2 weeks since my last drink, starting to feel the benefit of it, much more energy.
I'm coming up to 3 weeks since my last pregabalin dose as well - think i will aim for 6 weeks break and then give it a go every other week to see how I get on.
2 months + since coke - going to add this into the mix as an occasional treat at some point
I'm having success with the 2 days of nothing per week (maybe a bit of weed), and then rotating things over 3 days window is working well for me, this includes:- Ketamine (no k-holes, just lighter usage over a few hours), Amphetimine (1 dose 30-50mg), MDMA (once ever 2 months), 2CB (becoming a weekly thing), and GBL at time though I like to mix it with mephedrone. I'm also taking Soma + diazapam twice a week.
I was gonna move this, but seeing all of the responses you have gotten, I definitely wouldn't want to mess with that. It looks like people are really digging it. My advice ia for you to start a blog. I'm sure a lot or the people would read it just as we are reading here now.
I was gonna move this, but seeing all of the responses you have gotten, I definitely wouldn't want to mess with that. It looks like people are really digging it. My advice ia for you to start a blog. I'm sure a lot or the people would read it just as we are reading here now.
I haven't read the whole thread but to me your plan is great and sounds quite sustainable. Love the effort you've put into the tables in the first post, haha...
To me, cocaine and ketamine are the only ones I'd be a bit wary of but that's only because the way I used to do cocaine was combined with alcohol on benders, which would leave me feeling like absolute shit the next day, if you're just using a small amount now and then it might be totally fine. Kinda the same with ketamine, but again that's only because the way I do ketamine is multi gram benders over several days typically rather than just a few lines once a month and call it a night... So your way might actually be totally fine. I mean tbh... I still do that with ketamine. But now it's like, 2-3 times a YEAR, maximum. And honestly... I've said a lot of shit before about the subtle darkness of ketamine and dissociatives generally and I stand by that but the older I get and the more I stress myself out pointlessly about the drugs I'm doing and yoyo between stone cold sobriety and giving myself permission to have periods of doing a few more drugs, the more I think that most of my problems relating to substance use have their roots in internalized prohibitionist propaganda and the toxicity of shame and self-shaming for just indulging in something relatively harmless and fun now and then. Some people will call me an addict in denial, I think I'm cool with that.
All that said the only drugs that really caused me serious issues in retrospect (besides ketamine, which I appear to have kept doing regardless, if a lot less frequently) were stimulants prescribed for ADHD, specifically dexamphetamine and the false feeling of safety provided by a doctor telling me it was OK to take that every single day. And you haven't even put any of those on your list, so, great stuff.
Benzos, dangers are really overblown IMO if you're not prone to dose escalation and can self-deselect any specific ones that make you do weird stuff (for me it's xanax which I won't be touching again - but I take clonazepam on and off daily for periods of months at a time, many people say don't do that, and somewhat for good reason, but for me it mostly works).
Everything else, actually yeah I have nothing else to say, I think you're doing well and will be fine. Don't let that lull you into a false sense of security obviously but IMO your current plan is well within the margins of safety and sustainability for a while, perhaps indefinitely although if you were to cut out anything entirely I'd say cut the cocaine first, that isn't really doing you any good no matter how infrequently you do it (I don't think - happy to be proven wrong if anyone wants to link to some study or other, it's possible my thoughts here are influenced by my own biases). But you don't have to, of course, your choices are your own and quite honestly it sounds like you know yourself, know what you're doing and have really thought this through well.
Think making this sustainable is the key thing, my life is in a bit of a strange place right now, I'm between jobs so the temptation is very strong to just get high every day....
but I think once I start work again then that will in itself reduce my usage just because I can't function at work while high!
I might start a new thread sharing some of the research and tools I've developed to get here, will require a bit of thought, effort and structure, maybe a project for when I start using pregabalin again
think that's a spot on call out, I'm fortunate because I've never really been a stim person so coke is very much a take it or leave it thing with me anyway, ket however I fucking love, very versatile. I'd be very happy just taking it once or twice a week at low doses to be honest.
