Within the past week, I had this dream when it became clear to me that refined sugar is the probable cause of my nicotine addiction. As a result of that dream, I decided to research lysine and arginine over the past two days.
Here is what I have learned:
Both amino acids help reduce inflammation, improves the immune system, promotes healing of wounds, and treats anxiety without the side effects of medications that treat those four conditions.
Indeed, the stress relief found by daily supplementation of both arginine and lysine is noted in the trial involving 108 Japanese test subjects. This trial validates the fourth condition listed (relief of anxiety).
Lysine also is important to bone health and calcium metabolism, working synergistically with Vitamins D and K, calcium, magnesium and boron. In contrast, arginine is also helpful in maintenance of cardiovascular health through its effect on nitrogen oxide.
Consequently, both amino acids should help reduce the subjective impression of stress in a person's life without resorting to more powerful neuropsychiatric medications such as tranquilizers (benzodiazepines), SSRIs (antidepressants) and related medications.
In another medical trial, 29 subjects were dosed with 3 grams each of arginine and lysine for ten days. Then they were exposed to stress similar to that experienced in public speaking.
The trial results support the notion that the daily use of L-lysine combined with L-arginine may relieve anxiety and modify hormonal responses during psychosocial stress in people.
This is why I am confident that daily use of both arginine and lysine supplements will help reduce anxiety from stress. In doing so, my cold turkey remedy for nicotine addiction would benefit from the addition of both amino acids to my daily supplement regimen.
In due time, my adaptability to stress will increase and all anxiety will be too brief to be noticeable. Already am I feeling the change due to moderation of anxiety caused by taking arginine and lysine.
One side effect that I have noticed after having consumed 2 grams of both amino acids is relaxation to the point of sleepiness. This is supposed to be due to lysine acting on serotonin (5HTP4) receptors. Though I cannot discount normal fatigue, it has only been 10 hours since I rose from sleep.
Even after 4 hours sitting in front of the computer does not stress me out. So it is definitely worth the money spent on arginine and lysine supplementation.
As well, lysine can reverse the progression of autoimmune disease while arginine can actually improve a heart attack survivor's chance of recovery. Autoimmune disease may be due to herpes virus.
Additionally, a 5+ grams of lysine can help get over the "24-hour influenza" caused by overwork and stress-induced consumption of tobacco.
Disclaimer: this is not a product endorsement of arginine and lysine supplementation since the regular consumption of chicken and fish along with nuts (almonds, cashews, and other nuts) will supplement your daily needs of both amino acids. Note: you will have to eat a lot more nuts and soya protein to maintain high levels of both lysine and arginine on a vegan diet. This means that you must exercise vigorously at least three times a week for at least two hours, enough to break a healthy sweat. Otherwise, the nitrogen load of that much protein will harm your kidneys and liver.
YMMV
Originally written on Jan 28, 2014 at 4:53 AM
References:
Oral treatment with L-lysine and L-arginine reduces anxiety and basal cortisol levels in healthy humans. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17510493
Subchronic treatment with amino acid mixture of L-lysine and L-arginine modifies neuroendocrine activation during psychosocial stress in subjects with high trait anxiety.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16117182
Arginine: http://altmedicine.about.com/cs/herbsvitaminsad/a/Arginine.htm
Lysine: http://umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/supplement/lysine
How to Get a Lysine-Rich Diet: http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/lysinerich-diet-5532.html#page1
Foods containing lysine and arginine: http://www.traditionaloven.com/tutorials/l-lysine_amino_acid.html
Videos about arginine:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPd2NB9mjaM&feature=youtube_gdata_player
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKWlKWge59Y&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Video about lysine:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1RSQAeMr2o&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Autoimmunity's proposed cause: http://krysalishealthnotes.blogspot.ca/2009/04/autoimmunity-proposed-common-cause-and.html
Showing posts with label nicotine. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nicotine. Show all posts
20140625
Quitting Smoking (satire)
If I for one moment choose medication to help me wean off nicotine, then I'd be a goner. Chantix worked, and I never felt better.
Why would need another medication when its use is unwarranted?
