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Stimulants Stim Abuse & Persistent Changes to Sensory Perceptions (smell)

blight12

Bluelighter
Joined
Jan 28, 2012
Messages
1,628
Not sure this is in the right place (ADD maybe?) but as the title says I was wondering if anybody has experienced ongoing or persistent changes to their external sensory perceptions due to stim abuse. Specifically the sense of smell and lesser, taste. Basically persistent Olfactory Hallucinations. I know this happens on the meth but im talking about persisting issues.

A simple Google search brought up some wack shit about smells linked to mental disorders and dopamine related issues so, seriously, any ideas on the below please? Do stims have some sort of HPPD version, at least on a conceptual level?

For example I have not used stims or meth for 3 almost 4 weeks now and have noticed definite changes to my sense of smell.

The main issue is much reduced tolerance and disgust for previously negatively perceived smells, like sweat for example.

Some other issues (that are ongoing and not getting less noticeable since stopping 3 weeks back) are:

1. New smells linked to odd places never noticed before (like a passageway on my house now has its own distinct and unique smell wtf)
2. New and negative smells often have some negative memory, emotion or imaginative scenario linked to them, like one negative smell always making me think of an oil slick with death, sadness and imagery of dying birds and fish, double wtf...
3. Changes of familiar smells. My preferred brand of cigarettes changed smell and taste long ago already and have never returned to normal. This was a neutral change though. Weird.
4. Being lucky enough not to get cravings, I still notice smells cause the closest thing to these (I could call them memory triggers rather then cravings) where now all the weird shit I smelt when high, especially the changed and negative smells make me think of meth instantly, however not necessarily craving it or positively, simply just a reminder of why this situation and smell is odd or noticeably abnormal etc.

Now the multiple different noticeable things above are two many and to obvious to be some subjective thing especially with the instant Google mentions of smell/dopamine relationship and so forth. Also, only happens with smell and nothing else but im thinking perhaps this is because smell is the only sense with obvious negative and positive perceptions of different input?

Firstly anybody experience this and secondly, could somebody with the know how clarify the possible technical reasons for this in my specific case and conclusions, risks etc.

Thanks.

EDIT: I found this : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperosmia and http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2536718/ but I am not sure what the implications of this are and if this is my issue.
What they say about unbearable smells is what I experience, however I also experience much greater pleasure in taste and food...
 
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In short, methamphetamine heightens senses and reactions (directly related because of it's effect on norepinephrine which is one's "fight or flight" mechanism, increasing reaction times, heart rate, dilates pupils and heightens one's perceptive senses.) That's your simple answer.

It appears that you are keen on how to use google, and the information that you have cited is probably as good, if not better than any info you're going to get here (that hasn't already been discussed). Of course, with no offense to bluelighters. So, if you're just seeking personal experiences and ancedotes, you'll get that for sure - but the exact sciences and reasoning behind this will be found in the places you were already looking.
 
Great thanks. I think I would feel much more at ease if these symptoms where felt by others and if there went away eventually, even after being persistent for some time.
I just know persistent symptoms are generally not a good thing at all.
 
Now this might seem weird but bear with for me the first signs of stimulant pyschosis were always a dirty smell usually urine which eventually led to the belief that i was incontinent which was not the case.

Also in the philip k. dick book/movie "through a scanner darkly" , there is a passage where the main character suffers from a terrible hallucination which starts out with an overwhelming smell of shit coming out of a car engine. Good read and goes to show these kind of freak-outs are not totally uncommon.
 
^^ Yeah I get tons of related wierd stuff when still high, like urine to me smells exactly like a strong male deodorant. It becomes somewhat more of a positive smell then it was sober, which disturbs me.
This is only when very high though and I understand that this is normal as long as it goes away when the drug wears off.

Other senses, I notice after 2-3 days and no sleep I get very much enhanced colors which i know means im getting close to negative symptoms and nearing mild psychosis (though I have never gotten there properly before as I always seem to just get really annoyed and the trip becomes un enjoyable and i stop before I have ever crossed to psychosis.

But yes he sensory enhancements get worse the longer the binge gets and the more your sanity deteriorates.
 
I think I would feel much more at ease if these symptoms where felt by others

they definitely are experienced by others. I'd put my house on betting that you're not the only one...

...and if there went away eventually, even after being persistent for some time.
I just know persistent symptoms are generally not a good thing at all.

Sure, they'll go away - when you STOP CONSUMING WHAT'S CAUSING THEM.

If you think "persistent symptoms" aren't a good thing, well, quit persistently using the product or thing causing said symptoms, or get used to it and ride the rollercoaster.
 
Haha, accurate and blunt advice, the best kind by far for sure. I really appreciate it. Thanks littlepenguin (just in case to confirm, I am not being sarcastic).
 
Nose dripping all the time, whistling air through the nostrils, intense cold feeling inside the nose, build up of corrosive shit in the fleshy bit at the back of the nose are all big indicators of damage, took me 6 months to get my smell back after a few nights binge on ethylphenidate.

take a break from snorting definitely, when you get off all that shit you want to enjoy food again. i heard shit you snort can fuck up your lungs too, another good reason to quit nose candy.
 
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I would suggest you're excaberating a latent mental illness(schizophrenia or schizoaffective) and/or working towards psychosis.

I noticed all kinds of negative effects after binging on meth and MDPV for like half a year. They all went away finally after 2 years of stimulant abstinence.
 
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