Thanks for posting this Xorkoth, this is very interesting, I do like Phenibut and have been using it for a year or so, on and off (not every day, just a few days here and there
).
I notice that a lot of people find Phenibut a very pro-social substance. For me however, as much as I do like Phenibut, and I do find it anxiolytic it is not particularly pro-social. In fact in some ways it can be a little anti-social because it makes me too content to just chill without much inclination to do anything else. It is worth noting probably that I am naturally a little anti-social, but as I am usually quite aware of this tendency I make a conscious effort to push myself to engage in social interactions. Phenibut to some extent removes this desire... in fact although this is not always the case, I have on a few occasions felt that, paradoxically, Phenibut is actually a little
anxiogenic because while it makes me very content to keep doing familiar things, with familiar people, it can sometimes actually give me an aversion to seeking out new and less familiar experiences.
All that said, in the event that I am thrust into such a new experience anyway, or manage to overcome the Phenibutic blissful lethargy, I am undoutedly more relaxed than usual, BUT socially, again, I sometimes find I am a little TOO relaxed and just not too inclined to either engage or make too much of an effort... this could be a dosage issue of course.
As far as dosage goes, I usually dose around 1500-2200mg, once per day. My experience with the effects is a little different also, I find...
0 - 1 hour: Nothing
1 - 3 or 4 hours: Mild but noticeable relaxation, anxiolysis
3 or 4 - 12 or so hours: The good effects
While I do get the first 2 parts, the last part is typically a gradual fade. In fact I even get something of an immediate comedown at around the 7-8 hour mark, where again, I suddenly feel markedly less social and pretty tired and uninterested in whatever is going on, even a little irritable. I can't be sure if this is simply a return to baseline (I am, perhaps a little more anxious than average anyway) or exacerbated by the palpable contrast between feeling more relaxed previously, but regardess, I have experienced it enough times to know it feels like a comedown. I can sometimes ignore the "down" type feelings, and I definitely still sleep better afterwards, but the "good effects" for me are the first 6 hours or so.
Perhaps I am expecting too much from the substance though. I am, I have thought in the past, a little prone to feeling any drug begin to wear off. Perhaps this is a symptom of not properly relaxing into the experience, but I like to be able to look inside myself and still FEEL an effect, and so when I notice this lessening I think it prompts an anxiety response of some kind.
Strangely I find Aniracetam highly pro-social in a way that Phenibut isn't but the duration of Aniracetam is short enough to be mostly useless. This is another issue I have with a lot of drugs that can be used while going about daily life... in a standard recreational setting, redosing occasionally is not an issue, but while going about the world it is inconvenient to have to redose too often. This is one of the reasons I like modafinil I think, it lasts literally all day.
Anyway coming back to Phenibut, I don't know if anyone has seen this yet but over on another forum
someone posted a translation of the original Russian literature and dosage information. There is some interesting stuff there, including the fact that it is prescribed to children in Russia on occasion. I don't know what the clinical trial and approval process is like in Russia but Phenibut appears to be potentially, a fairly versatile medicine. The dosage information is also of interest:
DIRECTIONS FOR USE
To be taken by mouth, after a meal.
Adults are prescribed 250-500 mg 3 times a day. If the treatment necessitates a higher dose it can be increased to a maximum of 2500 mg (a day).
Children under 3 years of age are prescribed 50-100 mg, 3 times daily. Children between ages of 8 and 14 are prescribed 250 mg, 3 times daily.
Maximal single dose (!)
Adults – 750 mg, elderly patients (60 y.o. or older), - 500 mg, children under 8 – 150 mg, children 8-14 y.o. – 250 mg.
For management of alcohol abstinence symptoms, in the first days of treatment the dose should be 250-500 mg 3 times during the day, with additional 750 mg before bed. The dose must however be gradually lowered to maximum adult daily amount during the course of treatment.
For management of Meniere’s disease:
During flare ups: 750 mg 3-4 times every 24 hours. To be continued for a period of 5-7 days. As vestibular disturbance symptoms begin to subside, - 250-500 mg every 24 hours during the course of 5-7 days and finally tapered to 250 mg once every 24 hours, and administered for another 7-10 days.
Treatment of dizziness caused by dysfunction of vestibular analyzer of vascular or trauma related origin, - 250 mg 3 times every 24 hours. Continue taking over the course of 12 days
For prophylaxis of motion sickness: 250-500 mg, to be taken once, 1 hour before the planned trip. (Effectiveness is dose-dependent).
It would seem from this that Phenibut is really intended to be dosed multiple times per day. Based on this information, today I dosed 750mg x2 per day. I noticed I did not get such an intense feeling of wellbeing as with higher dosages, BUT I could still feel around the 8 hour mark that I needed to redose because I could feel the comedown setting in. I think I will try playing with the dosing a little more, I believe it is a possibility that it is more sustainable with doses closer to the actual prescription dosages.
Also, one minor note of caution for heavier users:
OVERDOSE
Symptoms: pronounced lethargy, nausea, vomiting, fatty dystrophy of liver (when taken in excess of 7 grams), eosinophilia, low arterial blood pressure, kidney dysfunction.
Treatment: Gastric lavage, activated charcoal, symptomatic treatment.
