# What happens if you mix uppers and downers? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 22, 2006, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-mix-uppers-and-downers/373788 "2006-09-22T23:39:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2006, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-mix-uppers-and-downers/373788/1 "2006-09-22T23:39:28Z")
Is there any particular effect associated with taking stimulants and depressants at the same time, say amphetamine and opium? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2006, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-mix-uppers-and-downers/373788/2 "2006-09-22T23:57:47Z")
You go sideways. ---
**Author:** ![miss\_elizabeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@miss\_elizabeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miss_elizabeth)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2006, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-mix-uppers-and-downers/373788/3 "2006-09-23T00:06:36Z")
You have **FUN**!! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![diggleblop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@diggleblop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/diggleblop)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2006, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-mix-uppers-and-downers/373788/4 "2006-09-23T00:11:20Z")
You can die. Next question! ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2006, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-mix-uppers-and-downers/373788/5 "2006-09-23T00:16:14Z")
Anxiety, heart palpatations, blurred vision, memory loss, extreme mood swings, inabilty to concentrate, feelings of overwhelming dread, hallucinations, tactile sensations, coma, death. IANAD, anecdotal evidence ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2006, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-mix-uppers-and-downers/373788/6 "2006-09-23T00:18:28Z")
I once asked a [similiar question](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=151120). ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2006, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-mix-uppers-and-downers/373788/7 "2006-09-23T00:33:14Z")
Whatever question can be asked, somewhere on the Internet [there’s a forum discussing it.](http://hipforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=123517) The biggest problem seems to be the sudden, unpredictable heart failure. ---
**Author:** ![spingears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2006, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-mix-uppers-and-downers/373788/8 "2006-09-23T01:00:38Z")
[QUOTE=Priceguy] Is there any particular effect associated with taking stimulants and depressants at the same time, say amphetamine and opium? [/QUOTE] You go for a ride on a Pogo stick! ``` :rolleyes: ``` ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2006, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-mix-uppers-and-downers/373788/9 "2006-09-23T01:21:42Z")
They usually don’t directly cancel each other out so you can get all kinds of crappy effects. Alcohol is a potent CNS depressant and most people know what it feels like to get drunk. Throw in some stimulants and you could be a drunk with a racing heart, panic reaction, inability to sleep, and weird psychological effects. Best case would be that you might be more alert but you still drunk. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2006, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-mix-uppers-and-downers/373788/10 "2006-09-23T01:25:18Z")
Larry Niven once defined Irish Coffee this way. Coffee to lift you up and whiskey to bring you down. Mild compared to pills, though, I’d wager. ---
**Author:** ![audiobottle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc8723/32.png) [@audiobottle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audiobottle)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2006, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-mix-uppers-and-downers/373788/11 "2006-09-23T02:33:19Z")
[QUOTE=Jonathan Chance] Larry Niven once defined Irish Coffee this way. Coffee to lift you up and whiskey to bring you down. Mild compared to pills, though, I’d wager. [/QUOTE] That’s pretty much the idea behind Red Bull and Vodka too. Although, like you, I’m sure it can’t compare to taking amphetamines. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2006, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-mix-uppers-and-downers/373788/12 "2006-09-23T02:38:49Z")
The problem, as I understand it, is that some drugs potentiate, or make stronger the effects of, other drugs. So your upper may make you downer even more downer-like, to the point where your brain forgets to tell your lungs to breathe. Or your downer may mask the effect of your upper, making you think you’re not as upper as you are, when in fact your heart is about to burst. Generally, not good to mix your madness. Pick a frame of mind and stick with it. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2006, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-mix-uppers-and-downers/373788/13 "2006-09-23T02:43:37Z")
[QUOTE=audiobottle] I’m sure it can’t compare to taking amphetamines. [/QUOTE] With or without benzodiazepines? ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2006, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-mix-uppers-and-downers/373788/14 "2006-09-23T02:44:40Z")
[QUOTE=Jonathan Chance] Larry Niven once defined Irish Coffee this way. Coffee to lift you up and whiskey to bring you down. Mild compared to pills, though, I’d wager. [/QUOTE] Oh thanks-now I’m craving an Irish coffee. Dammit. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2006, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-mix-uppers-and-downers/373788/15 "2006-09-23T11:44:04Z")
You’re a little slip of a girl, Guin. Betcha it knocks you right out. [QUOTE=WhyNot] Generally, not good to mix your madness. Pick a frame of mind and stick with it. [/QUOTE] Frankly, that’s good advice for most situations. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2006, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-mix-uppers-and-downers/373788/16 "2006-09-23T11:49:15Z")
In the past have combined alcohol with stimulants of varieties I shall not mention here. The result was that I went from being a sleepy drunk person who slurred their words into a drunk person who was wide awake and talking gibberish with perfect diction. I also once combined a hallucinogenic with a stimulant, which made me into a reflective person who wanted to dance like a maniac, but was too aware of everyone looking at them to enjoy it. Those reasons, and the chance of dropping down dead, means the above are not recommended. ---
**Author:** ![Khampelf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Khampelf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khampelf)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2006, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-mix-uppers-and-downers/373788/17 "2006-09-25T00:39:19Z")
On the extreme side, It’s called ‘speedballing’ and it kills celebrities. > **[Speedball (drug)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speedball_(drug))** > > Speedball, powerball, or over and under, is the polydrug mixture of a stimulant with a depressant, usually an opioid. > Common stimulants and depressants used for recreational drug use include cocaine or amphetamine with heroin, morphine, and/or fentanyl that may be taken intravenously or by nasal insufflation. > Speedballs often give stronger effects than either drug when taken alone due to drug synergy, and are a particularly hazardous mixture that can easily cause heart attack, respiratory arr... ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2006, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-mix-uppers-and-downers/373788/18 "2006-09-25T01:35:43Z")
According to my dentist, mixing of uppers and downers results in severe malocclusion. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2006, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-mix-uppers-and-downers/373788/19 "2006-09-25T15:27:27Z")
Actifed, an OTC hayfever remedy is a mix of an antihistamine, (which causes drowseness) and pseudoephederine, which is a decongestant, and also a stimulant. The idea was to have an allergy pill that didn’t make you drowsy. Stuff works for me, with little noticeable side effects initially, but tends to make me grumpy if I take it for more than a day or two straight. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2006, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-mix-uppers-and-downers/373788/20 "2006-09-25T15:40:51Z")
[QUOTE=Kevbo] Actifed, an OTC hayfever remedy is a mix of an antihistamine, (which causes drowseness) and pseudoephederine, which is a decongestant, and also a stimulant. The idea was to have an allergy pill that didn’t make you drowsy. Stuff works for me, with little noticeable side effects initially, but tends to make me grumpy if I take it for more than a day or two straight. [/QUOTE] I thought the idea was that Triprolidine is an antihistamine and pseudoephedrine is a decongestant, so together they’re more likely to clear out your snot. Actifed carries all the warnings of both a depressant and a stimulant, because it’s impossible to know how the combo will affect any individual. For some people, it’s less likely to cause drowsiness, but all the drowsiness warnings are still there. [cite](http://www.drugs.com/actifed.html) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-you-mix-uppers-and-downers/373788.md?page=2)