I posted this in a different thread but combining low dose ket with soma and a benzo was a truly epic combo for me, will be something I go back to time and time again, I'm tempted to just save my ket usage for that combo alone, it's not far away from scratching my alcohol itch - had to stop drinking as it was killing me.
All that said the only drugs that really caused me serious issues in retrospect (besides ketamine, which I appear to have kept doing regardless, if a lot less frequently) were stimulants prescribed for ADHD, specifically dexamphetamine and the false feeling of safety provided by a doctor telling me it was OK to take that every single day. And you haven't even put any of those on your list, so, great stuff.
Benzos, dangers are really overblown IMO if you're not prone to dose escalation and can self-deselect any specific ones that make you do weird stuff (for me it's xanax which I won't be touching again - but I take clonazepam on and off daily for periods of months at a time, many people say don't do that, and somewhat for good reason, but for me it mostly works).
I simply don't find any benzo recreational on their own so have never gone stupid with them, even when I've pushed them to high doses I'm usually quite disappointed. Didn't like blacking out on kpins + alcohol, or the consequences of it with my wife who had to get me home!
So I only ever take them in combo with other things
Everything else, actually yeah I have nothing else to say, I think you're doing well and will be fine. Don't let that lull you into a false sense of security obviously but IMO your current plan is well within the margins of safety and sustainability for a while, perhaps indefinitely
I think I'm heading in the right direction to something that is sustainable, but frequency of use needs to be reduced for some things (soma once a week and pregabalin once a fortnight)
I was using coke more when I was drinking, but it's been 69 days since I last took some, will just maybe have a little every so often when on a break from other things I think
Another problem with poly drug use (me) - Gabapentin, Kratom, THC, Ativan, Phenibut cycled. I never know what I'm wd from. I can kinda tell if its mood/sadness that it's the kratom or gabapentin and if anxiety ativan but it's still murky. I know I never wd from phenibut because that one I'm able to keep at just once a week. I don't enjoy it enough to want to take more times.
Boy am I in a shit mental state. It would be so so so much better if I could just go back to doing kratom every 72 hours instead of 48. That extra 24 hour break has been so hard to achieve due to life stesses. I have a plan, something awful happens at work and I say fuck it I'm dosing. Best part, because it's only 48 hours I just keep geting barely enjoyable highs. Like bottom barrel, okay I feel decent kinda highs. I'm going to try again for the 72 hours and not dose tomorrow. We shall see.
that's the major risk with poly drug use, poly addiction.
I'm trying explicitly to avoid addiction to anything by cycling through things, taking tolerance breaks when I need to increase the doses, and by moving my usage away from the more dangerous things.
Boy am I in a shit mental state. It would be so so so much better if I could just go back to doing kratom every 72 hours instead of 48. That extra 24 hour break has been so hard to achieve due to life stesses.
I feel for you, it's been a very tough 6 months for me too with multiple major bad life events, I started drinking again heavily but have managed to stop drinking entirely for 3 weeks (tomorrow). Feeling much better for it.
It certainly sounds like a reset with the Kratom would be helpful for you, maybe start by dropping the dose?
Another problem with poly drug use (me) - Gabapentin, Kratom, THC, Ativan, Phenibut cycled. I never know what I'm wd from. I can kinda tell if its mood/sadness that it's the kratom or gabapentin and if anxiety ativan but it's still murky. I know I never wd from phenibut because that one I'm able to keep at just once a week. I don't enjoy it enough to want to take more times.
Boy am I in a shit mental state. It would be so so so much better if I could just go back to doing kratom every 72 hours instead of 48. That extra 24 hour break has been so hard to achieve due to life stesses. I have a plan, something awful happens at work and I say fuck it I'm dosing. Best part, because it's only 48 hours I just keep geting barely enjoyable highs. Like bottom barrel, okay I feel decent kinda highs. I'm going to try again for the 72 hours and not dose tomorrow. We shall see.