My recent bout with smoking never wavered above three a day. So quitting smoking is going to be relatively easy, even though I want to buy one right now. I won't though, because I can live to my side of this bargain with God as I know him. And I know his minions will fail me, and deny me baptism because of their petty misgivings about common law.
Of course, they don't know me or my spiritual constitution. Life is indeed better since I stopped smoking.
How glad am I to be free!
To not smoke even though a little voice is urging me to do so: that is the easy part. It's not just the money saved that inspired me to remain dedicated to quitting. It is also the knowledge that I have it in me to do this healthy act of not smoking because I made that commitment willingly.
For the same strength of will that led to smoking is now the strength of will that leads me to not smoke. I do not do so with expectation of much from God as I know him. Rather, I do this because it frees me from the fate of a smoker, my breathing ragged and phlegm at my throat.
It's been great knowing you, nicotine, the brief high after inhaling now a memory. Actually, I have discovered that my meditations are much more than calm and peaceful than before, when I was smoking. Now they have a clarity that stays with me longer.
Without medication, I know I can stop smoking.
Why would need another medication when its use is unwarranted?
My recent bout with smoking never wavered above three a day. So quitting smoking is going to be relatively easy, even though I want to buy one right now. I won't though, because I can live to my side of this bargain with God as I know him. And I know his minions will fail me, and deny me baptism because of their petty misgivings about common law.
Of course, they don't know me or my spiritual constitution. Life is indeed better since I stopped smoking.
How glad am I to be free!
To not smoke even though a little voice is urging me to do so: that is the easy part. It's not just the money saved that inspired me to remain dedicated to quitting. It is also the knowledge that I have it in me to do this healthy act of not smoking because I made that commitment willingly.
For the same strength of will that led to smoking is now the strength of will that leads me to not smoke. I do not do so with expectation of much from God as I know him. Rather, I do this because it frees me from the fate of a smoker, my breathing ragged and phlegm at my throat.
It's been great knowing you, nicotine, the brief high after inhaling now a memory. Actually, I have discovered that my meditations are much more than calm and peaceful than before, when I was smoking. Now they have a clarity that stays with me longer.
Without medication, I know I can stop smoking.
20140206
Insomnia (satire)
Since childhood I have been an insomniac. I can remember my first adventure with insomnia when I hid in the living room while my dad prepare to go to work. After he left, I sneaked back into my room to crash just the rest of my family was getting up. I was probably about 10 at the time.
I am sure that my insomnia was due to pseudo-ephedrine in a prescribe medication for hay fever. This was my first exposure to stimulants, since I never drank coffee or tea until I was a teenager. Though it may have been Salbutamol in an inhaler.
Though, green tea is great for meditation. However, I recommend just going to the health food store and buying theanine. It's a great sedative that is better than tranquilizers because it's non-habit-forming. Of course, I recommend against its use to treat childhood ADHD which probably could be cure by removing all processed foods from the diet and raising children on organic foods.
I admit to recently abusing 4 mg tablets of nicotine, which led to staying up two days and blowing $150 at the casino.
If nicotine can cause insomnia for me, then why would I even consider meth? It's bad enough that even Internet addiction could lead me to stay up two days.
So it's not stimulants that cause insomnia. It's the lack of impulse control that their use might influence. If even the Internet can be so fun I'd stay up two day in a roll, then drugs are for pussies.
You heard me right: drugs are for pussies who need a crutch. They might even cry about a bad life to excuse their bad choice of using drugs to overcome their past issues.
However, I am not going to preach about weak-willed pussies. Rather, I use the term "pussies" as the cat-like ability to sleep all day and roam all night while high.
Furthermore, it is a fallacy that drug addicts are weak-willed. Rather, drugs addicts have a strong will to abuse drugs for their own personal reasons.
As for insomnia, my herbal supplements are helping me here, especially the lysine and arginine.
Sabutamol: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albuterol
I am sure that my insomnia was due to pseudo-ephedrine in a prescribe medication for hay fever. This was my first exposure to stimulants, since I never drank coffee or tea until I was a teenager. Though it may have been Salbutamol in an inhaler.
