Is a crystal meth rush really this great?

[astro]

In reading a review of Andre Agassi autobiography he describes his use of crystal meth.

He writes about using crystal meth “a lot” and in sometimes-positive terms, including reference to “a tidal wave of euphoria that sweeps away every negative thought in my head. I’ve never felt so alive, so hopeful — and I’ve never felt such energy.”

“Apart from the buzz of getting high,” he says, “I get an undeniable satisfaction from harming myself and shortening my career,” he writes. But the physical aftermath is hideous. After two days of being high, of not sleeping, I’m an alien. I have the audacity to wonder why I feel so rotten. I’m an athlete, my body should be able to handle this.”

I don't use any drugs except caffeine, and alcohol so I'm curious about meth. Is a crystal meth rush really this euphoric? Is it like super caffeine or what?

[cmyk]

I have no idea (since I've never done any meth), but I don't think it's even in the same ballpark as caffeine. I've had mild euphoric sensations from prescriptions like Vicodin and Percoset, so it's my guess that crystal meth is that x1000.

A feeling of euphoria is pure bliss. You feel like you're on top of the world and everything is just fan-fuckin-tastic. It's really easy to see why people get addicted to drugs that have this effect.

Caffeine is merely a stimulant, and a pretty mild one at that, and isn't mind altering like hardcore drugs are.

Alcohol is a depressant, and can be very mind altering (of course), but has some really negative side-effects. Euphoria is definitely NOT in it's arsenal.

So either of those drugs are not a good indicator of what meth might be like.

[ivylass]

According to a documentary I saw on meth, food and sex are the two things that are most pleasurable to humans.

Meth is apparently 100 times greater at stimulating those pleasure centers, if you're talking about brain chemicals.

[astro]

Originally Posted by ivylass

According to a documentary I saw on meth, food and sex are the two things that are most pleasurable to humans.

Meth is apparently 100 times greater at stimulating those pleasure centers, if you're talking about brain chemicals.

Sounds like it would be interesting to try, but at the same time it doesn't sound like you could walk away from it all that easily.

[BorgHunter]

Originally Posted by cmyk

Alcohol is a depressant, and can be very mind altering (of course), but has some really negative side-effects. Euphoria is definitely NOT in it's arsenal.

What? Yes, it is. Euphoria is one of the primary effects of ethanol intoxication.

[MissSwitac]

I used to smoke crack in my stupider days and the type of high is very similar to meth, although I hear meth is stronger.
The way I describe it is: Within 2 seconds of inhaling a hit off a crack pipe, you feel like you've had the best massage of your life, your body feels calm and relaxed, you get this wave of explosive happiness; not like you're so happy you're laughly madly, just this inner brain wave of complete peace and contentment, you are so confident you can achieve anything; all your insecurities, body aches, worries wash away.
At least with crack, this feeling lasts about 5 minutes after the first hit and you spend several hours or days chasing that high with continual hits because that first hit is so addicting.
Then it's the complete opposite when you're trying to come down. You just wanna die. You are so wound up, you can't relax, everything hurts, major anxiety, paranoia and you vow you'll never smoke crack again; until your "friend" offers you some more a couple days later.
You lie to yourself and say, "Okay I'll just do a couple hits and that's it." Then the maddening cycle repeats itself.

[The Bith Shuffle]

Originally Posted by MissSwitac

I used to smoke crack in my stupider days and the type of high is very similar to meth, although I hear meth is stronger.
The way I describe it is: Within 2 seconds of inhaling a hit off a crack pipe, you feel like you've had the best massage of your life, your body feels calm and relaxed, you get this wave of explosive happiness; not like you're so happy you're laughly madly, just this inner brain wave of complete peace and contentment, you are so confident you can achieve anything; all your insecurities, body aches, worries wash away.
At least with crack, this feeling lasts about 5 minutes after the first hit and you spend several hours or days chasing that high with continual hits because that first hit is so addicting.
Then it's the complete opposite when you're trying to come down. You just wanna die. You are so wound up, you can't relax, everything hurts, major anxiety, paranoia and you vow you'll never smoke crack again; until your "friend" offers you some more a couple days later.
You lie to yourself and say, "Okay I'll just do a couple hits and that's it." Then the maddening cycle repeats itself.

