Posted by Ame Sans Vie on January 1, 2004, at 9:07:03
Happy New Year, everybody!
I've taken a bit of a hiatus from posting here because I've just been so darned busy (a good thing for me!). My new band is really starting to take off and after several dozen gigs I no longer get even the smallest hint of pre-show jitters -- quite unusual for a social phobe who's in the spotlight as lead vocalist and lead guitarist! My bassist and I are also going into business together opening a recording studio. I have experience working as a recording engineer/studio tech and, if this thing works out, it'd be a dream come true. I've also been doing a lot of recording on my own at home with a bunch of new equipment I've just bought. If anyone's interested in hearing my stuff, let me know and I'll post the streaming audio on my website!
As for medication, things have changed a bit -- the Prozac 20mg is still a mainstay, and Klonopin is ever-present as well. Though now I only require 2mg three times daily (half my previous dose) since my Adderall dose was raised a couple months back. I informed my doctor that I was having to use baking soda to both potentiate and prolong the effects of the Adderall, and being the caring guy that he is he decided he'd much rather raise my dose than have me shovel all that sodium into my system. So I immediately went up from 30mg Adderall XR once daily to 60mg XR twice daily. I still take 30mg dextromethorphan polystirex (Delsym) twice daily to stave off tolerance and it works like a charm. My psychiatrist was intrigued by this idea when I mentioned it to him a while back and now, after researching the idea and consulting with colleagues at the University of Houston, he has all of his stimulant-treated patients (which he says account for 80% of them) take DXM for this same purpose. After 12 weeks employing this tactic, he informs me that patients using methylphenidate aren't seeing much (if any) benefit from the NMDA-receptor antagonism, but about 60% of his patients on amphetamine, dextroamphetamine, methamphetamine, phendimetrazine, and benzphetamine are finally on stable doses, whereas most of them required dose increases every month or two. Still too early to make any definitive observations, but looks promising.
As I mentioned, I was able to greatly lower my daily dose of clonazepam upon increasing my amphetamine intake. I never dreamed I'd feel so alive, sociable, and so very non-self-conscious through use of high dose stimulants. My next step is to try to taper off the clonazepam completely... it's been a great friend these past few years, but I just don't think I need it anymore!
I still do have difficulty sleeping, but that's nothing new (i.e. not brought on by the increase in dose or frequency of amphetamine administration). Every two weeks I cycle between taking two-four capsules of Somnote (chloral hydrate 500mg each) or two-four capsules of Tuinal (50mg secobarbital/50mg amobarbital per capsule). The cycling between the two is to avoid tolerance, and the odd choice of hypnotics is due to the fact that none of the more common sleep aids (i.e. trazodone, mirtazapine, zolpidem, zaleplon, triazolam, quazepam, temazepam) have any effect on me whatsoever. I bought some Mandrax from a FOAFOAF several months back (methaqualone/diphenhydramine combination, manufactured in Belgium, IIRC) and experienced the most restful sleep I can imagine, short of that provided by GHB. Though I could easily obtain it anytime, I'd really rather not get involved with "those types of people" again... plus, the $10/pill is kind of a dealbreaker.
Anyway, that's what's up with me as we begin this new year -- I'll be back posting again from now on. Hope everyone is finding themselves well or well on their way!
~~Michael
P.S. Toss the aspartame-tainted beverages and foods in the trash -- read my post on the Alternative Board to find out why!! (hint: anyone remember my fibromyalgia?...gone without a trace)
poster:Ame Sans Vie
thread:295313
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20031231/msgs/295313.html