Though, green tea is great for meditation. However, I recommend just going to the health food store and buying theanine. It's a great sedative that is better than tranquilizers because it's non-habit-forming. Of course, I recommend against its use to treat childhood ADHD which probably could be cure by removing all processed foods from the diet and raising children on organic foods.
I admit to recently abusing 4 mg tablets of nicotine, which led to staying up two days and blowing $150 at the casino.
If nicotine can cause insomnia for me, then why would I even consider meth? It's bad enough that even Internet addiction could lead me to stay up two days.
So it's not stimulants that cause insomnia. It's the lack of impulse control that their use might influence. If even the Internet can be so fun I'd stay up two day in a roll, then drugs are for pussies.
You heard me right: drugs are for pussies who need a crutch. They might even cry about a bad life to excuse their bad choice of using drugs to overcome their past issues.
However, I am not going to preach about weak-willed pussies. Rather, I use the term "pussies" as the cat-like ability to sleep all day and roam all night while high.
Furthermore, it is a fallacy that drug addicts are weak-willed. Rather, drugs addicts have a strong will to abuse drugs for their own personal reasons.
As for insomnia, my herbal supplements are helping me here, especially the lysine and arginine.
Sabutamol: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albuterol
I love my Meds (satire)
Today I went to my doctor to fill my prescriptions for gabapentin and flexeril (cyclabenzaprine), both of which I consider safer than anything stronger for me. The flexeril is for muscle spasms in my left shoulder due to arthosis and the gabapentin, sleep.
For a while, while using both medications, I was anticipating more sedation, but like what I get from them on waking. It's great to wake up after taking flexeril and gabapentin, only to find my thoughts aren't sluggish.
I suppose the reason for wanting this medication is the laid-back feeling the morning after due to getting a good night's rest.
A plus is there are few side effects worth mentioning. Instead I just feel good, about myself and how to deal with the world.
Thank the heavens for cyclobenzaprine to sedate me, and gabapentin, to calm my mind down.
Update: 20140206.2022
Also, if I up my dose of gabapentin, then I can reduce my nicotine addiction. Given that a daily dose 1500 mg of gabapentin can reduce alcohol cravings to the point of abstinence in 17 percent of alcoholics, gabapentin may be used to maintain nicotine abstinence. Though, gabapentin has some sedative effects but has no interaction with alcohol or nicotine.
So tonight I'm taking the minimum dose of 300 mg, which is the lowest maintenance dose of gabapentin i.e. the lowest recommended dose that may cause psychological dependence. I'd rather take a medication that I get free due to being a Class C recipient for social welfare than have to pay for a $8-10 a pack of cigarettes.
Originally written on Dec 19, 2012 at 7:16 AM
Last posted on December 7, 20163 at 9:04 PM
For a while, while using both medications, I was anticipating more sedation, but like what I get from them on waking. It's great to wake up after taking flexeril and gabapentin, only to find my thoughts aren't sluggish.
I suppose the reason for wanting this medication is the laid-back feeling the morning after due to getting a good night's rest.
A plus is there are few side effects worth mentioning. Instead I just feel good, about myself and how to deal with the world.
Thank the heavens for cyclobenzaprine to sedate me, and gabapentin, to calm my mind down.
Update: 20140206.2022
Also, if I up my dose of gabapentin, then I can reduce my nicotine addiction. Given that a daily dose 1500 mg of gabapentin can reduce alcohol cravings to the point of abstinence in 17 percent of alcoholics, gabapentin may be used to maintain nicotine abstinence. Though, gabapentin has some sedative effects but has no interaction with alcohol or nicotine.
So tonight I'm taking the minimum dose of 300 mg, which is the lowest maintenance dose of gabapentin i.e. the lowest recommended dose that may cause psychological dependence. I'd rather take a medication that I get free due to being a Class C recipient for social welfare than have to pay for a $8-10 a pack of cigarettes.