Ik I said this before but for me 2 vs 3x a week was the step from abuse to addiction. I used to cycle Pregabalin, Ket and Tramadol/Kratom. Luckily I never got addicted to gabas, could always limit myself, but opioids took over irresistibly... Ymmv but rotating just won't work forever. Gaps tighten and at least one of them will get you. Or all of em. Sounds like your system is already fucked up. You can try to wean out (one of ) them, or accept daily use with all the consequences.
Another problem with poly drug use (me) - Gabapentin, Kratom, THC, Ativan, Phenibut cycled. I never know what I'm wd from. I can kinda tell if its mood/sadness that it's the kratom or gabapentin and if anxiety ativan but it's still murky. I know I never wd from phenibut because that one I'm able to keep at just once a week. I don't enjoy it enough to want to take more times.
Boy am I in a shit mental state. It would be so so so much better if I could just go back to doing kratom every 72 hours instead of 48. That extra 24 hour break has been so hard to achieve due to life stesses. I have a plan, something awful happens at work and I say fuck it I'm dosing. Best part, because it's only 48 hours I just keep geting barely enjoyable highs. Like bottom barrel, okay I feel decent kinda highs. I'm going to try again for the 72 hours and not dose tomorrow. We shall see.
I hear you. Yeah, from my own self observation, longer breaks between dosing kratom makes for better results as far as a high goes. And even if you aren't technically in actual true withdrawal when a drug wears off ( like if you are taking it too infrequently to be addicted), you still are going to feel that rebound effect of being back to normal. If you are normally depressed and anxious, then the feeling will seem that much stronger when the drug wears off because your mind is comparing it to how you felt high.I know kratom does that with me. Pain, depression, anxiety all feel worse to me and then I really have to fight not to redose sooner than I want. I'm experimenting with trying to settle for lower doses. Verdict is out but it seems better for me, if I can learn to be satisfied with it.
Ik I said this before but for me 2 vs 3x a week was the step from abuse to addiction. I used to cycle Pregabalin, Ket and Tramadol/Kratom. Luckily I never got addicted to gabas, could always limit myself, but opioids took over irresistibly...
Ymmv but rotating just won't work forever. Gaps tighten and at least one of them will get you. Or all of em. Sounds like your system is already fucked up. You can try to wean out (one of ) them, or accept daily use with all the consequences.
think I maybe need to cut out GBL or SOMA or pregab or benzos next - not sure which.
adding in 2C-B is very positive though, gives an nice alternative, as does ket - however I'm enjoying taking both with GABA, so that's not ideal, but on the plus side it lowers the gaba dose and the ket dose.
I guess what I need to do is some research on what's the NET best approach, high alcohol intake versus cycling drug use, I think I have info on GABA recovery time coupled with drug logs that means I can run some calculations coupled with research on published papers to make an informed guess on what the limits are to achieve balance.
going to take a stab at this at some point in the near future as it feels like I'm starting to home in on something that has the potential to be stable for me. Quite a bit of analysis required 1st though, will post when I have my info and data together
Ik I said this before but for me 2 vs 3x a week was the step from abuse to addiction. I used to cycle Pregabalin, Ket and Tramadol/Kratom. Luckily I never got addicted to gabas, could always limit myself, but opioids took over irresistibly... Ymmv but rotating just won't work forever. Gaps tighten and at least one of them will get you. Or all of em. Sounds like your system is already fucked up. You can try to wean out (one of ) them, or accept daily use with all the consequences.
To the point. No sugarcoating. You're correct. Add on top of all this. A very bad pinched nerve in neck. My right index finger is completely dead. Pain in neck. Can't sleep. No prescription pain killers or muscle relaxers. Gabapentin helps for the pain. But doesn't fix the numbness
@placebonaut I think another factor to take into account in doing the poly drug mixing is that kratom is supposed to be a strong inhibitor of cyp2d6 and cyp3a4, the liver enzymes that the body uses to process most drugs we take, both therapeutic and recreational. There seem to be a lot of varied potential interactions, including with drugs like statins and ketamine. They say it can cause the body not to eliminate drugs as fast and to cause blood levels to build up and for toxic metabolites to increase. Also from what I read, this creates more of a burden in the liver to process things, so potentially not good.
