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Harm Reduction If you take a high dose of speed, can alcohol help lower your heart rate?

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Stimlover22

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Say you took a high dose of speed and your heart rate is fast, would downing a couple shots of liquor (40%alc) help bring your HR down a notch or two?
I know for the most part, ethanol and benzos act on the same receptors and both are CNS depressant, so i'd guess this would work, or would it not?
 
Alcohol is a vasodilator so in theory it could bring HR down by countering the vasoconstriction induced by a stimulant. However if the stim dose was very high you may require a lot more than a "couple shots" of hard liquor to overpower the stim. Benzos are more efficient in these situations because they selectively dilate (as adenosine reuptake inhibitors) coronary arteries, causing a HR drop even a low doses.
 
Combining downers and uppers doesn't make your heart equal out or anything. More like it's pulling it in opposite directions.

Instead of this:

---> <---

You have this:

<--- --->
 
not true at all^

there's a thread here on BL about it. apparently that's a common misconception as your body doesnt work like that.

I believe it's because its the CNS system being affected and not the cardio vascular system but i could be wrong.
 
If you mean this thread:

http://www.bluelight.org/vb/threads...-Downers-is-Bad-quot-The-Common-Misconception

No post is really about the effects it has on your heart. Yeah it will slow down your heart rate, so yes to the OP, but there was nothing in that thread that would make me think differently.

I'm not saying your going to die or OD or whatever if you do, plus uppers and downers is very vague, but I can't possibly see how it could be somehow healthier than taking one drug and then the other after they wear off.
 
Combining uppers and downers is not inherently bad for you (no more than consuming one or the other at separate times) - the problem arises because you're able to handle a higher dose of each drug increasing your chance of an OD. This is why speedballs are so deadly, the cocaine has a shorter effect than heroin and when it wears off you're left with a potentially lethal dose of heroin in your system.

To answer OP, alcohol will take the 'edge' off, but its effect on dopamine makes it a poor choice versus benzodiazepines.
 
pinpoint said:
To answer OP, alcohol will take the 'edge' off, but its effect on dopamine makes it a poor choice versus benzodiazepines.
Click to expand...

It's not about uppers vs downers. Coronary vasodilation is a property specific to benzos that is not directly related to their CNS depression effect. Use of certain benzos as heart disease meds was once considered but ultimately the idea was rejected in favor of less sedative alternatives, such as clonidine (Catapres) and similar molecules. ER's may still use quick-onset benzos for this purpose though, when sedation and rapid action is deemed beneficial to treat coronary HBP in various emergency situations.
 
Short answer, no. From what I understand alcohol may actually increase vasoconstriction in conjunction with stimulants. Some say this is only a problem with high doses of alcohol and that low doses may actually dilate blood vessels but I can't confirm that, and I wouldn't wanna take that gamble if cardio side-effects are already bad enough that I'm looking for remedies. Aside from that, I also found this... sounds counterproductive.

Using ethanol together with amphetamine can increase the risk of cardiovascular side effects such as increased heart rate, chest pain, or blood pressure changes. You should avoid or limit the use of alcohol while being treated with amphetamine.
Click to expand...

http://www.drugs.com/food-interactions/amphetamine-dextroamphetamine,adderall.html
 
Alcohol causes vasoconstriction in high doses, as well as rebound vasoconstriction at any dose. Feel free to look it up if you don't believe me. Alcohol users are also at a significantly higher risk of developing chronic hypertension.
 
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How high of a dose are we talking? Is that relevant to the OP?

Hunter thompson may have had a scotch on the rocks to balance his speed for example.
 
You honestly think HST, one of the most notorious reckless heavy drug users, would give a damn what his vitals were when taking these types of combos? Sure it will help you come down and take the edge off a rough comedown but that says nothing for what it will do for your vitals. It kinda doesn't matter how many drinks inherently cause hypertension as the rebound vasoconstriction will get you in the end anyway.

Ethanol has a short duration of action and is metabolized rather quickly so it won't be long before rebound kicks in unless you keep drinking, and if you do your gonna deal with hypertension from heavy drinking. I'm not gonna bother digging through studies at 4am but according to the page below three drinks alone raises BP.

This is all aside from the fact that the combo of alcohol and amphetamine raises blood pressure. Point is that drinking alcohol to relieve tachycardia and hypertension caused by amphetamine is a pretty bad idea. The interaction is clearly stated in that link above on probably the most popular site on drug interactions.

http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-...re/expert-answers/blood-pressure/faq-20058254

Just to add, although a rather unlikely outcome, here's a case report of a healthy 20 year old who suffered a heart attack after 60mgs of amphetamine and an undisclosed amount of whisky.

http://m.jabfm.org/content/22/2/197.full
 
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PeaceOfPast said:
Hhhmm. Alcohol is definitely a vasodilator.
Click to expand...

At low doses. It's a vasoconstrictor at higher doses. I have no idea what the dose cutoff is for vasodilation, though, despite spending plenty of time looking for that information.
 
^ look at that mayo clinic link in my post, 3 drinks... though i also saw "2-4 drinks" as well as a 1mmhg BP increase per 10 grams of alcohol... but I'm fairly positive the latter was a chronic increase in BP with regular administration. I guess I lied when I said I wouldn't dig through any studies =D.

Edit: I'm sorry, that's when hypertension begins. Can't say I'd be surprised if that's a result of vasoconstriction, but I can't find a solid answer either.
 
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I've heard 3 drinks previously, but never seen the evidence backing it up. It likely depends on a lot of factors, but I think it's safe to say if you're getting drunk it's acting like a vasoconstrictor.
 
There's 7 references on that page. Don't care to scour through them myself though... Mayo Clinic is far too well established to put out unfounded claims.
 
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