Originally written on Dec 19, 2012 at 7:16 AM
Last posted on December 7, 20163 at 9:04 PM
20131220
When Pain Killers Don't Cut It
Erowid user confesses to possible addiction to opioids for kidney stone pain. Commentary to follow quote.
http://www.erowid.org/experiences/exp.php?ID=22485
Commentary: Acute pain caused by kidney stones is never remedied by opioids, except when the user is asleep. Had the Emergency doctor been on the ball, had she co-prescribed hydroxyzine or suggested an OTC antihistamine such as Benedryl (diphenhydramine), Chlor-tripolon (chlorpheniramine) or even cetirizine (which has not sedative properties but being a metabolite of hydroxyzine) does moderate opioid potentition, the user would have experienced pain relief earlier once the sedation of the antihistamine kicked in. This also implies less opioids can be taken to relieve the pain.
As shown in the above case, the person reporting his experience with opioids is under great pain, and under these circumstances, tries to dull the pain. Adding an antihistamine to lessen his dose of opioids would complicate matters i.e. scheduling when to take it and how to tell the difference between an antihistamine and an opioid. So the combination would only be useful in a hospital setting where dose scheduling could be better controlled.
This is why antihistamines, especially first-generation such as Benedryl, Chlor-tripolon and hydroxyzine, are usually not given to people with their pain medication due to the risk of overdose.
This is also why tobacco products are addictive, because of the synergy between the nicotine (an acetylcholine agonist) and harmaline, a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant and a reversible inhibitor of MAO-A (RIMA), contained in cigarettes and other tobacco products.
A RIMA prevents the breakdown of neurotransmitters, especially acetylcholine, adrenalin, dopamine, GABA, noradrenalin, serotonin, and tyrosine.
As a RIMA, harmaline also prevents histamine (a monamine) from breaking down. In high doses, with susceptible people it might cause hallucinations because of this action by preventing the breakdown of endogenous dimethyltryptamine. This is not true in all cases.
Nicotine itself too is a CNS stimulant, though its metabolite cotinine is both an anti-psychotic and nootropic.
Original post: June 10, 2010 at 7:40 PM
http://www.erowid.org/experiences/exp.php?ID=22485
I came online tonight searching for answers to my questions about the myriad of drugs I am currently taking, and thought my experience so far with these drugs could prove useful to someone in my position in the future. I have had been passing kidney stones for the past week - the most painful experience of my life - and in between my many trips to the ER, I have been given oxycodone, toradol and dilaudid to control the pain.
I am extremely afraid of developing an addiction to these drugs, as I have an 'addictive personality' and have had drug habit problems in the past. It's been a difficult situation because the onset of kidney pain sends me into such a fright that I pop the maximum amount of pills that I am supposed to take at once. I am afraid that slight pain I begin to feel will worsen until I am in the state I was in the first day I had the stones - a pain that I would not wish upon my worst enemy. The pain had me reduced to a blabbering, crying mess. When I got to the ER that day I had no control over my words and actions, and I was screaming and moaning for painkillers. When I finally got my shot of toradol and dilaudid I was in heaven...and I tried so hard to convince myself it was just from the pain relief, not from the drugs themselves.
I finally left the hospital that day and continued to have bouts of pain that would sometimes be relieved by the prescriptions, and sometimes not. By the fourth day, I noticed the meds were having no effect whatsoever. It scared me that I already was having such a tolerance to the meds, especially because of how strong I was told dilaudid was. Was it the strength of pain or my tolerance to the meds? I don't really know. I just got home from my third visit to the hospital in the past week, except I had to stay overnight with a morphine drip to control the pain. I was later switched to oral medication - oxycodone - and I was able to handle the pain that way so I got sent home with 30 more pills.
There is no real point to my story except that I question my actions...at the slightest possibility of my beginning to feel twinges of back/abdomen pain associated with kidney stones, I take the oxycodone, toradol, and/or dilaudid. I really don't know if it's more because I am afraid of having pain like I did, or because I am developing an addiction to these pain killers. I must admit that the pain killers make it so much easier to sleep, and as soon as I feel the 'coming down' effects like increased sensitivity (crying at the drop of a hat) and increased annoyedness (especially at loud noise), I feel compelled to take the drugs. At the same time, however, these drugs do not provide all bliss to me either; I experience intense itchiness, mild nausea, and an overwhelming grogginess that brings about a depressed mental state. I personally feel much better having written this, because I think I am being a lot more honest with myself, and have realized that I have caught myself giving in to an addiction...
