Misc Why do certain drugs take effect VERY quickly?

[shortjazzdude]

Like opiates, trazadone, and alcohol. Opiates and trazadone can both kick in within 20 minutes or so. A potent alcoholic beverage drunk on an empty stomach can take effect within a minute or two.

 

[sekio]

Alcohol is a small enough molecule that it is absorbed even across the stomach lining, whereas most "small-molecule drugs" have to be sent through the liver first before reaching circulation. It also has a fairly specific set of sensory cues that can trigger the psychological response of intoxication even before blood concentrations rise.

 

[blight12]

Very interesting topic actually. I have always wondered how alcohol was able to take effect within minutes of consumption when the standard understanding is 20-30 minutes for effect/absorption of anything taken orally.

I would always feel a pleasant warm sensation after consuming alcohol after about 5 minutes which almost instantly results in the obvious psychological effect immediately after.

I have often asked others about the "stomach warming effect" which seems to precipitate the psychological effect but none else seems to notice it. Weird.

 

[Felonious Monk]

^I definitely feel something in the first few minutes.

sekio's comment is fascinating, is it just alcohol that causes those intoxication cues or are there other substances as well? The whole topic is very interesting, as I sometimes put it off to placebo effect when I feel something too quickly (not alcohol).

 

[blight12]

Yeah. I have tried so many other substances including all the mainsteam oral ones and everything else seems to conform so closely to the standard 30 min ave mark its pretty amazing, except for alcohol (and a few others which all take much longer then the standard)

I would also very much like to know more about the sensory cues. I have never head about this before. This would make a lot of sense however.

 

[StaffWriter]

Just depends on how fast the chemical can be metabolized by the liver.

 

[Paregoric Mac]

I also think it highly depends on the chemical and all of said chemicals many factors. Besides alcohol, I'd say the fastest thing to hit me taken orally is alprazolam, which I can usually feel as soon as 3 minutes.

 

[potzah1]

Personally I have found that all drugs except weed hit me almost instantly, I don't have any tolerance to any substance except weed but when I take a sip of a beer I feel it as soon as I swallow, and if I do a line of coke I feel the best part of the buzz instantly, I think it could have to do with each persons brain chemistry

 

[blight12]

^ Agreed but I think here we are taking only oral ROA. Obviously nasally smoking etc hits faster due to its direct access to the blood steam but in terms of oral drug use specifically alcohol seems to be the only one that "hits the brain" in a few minutes.