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Opioids Does monthly opiate use cause brain changes

T

TageMyBoy

Bluelighter
Joined
Dec 13, 2014
Messages
97
Does monthly use cause changes in your dopamine/serotonin systems or in other places? For example, I won't use mdma more often than every 3 months because I want to avoid neurotoxicity and significant changes to my serotonin receptors.

So if I keep my frequency of use at once a month or less, will there be any significant changes in brain chemistry? I'm aware of high addiction and overdose potential; but i want to be more informed about the possibility of permanent changes in my brain. Thanks!
 
If you indeed use once a month, I don't see you getting addicted.

The only issue is that those rules people create for themselves, "I'll only use once a month," aren't usually followed if you truly enjoy the substance so much you feel the need to limit the use of it.
 
TageMyBoy said:
Does monthly use cause changes in your dopamine/serotonin systems or in other places? For example, I won't use mdma more often than every 3 months because I want to avoid neurotoxicity and significant changes to my serotonin receptors.

So if I keep my frequency of use at once a month or less, will there be any significant changes in brain chemistry? I'm aware of high addiction and overdose potential; but i want to be more informed about the possibility of permanent changes in my brain. Thanks!
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Well to answer your question as best as possible . To begin with MDMA is not addicting at all at least for me . Opiates are very addicting physically and psychologically . I promise that you will not be able to keep it at once a week once you experience a opiate high . I personally think opiates deplete your dopamine ;because of the bad RLS it causes when you quit , but this is my opinion ,and I have found no research otherwise anywhere proving this . There are some research or I should say quite bit proving opiates mess with your dopamine ,but its a down stream event not direct. I know for a fact they down regulate your Opioid MU receptors ,and this is where tolerance comes into . You will need more ,and more over time to get the same high .

If you think you have the will power to keep it at once a week you have some wicked will power . Now there are the few folks that try opiates for the first time ,and simi overdose ,and puke there guts up ,and never touch them again . Not to sound like a dick ,but I hope your one of them to save you from the long dark road from opiates that I promise is not fun to be on .

Good luck man have fun ,and be safe . :)
 
Once a month, not once a week. I'm too afraid to use once a week lol. And I've experienced the high before. I actually enjoy the peak of mdma more, but I like oxy more overall since there isn't a comedown. I know there would be withdrawal if I was addicted but at my current use, the wearing off of the high is just a nice return to baseline.
 
TageMyBoy said:
Once a month, not once a week. I'm too afraid to use once a week lol. And I've experienced the high before. I actually enjoy the peak of mdma more, but I like oxy more overall since there isn't a comedown. I know there would be withdrawal if I was addicted but at my current use, the wearing off of the high is just a nice return to baseline.
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If you keep it at once a month you will be in good shape . Usually it starts though at once a month then once a week then once a day then many times a day.
 
i kept it at once a month, even less frequent for a few years.

then it was once a week for a few years.

then it was a lil more frequent for a few years.

now, a few years later, full blown addicted. all day every day.

everyone single opiate addict says "i wont get addicted, i can control it."

good luck man, stay safe...
 
Once a month ? no wont hurt unless your taking 10 pandiene extras or 10 nurofen plus at a time, that will wreck liver kidneys etc..the ibuprofen and paracetamol not codiene
 
xivixive said:
i kept it at once a month, even less frequent for a few years.

then it was once a week for a few years.

then it was a lil more frequent for a few years.

now, a few years later, full blown addicted. all day every day.

everyone single opiate addict says "i wont get addicted, i can control it."

good luck man, stay safe...
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^^^
This.

I'm damn lucky I never got addicted to them despite taking them once or a few times a month, or less frequent for a few years. Now I don't use anything.

But I know a lot of people who did get addicted to them and it happened like you posted about, or when they had unlimited access to them.

Good luck, and stay safe.

I'm not sure if opiate use like this changes your brain, or not? But you do set yourself up with a pattern to keep using them to get high on, and to become addicted both psychologically and physically to them.
 
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As the others have stated, as well as having my own battle with opiate addiction I can tell you straight-up that limits just don't work. If you're so infatuated with a drug that you feel the need to set a limit with your use then you're already starting down the one way hole that is opiate addiction.

Honestly, if you're not physically dependent right now then give it up completely. I've never met an opiate user who was able to keep their limit. The way it affects the reward system in your brain makes it almost impossible to stick to your limit unless you're physically unable to get any.

And for your question, no I don't believe monthly use of a small amount (binges are more risky, even if spaced a month apart) would be likely to cause any major difference in brain chemistry, but it hasn't been studied to my knowledge and everyone is different.
 
Usa51 said:
Opiates are a long dark road I wish I never started.
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Amen brother! Same here . Wish I never started . I have 0 and I mean 0 energy without opiates . I have to take 180mg of Oxycodone as soon as I wake every morning . Just to be normal . I have quit in the past was clean for over a year ,and I did not turn back to my old self before use with lots of energy ,and I was always a happy person . Not anymore I need opiates to be happy . I could probably be clean for several years ,and still wouldn't get my old me back with energy ,and happiness . I need 180 mg of Oxycodone about ever 4-5 hours to be normal . Thats around 540mg in a 12 hour period . Very sad ,and I look down on myself for getting myself in this situation . I truly don't think anyone that abuses Opiates will ever be there old self after a extended time of use that is . Like I said I was clean for a whole year ,and still was not my old self .
 
what pretty much every other post says. listen to them. opis ARE a long dark road. it keeps getting longer and sometimes doesnt feel like its getting any better. sometimes it doesnt get better. i hope for your sake and everyone in your life who loves you that you never have to experience what countless others have
 
You can get away with MDMA a little more often. I believe it generally takes 3-4 weeks to fully recover from it. That was always my rule when I was younger and going out to a lot of clubs and raves. I'd drop pills like once a month, and never had and problems. Just make sure to take 5-HTP.
 
To the OP,

Not that bad, but all psychoactive drugs change the brain.
 
yeah i was actually considering the move from oxy to nasal h. But after reading this thread i've decided i need to think a lot more about the choice before i do that. I'm not okay with ruining my life. My biggest question to myself is when would i stop? It doesn't seem imaginable for me to still be doing the once a month routine 50 years from now. It makes me wonder how it'll come to an end. And when i think about it, if it does end, chances are it'll be because something bad enough happens that makes me stop, and idk if i want that. Right now it seems like no problem, it hasn't had any negative effects on my life and has been easy to control. But i guess it's silly to think it'll stay that way forever.
 
Truthfully, I think the most significant change occurs after the very first use... or, the very first "high". There just aren't a lot of life experiences that match the intensity and sheer pleasure of an opioid high. If you use and really enjoy it, then that first hit is probably going to be the most profound/life changing event. Severe addiction and dependence will further warp your body/mind's chemical systems, but that process takes time (and a lot of hard work ;))
 
yep i remember when i first started, i used maybe twice a month, it was great...then it was once a week, only on saturdays, then it became fridays and saturdays and it was still a good time..then i added in a sunday dose and that was when i started to notice i dont feel that good on mondays..gee, i wonder why..dark road ahead and those little highs you get may seem great but they arent worth the bad
 
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