This is why I have resisted all of my friends' suggestions that I try drugs.

[cmyk]

Originally Posted by BorgHunter

What? Yes, it is. Euphoria is one of the primary effects of ethanol intoxication.

Hmm... I can see that alcohol can give you a confidence boost and that loose and giddy "I love you man" feeling, but this isn't the same sort of euphoric effect I get when I'm taking opiates. If meth is anything like the opiates I've experienced, then it's a warm wave of pure joy and love that overwhelms you and colors your mood with rainbows and mint-green unicorns. YMMV.

[Digital Stimulus]

Originally Posted by astro

Is a crystal meth rush really this euphoric? Is it like super caffeine or what?

In order: yes and not even close.

[BorgHunter]

Originally Posted by cmyk

Hmm... I can see that alcohol can give you a confidence boost and that loose and giddy "I love you man" feeling, but this isn't the same sort of euphoric effect I get when I'm taking opiates. If meth is anything like the opiates I've experienced, then it's a warm wave of pure joy and love that overwhelms you and colors your mood with rainbows and mint-green unicorns. YMMV.

I think that's more a measure of degree than anything else. I certainly wouldn't claim that ethanol produces a euphoria on par with opiates or methamphetamine. I haven't taken either, but I have read descriptions of the effects of both, and they are all as you described—intense and all-encompassing. A couple beers do not make me feel that way.

[bup]

In an addiction documentary I saw, a meth addict said the first time he did crystal meth it caused him to have an orgasm.

That fits the 'tidal wave of euphoria' description in my book.

And it sounds like it was better than my first beer.

[AHunter3]

I'm firmly convinced that different people, whether for reasons of personality or reasons of personal biochemistry, react quite differently to the same drugs.

The main "uppers" don't do much for me. Cocaine, crack, crystal meth... it's kind of like supercoffee plus in the case of crack makes me short-tempered and anxious; in the case of cocaine, makes my nose go numb which is very unpleasant. BFD, is this what all the whopping and hollering is about? I'll stick with a good cup of espresso roast coffee. I have no difficulty turning any of it down and I wouldn't pay a dollar a pound for any of it.

The "downers" on the other hand, mm, trouble. Smoked a small quantity of heroin once, smeared onto rolling papers that were used for a joint. Ooh I could become way too fond of that stuff in a hurry. Even vicodin and codeine and percocet etc. It's not a good sign when you catch yourself trying to convince yourself that your nasty cough is still lingering enough that a couple tablespoons of that codeine-laced cough syrup is necessary for you to be able to sleep, when in actuality you haven't been coughing much all day.

[cmyk]

Originally Posted by BorgHunter

I think that's more a measure of degree than anything else. I certainly wouldn't claim that ethanol produces a euphoria on par with opiates or methamphetamine. I haven't taken either, but I have read descriptions of the effects of both, and they are all as you described—intense and all-encompassing. A couple beers do not make me feel that way.

Right. I hear what you're saying. And maybe it's a scale of the same sensation, but my guess is that alcohol is so weighted down with other effects, (mostly negative and unpleasant) that any euphoric effect is totally swamped and muddied (if not completely canceled out) by feelings of disorientation, incoordination and, well, wanting to hurl.

IME, the feeling of euphoria with opiates is pure, clean and bright. With alcohol, it's dirty, unbalanced and counteracting.

[aruvqan]

I might consider letting myself get addicted to it if I have a fast terminal and painful cancer going on. get whacked off my ass and then OD on something peaceful and painless.

Other than that, no desire to try it.