Anyhow, I think it's worth taking this into account. It would be nice to have more practical information on this aspect
@placebonaut I think another factor to take into account in doing the poly drug mixing is that kratom is supposed to be a strong inhibitor of cyp2d6 and cyp3a4, the liver enzymes that the body uses to process most drugs we take, both therapeutic and recreational. There seem to be a lot of varied potential interactions, including with drugs like statins and ketamine. They say it can cause the body not to eliminate drugs as fast and to cause blood levels to build up and for toxic metabolites to increase. Also from what I read, this creates more of a burden in the liver to process things, so potentially not good.
Anyhow, I think it's worth taking this into account. It would be nice to have more practical information on this aspect
I'm not taking Kratom any more, though I enjoyed the effect I found I needed high dosage which make me feel sick (and a number of time caused me to vomit!). I'm not going to be messing with any of the extracts, they look like an accident waiting to happen for me, glad they're banned in the UK and I can't easily get a hold of them!
I'm personally on other meds effected by CYP3A4 so need to avoid it, however I've looked into combining pregab and diazepam at different doses with different doses of Cimetidine for it's CYP3A4 and CYP2D6 enzyme inhibiting effects, coupled with also taking L-Theanine and Taurine with the aim of maximising sedation/muscle relaxation/anxiety/duration for the lowest possible doses of pregablin and Diazepam.
While this combination works (there's plenty of reports of this scattered around), the biggest risk I think that I never see talked about in this context is the significant increase in duration of effect caused by CYP3A4 - I don't know if these numbers are correct because I can't test them on myself and haven't looked for independent validation in medical papers yet, but AI research suggests that Cimetidine could increase benzo half-life by double, treble or even quadruple the duration when taken with L-Theanine and Taurine (this depends on doses, timing and redose paterns).
You're saving money on benzos because you need less as they hit harder and last longer, however you're going to build high benzo blood plasma levels in your system (especially if you redose again 1 or even 2 days later, given diazepam's ~20-50 hour halflife you can see how just 10mg a day for 1 week is going to get out of hand very quickly), which will lead to faster tolerance, gaba downregulation, and ultimately benzo addiction.
So my conclusion is to stay the fuck away from combining CYP3A4/Cimetidine and Benzos together, I'm fucked if I want a benzo addiction!
On a related note, I obsessively reearch drug interactions before combining them, for those reading this thread it's worth looking at other posts I make on combos and research of other drugs I do before I commit to using them, and my general golden rule of titrate up slowly the 1st time using and 1st time combos.
This thread is not meant to have all the answers, in fact it's the opposite, it's full of me showing I don't know what the hell I'm doing and getting advice from people! it's more showing the journey I've been on, what I've learnt and tried, and how I go about doing things. I've made a lot of mistakes even though I've been cautious, but everyone is different and what works for me may not work for you!
Stay safe, don't risk things, there's always another day that you can push things a little more.
while I'm here, an update on what I'm taking/not taking currently
now over 3 weeks without alcohol, I have started drinking alcohol free beer and really enjoying having a cold glass in my hand, it really helps with the whole ritual of having a drink thing, however I'm simply not missing being drunk! Lots more energy, and no hangovers!
I have reduced the frequency I take Soma, however I'm taking more per session so the NET effect is neutral, however this fits into my short term plan to take it once per week max. And I'm not getting the signs of tolerance building that I was before (anxiety rebound & headaches).
It's now been 27 days since my last pregablin dose, strangely given it's my DOC I've not missed it at all, I'm pondering if I keep the tolerance break going for another 2 weeks before I reintroduce it as a once per fortnight treat - at that point I might alternate between soma and pregabalin each week maybe, that's the ideal!
