Misc mood stabilisers, boring and depressing drugs?

[Neuroprotection]

as a pharmacy student, you hit the nail on the head. what a brilliant reply, i’ve been thinking the same about the kappa mechanisms

It’s good that you’re into pharmacology, there’s nothing better than understanding how a drug works and why it makes you feel that way, especially if you’re the one taking it. at least that’s how I feel about things.
In regards to buprenorphine which is the main active ingredient of Suboxone, it is actually supposed to be a Kappa antagonist, although I assume it is very weak in this action. Perhaps in many people, it acts as an agonist at this receptor instead.
Not sure if you’ve heard about the people who have extremely bad reactions to naltrexone it is believed to be caused by naltrexone paradoxically activating Kappa opioid receptors in these individuals

 

[tokayeahok]

It’s good that you’re into pharmacology, there’s nothing better than understanding how a drug works and why it makes you feel that way, especially if you’re the one taking it. at least that’s how I feel about things.
In regards to buprenorphine which is the main active ingredient of Suboxone, it is actually supposed to be a Kappa antagonist, although I assume it is very weak in this action. Perhaps in many people, it acts as an agonist at this receptor instead.
Not sure if you’ve heard about the people who have extremely bad reactions to naltrexone it is believed to be caused by naltrexone paradoxically activating Kappa opioid receptors in these individuals

yes! actually the conversation around naltrexone is something i find very interesting. LDN or ULDN(low dose/ultra low dose naltrexone) - they are finding out these low doses are acting as an agonist i believe on kappa receptors. take someone like my mum who has rheumatoid arthritis, and she takes it for inflammation and even pain response. i definitely advise to read further as it’ll explain more than im willing to type out on my phone but very good read on it.


i definitely think what we’re talking about is dose dependent. especially buprenorphine - take patients who take it for pain, belbuca. very very lows doses such as .2mg etc. then someone like me, for substance use disorder, 2-16mg as a ballpark let’s say. mechanism of action is changed drastically as well as agonist effects & the kappa antagonism. the antagonism seems to happen at higher doses i believe, albeit i may be wrong!


great talk man

 

[Quasimodo_]

Just out of interest, did you notice decreased cravings when on finasteride?
Also, have you ever taken any recreational drug whilst on finasteride and if so, how did it make you feel.

haha its funny now that you explained to me. yes i have taken meth once or twice while on it.
I was fresh out of rehab which also means lower tolerance. i remember i was in the car with my friend and we got 1 gram for the both of us and i prepared a small amount cause i didn't wanna over amp since my tolerance... so we proceeded to inject but felt nothing so i thought "i didn't put enough" but my friend was done so he stepped out the car and i prepared a second one and proceed but had a bit of a hard time hitting vein which flustered me but eventually got it. but again nothing... so with my friend out the car (we don't allow each other to over amp, tweak or whatever) i thought i gonna take another shot before he comes and so for the 3rd time i prepared some, looking at the tiny amount meth left after preparing 3rd shot I knew i would be using too much but i proceed. AGAIN NOTHING. now i felt defeated and give up. just as i finish he comes back, so i ask if he's feeling it or we got bad product...

The act of injecting 3 times and not feeling anything (like i said i felt defeated and gave up) i can only describe it as my brain was like "ahhh new data, when we injecting meth there is no more euphoria so lets throw out the old data (meth = euphoria) rewrite and re-file this". just like that the thought of meth was not intresting to me anymore..

 

[Neuroprotection]

haha its funny now that you explained to me. yes i have taken meth once or twice while on it.
I was fresh out of rehab which also means lower tolerance. i remember i was in the car with my friend and we got 1 gram for the both of us and i prepared a small amount cause i didn't wanna over amp since my tolerance... so we proceeded to inject but felt nothing so i thought "i didn't put enough" but my friend was done so he stepped out the car and i prepared a second one and proceed but had a bit of a hard time hitting vein which flustered me but eventually got it. but again nothing... so with my friend out the car (we don't allow each other to over amp, tweak or whatever) i thought i gonna take another shot before he comes and so for the 3rd time i prepared some, looking at the tiny amount meth left after preparing 3rd shot I knew i would be using too much but i proceed. AGAIN NOTHING. now i felt defeated and give up. just as i finish he comes back, so i ask if he's feeling it or we got bad product...