[Nava]

Originally Posted by AHunter3

I'm firmly convinced that different people, whether for reasons of personality or reasons of personal biochemistry, react quite differently to the same drugs.

Absolutely. There's the "four types of drunks," your own example, people with ADD being focused by stimulants; a high school friend of mine could drink the world under the table most days but on the day before her period she got drunk from looking at the bottle.

[mswas]

Yes Crystal Meth is like that. Basically every description of Ecstasy that I have read more accurately reflects how Meth feels, having done both many times I'll say the high of meth is better than that of MDMA, but it's also a lot more of a torturous comedown, which for me is worse than the high is good. But yeah meth fills your body with this really good feeling makes your senses super-acute and gives you the energy to dance all night or do whatever for a long period of time.

I think super-caffeine is a good description for it mostly.

I always preferred hardcore hallucinogens, the more reality obliterating the better. I had a long love affair with acid and had a couple waves of tripping pretty consistently so that I never truly came down for periods that can be measured in months and years.

[I Am The Lorax]

I've tried meth a few times in my teens. It didn't get me high the way pot made me feel high. Two days of not eating, not sleeping, building super Lego towns, and seeing what it had done to people I knew made me not want to do it anymore, thank God. I wouldn't compare it to Ecstasy at all. That definitely made me euphoric. I tried crack on a few occasions and that definitely got me high right away, then want more right away. Cocaine and meth both did the same thing to me, not much. Not enough to want to do it anymore. I honestly get higher from pot than anything, which is a good thing for me.

[ToeJam]

But the important question is, Lorax, do you still build super Lego Towns as well as you used to?

[Yookeroo]

Originally Posted by mswas

Yes Crystal Meth is like that. Basically every description of Ecstasy that I have read more accurately reflects how Meth feels, having done both many times I'll say the high of meth is better than that of MDMA,

I've found the meth high more intense, but the MDMA feeling much much better. Definitely more euphoric. Meth mostly made me very horny.

Originally Posted by mswas

but it's also a lot more of a torturous comedown, which for me is worse than the high is good.

This I agree with. The meth comedown sucks. I needed a couple of days before I felt normal again. I don't quite get meth addiction. I didn't want to go anywhere near the stuff for weeks after doing it. I was definitely not a stay-awake-for-a-week type user.

[gladtobeblazed]

I got a different feeling depending on the method I take it. It can be smoked, snorted, injected or eaten. I've never injected but I've done the rest. Eating it lasted the longest, but the euphoria was minimal. It kept me up for 3 days, but it didn't really feel any different than caffeine. Snorting it provided a small rush of euphoria after a minute or so. It lasted for about half an hour then I came down. The energy boost lasted for most of the day. Smoking it felt the best, like an intense orgasm in my brain. The effects seemed to wear off quickest from smoking.

The part I hate the most is that after a while the energy boost wears off, and yet I still can't fall asleep. I also couldn't get erections, which sucked because I was very horny while I was on it. Not only that, but it actually seemed to shrink my dick, which was quite distressing to me, although it went back to normal afterwards.

[bump]

After I had knee surgery when I was 17, they gave me a shot of Demerol in my IV. The feeling that I got from that was much like MissSwitac's description of crack. Just an overwhelming euphoric *happy* feeling for 5-10 minutes, then it wore off.

Scared the absolute shit out of me afterward- I realized what some drugs were like and why people could get so addicted to them (beyond physical addiction).

[even sven]

Don't knock caffeine. For me, the right dose of caffeine on the right day can induce euphoria. Maybe one in ten espressos does it for me- the sun shines brighter, the world is at peace, every song I hear is my favorite song, and everything just feels AWESOME.

I would never try meth. If coffee does that to me...well....

Downers, on the other hand, do nothing for me besides make me sleepy, and I'm sleepy enough as is.

[AHunter3]

Whereas for me, as much as I love the taste of a good cup of coffee and definitely do not want mine decaffeinated, caffeine at best is "hmm, I am quite fond of that". Never even in the same suburb as euphoria.