Ketamine usage has reduced, both in terms of frequency and dosage, I'm happy just having a few bumps and not even getting close to the edge of a hole. I've tried combining low dose ket with 1.5-2g Soma & 20mg diazepam + lots of cannabis. Amazing combo and goes some way to giving me the feeling I got from alcohol, though it's not sedating enough so I tried 10mg Diazepam with 2mg Clonazepam which was better from a sedation perspective but it felt like the Clonazepam dominated the diazepam too much, I'll try it again but with only 1mg next time, and then 0.5mg, see if that helps, I might also add in some nootropics to increase the sedation side of things.
I've had enough of Mephedrone, it's far too fiendish and I don't really like it, I've maybe 500mg left, when it's gone I doubt I'll order it ever again.
trying low dose Amphetamine, I'm not a stim guy but at a low dose occasionally it's pleasurable, I don't like getting jittery with it though, and don't want to have to waste any gaba drugs on it to smooth things out so it's never going to be a regular or major thing for me.
2C-B is epic and is becoming a weekly staple, starting to play around with combos using it, using it with GBL was perfect! Given it's much less harmful than other things I think this is a positive step.
MDMA last used over 40 days ago, and then I didn't roll on it - suspect because I didn't stop taking my NAC early enough, doh. Anyway this is still going to be a once in a blue moon thing I think, same with doing a k-hole.
no Cocaine for 72 days, not even thought about it, I might buy a little at some point and substitute it in place of 1 of my weekly other drugs to mix things up
Current plan
1. Remove another GABA drug without increased usage of the other GABA drugs - I think it should be GBL/GHB I remove next as my research indicates that this has the biggest negative effect on the GABA system, but I need to look into this in more detail
2. Any GABA drug no more than twice per week - goal is to make this once per week ideally, which I think is manageable
3. Focus on nootropics for GABA repair
4. Find something non-GABA to pair with 2C-B to round the high off a bit
5. Sober days - I want to have 2-3 days without drugs a week, I've started to do this at 1st by only taking Cannabis on set days (routine helps!), but have actually now managed to have a full day with no drugs at all
6. I'm almost ready to start exploring psychedelics, microdosing mushrooms 1st, then threshold, then maybe DMT, lots of research 1st though
7. My Cannabis tolerance is building, even so I want to play around with high dose cannabis as an alternative to other drugs.
On Cannabis, I generally prefer heavy sedating strains (shock horror given my GABA issues), but think I'll explore the stimulating side a bit as well. Biggest issue is that I hate vaping/smoking it, best I find is smoking a concentrate, but I need to find a better way to make edibles work for me, I'm fed up with hotspots in the edibles I buy and won't be making my own edibles (too much hassle). Planning on trying something with distillate or RSO coupled with coconut/olive oil which I'll then dilute with water using sunflower lechithin to emulsify things, that way I can stick it in a perfume atomiser and just have a few sprays in my mouth. Main issue is finding distillate/RSO of specific varieties so I know what the effects are going to be. Suspect RSO is the best way to go overall given terpes, again more research needed!
NB: that was a right fucking wall of text, can you guess what drug I'm on today?!
To the point. No sugarcoating. You're correct. Add on top of all this. A very bad pinched nerve in neck. My right index finger is completely dead. Pain in neck. Can't sleep. No prescription pain killers or muscle relaxers. Gabapentin helps for the pain. But doesn't fix the numbness
while I'm here, an update on what I'm taking/not taking currently
now over 3 weeks without alcohol, I have started drinking alcohol free beer and really enjoying having a cold glass in my hand, it really helps with the whole ritual of having a drink thing, however I'm simply not missing being drunk! Lots more energy, and no hangovers!
I have reduced the frequency I take Soma, however I'm taking more per session so the NET effect is neutral, however this fits into my short term plan to take it once per week max. And I'm not getting the signs of tolerance building that I was before (anxiety rebound & headaches).
