Marijuana, Pod Tea, and Advanced Neurology

[needshelpnow]

Hello Bluelight Members,

I've been an avid reader on this board for the past couple months or so, and I wanted to come here for some non-biased information as it relates to these particular drugs and the human brain as well as SWIM's own current situation.

Anyways, let me describe to you SWIM's current predicament and past history. I realize some of this will require a bit more than just a simple down to earth response, one that people may advise SWIM to see a psychiatrist/psychologist.. Well SWIM has, and unfortunately they are very bad at getting to the core problem & suspected particular brain deficiencies.. In SWIM's experience they just want to throw SSRI's etc. at the problem which normally effects a single neuro-transmitter and can take mass amounts of time with little success..

---

Over the past 2 years SWIM had been self medicating with the following regiment:

Marijuana (1 gram per day, split between 3 small vaporizer bowls taken at morning, mid-day, and night)
Poppy Pod Tea: 1 TBSP batch of Dried Powder per day, which would yield 3 cups then split between 1 cup at morning, lunchtime, and dinner) This is an extremely small amount, i know!

This leveled SWIM out VERY well, with some minor issues during use of 'up & down bipolarity' as SWIM would describe it... But now SWIM has been clean for roughly 50 days, and boy oh boy, are his mental problems exasperated x1000.. Admittedly, the first couple weeks were a lot worse, but now in SWIM's state of 'normality', he doesn't like what he's seeing/feeling in himself. SWIM realizes this dosage/drug regiment of marijuana/poppy tea were VERY low in comparison to most, so SWIM thinks he is well past the PAWS and now has several mental problems of some severity to face..

All of SWIM's life, he has used drugs as motivation. Something as simple as a single hit of Marijuana or a single beer before working, doing athletic activity, etc would always give him the extra kick of motivation he needed instead of often times feeling 'braindead' and demotivated. SWIM has always had the ability to visualize what he wanted to do, but not having the drive to do it. The pod tea/marijuana regiment leveled this out significantly and turned SWIM into a happy, high functioning person with a very high level of 'though clarity' and the new-found ability to enjoy 'the little things in life'.

Swim has always had a very hyper-active brain, which he had always had trouble with sleeping until going onto the pod tea regiment.. During the time of pod tea, SWIM was able to achieve 8 hours of deep sleep per night, wake up feeling completely refreshed, and go about the day.

SWIM has also been experiencing extreme compulsiveness & motivation/scattered/indecisiveness/ & brain fog issues since abstaining from these substances.. Along with what the doctors believe is excessive compulsive skin/acne picking and cognitive/memory problems along with for some reason an impulse to masturbate rather frequently. (please don't laugh! )... Not to mention SWIM hasn't really "slept" in the 50 days since quitting.

During the 2 year regiment on these substances life only got better for SWIM career wise..

To give a small family background, SWIM's fathers side of the family drink a lot of coffee and suffer from alcoholism & sleeping issues. SWIM's father also dabbled in cocaine, & use of pro-hormones for weightlifting throughout his life. They seem to have memory problems and 'trouble seeing things through' as well..

Nowadays SWIM doesn't really have the drive to do much of anything, other than get back on the regiment of these substances to return to regularity so his positive functioning/non-depressed mindset and daily work can resume themselves. Nowadays when SWIM lies down in bed to go to sleep, SWIM will try to concentrate on one thing like white noise for instance, but within 30 seconds his mind will be bouncing around to 20 different things.. It's becoming a big issue as like I said, SWIM hasn't had good sleep for more than just a couple hours in about 50 days.. And when SWIM does 'sleep', it seems to be a half asleep half awake dream like state until SWIM wakes up at early hours of the morning and then lies there with racing thoughts..

I think the bulk load of SWIM's issues might be mostly related to a dopamine disorder along with potentially several other things. Do any of you have some insight to these problems? Substances like Adderall or coffee seem to help a small amount, but not without making SWIM an even more emotionless person.. SWIM has also read about 'racing brain syndrome' and an inability to sleep because of it which can be directly related to an improperly working dopamine system..

SWIM has been taking 5 fish oil pills a day, eating as healthy as humanly possible, exercising, taking multi-vitamins, B-Complex, Vitamin E, etc, and still feels fairly bad.. SWIM intends to give it about another 20-30 days or so before hopping back onto his self-remedy cocktail which seemed to produce little side effects throughout use, only when going off!

Anyone have any idea's and/or recommendations on ways to help with these issues? I apologize in advance as this may seem a bit vague in comparison to what I was going for.. However, SWIM needs any help he can get.. SWIM can't help but feel like he was a much smarter, higher-functioning, & articulate person on these substances..

 

[Tsukasa]

Yep, seems like dopamine deficiency or something of the like.

What is your diet like? It should include lot's of protein (milk, beans, eggs, cultured dairy, cheese, etc) and be low in carbs, except for fiber. Eat lots of nuts, because they contain magnesium which supports dopamine, and are high in protein and unsaturated fats. Drinking lots of white or green tea will definately help, because of the high content of catechins, methylxanthins, and l-theanine. At least 2 cups daily, but 7-10 would be optimal.

For dietary supplementation I would reccomend any of the following:
- Advan-C (http://www.vitacost.com/NSI-Advan-C-with-Quercetin-Citrus-Bioflavonoids),
- amino acids including DL-phenylalanine and L-arginine
- COQ-10
- Gingko biloba
- SAMe
- Taurine

Meditation would probably the most helpful for you. Try practicing concentration on for example, that white noise. http://www.swamij.com/witnessing.htm - this is the best meditation guide i've ever come across.

