What are your hidden gem medications/drugs/substances and what makes them ideal for your usecase
What are your hidden gem medications/drugs/substances and what makes them ideal for your usecase
If you notice an improperly formatted reply, kindly message the poster and gently remind them it needs to comport with the Naltrexone example below. It is simple and keeps things traversable and useful, thanks π
Naltrexone
I will start with naltrexone, which can help people who have difficulty regulating their drinking have a more natural and sustainable relationship with alcohol should they choose to not cut it out of their lives entirely.
Melatonin
I can't do sleep hygiene. My cell phone is the first and last thing I see every day. I stare at screens all day for work and for leisure. With moderate melatonin use I can somehow maintain regular and restful sleep.
No side effects if you use it responsibly (e.g. 5 days on, 2 days off, stick with low doses). Very safe. Can improve sleep even if you're already sleeping well. I don't know why more people aren't on it.
Pramipexole
It's used for Parkinson's and restless legs, I use it for restless legs. I've suffered with this condition as far back as I can remember, I've always referred to myself as a part time insomniac because this would keep me up a lot of the time.
I had a period of mental health problems and was prescribed Metazapine for it, which kicked up the RLS a notch. Despite being off them now for nearly a year, the Restless Legs are still kicked up.
Pramipexole, when taken at the right time, sorts the RLS out, I can finally sleep and when I do sleep I don't kick my wife up the arse.
Side affects include hypersexualality and compulsive gambling, but I haven't experienced this yet. I have warned my workmates that it could come up in the future though so if I ever say "I bet you a fiver you can't wank me off" they know why.
Edited to bold Pramipexole
Fly agaric / Amanita muscaria
is the only thing that is actually mucus dissolving. You are stoned as fuck but when dried slowly they are nontoxic anymore.
They are also very funny, perfect party drug. Actually stoned, without head paranoia etc. dancing is really fun, you can lie down or move its all very funny. And no alcohol 70%-directly-in-the-liver pain the next morning.
Cannabis
is a very complex substance and not for just chilling in my experience. It can be very helpful with stress, it is like soothing the brain with this other entity. I am sure it is not, but it feels like your subconsciousness taking control. Helps a lot understanding yourself and breaking free from toxic Adrenaline-Stress-Coffee-Capitalist thinking.
It is not just for chilling, it is not "an alternative to alcohol" and it is extremely abused, especially in the US. These "roll a blunt" amounts are simply not possible with todays potent weed, and mixing with tobacco while pretending you are not addicted to that ugly goblin clinging to your brain (for me tobacco feels like that) is absurd.
I think it is immensely powerful and its by far my favourite cozy drug, it saved my psyche when I didnt even know it lol (had an unrelated accident when stoned, got stitched up without anesthesia and my ears where fucked up for over a year after that).
LSD
is also great. Its such a shame it was banned immediately. There where so many studies and psychotherapeutic sessions, it is such an intense magnifier of these therapies.
Instead you now either sit there and talk, which is only effective after a year or so (while in Germany it is extremely hard to find a place); or you work with symptoms which is more effective but can easily result in the expression of your illness just switching to another symptom.
LSD is fucking magic. The lack of the nasty body effects of Psilocybin mushrooms is very good, as these can get extremely uncomfortable. And what it does with your brain, and how you think, is just so enriching. I already cried in front of my family, had great conversations with my then still alive grandparents, and I am so thankful for the existence of this drug.
Basically all the common ones suck, Alcohol, Tobacco, Nicotine, Stimulants. They are extremely unhealthy and have no beneficial effect at all. They only help you keep running, but you can easily break during this.
Testosterone
I'd tried a few different combinations of HRT (for menopause), and was doing ok ish on oestrogen patches and micronised progesterone capsules. But I still felt like a shadow of myself, a barely functioning husk.
I ended up paying privately to see a menopause specialist (after finding out the waiting time for the NHS clinic I was referred to was at least a year and a half - just for my referral to get looked at), and she prescribed me testosterone. Within 48 hours I noticed a huge difference, I felt like I'd recovered a huge chunk of my energy and my personality.
It makes me furious that it's so hard to get. I'm not sure what state my mental health would be in if I hadn't been able to get it. I was definitely looking at having to cut hours in work to be able to cope, and that would have had a big financial impact on me.
And so many people I speak to - including women - are confused about why testosterone would help, there's so much misunderstanding about hormones, they don't know that women have testosterone and men have oestrogen. My aunt asked me whether it would reverse the menopause and I was just like er what... How would that even work?
Vyvanse (lisdexamfetamine).
I know a lot of folks donβt like it for a multitude of reasons, but it works well for me. I take it about an hour before I get to work and Iβm actually able to focus on work as opposed to why I donβt wanna be there. Itβs great. Also helps that my job is pretty great overall, but being able to focus on actually getting up and doing stuff is great.