The act of injecting 3 times and not feeling anything (like i said i felt defeated and gave up) i can only describe it as my brain was like "ahhh new data, when we injecting meth there is no more euphoria so lets throw out the old data (meth = euphoria) rewrite and re-file this". just like that the thought of meth was not intresting to me anymore..

Wow, amazing story thank you so much for sharing that. This story is both scary and intriguing, anecdotal proof that finasteride really does suppress dopamine.
It seems to have benefited you and I’m really glad about that. But do you see why I find it scary, as a person who has suffered from temporary anhedonia just over a year ago, why I find it so scary.

I just feel that it has a lot of potential to take the general pleasure and motivation out of normal life and promote a state of despair/apathy in a manner similar to the old first generation antipsychotics.

 

[emkee_reinvented]

Probably the best psych med combo I've ever been on was 40mg fluoxetine and 900mg (later on 1150) of lithium carbonate. Granted, I was incarcerated, relatively clean with the exception of occasional synthetic cannabinoids and bupe, but the two together kept me balanced, upbeat and still in tune with my normal emotions in a way that was not attainable with either alone. Only reason I ever stopped was the lithium started causing some hypothyroidism.

My only good experience with psychiatric meds was the combo of:
35 mg dextro-Amphetamine
150/ 225 mg Pregabaline noticed it has a subtle but def effect on operating machinery !
7.5/ 15 mg Mirtazepine

[Pregabaline was as replacement as the 'don t prescribe a benzo' had started/ it was just approved GAD]
[Mirtazepine was on my request also as i got home with a ... SSRI].
Knew em from Bluelight, shocked by the leaflet. takes weeks to work,
in which the patient can get suicidal !



Add Kratom and Cannabis best medical induced state in can think of.
Ketamine was not medically in use yet, but the Nosespray would have certaily helped to.

 

[BK38]

Abilify is so boring. So is zopiclone. I just want to and smoke tree with my Kratom/Phenibut hcl.

 

[emkee_reinvented]

Abilify is so boring. So is zopiclone. I just want to and smoke tree with my Kratom/Phenibut hcl.

What up with Phenibut, tried 3 different sources. Loved GHB/ GBL both also GABA-b agonists.

Phenibut felt wrong, toxic, nausseating, and that would exponantionally increase raising the dose.
But even small ammounts felt sick. Seems it would have been useful when you taper GHB/ GBL.
For some ? But that period was long before Phenibut, so personally never tested.

 

[BK38]

What up with Phenibut, tried 3 different sources. Loved GHB/ GBL both also GABA-b agonists.

Phenibut felt wrong, toxic, nausseating, and that would exponantionally increase raising the dose.
But even small ammounts felt sick. Seems it would have been useful when you taper GHB/ GBL.
For some ? But that period was long before Phenibut, so personally never tested.

Phenibut is a gabergenic drug, just like alcohol or benzos. It was invented for Russian cosomonauts for anxiety/trauma etc. It makes you feel like you're having the best day ever. Synergy with opiates and weed is awesome and you can potentiate with alcohol. It's very addictive though and the withdrawl is worse than benzos like valium.

More info:

https://psychonautwiki.org/wiki/Phenibut

 

[emkee_reinvented]

Phenibut is a gabergenic drug, just like alcohol or benzos. It was invented for Russian cosomonauts for anxiety/trauma etc. It makes you feel like you're having the best day ever. Synergy with opiates and weed is awesome and you can potentiate with alcohol. It's very addictive though and the withdrawl is worse than benzos like valium.

More info:

https://psychonautwiki.org/wiki/Phenibut

So why not me. It feels sick annoying and nausseating. And have no problems with the other GABA-ergics.

Body chemsirty. Glad as i should stay away of that class any way.

 

[deficiT]

Yeah I mean they're not supposed to be fun lol. that's kind of the point, right?

 

[emkee_reinvented]

Yeah I mean they're not supposed to be fun lol. that's kind of the point, right?

Neuroleptic s not though Epileptic co-medication can be CloMethiazole.
Clobazam nice to, for others maybe Midazolam nosespray or Clonazepam.
All depressant s but fun.

But Phenibut is supossed to be at least a bit pleasant, i read glowing reports.

 

[Neuroprotection]

Yeah I mean they're not supposed to be fun lol. that's kind of the point, right?

