Harm Reduction GHB Anxiety Help

[boycottaquarius]

hi first post here so sorry if i make any mistakes. i have narcolepsy and have been prescribed xywav on and off since last september with varying levels of success. it worked really well with minimum side effects for a month. i got my life back. i was about to get my first job. im 26 and have never had a job, had to leave high school early, and have no friends because of this condition. i was showering and exercising daily. i got up to 3g twice a night and then suddenly began experiencing severe, debilitating anxiety during the day. i dropped down to 2.25g x2 (the starting dose) and was still experiencing the daytime anxiety. i started on mirtazapine and buspirone and that worked for a while....until it didnt and i was back to being bedridden. the anxiety is very physical, its almost akathisia. the issue is i need to be on this medication. if i dont get it to work i wont have a life and will eventually end up on the streets. does anyone have any suggestions on how to reduce the discomfort i feel during the day? i take magnesium at night, on 10mg lexapro, and take l theanine upon waking. i plan on starting NAC and vit b6 supplements. my mom got me some adderall and i am going to experiment to see if that reduces the discomfort since i have used stimulants to stop panic attacks in the past (i also have ADHD). PLEASE help, i am willing to try ANYTHING

 

[Snafu in the Void]

Welcome to BL

as I'm sure you are already aware, GHB is physically addictive, which may explain your daytime anxiety. Out of curiosity, when do you take your doses? both at night?

However, I think something else could be to blame.

Personally, I have had extreme paradoxical reactions to l-theanine while physically dependent on alcohol or other gabaergics like benzos/GHB. It produces the opposite expected effect, extreme anxiety and physical agitation. This might be what is going on with you.

I suggest stop taking the l-theanine and see if it helps.

This may involve some troubleshooting steps, to see what may be causing the anxiety or exacerbating the GHB daytime rebound effects.

I would also advise you avoid NAC until we figure this out. It has some potent neurochemical effects and also gave me some extreme anxiety in combination with other inane drugs, such as glycine. NAC also blocks the effects of adderall.

Also, what type of magnesium do you take?

 

[boycottaquarius]

Welcome to BL

as I'm sure you are already aware, GHB is physically addictive, which may explain your daytime anxiety. Out of curiosity, when do you take your doses? both at night?

However, I think something else could be to blame.

Personally, I have had extreme paradoxical reactions to l-theanine while physically dependent on alcohol or other gabaergics like benzos/GHB. It produces the opposite expected effect, extreme anxiety and physical agitation. This might be what is going on with you.

I suggest stop taking the l-theanine and see if it helps.

This may involve some troubleshooting steps, to see what may be causing the anxiety or exacerbating the GHB daytime rebound effects.

I would also advise you avoid NAC until we figure this out. It has some potent neurochemical effects and also gave me some extreme anxiety in combination with other inane drugs, such as glycine. NAC also blocks the effects of adderall.

Also, what type of magnesium do you take?

yes i take it twice a night.
ill try stopping the l theanine to see if it makes a difference, though i only started taking it a week ago. when i originally started the xywav i wasnt taking any extra supplements.
i take magnesium glycinate
tysm for responding. i dont understand why it turned on me after a month. i even took multiple breaks from it for a week or two at a time and it still was fucking me up when i went back on it

 

[Snafu in the Void]

Yeah try switching to a different magnesium. I had horrible anxiety reactions to magnesium glycinate. Magnesium taurate works best for me.

 

[boycottaquarius]

Yeah try switching to a different magnesium. I had horrible anxiety reactions to magnesium glycinate. Magnesium taurate works best for me.

ok ill try that! do you have any insight as to whats causing the anxiety? ive seen a lot of terms thrown around like glutamate storm and dopamine rebound but im not sure whats true or even what all that means

 

[brokedownpalace10]

You get a dopamine rebound after taking GHB. I used to utilize it for sleep on one night a week where I could only get about 4 hours sleep. As I see you are finding, you wake up after about 4 hours wide awake. Dopamine rebound. That worked very well for me for a long time until usage creeped up a bit. I started waking up after a couple hours and eventually needed to redose multiple times just to get 4 hours sleep. The dopamine rebound the next day started to feel miserable.

I think that's actually the mechanism for the beginning of GHB addiction.

 

[boycottaquarius]

You get a dopamine rebound after taking GHB. I used to utilize it for sleep on one night a week where I could only get about 4 hours sleep. As I see you are finding, you wake up after about 4 hours wide awake. Dopamine rebound. That worked very well for me for a long time until usage creeped up a bit. I started waking up after a couple hours and eventually needed to redose multiple times just to get 4 hours sleep. The dopamine rebound the next day started to feel miserable.

I think that's actually the mechanism for the beginning of GHB addiction.

well the xywav pharmacy says you cant get addicted taking it as prescribed...are they lying? lol
and is dopamine rebound too much dopamine or too little? i could go on wellbutrin since it helps my ADHD anyways and the stimulant doses i have to be on for narcolepsy are too high to help with the adhd

 

[Snafu in the Void]

well the xywav pharmacy says you cant get addicted taking it as prescribed...are they lying?

Yes. It is insanely addictive even if taken as prescribed.

Pharma companies lie. Perdue pharma convinced an entire nation that oxycodone is not addictive. They convinced a whole generation that benzos aren't addictive.

However, I'm not trying to discourage you from taking it. That's just the reality of the situation. If it helps your condition and helps you function, it's worth it. I've had episodes of narcolepsy, I know how disabling it is.

is dopamine rebound too much dopamine or too little?

Too little. GABAerics tend to indirectly release dopamine. Your body recognizes it has too much dopamine, so it makes less in an attempt to balance. Then you wake up and have less dopamine than normal.

 

[cdin]

ok ill try that! do you have any insight as to whats causing the anxiety? ive seen a lot of terms thrown around like glutamate storm and dopamine rebound but im not sure whats true or even what all that means

It's certainly rebound from the GHB. your doctor is stupid if he doesn't understand the physical addiction properties / rebound anxiety risk. I'm not sure where you should go from here - thats for you and (maybe a new) doctor. I get CRIPPLING DT like symptoms on the rebound of waking up from a sleep dose of GHB. it is not pleasant. any history of benzo or alchohol dependence will for sure make this a worse problem.
Really sorry you are in this situation, I know what it is like to have a miraculous medication that turns out not to be so miraculous.