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How do opiates really effect our minds?

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Bojangles69

Bluelighter
Joined
May 20, 2009
Messages
1,758
This is something weird I've noticed about myself while on opiates and it bothers me because I produce trance and have loved music all my life like nothing else.
But I notice anytime I'm high on opiates music doesn't exist, I go sit in my studio and am not really moved or motivated by anything, and no ideas really come out. Yet last time I was getting off opiates I remember listening to music 24-7 and its starting to happen again. Is anyone else like this? I mean I'll listen to music in the car if I'm high but I don't really hear it is the thing, it plays more as background music and I'm emotionally distant from it.

I've always had this obsession with music (EDM/trance specifically) since the first time I heard it when I was like 11, and its almost like opiates ruin the genetic component that drives me towards music. Is that creativity or something? The genetic component? Or is there a region of our brain that actually responds to music? And gets dulled by opiates? I've noticed I'm back into looking for the latest releases, new djs, listening to music again as much as I can, and the lower I get on opiates the more emotional it makes me. Its such a good feeling though its one of those things that lets you know your becoming human again, and I really don't think you can hear music when you're high on any type of opiate. You'll here the noise, but you won't really hear the music. Really weird.

oh and heres a piece for all you opiate addicts trying to get clean:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7ptheJTc7o&feature=grec_index

Really one of my favorites.
 
That's crazy bro - I DJ and I love everything , literally , house is my favorite for sure when I get a good party but my personal favorite is hip hop. On opiates, my music ... eh fuck .. didn't care... clean - it's a huge part of my life , I'm blessed at this point, between training the odd person here and there , DJn a party I've managed to save / make money by doing what I love. NONE of this would happen with opiates.

When I would withdrawal - music felt SO real , some songs would literally have me crying with joy - or just tug my emotional strings - it was insane. Shit I even watched the notebook when I kicked methadone, and you know me brother, not exactly that type of guy LOL.
 
Interesting topic. I can relate on not experiencing music on opiates like I do whilst on a handful of other drugs -- most notably cannabinoids/pot (the others just aren't worth the crippling depression/anxious state they leave me in anymore after such a short high).

If this is your motivation to stay clean, by all means -- it's certainly a novel idea. Music is engrained in our very fiber as human beings.
 
theartofwar said:
When I would withdrawal - music felt SO real , some songs would literally have me crying with joy - or just tug my emotional strings - it was insane. Shit I even watched the notebook when I kicked methadone, and you know me brother, not exactly that type of guy LOL.
Click to expand...

See this is exactly what it is its like I haven't heard music in 20 years or something and never even realized it.
Something I use to do almost throughout my entire life like a ritual was wake up, go right to my computer and blast one of my favorite tracks. It was like an immediate high in the morning & sometimes I get stupid and start dancing when I'm still half a sleep, but its ALWAYS got me going in the mornings.

I can't remember the last time I've done that while on opiates. I never listen to music just to listen to music anymore I always have it playing in the background just to kill time or w/e if I'm driving or at the gym. But yeh I guess its really just the emotional aspect I've been catching myself watching the gayest shit on tv too like you said with notebook haha. I guess that means my bodies starting to really make adjustments now. Its sad when you notice this shit happening with things that you basically use to live for, and wonder what its also done to your relationships with people that you haven't noticed. Thats awesome that you do DJn I've considered it myself but I always wind up spending my money on new synths and what not for producing. =]
 
sipx said:
Interesting topic. I can relate on not experiencing music on opiates like I do whilst on a handful of other drugs -- most notably cannabinoids/pot (the others just aren't worth the crippling depression/anxious state they leave me in anymore after such a short high).

If this is your motivation to stay clean, by all means -- it's certainly a novel idea. Music is engrained in our very fiber as human beings.
Click to expand...

Yeh thats interesting too because I almost always smoke a bowl at nightime just to go to bed and I DO notice pot makes music sound a lot better, but because I'm always on opiates that "full connection" just is never really made. Like I hear the music on an more analytical level on pot, but the emotions for the most part still aren't there.
Its really crazy what drugs do to the brain man the older and older I get the more I feel like I just wanna get clean and go preach to little kids why they shouldn't do drugs and shit haha. And I would do it by handing out little bags of salvia to every teenager who just turned 13, I think after 2 minutes in a mindbending hell they'd never consider doing drugs again.
 
Hi Bojangles. Strangely, the simple fact that you posted a thread raised my mood, because of your post in my thread days ago. So lonely :( . <triggering>

I used to LOVE trance, but only a small fraction of what's out there.
I'd get sleep-deprived and listen to trance all night, the first hour I'd feel like I was on speed with a hint of MDMA-like emotions and sensations (I have not tried MDMA).

I like a fast beat but at the same time a good melody, not too beat-dominant. <triggering>(before I came to BL). Haven't done the former in ages though. (lol). The link... well it's not bad but it's not my favourite song, far from chill-inducing.

Check out
'ATA - blue skies - Temple one remix'
'Robert Nickson - Circles - Andy blueman remix'

When your feeling a little speedy, you might also enjoy
'Adam Kancerski - All Day Long'
'Adam Kancerski - Who is in Charge'
Tritonal and Adam Nickey have some good tracks too.

My memory is pretty fuzzy so I couldn't think of many awesome tracks. It's been a while.

ONTO THE QUESTION AND THE DRUGS

Most drugs have reduced my enjoyment of music in the long term. <triggering> One time I was feeling really lonely, combined weed with 200mg diphenhydramine and felt like I was in a bubble floating above a huge trance party (those giant stadium-sized ones) and people were looking at me curiously, as was I / them. Not a moment to forget.