Commentary: Acute pain caused by kidney stones is never remedied by opioids, except when the user is asleep. Had the Emergency doctor been on the ball, had she co-prescribed hydroxyzine or suggested an OTC antihistamine such as Benedryl (diphenhydramine), Chlor-tripolon (chlorpheniramine) or even cetirizine (which has not sedative properties but being a metabolite of hydroxyzine) does moderate opioid potentition, the user would have experienced pain relief earlier once the sedation of the antihistamine kicked in. This also implies less opioids can be taken to relieve the pain.
As shown in the above case, the person reporting his experience with opioids is under great pain, and under these circumstances, tries to dull the pain. Adding an antihistamine to lessen his dose of opioids would complicate matters i.e. scheduling when to take it and how to tell the difference between an antihistamine and an opioid. So the combination would only be useful in a hospital setting where dose scheduling could be better controlled.
This is why antihistamines, especially first-generation such as Benedryl, Chlor-tripolon and hydroxyzine, are usually not given to people with their pain medication due to the risk of overdose.
This is also why tobacco products are addictive, because of the synergy between the nicotine (an acetylcholine agonist) and harmaline, a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant and a reversible inhibitor of MAO-A (RIMA), contained in cigarettes and other tobacco products.
A RIMA prevents the breakdown of neurotransmitters, especially acetylcholine, adrenalin, dopamine, GABA, noradrenalin, serotonin, and tyrosine.
As a RIMA, harmaline also prevents histamine (a monamine) from breaking down. In high doses, with susceptible people it might cause hallucinations because of this action by preventing the breakdown of endogenous dimethyltryptamine. This is not true in all cases.
Nicotine itself too is a CNS stimulant, though its metabolite cotinine is both an anti-psychotic and nootropic.
Original post: June 10, 2010 at 7:40 PM
20130303
My Experience With Nicotine Replacement Therapy
Ten days ago, I started the Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) gum. This is a free, one-time supply of Thrive Gum consisting of three boxes, each containing 108 pieces of gum (324 pieces in total).
After obtaining the prescription number from the Quit Now website, I went down to the pharmacist to obtain it.
Once I received it, I knew that my craving for nicotine would be relived by using it. In each piece of gum is four milligrams of nicotine. My reasoning for choosing the four milligram dose was because I could keep my intake of two pieces of gum per day.
At a maximum of eight milligrams per day, it is enough to relieve the craving pf smoking, but not enough to get addicted to nicotine.
Since I had quit smoking three weeks before getting the prescription, I realize that following the suggested tapering schedule was not in my interest.
Over the ten days using the gum, I have maintained the eight milligram maximum by having the first dose after eating breakfast and the second dose a few hours after dinner.
Thus my plan is to use the NRT gum to maintain enough nicotine to benefit from the metabolite conitine, which has antidepressant properties.
The effect of nicotine itself is primarily stimulant, which improves mood, resulting in positive feelings of satisfaction.
Overall, I find Thrive NRT to be a safer alternative to smoking.
Thrive NRT: http://www.quitnow.ca/tools-and-resources/guide-to-nrt-and-medication/medication-guide/nicotine-gum.php
Nicotine: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicotine
Conitine: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cotinine
After obtaining the prescription number from the Quit Now website, I went down to the pharmacist to obtain it.
Once I received it, I knew that my craving for nicotine would be relived by using it. In each piece of gum is four milligrams of nicotine. My reasoning for choosing the four milligram dose was because I could keep my intake of two pieces of gum per day.
At a maximum of eight milligrams per day, it is enough to relieve the craving pf smoking, but not enough to get addicted to nicotine.
Since I had quit smoking three weeks before getting the prescription, I realize that following the suggested tapering schedule was not in my interest.
Over the ten days using the gum, I have maintained the eight milligram maximum by having the first dose after eating breakfast and the second dose a few hours after dinner.
Thus my plan is to use the NRT gum to maintain enough nicotine to benefit from the metabolite conitine, which has antidepressant properties.
The effect of nicotine itself is primarily stimulant, which improves mood, resulting in positive feelings of satisfaction.
Overall, I find Thrive NRT to be a safer alternative to smoking.