[Yookeroo]

Originally Posted by AHunter3

Whereas for me, as much as I love the taste of a good cup of coffee and definitely do not want mine decaffeinated, caffeine at best is "hmm, I am quite fond of that". Never even in the same suburb as euphoria.

I barely even notice caffeine, let alone feel euphoric.

[Quercus]

Originally Posted by cmyk

Right. I hear what you're saying. And maybe it's a scale of the same sensation, but my guess is that alcohol is so weighted down with other effects, (mostly negative and unpleasant) that any euphoric effect is totally swamped and muddied (if not completely canceled out) by feelings of disorientation, incoordination and, well, wanting to hurl.

IME, the feeling of euphoria with opiates is pure, clean and bright. With alcohol, it's dirty, unbalanced and counteracting.

That's funny, because in my experience with opiates (prescription painkillers, post-operation), the occasional euphoria was swamped and muddied by feelings of disorientation and nausea.

[I Am The Lorax]

Originally Posted by ToeJam

But the important question is, Lorax, do you still build super Lego Towns as well as you used to?

Yup. These days my only drug is coffee, and I build them with my kids.

[fessie]

When I was in Recovery after my c-section they gave me one of the major drugs, in my IV. Maybe it was Demerol? Did absolutely nothing for me. Tried another dose a few minutes later, still nothing. Then they switched to morphine - THAT I could feel. I was so high, when they handed me my daughter half an hour later I was like - you people REALLY think it's a good idea to give a newborn to someone who's floating on the ceiling?

I spent pretty much that whole pregnancy in pain. Especially at the beginning and ending. The only time I felt REALLY GOOD was in my first trimester during a concert we played with Corky Siegel, in England (THAT flight was NOT fun). I sat in the back row with my violin and just soared. For 2 hrs I felt NO pain.

Music, especially playing it but sometimes just listening to it, eclipses all other experiences. For me.

Drawing and painting are pleasant buzzes, too, IMHO.

Pot, doesn't do a damn thing for me.

Funny thing is, people often think I'm high.

[Textual Intercourse]

I've smoked Glass before, which is supposedly a concentrated form of Meth. The feeling was immediate and intense. Looking back, I hesitate to call it euphoric (because I remember the comedown just as well as the high) but I will concede that it was intensely pleasurable for a time. It's nothing like caffeine or super caffeine or caffeinex10.

One thing I recall was how fast the time seemed to slip by. I had a gram of the stuff that I was sharing with a friend and we were both up for 2 days straight before it was gone. Hours went by like minutes. I remember towards the end, before the comedown had started, I was thinking that if we had another gram we could EASILY stay up for another 2 days like it was nothing.

If I had another gram, I would have.

I didn't though and proceeded to experience a terrible comedown. I knew from a couple of friends-turned meth heads that this was just lightweight stuff I was going through (and it was BAD. trust me). They'd tell me about guys that would stay up for weeks, constantly doing more to avoid having to face the comedown. Of course, the more you do and the longer you stay up, the worse it's going to be. That's the vicious cycle of it. It should also be noted that once you've stayed up for over 2 days straight, you're not just getting high on the meth you keep doing. The lack of sleep begins to have hallucinogenic effects after a certain amount of time and the longer you go without it, the more intense those effects become.

I haven't touched the stuff since that last experience and do not intend to.

IMHO, it's the worst drug out there in terms of how quickly and thoroughly it can devastate your entire life.

[DMark]

When I was growing up, there were lots of drugs to be had wherever I looked.
I smoked pot and did peyote once, but that was it.

Thus, I am no "holier-than-thou" anti-drug fanatic.

I had my "Lobster Theory" about cocaine and other drugs.

As I would tell friends, "If I had never eaten lobster, I wouldn't like it so much and want to spend the money to eat more when I saw it on the menu. If I can't even resist the temptation of ordering lobster when I see it now, I think I don't need to try anything else that would cause me even more financial and personal expense."