It's now been 27 days since my last pregablin dose, strangely given it's my DOC I've not missed it at all, I'm pondering if I keep the tolerance break going for another 2 weeks before I reintroduce it as a once per fortnight treat - at that point I might alternate between soma and pregabalin each week maybe, that's the ideal!
Ketamine usage has reduced, both in terms of frequency and dosage, I'm happy just having a few bumps and not even getting close to the edge of a hole. I've tried combining low dose ket with 1.5-2g Soma & 20mg diazepam + lots of cannabis. Amazing combo and goes some way to giving me the feeling I got from alcohol, though it's not sedating enough so I tried 10mg Diazepam with 2mg Clonazepam which was better from a sedation perspective but it felt like the Clonazepam dominated the diazepam too much, I'll try it again but with only 1mg next time, and then 0.5mg, see if that helps, I might also add in some nootropics to increase the sedation side of things.
I've had enough of Mephedrone, it's far too fiendish and I don't really like it, I've maybe 500mg left, when it's gone I doubt I'll order it ever again.
trying low dose Amphetamine, I'm not a stim guy but at a low dose occasionally it's pleasurable, I don't like getting jittery with it though, and don't want to have to waste any gaba drugs on it to smooth things out so it's never going to be a regular or major thing for me.
2C-B is epic and is becoming a weekly staple, starting to play around with combos using it, using it with GBL was perfect! Given it's much less harmful than other things I think this is a positive step.
MDMA last used over 40 days ago, and then I didn't roll on it - suspect because I didn't stop taking my NAC early enough, doh. Anyway this is still going to be a once in a blue moon thing I think, same with doing a k-hole.
no Cocaine for 72 days, not even thought about it, I might buy a little at some point and substitute it in place of 1 of my weekly other drugs to mix things up
Current plan
1. Remove another GABA drug without increased usage of the other GABA drugs - I think it should be GBL/GHB I remove next as my research indicates that this has the biggest negative effect on the GABA system, but I need to look into this in more detail
2. Any GABA drug no more than twice per week - goal is to make this once per week ideally, which I think is manageable
3. Focus on nootropics for GABA repair
4. Find something non-GABA to pair with 2C-B to round the high off a bit
5. Sober days - I want to have 2-3 days without drugs a week, I've started to do this at 1st by only taking Cannabis on set days (routine helps!), but have actually now managed to have a full day with no drugs at all
6. I'm almost ready to start exploring psychedelics, microdosing mushrooms 1st, then threshold, then maybe DMT, lots of research 1st though
7. My Cannabis tolerance is building, even so I want to play around with high dose cannabis as an alternative to other drugs.
On Cannabis, I generally prefer heavy sedating strains (shock horror given my GABA issues), but think I'll explore the stimulating side a bit as well. Biggest issue is that I hate vaping/smoking it, best I find is smoking a concentrate, but I need to find a better way to make edibles work for me, I'm fed up with hotspots in the edibles I buy and won't be making my own edibles (too much hassle). Planning on trying something with distillate or RSO coupled with coconut/olive oil which I'll then dilute with water using sunflower lechithin to emulsify things, that way I can stick it in a perfume atomiser and just have a few sprays in my mouth. Main issue is finding distillate/RSO of specific varieties so I know what the effects are going to be. Suspect RSO is the best way to go overall given terpes, again more research needed!
NB: that was a right fucking wall of text, can you guess what drug I'm on today?!
A bit of research on removing another GABA. Another long post but concious that most of the people who are reading this are lurkers and won't have as much knowledge as the people who post here.
I'm aware that different GABA drugs have different mechanisms of action (link to which gaba drugs have what action), and that there can be full/partial cross-tolerance (google it, plenty of info out there), but I don't know enough about how these mechanisms all interact to drive cross-tolerance especially when taking into account half-life, gaps between doses, and overall build up in my system.
For the drugs I take though Benzos and Soma are the key ones, because the both act on GABA-A though in different ways, so I've decided to stop taking Diazepam straight away, and I'm going to gradually move Soma to once per week, I'm currently at once every 4 days.
