Couple weeks back, I went to the doctor for wasp sting reaction. He gave me a steroid shot. Holy crap, did I feel great: the energy felt limitless, my mood shot through the roof–I would’ve high-fived Jack the Ripper. Following day, it wore off but there was no crashing. I can see how/why people get hooked.
Feel free to ignore this post if not what you’re after.
Mushrooms always give me weird visuals, usually of the walls or ceiling rippling. Always. And I always ask someone who hasn’t eaten any shrooms if they see it. Every time.
Different kind of steroid – you got a shot of a corticosteroid. Bodybuilders and so on use anabolic steroids. No one takes corticosteroids for fun.
However, if we’re talking about corticosteroids, when I have to take them for an asthma flare, I get the same nice “bump” in energy on day one. By day three, my skin looks fabulous, but I’m hyper, can’t sleep, and I hate everybody. Also, they give me migraines. And make me paranoid, and crave sugar, and sweaty. And stabby. I feel stabby.
It is pertinent when it comes to feelings.
Were there things that you thought about more? Noticed more?
How was your behavior different?
Would that make you StabbyBunny?
How is your behavior different? I presume you keep the stabbing under control.
It’s an interesting thread for sure, OP, but bear in mind that board rules forbid “discussion of current [drug] use.” This might limit the answers you’re getting. Just FYI, a friendly reminder.
Would love to see the CGI that comes out of this BTW, will you be sharing it here?
True, although it wouldn’t take much for people to simply refer to their experiences in the past tense.
Sure, although there may be some time. My skills aren’t there yet.
<snip>
The only thing I thought about more was getting as much stuff done while I had the energy; and I wasn’t pissed that there was so much stuff to do–definitely altered my mood in that instance.
“[seriously]But I quit that! I’ve quit ALL drugs. Well… let me say one thing: I twisted my ankle this morning, and I was in quite a bit of pain… so I went to the doctor, and I asked him to give me some pain pills. And he didn’t want to do it, but I talked him into it. So he gave me some pills – and I shouldn’t have done this, but I took some about an hour before the show tonight, and right now… I am high… as a KITE! [audience cheers ] I mean, it is unbelievable! And I would NEVER say this to you people, but, in this case: if you EVER get a chance, to take these drugs… DO IT! They’re called… [ he glances from side-to-side cautiously ] Placebos! I mean, I’m thinking that right now I have NO idea where I am at all! It is WILD! Placebo!”
– Steve Martin
Marijuana
A feeling of almost intense relaxation washes over me. I feel my worries melt away. My eyelids start to droop and then, my vision doubles. There will be Jimmy Fallons on the TV, side by side. Funny things become funnier - the stupidest joke will make laugh and laugh and laugh, and not be able to stop. Food tastes so much better - I can feel every grain of salt on my chips dissolving in my mouth. The crunch of the chips against my teeth is amplified - I feel like my teeth are having a party with every bite. Sometimes, I’ll start thinking of profound and important things - to look up on the internet when I come down, to discuss with my wife, etc. I usually keep a notebook next to me and write them down (although the next day they don’t seem as profound). When I listen to music, I hear subtleties that I don’t notice when I’m straight - it’s like the drummer’s rhythm makes perfect sense to me and I can understand what he was trying to say, man. Sometimes I swear I can hear the pianist’s fingers touching the keys.
Coming down kind of blows - there’s no crash, it just sucks not being high any more.
The downside is that my mouth will get bone dry and no amount of ice water will be enough to make it better.
Whippits (Nitruous Oxide containers in haled directly from a can)
When I inhale I detect the flavor of toothpaste, for reasons that aren’t clear to me. As I’m exhaling, the high begins to take effect. Imagine that dizzy and confused feeling you get when deprived of oxygen (as in, you’ve held your breath too long, or something); now imagine if that feeling were somehow good - that’s what a high from nitrous feels like. The coolest part is what it does to sound; the ambient sounds in the room sound like they’ve been compressed and expanded, if that makes sense (see: flanging)
The high lasts for like 45 seconds, no crash.
The downsides: 1) I’ve read of people who got frostbitten from the cold gasses, but it’s never happened to me. 2) Similarly, I’ve heard of people who have suffered minor bumps & bruises from trying to walk around while buzzed on nitruous - don’t. 3) In my experience, I’ve noticed after about half a dozen that there’s an oily taste in my mouth that won’t go away.
K2 (synthetic marijuana)
I felt like my skin was on fire, then I violently hurled my guts out. Never again.
A lot of music has been composed under the influence of drugs, of course. The Beatles are a good example and the effect different drugs had on their music at different times is pretty evident, particularly in the songs of John Lennon, who was the biggest drug-user in the band.
In their early years they took amphetamines, which they were introduced to in Hamburg, Germany where they played long sets at seedy all-night clubs. I don’t think amphetamine is noted for being a particularly “creative” drug, but its use might be reflected in some of the fast high-energy songs of their earlier output, like “I Saw Her Standing There” and “She Loves You” or their performances in song covers like “Twist and Shout”, “Long Tall Sally” and “Rock and Roll Music”.