BTW, I did try coke once by accident - sort of funny really. Had never seen it first hand, so when a woman I know told me she had some, she handed me the small package. She walked away for a few seconds, I looked at the white powder and, being used to smelling pot to see how smelled, I sniffed and didn't "smell" anything with the coke. I gave her the package back.
Now think for a second what I just had done with my experimental sniff to see what it smelled like....yep, and I got quite a rush, but didn't even realize why until about two hours later after I had left that party!
It was my first and last try - and I even saw that woman a few days later and handed her a few bucks and said, 'Sorry...I think I might have accidentally snorted a tad from your stash..."

[PunditLisa]

Anything that causes people to steal from their Grandmas has got to be good. And the fact that so many people continue taking it even after their skin pits and their teeth rot out of their head is sufficient proof to how good they must feel taking it, and how bad they must feel when they're off it.

Which is why I wouldn't touch it with a twenty foot pole.

[Euryphaessa]

I've never done anything hard, and although I'm somewhat curious I don't think I would ever touch any of it. Certainly not meth. Alcohol can make me wonderfully happy and energetic or it can make me sad and self-centred. Pot feels like a happy, mellow drunk without the uncoordination. I had morphine after surgery (supposedly to calm me down because I woke up having a panic attack) and it did jack. No high, just the same miserable pain and panic but with this weird feeling of just not caring. I don't feel codeine at all either. Caffeine doesn't produce any noticeable rush, it just keeps me up.

[coboremy]

I first used meth in gay sex. The fellow that introduced me to it would only allow me to snort or smoke. I preffered smoking as the effects seemed to last longer and the buzz was better.

About six months ago I met a guy online who introduced me to slamming. The first time he shot me up I was knocked off my feet by the rush. It was a combination of heat and euphoria and a sense that this is how the world should be. And horny........ I didn't care that he didn't wear a condom.

I usually can go about two weeks between sessions, which generally last two days. I have gradually increased that first dose and the effects seem to be multiplied. This is dangerous stuff. I'm not around anyone who does drugs so I'm not exposed but when my gay supplier calls and says he has some good stuff I run like a dog in heat. It used to be the sex but now it is all about the tina.

I know it will ruin my life and I'm pretty resigned to that fact. What a way to go.

[coboremy]

I should mention that on a few occassions I have had orgasms during or right after the rush especially if there is something stimulating my prostate.

[coboremy]

I'm not sure meth is physically addicting. But the rush keeps me coming back. I'm definitely hooked on the stuff.

[BigT]

Originally Posted by coboremy

I'm not sure meth is physically addicting. But the rush keeps me coming back. I'm definitely hooked on the stuff.

Try going without if for as long as you can, and see if you start feeling the opposite effects.

SPOILER:

You will. The fact that you don't care if it kills you pretty much seals the deal.

[Mangetout]

Originally Posted by even sven

Don't knock caffeine. For me, the right dose of caffeine on the right day can induce euphoria. Maybe one in ten espressos does it for me- the sun shines brighter, the world is at peace, every song I hear is my favorite song, and everything just feels AWESOME.

A fact sometimes overlooked in these sorts of discussions is that euphoria is a natural state of the brain. It's because of this that drugs are able to act upon the brain and produce it unnaturally.

[Hello Again]

I have some weird biochemistry, opiates do nothing for me, other than make me puke violently for hours. The intensity is such that I have puked up vicodin pills half-digested... I had intravenous morphine once, in a hospital when I wasn't in a tremendous amount of pain* and while I could feel the "rushy" feeling when it hit, it wasn't something I'd call pleasant. It was an intense vertigo/sensation of falling, not exactly nauseating but not enjoyable. It didn't make me feel good either once it took effect, just completely out of control emotions with mainly uncontrollable weeping and some uncontrollable laughing while my conscious mind was not upset, or amused. (very hard to describe).