GABA sends its inhibitory message by binding at special sites called GABA-A receptors on the outside of the receiving neuron. Once GABA is bound to the GABA-A receptor, the neuron opens a channel which allows chloride ions to pass inside of the neuron. These negative chloride ions make the neuron less responsive to other neurotransmitters (norepinephrine [noradrenaline], serotonin, acetylcholine and dopamine) which would normally excite it. Benzodiazepines also bind to their own receptors (benzodiazepine receptors) that are situated on the GABA-A receptor. Combination of a benzodiazepine at this site acts as a booster to the actions of GABA, allowing more chloride ions to enter the neuron, making it even more resistant to excitation.
Meprobamate enhances the effects of GABA by increasing the opening frequency of chloride ion channels associated with GABA_A receptors. This action leads to hyperpolarization of neurons, making them less likely to fire and thereby producing a sedative effect.
1. Meprobamate, Benzos, and Soma (Carisoprodol)
Mechanisms: These three drugs primarily interact with \(GABA_{A}\) receptors in the brain. Benzos enhance the effects of the neurotransmitter GABA, while meprobamate and soma can directly activate these receptors in a barbiturate-like manner. [1, 2, 3]
Cross-Tolerance: Yes, there is cross-tolerance here. Because they act on the same receptor complex, developing a tolerance to benzodiazepines often reduces your sensitivity to meprobamate or soma, and vice versa. [1, 2]
2. GBL (Gamma-Butyrolactone)
Mechanism: GBL is a prodrug that rapidly converts into GHB in the body. GHB acts primarily on \(GABA_{B}\) receptors and its own specific GHB receptors. [1, 2]
Cross-Tolerance: There is cross-tolerance with other GABAergic substances (like benzos and soma), but it is considered partial and incomplete. However, tolerance to GBL/GHB does create strong cross-tolerance with other \(GABA_{B}\) agonists like baclofen. [1, 2, 3]
3. Pregabalin
Mechanism: Unlike the others, pregabalin is a gabapentinoid. It does not act on GABA receptors. Instead, it binds to voltage-gated calcium channels to reduce the release of excitatory neurotransmitters. [1, 2, 3]
Cross-Tolerance: There is no true cross-tolerance between pregabalin and the GABA-acting drugs (meprobamate, benzos, soma, or GBL). However, tolerance to pregabalin is linked to cross-tolerance with other gabapentinoids like gabapentin and phenibut. [1, 2, 3]
I'm now using AI more and more, including a local model with safeties removed - I'm finding it to be very useful to speed up my research and handle some complex questions that I wouldn't be able to answer on my own, but I don't know how accurate it is and there's just too much to get through for me to verify everything, if I didn't use it though I think I'd need a bloody degree to understand the complex interactions I'm creating in my body!
However, given I'm using it to help reduce my overall drug usage there's by definition less harm than where I am currently, the biggest risk is that this isn't the optimal approach for me, though I'm not about to go and seek professional help so it's at least something to give a try "risk free".
Sketchy local AI view quoted below is to drop Soma 1st, while this does make sense given I'm not bothered about Diazepam that much I'm just going to go cold turkey on it right away and will stop taking benzos going forward. I can believe the point on Soma having the "heaviest metabolic load", but I would like to try to confirm that just to give me more confidence in the AI model I'm using.
Your stack hits the same GABA receptors three times over. Dropping one will reset tolerance faster and clean up your routine. Here is the priority order to remove, from highest to lowest:
1. Soma (Carisoprodol) Why: Converts to meprobamate, which accumulates quickly and overlaps heavily with diazepam and GBL. At 2000 mg twice a week, it’s the heaviest metabolic load. Drop this first. Diazepam handles daytime tension; GBL handles deep relaxation. The gap disappears.
