38 replies to this topic

[Lovetolearn]

I used phenibut recreationally maybe 1-2 times a month awhile back. To be honest, I noticed very little effect from it other than I would sleep like 10 hours and sometimes have a vertigo like feeling the next morning for an hour or so. This was with 500-1000 mg. It does amplify alcohols effects however. Phenibut and 5-6 beers and its a good time.

[medievil]

The reason that Phenibut has such rapid development of tolerence and extreme potential for dependence is because it is almost exclusively a high affinity GABA-B agonist. The reason you feel well rested and in a positive mood the day after are because it is also a low affinity cyclical-dissociation beta-phenylethylamine antagonist, the antagonistic effects wear off before the GABA-B agonist effects do. This causes your PEA modulated receptors to up-regulate so when it wears off you are highly energised and motivated.

The GABA-B agonism prevents you from noticing the PEA antagonism by virtue of it's potent dopaminergic effect.

GABA-A agonists are far better for regular use, being much less addictive and having a less steep tolerance curve.

Trust me, I have extensive experience with Phenibut from back in my ignorant, irresponsible days, using it to self medicate dysthymia and chronic fatigue syndrome. I now avoid it as if it were poison, because the negative effects of past addiction last an extremely long time. GABA-B down-regulates rapidly, but up-regulates gradually, meaning that the negative effects of discontinued chronic dosing on mood and cognition last a long time. Hate the substance!

Not all GABAB agonists cause extreme tolerance like phenibut, GHB and baclofen are much more benign, phenibut is just complete garbage.

[medievil]

GABA-A agonists are far better for regular use, being much less addictive and having a less steep tolerance curve.

Triazolam (a very short acting gabaa agonist) when used nightly causes withdrawals after cessation wich is not the case with GHB as demonstrated in the xyrem study's.

[medievil]

I used to take it in the same way, but it began causing a depressed mood for a few days when the afterglow faded, so I stopped. My moods in the week are far more consistent now, and to be honest I don't miss it in the least.

+1 Same experience.

Not suprising that extreme tolerance points to it inducing rapid long term receptor downregulation, problems like that can be expected.

[OneScrewLoose]

Oh man, try to go without the trazadone, that is dangerous stuff.

Please do explain. Trazadone has been around for ages and I've never heard of any problems with it.

Gabapentin does not increase GABA levels to my knowledge, only Lyrica/Pregabalin does this. Also, keep in mind that with Gabapentin the effect as a function of dose is logarithmic. This means 600mg is not twice as strong as 300mg, but less then that. 2400 mg isn't that much stronger than 1500.

If Trazadone and weed seems to be working for you, I'd stick with it.

[Picard]

I was just prescribed Gabapentin and am curious about its effects.

This study indicates use does increase GABA levels, albeit for acute administration:

Gamma-aminobutyric' class='bbc_url' title='External link' rel='nofollow external'>http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22871916']Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and glutamate are implicated in numerous neuropsychiatric and substance abuse conditions, but their spectral overlap with other resonances makes them a challenge to quantify in humans. Gabapentin, marketed for the treatment of seizures and neuropathic pain, has been shown to increase in vivo GABA concentration in the brain of both rodents and humans. Gabapentin effects on glutamate are not known. We conducted a gabapentin (900 mg) challenge in healthy human subjects to confirm and explore its effects on GABA and glutamate concentrations, respectively, and to test the ability of single voxel localized proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy ((1)H-MRS) to reliably measure GABA and glutamate in the visual cortex at the ultra-high magnetic field of 7 Tesla. Reproducibility of GABA and glutamate measurements was determined in a comparison group without drug twice within day and 2 weeks apart. Although GABA concentration changes were small both within day (average 5.6%) and between day (average 4.8%), gabapentin administration was associated with an average increase in GABA concentration of 55.7% (6.9-91.0%). Importantly, drug-induced change in GABA levels was inversely correlated to the individual's baseline GABA level (R(2)=0.72). Mean glutamate concentrations did not change significantly with or without drug administration. In conclusion, localized (1)H-MRS at 7 Tesla can be successfully applied to the measurement of GABA concentration and is sensitive to acute drug-induced changes in cortical GABA. Whether baseline GABA concentrations predict clinical efficacy of gabapentin is an area worthy of exploration.Neuropsychopharmacology advance online publication, 8 August 2012; doi:10.1038/npp.2012.142.

→ source (external link)

[SleeplessInNYC]

I'm a life long insomnia sufferer. As a kid I had bad allergies and asthma and I was on medication 24/7. Speed during the day, codeine at night. Every night. From age 6-14. I was told my brain could of been re-wired it doesn't know how to fall asleep.