Ketamine
Fast acting relief from treatment resistant depression. Personally I find ~0.8 mg/kg subcutaneously injected is about the magic dose.
After 20 odd years of living in a fog the first time I used that treatment was like night and day. I had forgotten how trivial most things are without depression. Exercise for example is just "I don't wanna but I know I'll feel better. Ugh fine" instead of something that takes about 3 days to psych up to on a good week.
I find it's very effective for about a week, dropping off over the next month or so. Unsure if lifetime sustainable at a frequency of ~2-3 weeks per dose but definitely useful to put in changes to life that make it easier to handle.
Crazy expensive medically though, if you can get it tested infusions can be prepared diy (most is diverted from medical supply so it's often not adultrated BUT NOT ALWAYS!) with bacteriostatic water and 0.22 um wheel filters. Obvs if you don't know what you're doing you could seriously harm yourself, and you absolutely must be able to secure safety measures like naloxone, but if the rope is looking mighty appealing it's an option if you can't get it medically.
L-theanine and caffeine
It's a combination that gives me energy and allows me to focus for a couple hours at a time without jitters or anxiety.
Nifedipine - vasodilator
This cheap and common calcium channel blocker has an effect more localized to the peripheral vessels than most other calcium channel blockers.
I started taking it as a cure for chilblains, which it was remarkably effective at despite not being officially listed for. Did my research and asked my doctor for it. Never had one since.
However I soon realized the joy of never feeling cold again. Gone are the days of taking swigs from a flask to keep my fingers thawed out while working on a stalled tractor at -30C. Gone are cold/numb feet in ski boots and rubber boots, frozen thumbs on quads and snowmobiles. I can work in my unheated shop all day!
Of course its main function is to drop blood pressure by decreasing arterial resistance, which I found provided a significant performance boost in someone with only high normal blood pressure. I box and jump rope, and realized a few days after taking nifedipine that I had been jumping so long that my legs were getting sore, but my endurance still felt limitless.
My blood pressure is down to totally normal too. So drop your blood pressure, boost your endurance and never feel cold again for under $30/month... It's a deal
Yerba Mate
Honestly, I think Yerba Mate is probably the most pleasant and cleanest caffeinated beverage around. I've pretty much entirely replaced coffee at this point, as Yerba Mate seems to have all around superior effects. The unique blend of methylxanthine stimulants present (caffeine, theobromine, theophylline) in Mate provides incredibly clean stimulation with no crash and little anxiety (for me anyway). It doesn't make my stomach feel nasty after multiple cups, which I appreciate as well. The guayaki canned drinks initially got me into it, but I've since graduated to brewing the unsmoked loose leaf tea.
DXM/dextromethorphan (Robitussin Cough Gels)
Its technically a dissociative and NMDA-antagonist, anaesthetic.
DXM can be an amazing agent for inducing what I would term a
hard reset, that is dissociating you the f-out to the extent you may be able to reevaluate and see things in a new light. You will need to take care it doesnt react with other ingested substances you take and there are different thresholds (plateaus) that purportedly have distinct characteristics.The best source is Robitussin Cough Gels, take care it is a single-ingredient product that you are considering trying. Have a pan to throw up in (you will vomit to some extent) and do not trust any farts.
If you have urinary retention, take a super hot bath but be very careful, maybe have someone check in on you. The hot water will relax your muscles and basically force you to have to and be able to get it out. Limit liquid consumption before/during/after to avoid an unduly full bladder
Edit: it might be a secret antidepressant akin to ketamine (similar profile) and the music euphoria is incredible
Meclizine
Meclizine is an antiemetic that works far better than Dramamine, imo. You can find chewable tablets, but it's far cheaper and more efficient to just get the pills. I get migraines + have IBS, so I'm constantly nauseous. (And have emetophobia, so I'll do anything I can to avoid it.) It doesn't make you drowsy like Dramamine might, either.
Oral Rehydration Salts
These rehydrate much more efficiently than water or sports drinks.
Obviously this is well known for gastro but what's less well known is the use case of using them to perk up elderly people who feel wiped out. The elderly are often low-key dehydrated.
Got COPD "light" (my doctor's words) and use Advil Cold & Sinus to pop my lungs open. Works great.
Daily kratom user. Gives me energy and kills pain. Weird stuff. I can be bouncing off the walls, lay down and still go to sleep.
Some people get addicted I hear, and I can understand that. For me, stopping is no big deal, just leaves me wishing I had more energy. Tolerance drops fast if you start taking too much.
Green makes me low-key nauseous, red is supposed to help one sleep. White kratom is my jam.
Primatene (ephedrine)
For alertness and appetite suppression.
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Iron bisglycinate (supplement)
Need an iron supplement but the regular ones (iron sulfate) plug your bowels up? You want iron bisglycinate.
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