellbeing.

It's almost certainly not sustainable however. If you were using it with the intention of gradually reducing and ideally eventually stopping using meth entirely it would probably be a good thing.

But the plan you have, to just start using pregabalin daily so that you can keep on using meth daily is not a good one, you're just creating another polydrug addiction.

The benefits of pregabalin will decline, rebound anxiety will be greater, and your already impaired reward system will just become more and more impaired. Many GABAergics and especially pregabalin (and clonazepam, IME) have a strong dopaminergic component to their effects which is no doubt partly why you feel less need to use meth - but this effect will not last, your natural dopamine release will continue to decline and quite honestly I think you'll end up ramping up your meth use over time even if you don't increase your dose of pregabalin.

 

[Fourofakind]

Thanks for the advice, it seems clearly reasonable and understand the dangers of doing this without special careful.

Right now, im using pregabalin in the same schedule, not thinking about daily use soon, and like you said, im not doing it at the moment becouse the tolerance effect of pregabalin are unsustaineable, recently i approached this weekend and the monday off from my work to stop any amphetamine use, and i see its much more hepful related to my methamphetamine required dose to get the effects im searching, withoud add any other drug.

Im not thinking about stop it completely in short term, becouse ritalin doesnt help me near the amphetamines, only one legal amphetamine available is Vyvvanse, and is 4 times more expensive to get a private medical attention, and fill the script for the vyvanse treatment, my methamphetamine daily use is costing me $10 daily, and vyvvanse is around $25 daily plus the private medical follow each 15-30 days, that is $15-30 daily more, so im thinking about try to replace partially or full with modafinil, that works much better for me than ritalin, and is much more easier in my body and budget, but i havent tried it in years, i will be trying it with low doses and see how i feel with lower doses of meth too, as far i remember, it helped me to be much more in attention tasks, not much for a mood relief, without the re-dose desire of methamp, it really worths, at least the time i used both.

I appreciate your opinion, it makes so much sense.

I would like to read another experiences and opinions if possible,

 

[snmfmy]

Thanks for the advice, it seems clearly reasonable and understand the dangers of doing this without special careful.

Right now, im using pregabalin in the same schedule, not thinking about daily use soon, and like you said, im not doing it at the moment becouse the tolerance effect of pregabalin are unsustaineable, recently i approached this weekend and the monday off from my work to stop any amphetamine use, and i see its much more hepful related to my methamphetamine required dose to get the effects im searching, withoud add any other drug.

Im not thinking about stop it completely in short term, becouse ritalin doesnt help me near the amphetamines, only one legal amphetamine available is Vyvvanse, and is 4 times more expensive to get a private medical attention, and fill the script for the vyvanse treatment, my methamphetamine daily use is costing me $10 daily, and vyvvanse is around $25 daily plus the private medical follow each 15-30 days, that is $15-30 daily more, so im thinking about try to replace partially or full with modafinil, that works much better for me than ritalin, and is much more easier in my body and budget, but i havent tried it in years, i will be trying it with low doses and see how i feel with lower doses of meth too, as far i remember, it helped me to be much more in attention tasks, not much for a mood relief, without the re-dose desire of methamp, it really worths, at least the time i used both.

I appreciate your opinion, it makes so much sense.

I would like to read another experiences and opinions if possible,

Gabapentin (and likely pregabalin) inhibit the release of norepinephrine through modulation of extra synaptic delta-GABAAR.

Gabapentin increases expression of δ subunit-containing GABAA receptors

Gabapentin is a structural analog of the inhibitory neurotransmitter γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA). Its anticonvulsant, analgesic and anxiolytic properties suggest that it increases GABAergic inhibition; however, the molecular basis for these effects ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

amelioration of NE release or transport dampens the effect