Cutting down on masturbation might help. When you have an orgasm, you're releasing a massive amount of prolactin which greatly inhibits dopamine and testosterone.

Aromatherapy using awakening scents such as mint or jasmine. They supposedly help the flow of dopamine. I like to have a menthol cigarette in the morning, and blow smoke out my nose.

As for drugs, you can try MAOI's, if you're willing to conform to the strict diet restrictions. MAO-b inhibitors like selegiline would be most helpful, in combination with L-phenylalanine.

 

[Lost and Confused]

PAWS can last MUCH longer than 50 days.

 

[bipolair]

I suggest you try Wellbutrin (Bupropion). It's an atypical antidepressant that acts as a norepinephrine and dopamine reuptake inhibitor.
It's very helpfull in motivating you.

If you are also a bit anxious, you should maybe add a light SSRI with the wellbutrin.

 

[Tsukasa]

Yea, it does also sounds like 5-HT is your problem too, because of your overactive mind. Since SSRI's haven't worked out for you, why don't you try L-tryptophan or 5-HTP. L-tryptophan would be neccesary if you plan on taking l-phenylalanine or l-tyrosine, so as to prevent a dopamine/serotonin imbalance.

 

[wreckhead]

Start taking rhodiola and D-phenylalanine. Will help with the withdrawal. In future you might want to consider an MAOI, like moclobemide if you don't want the diet stuff (don't combine it with rhodiola though).

Why didn't you take any steps to prevent tolerance? A simple opioid habit is not sustainable; where did you think it was going? Drugs like lorglumide/proglumide, ketamine, magnesium, theanine and huperzine A (last four are NMDA antagonists), ultra low-dose naltrexone and also probably D-phenylalanine (enkephalin binds the delta receptor) should help make tolerance a thing of the past. You might also find Kava useful for relaxation.

There are a million other supplements and drugs I could recommend.

 

[Coolio]

Picralima nitida may be helpful to add to wreckhead's list.

 

[daddysgone]

Im sorry, but im fed up with this notion that keeps popping up regarding substances (proglumide, low dose naltrexone) that are alleged to keep tolerance in check.
Yes, there have been some studies done which show that some of these substances have the potential to mitigate opioid tolerance to some degree. HOWEVER, people here often seem to make a huge leap, to the conclusion that taking these supplements will abolish opioid tolerance. This is simply not the case. As i said, there have been a few studies done (most, if not all, were done on animals, not people) which showed that some of these substances potentially reduce or retard the progression of tolerance. But this is a far cry from the notion that many here present, that simply taking these supplements will "make tolerance a thing of the past", as the OP put it.
Quite simply, if you take opioids regularly, you WILL develop a tolerance, and this tolerance will continue to progress at a rapid rate, regardless of what supplements you take. Might you be able to slow the progression of this tolerance in a very modest regard? Maybe. But thats about as far as it goes. GL....DG

 

[Tsukasa]

Im sorry, but im fed up with this notion that keeps popping up regarding substances (proglumide, low dose naltrexone) that are alleged to keep tolerance in check.
Yes, there have been some studies done which show that some of these substances have the potential to mitigate opioid tolerance to some degree. HOWEVER, people here often seem to make a huge leap, to the conclusion that taking these supplements will abolish opioid tolerance. This is simply not the case. As i said, there have been a few studies done (most, if not all, were done on animals, not people) which showed that some of these substances potentially reduce or retard the progression of tolerance. But this is a far cry from the notion that many here present, that simply taking these supplements will "make tolerance a thing of the past", as the OP put it.
Quite simply, if you take opioids regularly, you WILL develop a tolerance, and this tolerance will continue to progress at a rapid rate, regardless of what supplements you take. Might you be able to slow the progression of this tolerance in a very modest regard? Maybe. But thats about as far as it goes. GL....DG

Reducing or preventing tolerance is not the only reason to be taking NMDA antagonists. For example, therapeutic doses of DXM can also enhance the effects of opioids, so it'd be worth taking even without the NMDA antagonist action. Mineral NMDA antagonists like magnesium and zinc should be taken anyway since they are essential. Huperzine A and L-theanine are also beneficial to health.

Oxytocin has also been show to retard opioid tolerance, besides having a ton of other benefits. Besides oxytocin and oxytocinergic drugs, their are many ways to naturally increase oxytocin levels by the way of activities/therapies, diet, and other means.

 

[Hammilton]

Actually, wasn't ULD Naltrexone shown to completely stop tolerance?

Reducing physical dependence is more than enough reason.

 

[starfarer]

ULD nltx cant realistically totally stop tolerance on its own, since toleracne is a neurological phenomenon with multiple causes. Abolishing tolerance completely is I think a naive and overly optimistic hope - however it is not too much so. The pharms listed and others as the op stated arte capable of making its development and expression neglibile, and in combination with a sensible and well-tempered regime i.e. taking breaks every few weeks for a couple of days, and every few months for a number of weeks can really work to reduce tolerance to levels which are insignificant.

 

[/navarone/]

Don't expect any THC ending in your 'tea' out of your weed. THC is highly lipophilic, so unless you soak it in vodka for a day or two ur basically wasting the active molecule.
Still, drinking weed extract is way healthier than smoking it so.....give it a go.

 

[seusemgoose]

Try nicotine. I almost guarantee it will help. Just dont smoke cigarettes... use snuff or snus. Betacarbolines and nicotine seem to have a good brain balancing effect.