2. Diazepam Why: Long half-life means steady receptor binding. If you drop Soma, diazepam becomes redundant when paired with GBL. Keep it only if you need daytime anxiety relief. Otherwise, switch to GBL + pregabalin for cleaner resets.
3. Pregabalin Why: Different mechanism, low dose (60 mg), minimal cross-tolerance. Keep this longest. It actually benefits your stack by rotating calcium channel modulation so your GABA receptors don’t adapt too tightly.
4. GBL Why: Fast-acting, short half-life, used only twice weekly. Least likely to cause steady daytime tolerance. Deepen your sleep with it without building heavy dependency.
Sketchy AI recommended instead using GBL with weekly breaks, I explored other options with it including reduced frequency and breaks during the week, as well as swapping between GBL and Soma every 2 weeks. I want to research and validate this a bit more but once I do I'll share my thoughts, currently though I'm leaning towards the swapping option mainly because I have a decent supply of GBL and Soma left and this option still bring decent improvements to GABA repair and also should increase the effectiveness of Soma (which I do like!!)
I also asked Sketchy AI to come up with a weekly protocol taking into account the other drugs I take, initially it suggested 2C-B 3 times a week, and cocaine weekly but I felt both of these were too much, after some direction on personal choice this is what it recommended:-
Key takeaway is to consider cross tolerence of all the drugs you're taking - I suspect this is partly what was behind @BadBoy377 thinking when he was suggesting a good 1st step was to stop drinking - he was right there by the way! 25 days since my last drink and I've already been able to cut down on my other GABA intake, and ready to drop something else completely already. Thanks @BadBoy377 good advice.
If you're still reading this post, or indeed this thread, good luck with your poly drug use, take a look at how each drug is interacting....
Replacing the benzo's with gabapentin and the soma with flexeril is a nice option to give your GABA receptors a break and actually heal. Of course taper in/out but the gabapentin/flexeril combo is a real life saver when dropping Soma and Benzos. I also find magnesium & L-Theanine supplements are a tremendous help with the rebound anxiety and sleep. Chamomile tea too. I've found it pretty easy to get a month or so completely sober using this method. But then the cravings come back and i give in to one thing or another.
I still haven't used K, i have a few g's of the S-iso, i am very close to k holing myself in hopes of re wiring my craving brain. Sick of the cycle ya know?
Replacing the benzo's with gabapentin and the soma with flexeril is a nice option to give your GABA receptors a break and actually heal. Of course taper in/out but the gabapentin/flexeril combo is a real life saver when dropping Soma and Benzos.
I also find magnesium & L-Theanine supplements are a tremendous help with the rebound anxiety and sleep. Chamomile tea too. I've found it pretty easy to get a month or so completely sober using this method. But then the cravings come back and i give in to one thing or another.
I'm taking them already along with lemon balm and valerian at the moment, though I think for me they're not really that needed. THC works pretty well for me for sleep too.
I still haven't used K, i have a few g's of the S-iso, i am very close to k holing myself in hopes of re wiring my craving brain. Sick of the cycle ya know?
a decent hole certainly gives you an interesting perspective on things, my last k-hole had a lots of focus on "stopping drinking", pleased to say it's been 27 days since my last drink! Not saying that the ket stopped me drinking, but it certainly gave me a lot of introspection & motivation to get the ball rolling.
maybe a monthly k-hole should be on my schedule come to think of it, give me a bit of a brain reset. hmmm....
So your way might actually be totally fine. I mean tbh... I still do that with ketamine. But now it's like, 2-3 times a YEAR, maximum. And honestly... I've said a lot of shit before about the subtle darkness of ketamine and dissociatives generally and I stand by that but the older I get and the more I stress myself out pointlessly about the drugs I'm doing and yoyo between stone cold sobriety and giving myself permission to have periods of doing a few more drugs, the more I think that most of my problems relating to substance use have their roots in internalized prohibitionist propaganda and the toxicity of shame and self-shaming for just indulging in something relatively harmless and fun now and then. Some people will call me an addict in denial, I think I'm cool with that. 