True. My overall point is that they seem to be gaining the interests of some addiction researchers, but I think they are an unsustainable choice in the long-term.
I once read an article about Ozempic and how it treats obesity and possibly even addiction in some people by shutting down the brains reward system. in that article, the author describes such an approach as a dystopian one. rather than trying to replace or satisfy a potentially negative reward with a less harmful/harmless one, there’s no more interest in drugs which just completely suppress reward in general thus eliminating the cravings and make the behaviour or drug you are addicted to feel pointless.
In contrast, the utopian approach would be finding alternatives which stimulate the reward system equally if not more so harmful behaviour you are trying to replace. well, I guess that’s technically not a Utopian approach unless like me, you don’t mind being addicted to a harmless substance or you don’t mind manipulating your brain.

 

[paracetaminophen]

i dont like mood stabilizers because while they do stabilize your mood they do at a cost of reducing the highs (and lows of course). so you just get sort of stuck in this boring middle "meh, life's OK I guess" mood—at least I do. it led to me doing stupid shit like shoplifting just to get a little bit of dopamine. i've tried lamotrigine, which I don't remember really too much, I think that's a side effect of it—memory loss or whatever. then i tried quetiapine which was just awful. made me so depressed even tho i was only taking 400mg a day and just made me think bad thoughts practically 24/7. did absolutely nothing for my anxiety too. now i'm on cariprazine which i'm quitting now because i just feel bleh all day every day. but the half-life of that is so long I got weeks before it's out of my system which is really great. don't get me wrong, mood stabilizers can help people, but for me the trade-offs are not worth it.

 

[Neuroprotection]

i dont like mood stabilizers because while they do stabilize your mood they do at a cost of reducing the highs (and lows of course). so you just get sort of stuck in this boring middle "meh, life's OK I guess" mood—at least I do. it led to me doing stupid shit like shoplifting just to get a little bit of dopamine. i've tried lamotrigine, which I don't remember really too much, I think that's a side effect of it—memory loss or whatever. then i tried quetiapine which was just awful. made me so depressed even tho i was only taking 400mg a day and just made me think bad thoughts practically 24/7. did absolutely nothing for my anxiety too. now i'm on cariprazine which i'm quitting now because i just feel bleh all day every day. but the half-life of that is so long I got weeks before it's out of my system which is really great. don't get me wrong, mood stabilizers can help people, but for me the trade-offs are not worth it.

I fully agree with you, some people may need mood stabilisers for certain conditions at some point in their lives. But as you indicated, it’s just not natural to live in a horrible emotionless zombielike state.
Actually, what I find particularly scary about mood stabilisers is that they stripped the joy out of life whilst leaving your general awareness/consciousness fully intact. sounds like a great recipe for depression.
My dream is to see the development of a compound or technique that could enhance the brains dopamine signalling pathways on demand and without tolerance, in a selective manner which stimulates euphoria and motivation but without psychosis. you might think that sounds crazy and unachievable, but I honestly don’t think it is from the scientific studies I have read.
I’ve said this many times before, but deep down I think that scientists, at least some of them, would not want to see such a therapy come in to existence.

 

[Neuroprotection]

I was quite surprised by the fact, some people are actually recommending lithium as a supplement for healthy people. maybe some people get benefit from it, but I think it could do a lot of harm to others.
There was some evidence that areas with high lithium tapwater levels have decreased suicide and crime rates, though I’m not sure how strong this is. but as I suspected, there was also a higher rates of autism in these areas. Apparently, developmental exposure to lithium and other mood stabilisers like valproate can promote brain overgrowth and associated synaptic dysfunction which leads to autistic behaviour.
I was almost convinced to try supplementing with lithium a few years ago, I’m so glad I never managed to get my hands on it. at that time, I thought it would give me emotional stability and reduce stress, I now believe feeling emotionally numb is far worse than feeling stressed.
I’m not saying lithium is inherently bad, but even some people with bipolar disorder have decided to come off it and find other ways or other medications which don’t numb emotion as much.

 

[Robomarley1]

Risperidone make me fat,lazy, and absolutely uninterested in life.

Aripiprazole did none of those things and was just as effective for me. Didn't seem to block any of the recreational drugs I take either. I have no interest in taking psychedelics though.

 

[Mucky]

Risperidone make me fat,lazy, and absolutely uninterested in life.

Aripiprazole did none of those things and was just as effective for me. Didn't seem to block any of the recreational drugs I take either. I have no interest in taking psychedelics though.

what is your dose of aripiprizole?