From around the time of Help! album they were using cannabis regularly and the effects can be seen on their songwriting on that album and probably more so on their next album, Rubber Soul. The songs became more mellow and introspective. The music also became more dronal, in the musical sense, by often sustaining on a single chord for longer and with more focus on giving the sound a richer, more textured tone. They also incorporated more exotic instruments, like the sitar. “Ticket to Ride”, “Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)”, “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away”, “In My Life”, “Paperback Writer”, “Rain” and “I’m Only Sleeping” would be a few examples from this period.
The Beatles’ use of LSD starts to make its influence felt on the Revolver album (“Tomorrow Never Knows”) and reaches it’s climax on the Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album. The music of their LSD-influenced period is more psychedelic and kaleidoscopic, at times veering from cosmic connection with the infinite (“Across the Universe”) to childlike whimsy (“All Together Now”). Some other examples of songs from this period would be “Strawberry Fields Forever”, “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds”, “A Day in the Life” and “I am the Walrus”.
After this point, the two main songwriters, Lennon and McCartney, appear to have gone down different roads, with McCartney leaning towards cocaine and Lennon towards heroin.
Cocaine is not spoken of much as a creative or a “mind-expanding” drug. One could even speculate that its euphoric and confidence-boosting effects might lead to a reduced capacity for deep critical artistic reflection, leading to lightweight (and sometimes derided) compositions like “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da”, “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” or the gonzo “Helter Skelter”.
As for Lennon’s heroin use, I suppose one might subscribe to it the more detached feeling of later songs like “Because”, “Come Together” or the march towards oblivion of “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)”'s fade-out. Lennon also recorded his “Cold Turkey” single when coming off heroin and it doesn’t sound like a barrel of laughs.
Personally, I like the music they made during their cannabis and LSD-influenced phases most of all.
There was a promotional film made for the song “A Day in the Life”, much of which features footage of the recording session (which looks as if it was quite a a “happening”, to use 60s parlance). It looks to have been made in the style of a psychedelic drug-style experience.
I bookmarked your blog-entry. My father is usually my got to when it comes to drugs and medications. He worked with it for decades.
The following link is a great starting point for your research… Specifically the 9 portraits experiment pictured at the very bottom… I cannot find the original site but if you look hard enough you’ll find it. A blog for this experiment is listed below the first link…
https://www.erowid.org/culture/art/art_article2.shtml
Hope you find this helpful.
P.S. - your using a survey such as this isn’t concrete. Most people tend to lie or embellish when discussing drug experiences. And considering more “dangerous” drugs like LSD and Amphetamines you should take into account a loss of an accurate time line and sequential or relative memory recall… Most memories, perceptions, dream hangovers, and hallucinations loose their essence over time and often forgotten until random spur of the moment lapses (a.k.a. - flashbacks). A general consensus for most psychedelics states the users experience to be very spiritual whereas other narcotics like Marijuana and Cocaine emotions vary depending on person, usage, routine, medical conditions, age, etc… Research drug experiments surrounding psychological studies and government.
Reading about the neurobiology of 1) psychosis and schizophrenia 2) drugs which cause sensory distortions, hallucinations and delusions, it seems that they all involve too much dopamine which causes some neurons to fire too much. This hampers the brain’s ability to distinguish between the imaginations inside the mind and the stimuli outside the mind.
Nearly 3 years ago, I started a thread which asked what experiencing psychosis is like. It was interesting and I thank those who contributed their experiences.
For those who have had sensory distortions, hallucinations and delusions while on drugs, perhaps you could have a look in there and come back to tell us how close psychosis is to what you experienced on drugs.
I imagine that imagining a psychosis is no easier than imagining something like a 600 mg. mescaline trip or a 300 µg. LSD trip. So to compare them you’d ideally need somebody who’s gone through both.
In any case, whatever is the safest LEGAL psychedelic substance in your part of the world, I recommend that you get a hold of some of that and try a small dose of it on your own, in 100% safe, cozy and comfortable surroundings. I repeat: A LEGAL substance, and in 100% safe, cozy and comfortable surroundings.
I apologize.
It’s called “deep cover.”
Do you realize the insanity of this? In many cases the illegal psychoactives would be safer and more enjoyable.
I’m not kidding the number of legal psychoactive substances is vast, you don’t want to just blindly pick a random one.
It was a long, long time ago that I took mushrooms, but I still clearly remember that sensation, and watching the ceiling for a long while. I also had a lot of albums in crates next to the bed (that tells you how long ago it was), and the spines of the album covers did all sorts of interesting geometric things.
Which is why I specified that he should pick the “safest” one of the bunch. The safest one. Never said that he should “blindly pick a random one.”
Also, straight-up advising him to pick a safe, time-tested illegal drug - such as mescaline or LSD - would be against board rules, so I couldn’t and wouldn’t do that.
OK, here goes
Weed-mellow, hungry, sometime slightly paranoid
Coke-Tense, stressed, aggressive
Opiates-mellow, pain-free, sleepy
Amphetamines-twitchy, scatter-brained, sweaty
MDMA-soft, warm, friendly
YMMV