Thrive NRT: http://www.quitnow.ca/tools-and-resources/guide-to-nrt-and-medication/medication-guide/nicotine-gum.php
Nicotine: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicotine
Conitine: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cotinine
20110208
Flexeril and Its Antidepressant Effects due to Antihistimine Properties
Monday morning I got up early enough to visit my doctor. Due to my insomnia, I had delayed a follow-up visit to him while tapering down to one tablet of mirtazapine when needed i.e. when I need a good sleep before morning.
After 5 minutes of talking to my doctor, he recommended stretching exercises - and I countered with "I practice tai chi". So he suggested cyclobenzaprine (flexeril), a tricyclic antidepressant with strong muscle relaxant properties i.e. another antihistamine chemically different from benadryl and mirtazapine.
This drug has a slow onset of 2-6 hours but lasts for up to 20 hours.
I know because after I got home around 11 PM, it took me about 2 hours before the first effects hit me, but had taken one tablet about 8PM. By 4AM I was off to bed.
It's unknown if dissolving the tablet in my mouth leads to this delayed effect. Then most of Tuesday was spent in bed. I'd only gotten up around 5 PM.
There may be a synergy with alcohol, because I slowly sipped a Colt 45 circa 9.45 PM at a friend's place and was out of there by 10:25 PM.
However, I felt no alcohol buzz; this may have been due to smoking a couple cigarettes for most of the time at my friend's place. In fact, I believe nicotine may have been the protective factor, as it kept me alert and less likely to yield to both alcohol's and flexeril's sedative properties.
When I awoke during the time before 5 PM, I just felt the need for more sleep. This, most likely, was a "hangover" effect due to the combination of alcohol with flexeril and trace amounts of mirtazapine.
Therefore, the mixing of liberal amounts of alcohol and/or other CNS depressants with Flexeril is not recommended. This includes mirtazapine and other psychiatric medication. Also included is gabapentin and other anti-epileptic drugs.
Updated: 20111116.1625
Flexeril is a muscle relaxant which has sedation as one of its side-effects. Currently, I use flexeril 10 mg daily.
Mirtazapine is being marketed as an antidepressant, however, it has antihistamine side effect of sedation in low doses. I used to take this medication at 2 doses of 15 mg daily. Over a year after I first wrote this article, I no longer take mirtazapine.
Gabapentin is used for nerve pain and is used mainly to control seizures in epilepsy in high doses. Currently I use it for its ability to reduce anxiety at 2 doses at 100 mg per capsule.
20121225.0841
Currently I use 10 mg of flexeril and 200 mg of gabapentin at bedtime. The gabapentin helps improve the ability to enter deep sleep and the flexeril helps me to fall to sleep.
After 5 minutes of talking to my doctor, he recommended stretching exercises - and I countered with "I practice tai chi". So he suggested cyclobenzaprine (flexeril), a tricyclic antidepressant with strong muscle relaxant properties i.e. another antihistamine chemically different from benadryl and mirtazapine.
This drug has a slow onset of 2-6 hours but lasts for up to 20 hours.
I know because after I got home around 11 PM, it took me about 2 hours before the first effects hit me, but had taken one tablet about 8PM. By 4AM I was off to bed.
It's unknown if dissolving the tablet in my mouth leads to this delayed effect. Then most of Tuesday was spent in bed. I'd only gotten up around 5 PM.
There may be a synergy with alcohol, because I slowly sipped a Colt 45 circa 9.45 PM at a friend's place and was out of there by 10:25 PM.
However, I felt no alcohol buzz; this may have been due to smoking a couple cigarettes for most of the time at my friend's place. In fact, I believe nicotine may have been the protective factor, as it kept me alert and less likely to yield to both alcohol's and flexeril's sedative properties.
When I awoke during the time before 5 PM, I just felt the need for more sleep. This, most likely, was a "hangover" effect due to the combination of alcohol with flexeril and trace amounts of mirtazapine.
Therefore, the mixing of liberal amounts of alcohol and/or other CNS depressants with Flexeril is not recommended. This includes mirtazapine and other psychiatric medication. Also included is gabapentin and other anti-epileptic drugs.