 

NO pharmaceuticals work on me to fall asleep. I've tried them all.  I'm 44 years old and a life long supplement user. I'm 150 pounds, happy to say as I used to weigh 300 pounds and lost 150 over the last two years

 

Elavil worked on me, knocked me out for 12 hours but felt like hell the next day. 300mgs of Seroquel works on me, but only with 1mg of xanax (which I'm trying not to use)

 

The best melatonin complex I've used is made by Schiff Brand "Knock Out". I first purchased it in Costco, laughing at the name. But it does what it says! IT works. It has ingredients I've tried before, but it seems the mixture works good on me. BUT, this is something you can't take every day like anything else.

 

So my research lead me to Phenibut. Then it seems I'm already taking a medication, Gabapentin that works along the same lines.

 

I took 500mg of Phenibut at 9am along with 400mg of gabapentin. It is now 12:20pm I have to say I feel calm. From what I've read I should give Phenibut at least 2-3 hours to work. Gabapentin also needs time to work. As there are variables such as body weight. My doctor gave me 800mg gabapentin pills when I asked her for a non-opiate pain killer. Then it has it anti-anxiety effects, etc. From what I've read I should give Phenibut at least 2-3 hours to work. Gabapentin also needs time to work. And then variables..

 

I'm in no way trying to get high. It seems I'm "used to" the gabapentin. I usually take 400mgs twice a day and sometimes 800mg(entire pill) at night. I need to be more calm during the day and be able to fall asleep at night, and sleep more than 5 hours!

 

If I take 500mg of Phenibut 3x today for anxiety, how much should I take to go to sleep? Or will I be able to fall asleep because I took it all day? Please advise.

 

I'm thinking about stopping the gabapentin, as I lost all my refills when switching pharmacies. My doc had given me 12 refills. I filled them 4x before I lost them. 120 pills a month. I have MANY backed up from months ago as I don't take them all the time, as with anything else.

 

IF i can only take Phenibut 3x a week and benefit from it two ways that I need, I would rather do that. And of course, taking my vitamin supplements during the day. At night I take magnesium. This is the best time to take it as your body absorbs it all. If you do things like drink coffee, cola, smoke, all these things deplete your body of magnesium which your heart needs. It also has a calming effect (I take NOW brand 400mg caps) I think this is why we keep hearing about people at a young age getting heart attacks. Magnesium deficiency. 

 

I also supplement my vitamins with 100mgs of B6 per day. I do everything I can to help myself during the day, just need more help for getting to sleep!

 

I tried this guided meditation last night and I Fell asleep! I also took Schiff Brand "Knock Out" Melatonin complex.  The video stops after an hour, then my laptop goes to sleep. I'l try ANYTHING to sleep!

 

 

Edited by SleeplessInNYC, 28 December 2016 - 05:42 PM.

[ironfistx]

You potentially do not want to take phenibut 3 times a day.

[SleeplessInNYC]

 

Posted 04 October 2012 - 02:46 PM

I was just prescribed Gabapentin and am curious about its effects.

This study indicates use does increase GABA levels, albeit for acute administration:

 

Gabapenin is used for a variety of things. I have 800mg pills and sometimes it helps me sleep. Usually I take half a pill at a time, and at night a whole. Sometimes it takes my pain away. it's a hit and miss pill with me.  Sometimes I think it might help with anxiety. What would you want to be using it for? If you are looking to take it recreationally, you would have to take it a whole different way. Don't quote me on this but I read somewhere if you take the gabapentin to "feel it" you take a dose. Wait two hours. Take another dose. It has something to do with the way gabapentin works. That's about all I know, I can't see doing this pill recreationally. A lot of side effects and causes things it's supposed to stop like any other meds. It's given for seizures, but it can cause them, etc.

 

As for the Phenibut I've done a lot of research and there seems to be two favorite ways to take it. Maybe all the reading starting to make my head spin heh!

 

1gram in the morning. Studies suggest not to exceed 2 grams per day. Doing more in "one shot" seems to work several hours later, more like 7 to feel the "feel good" and more social effects.

You can take smaller doses throughout the day as well, not to exceed the 2grams

 

If you take the larger doses at once, then you take the next day off. Day on, day off.

If you do the smaller doses, I read going 3 days straight, then stop for 4, then on again.

 

I've opted for the 1gram way. Tomorrow I am doing it again in the morning.  I'm also taking my gabapentin as usual, which is not recommended. I am only doing both for a short time. Probably about 5 days before a ween. Depends if the Phenibut does anything, or does anything on it's own. I want to drop the med the works the least best for me