Transcendence said:
I also suffered from magnesium deficit.
I've had a little theory for quite a while now that much of the reported change in effects over time seen with MXE (and indeed ketamine) is in part due to a depletion of magnesium. Magnesium is involved in the funtion of the NMDA receptor, in that it acts as a blockade to the voltage dependent ion channel. I believe there needs to be healthy magnesium levels in the brain in order to experience the full effect of the modulation of the NMDA receptor by NMDA antagonists, such as MXE.
I have supplemented magnesium before when using dissociatives heavily, and it brought back the ability to hole deeply. Almost too deeply in fact, since when I took magnesium supplements concurrently with ketamine, I would remember very little of the peak, only recalling what happened as I was entering and leaving the hole. But it was very psychedelic, and extremely sedating.
But I feel this is only one element of the whole picture when it comes to dissociative tolerance and alteration of effects. Besides the obvious downregulation of the NMDA receptor, I believe there is something going on with the dopamine-serotonin axis too. Chronic elevation of dopamine levels - like that seen with regular and heavy MXE use - will deplete serotonin over time, which could at least partially account for the apparent loss of connectedness, feelings of emptiness etc. Yet those low levels of serotonin may not be so apparent during sober hours because of the elevation of dopamine. I'm not a chemist, biologist, or pharmacologist, so I don't know how much of an effect this actually has, but it seems like it must exert some influence. Although serotonin and other neurotransmitters are not directly involved with the pharmacology of dissociatives, they are still important to the overall mindstate during the experience, as they are in any state of consciousness.
I believe that regular, heavy dosing with dissociatives radically alters your brain chemistry over time, and because of this, it is important to take very long breaks from such use in order to replenish stocks of neurotransmitters and nutrients. We tend to forget to eat well when abusing dissociatives, just living from one hole to the next, and this definitely impacts the nature of the experience.
Besides all this, you need to take a break in order to remember to look after your body. After all, you
are your body, no matter how much time you may have spent in a hole beleiving otherwise.
replying to the post a ways back about MXE effecting women differently than men, I think I remember reading that ketamine actually has a stronger effect by weight on women than men. You gal's are lucky!
All of the women I've talked to who have used MXE seem to dislike it. Nearly all of the men I've shared with love it like a son. Similar to how guys tend to prefer phenibut (GABAb) and women tend to prefer zolpidem (GABAa).
I've known plenty of women who loved ketamine, and I'm sure there are many females who indulge in MXE. I don't think it makes a difference what gender you are. Maybe there are some differences between how stong it affects you (maybe slightly), but from what I've seen there is no difference between how much enjoyment or lack thereof it brings to either gender. I've seen some females dislike it completely, as well as some males. And I've seen some girls hoover it up their noses like there was no tomorrow.
missimoo said:
i clearly made the point that I wasnt BOASTING about my excessive dosing, but that I was amazed that i was WELL AND FIT after such long abuse, and it was abuse. if you have nothing positive to contribute. instead of slamming people. ...I suggest you back off.
I think the point pontifex was making is that you seem to be confident that you can use dosages of up to a gram a day and still be completely healthy. This is just not true. Remember that everyone is different, so you may have gotten away lightly with that kind of usage, but another person may suffer terrible physical consequences. There is no way you could continue to use to that extent without physical damage. The doctor can give you a clean bill of health, but that means nothing in terms of long term problems building up over time.
I just thought it would be common sense to heed the advice that you cannot take such amounts without eventually paying for it dealy with the health of your body.
bluedolphin said:
I think as long as you keep yourself hydrated, ulcerative cystitis of the bladder is of little concern.
It bothers me greatly that, after people make the effort to warn everyone of the dangers of long-term dissociative use, you come on and disregard everything said. This just goes against the harm reduction advice people are trying to give when they warn about using too much. I definitely agree that if you are using MXE you should be drinking lots of water to detox your body, but this is in no way at all a guarantee against health problems associated with chronic high-dose usage, such as ulcerative cystitis. To baselessly proclaim that such health problems are of little concern is, in my opinion, contrary to the entire point of these threads.
You said that you used ketamine heavily for years without problems. Well I used it heavily for years too, but I paid for it with my gallbladder. The thing is, I didn't know of any such stories about bladder or gallbladder problems when I was using ketamine. Yet people here who clearly do know still choose to defy that reality and brush it off as if it's nothing.
You may think that everything is roses just because you're not having problems yet, but what are you going to say
if the shit does eventually hit the fan? Obviously if you do start having problems it's going to be too late to turn round and say everything is okay. Surely the best course of action is to prevent it from happening in the first place, by means such as drastically cutting back on the regularity of usage. Not only does this reduce the amount of times you are exposed to MXE, but it also reduces the amount of MXE you are exposed to each time you take MXE, because your tolerance will be markedly reduced, so your doses will be less.
And of course, clearly some people are not immune to the problems we are discussing:
Chris Timothy said:
Occasionally I feel my urinary tract and kidneys burn, and sometimes it burns when I pee. The worst I've gotten was pain radiating to my genitals. Only once, though. I've cut down considerably since, but I have yet to completely keep my greedy hands off it.
I'm not trying to scaremonger. I'm just injecting a little common sense in to the discussion. Better to prevent any health problems before they occur than to wait for them to happen.
