Nicotine and Benztropine

[It's a baby!]

I'm taking 2mg a day of benztropine to manage the extrapyramidal side effects of 5mg a day of abilify.

The benztropine makes me feel very loopy and out of it, as one would expect what with its being an anticholinergic.

One interesting thing is that my craving for tobacco has absolutely skyrocketed. I feel as if I need some chew in my cheek or snuff behind my lip at all hours of the day. It seems like it directly counteracts the loopiness of the benztropine. This seems to make sense because benztropine antagonizes acetylcholine receptors, while nicotine agonizes particular acetylcholine receptors in parts of the brain associated with memory and mood and reward.

Just an interesting thing, it'd explain why people who like to trip on deliriants generally have hallucinations about smoking cigarettes.

 

[sekio]

I think if you need to be on high power anticholinergics to offset the effects of high power antipsychotics, you may want to re-consider why you're on the antipsychotics in the first place. There are better drugs with fewer dopaminergic side effects.

 

[It's a baby!]

I think if you need to be on high power anticholinergics to offset the effects of high power antipsychotics, you may want to re-consider why you're on the antipsychotics in the first place. There are better drugs with fewer dopaminergic side effects.

I'm on them temporarily to manage a drug induced psychosis brought on by abusing marijuana, spice, mushrooms and LSD. That's not to say I was one of those people who trips multiple times a week but yeah, there's a history of psychosis on both sides of my family tree and I basically went mad for four weeks. My psychiatrist characterized it as a "manic-psychotic break from reality", I stopped sleeping and eating and had to go to an ER and they had to inject me with haldol and all that fun stuff. My psychiatrist understands it as a genetic vulnerability to psychosis being awoken by the abuse of mind-warping drugs, my psychotherapist understands it as a response to the lack of meaning inherent in the universe. The world really doesn't make much sense, so psychotic narratives are created as a defense against meaninglessness and absurdity.
\
The psychosis has entirely lifted, though. Originally, at this low of a dose of abilify, I would still have some psychotic thoughts, but they are totally gone now. My next appointment with my psychiatrist is July 18 and we'll probably start tapering me down then. I no longer take any drugs, the only drugs I really enjoy are psychotomimetic, heh.

The interesting thing is I can see how many people in my family have vaguely psychotic thought-processes. There's a guy who walks his dog every morning by our house and my dad thinks he does it on purpose to mess with our dogs, haha. But I no longer believe things like "I'm the reincarnation of a Taoist sage, or maybe a Buddhist monk, who can meditate himself into a lack of awareness of pain and is part of a cosmic game where he says the perfect things to people to make them enlightened, and every girl wants to have sex with me but I have to turn them down to continue on my quest etc. etc. ad ER", or "the federal government is watching me and recording my phone calls and at any moment a black van is going to pull up and throw me back in the psych ward" hahaha.

It is possible that I have Bipolar I or something, in which case I'd be on something like Lithium as a maintenance drug, but I do not think that's the case. Anyway I'll work it out with my psychiatrist.

 

[adder]

My psychiatrist understands it as a genetic vulnerability to psychosis being awoken by the abuse of mind-warping drugs, my psychotherapist understands it as a response to the lack of meaning inherent in the universe. The world really doesn't make much sense, so psychotic narratives are created as a defense against meaninglessness and absurdity.

He's truly a philosopher, your psychiatrist.

 

[pofacedhoe]

The interesting thing is I can see how many people in my family have vaguely psychotic thought-processes. There's a guy who walks his dog every morning by our house and my dad thinks he does it on purpose to mess with our dogs, haha. But I no longer believe things like "I'm the reincarnation of a Taoist sage, or maybe a Buddhist monk, who can meditate himself into a lack of awareness of pain and is part of a cosmic game where he says the perfect things to people to make them enlightened, and every girl wants to have sex with me but I have to turn them down to continue on my quest etc. etc. ad ER"
.

mania, very similar to what lsd did to me and i am on no drugs from the doctors for psychosis

 

[THC2LSD]

I think if you need to be on high power anticholinergics to offset the effects of high power antipsychotics, you may want to re-consider why you're on the antipsychotics in the first place. There are better drugs with fewer dopaminergic side effects.

Virtually all anti-psychotics and a lot of anti-depressants have extrapyramidal side effects. It's disputed whether the newer atypical anti-psychotics actually have a lower risk of extrapyramidal symptoms. Tardive dyskinesia is a possible side effect with all anti-psychotics. It can be very disfiguring and once it appears is irreversible. Benztropine, trihexyphenidyl and high dose diphenhydramine are commonly used to reduce the extrapyramidal side effects and to prevent tardive dyskinesia in particular from happening in the first place.

Gernerally you'd be right that it'd be best to find a new drug rather than use others to block side effects. But that's not always the case.

I'm on them temporarily to manage a drug induced psychosis brought on by abusing marijuana, spice, mushrooms and LSD. That's not to say I was one of those people who trips multiple times a week but yeah, there's a history of psychosis on both sides of my family tree and I basically went mad for four weeks.

Spice seems to be much more likely to cause mania than weed, at least for me. Strangely, it seems to cause it in me after quitting, rather than during, prolonged use, like when you can barely feel it anymore and no amount of weed works. Instant mania, like you describe no sleeping or eating. Although I've gotten that sober, not sure if it's common or just for the mentally ill.

t is possible that I have Bipolar I or something, in which case I'd be on something like Lithium as a maintenance drug, but I do not think that's the case. Anyway I'll work it out with my psychiatrist.

Lithium works great, it just has a shitload of side effects, one the most common is shaking. Also there's a small window between an effective dose and a dangerous dose. Too low, mania. Too high, lithium toxicity. Changes in diet, weight, dehydration, throwing up, or diarrhea can raise it too high.

And I've still felt and craved cigarettes the same on benztropine as without, though my dose was .5.