Anyway, weed began dulling the music eventually, it would sound slow and crappy all the time. I had absolutely no appetite for music. Other drugs (mostly downers) also decreased my enjoyment of music. Seroquel neutralizes me so that I can enjoy most tracks but... that's all it is... enjoy. Opiates (which I have not done in a significant amount) will cover you in a blanket, as you know, which blocks external stimuli while providing its own euphoria, much like other drugs.
Music euphoria is slowly coming back to me, and I'm glad to hear it's coming back to you as well.

From what I hear opiates are not especially neurotoxic (if at all), but being in an opiate bubble for a long time is bound to cause some negative changes in your brain.

<3
 
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ya, once I got heavenly addicted to opiates i didnt give 2fcks about music. all i cared bout was getting high, so music didnt effect me anymore, i use to love listening to tupac or any gangster rap music while high but then i just drifted away from it.
 
I think opiates make me more confident to get up on stage (I play guitar) but they definitely don't affect my creativity or any aspect of my playing in a positive way.
I used to think that the high inspired me, and it seemed like it did for a while, for a while...
Eventually the search to get high outweighed my desire to jam with friends and then there was just a guitar in the room for chilling, but not really playing anything. The language all got swept up and simplified.
EDIT: It's called getting fucked up for a reason. That's the best way to put it in non-clinical terms.
 
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if you're a big blue whale and you can't get off the reef - creativity has reached it's pinnacle. sublime had it right with badfish man.
 
Yeah I can relate. Was massively into music and free parties. Opiates destroyed this interest. Music just didn't do anything for me anymore.

Now I'm clean though I get properly into again, goosebumps the lot.

Not sure why it causes this effect. It just overall dulled everything. No sex drive, couldnt get into films, music, books, etc. It removed any interest in anything I was ever passionate about or took pleasure in doing. Life became worthless and dull and the only thing I cared about was getting more heroin.
 
Bojangles69 said:
And I would do it by handing out little bags of salvia to every teenager who just turned 13, I think after 2 minutes in a mindbending hell they'd never consider doing drugs again.
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LOL!!! I used to believe that is was a government conspiracy making salvia legal so it put people off other drugs!
=D
 
Isn't there a video of Miley Cyrus smoking Salvia out of bong doing the rounds at the moment? :D
/off topic

I noticed that really pathetic things like certain commercials or shitty movies would have me on the verge of tears when I was detoxing. I think that opiates numb you out so much that you get a rush of emotion when you get the drugs out of your system.

Since I've been clean (5 weeks now), I've definitely got much more into music than when I was on Suboxone. I don't know if that's just because I've been listening to music while exercising and driving but I've definitely been feeling music much more.
 
ive seen nuclear (?) brain scans of different chronic substance users.
this is all subjective but... opioids did light damage to a 20 year abuser.
12 of heavy drinking was the most disturbing, compared to every thing else besides cannabis; cocaine, amps. mdxx want a thing really when i was shown this.

now how it effects your decision making process, and the toll it can be allowed to take physically is infamous.
 
panic in paradise said:
ive seen nuclear (?) brain scans of different chronic substance users.
this is all subjective but... opioids did light damage to a 20 year abuser.
12 of heavy drinking was the most disturbing, compared to every thing else besides cannabis; cocaine, amps. mdxx want a thing really when i was shown this.

now how it effects your decision making process, and the toll it can be allowed to take physically is infamous.
Click to expand...

I've seen some of those scans - made me respect my brain honestly.

Since then I have certainly opened my mind to what this world is and what can be accomplished.
 
After this horrendous trip that landed me in the ER, I was convinced I'd permenantly fried my brain. I'd had some anxiety and depression issues prior to this event but nothing anywhere near as bad. I'm still not sure if it caused the problems or merely 'awoke' them but I was very fucked up afterwards. I've always wanted to have a brain scan to see if there is any permanent damage but haven't ever really tried to get it done.

The incident linked above lead directly to opiate abuse as a form of self-medicaiton. I'm not sure what impact the opiate use has had on my head but after over five weeks clean of Suboxone and all opiates, I still can't sleep properly and wake up with a headache everyday. The only thing that really helps is exercise which gives me relief from these symptoms.

I suppose it's just PAWS but I really hope it only lasts a few months max as opposed to a few years which seems to happen to some people. I don't have any cravings but if I have to feel like this everyday I don't know how I'll be able to do 'normal' things like hold down a normal job, keep friends and have relationships.

Just gotta hope for the best!
 
ooh man i totally agree with you. when i was at my worst with heroin music really took a back seat in my life (like most things. :\) it wasnt until i got clean for a while and started getting into drugs like lsd and mdma that my appreciation and love for music really flourished and became important to me again.
 
Great point. A very large portion of the music i listen to repeatedly and love, I discovered during an opiate kick. During withdrawal, the euphoria I get from music is incredible.
 
*=Regulator=* said:
After this horrendous trip that landed me in the ER, I was convinced I'd permenantly fried my brain. I'd had some anxiety and depression issues prior to this event but nothing anywhere near as bad. I'm still not sure if it caused the problems or merely 'awoke' them but I was very fucked up afterwards. I've always wanted to have a brain scan to see if there is any permanent damage but haven't ever really tried to get it done.
Click to expand...

Reg- I'm pretty sure you haven't fried your brain. I have pretty regular panic attacks, and I can tell you that the attack itself can serve as a kind of seed-crystal around which other attacks happen. Once you have a really major panic attack- you're likely to have others. I'll bet you're not permanently damaged. I read your trip report and could actually relate (to a certain degree) what you went through. I find drug-induced panic attacks the worst of all.

My OWN opinion: opiates make anxiety/depression worse if taken for a long period of time. Maybe not everyone, but I'll bet it's more the rule than the exception. I always notice how worse my depression becomes when I'm on opiates for months at a time. It really takes a toll and things just get worse (of course) when I stop.
 
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