And the capper was that I was so nauseous that I couldn't keep food down for THREE DAYS afterwards. (when you're puking back sips of water and nibbles of toast, it really sucks). I guess I'm lucky, in a way.


*long story but they thought I might have broken my pelvis. I wasn't in any pain while lying still but in tons of pain every time I moved. They gave me the morphine before sending me to xray where they'd have to move me around a bunch, but when it took effect I wasn't in any pain at all as I was ling still.

[Freudian Slit]

Originally Posted by even sven

Don't knock caffeine. For me, the right dose of caffeine on the right day can induce euphoria. Maybe one in ten espressos does it for me- the sun shines brighter, the world is at peace, every song I hear is my favorite song, and everything just feels AWESOME.

I would never try meth. If coffee does that to me...well....

Downers, on the other hand, do nothing for me besides make me sleepy, and I'm sleepy enough as is.

It's funny--I feel the exact opposite. The idea of being caffeinated and jittery makes me feel awful because I'm so nervous and tightly wound in general.

But when I take an over the counter sleep AID, like NyQuil or Tylenol PM...BLISS. I just love that sort of sleepy peaceful feeling.

It's why I think I'd be scared to try heroin or something. Well, that, and it's HEROIN.

[Boyo Jim]

Originally Posted by MissSwitac

I used to smoke crack in my stupider days and the type of high is very similar to meth, although I hear meth is stronger.
The way I describe it is: Within 2 seconds of inhaling a hit off a crack pipe, you feel like you've had the best massage of your life, your body feels calm and relaxed, you get this wave of explosive happiness; not like you're so happy you're laughly madly, just this inner brain wave of complete peace and contentment, you are so confident you can achieve anything; all your insecurities, body aches, worries wash away.
At least with crack, this feeling lasts about 5 minutes after the first hit and you spend several hours or days chasing that high with continual hits because that first hit is so addicting.
Then it's the complete opposite when you're trying to come down. You just wanna die. You are so wound up, you can't relax, everything hurts, major anxiety, paranoia and you vow you'll never smoke crack again; until your "friend" offers you some more a couple days later.
You lie to yourself and say, "Okay I'll just do a couple hits and that's it." Then the maddening cycle repeats itself.

This sounds a lot like the effect of inhaling pure nitrous oxide, which I did in my college days. Except the effect is shorter, maybe 30 seconds.

THAT was a great drug! I'd do it again today of I had access to it. Only known bad side effect was excessive use might dry out the nasal passages. Of course, some people rigged up masks and tanks, and ended up suffocating themselves because they forgot they also needed oxygen.

[NinetyWt]

It turned me into a zombie!

[Perciful]

I did this junk 25 or more years ago and it was just a party drug back then. We called it, 'extend a buzz'. We would use it to stay up and not pass out drunk. I don't remember much about it other then it kept me awake. Now I'm horrified to read what it's made from. I never took it after age 20.

It's bad stuff that ages people horribly and rots their teeth. Anyone seen a pic of Meth Mouth?

[Shamozzle]

A friend of mine told me that he had done meth and I asked him what it was like. He looked away and into space as he composed his thoughts. He then said "Take the best feeling you've ever had in your life and multiply it by about 20. You can't even begin to imagine it if you've never experienced it."

The expression on his his face told me that he was absolutely right.

[Hilarity N. Suze]

Yes, it's that good.

I took it once, under conditions that would be hard to replicate I might add, realized that this was something I had better stay away from because I could easily get addicted, and then I missed it and craved it for ten years.

Although people have told me that it's always best the first time and you never really get back there. (And I'm thinking, "Maybe after 10 years?")

[coboremy]

I haven't had a bit since Saturday and I'm still coming down.

[coboremy]

Seems if I wait a few weeks it is as good as the first time if the dose is right.

[Czarcasm]

Closing zombie thread.