Updated: 20111116.1625
Flexeril is a muscle relaxant which has sedation as one of its side-effects. Currently, I use flexeril 10 mg daily.
Mirtazapine is being marketed as an antidepressant, however, it has antihistamine side effect of sedation in low doses. I used to take this medication at 2 doses of 15 mg daily. Over a year after I first wrote this article, I no longer take mirtazapine.
Gabapentin is used for nerve pain and is used mainly to control seizures in epilepsy in high doses. Currently I use it for its ability to reduce anxiety at 2 doses at 100 mg per capsule.
20121225.0841
Currently I use 10 mg of flexeril and 200 mg of gabapentin at bedtime. The gabapentin helps improve the ability to enter deep sleep and the flexeril helps me to fall to sleep.
20110101
How I Overcame the Fear of Medication
I used to be afraid of medication until I tried them.
Now they have made it harder for nicotine to addict me, and even harder for THC to make me anxious and paranoid.
I'm even wise to the meth BS. Why would anyone take crappy street amphetamines when there are ADHD meds which are safer and less toxic when used as directed?
As well, if you seriously used nicotine, then you'd have an over-the-counter antidepressant in inhalant format called cigarettes. In low doses nicotine is a stimulant; in high doses, it is as effective as a first-generation anti-histamine in sedation and "calming the nerves".
The good news is, THC still is a sedative in low doses. The terrific news is, mirtazapine blocks the munchies because as an antihistamine, it's an effective sedative with munchies as side effect. :p
Of course, I'd never mix alcohol or hard drugs with my medication, because that's a waste of my effort to manage my disease, which is depression.
Since humor is a mature way of dealing with uncomfortable feelings of anxiety, fear and dread, I plan on dealing with depression with humor to counteract any negativity arising from those feelings.
In this way I have overcome my initial fear of medication by choosing which of them I wish to take. I chose mirtazapine because of its safety profile for sedative action, and chose gabapentin of its safety in relieving pain and helping me to express myself.
However, this blog entry does not represent the full picture of depression. It only represents the protective effect of mirtazapine and gabapentin on my brain. They are more useful than cigarettes and marijuana, because of their safety profile. Yet I would be foolish to solely rely on them, for they are not magic bullets.
References:
Nicotine's psychological effects: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicotine#Psychoactive_effects
Gabapentin and alcohol withdrawal syndrome: Am J Health-Syst Pharm—Vol 65 Jun 1, 2008
p. 1039
Comparison of Gabapentin and Phenobarbital for treatment of alcohol withdrawal: DOI: 10.1080/10550490500419110
Comparison of Gabapentin and bupropion SR for stopping smoking: Nicotine & Tobacco Research Volume 7, Number 5 (October 2005) 809–813
Gabapentin for stopping smoking: Nicotine & Tobacco Research Volume 9, Number 2 (February 2007) 291–298
Now they have made it harder for nicotine to addict me, and even harder for THC to make me anxious and paranoid.
I'm even wise to the meth BS. Why would anyone take crappy street amphetamines when there are ADHD meds which are safer and less toxic when used as directed?
As well, if you seriously used nicotine, then you'd have an over-the-counter antidepressant in inhalant format called cigarettes. In low doses nicotine is a stimulant; in high doses, it is as effective as a first-generation anti-histamine in sedation and "calming the nerves".
The good news is, THC still is a sedative in low doses. The terrific news is, mirtazapine blocks the munchies because as an antihistamine, it's an effective sedative with munchies as side effect. :p
Of course, I'd never mix alcohol or hard drugs with my medication, because that's a waste of my effort to manage my disease, which is depression.
Since humor is a mature way of dealing with uncomfortable feelings of anxiety, fear and dread, I plan on dealing with depression with humor to counteract any negativity arising from those feelings.
In this way I have overcome my initial fear of medication by choosing which of them I wish to take. I chose mirtazapine because of its safety profile for sedative action, and chose gabapentin of its safety in relieving pain and helping me to express myself.
However, this blog entry does not represent the full picture of depression. It only represents the protective effect of mirtazapine and gabapentin on my brain. They are more useful than cigarettes and marijuana, because of their safety profile. Yet I would be foolish to solely rely on them, for they are not magic bullets.
References:
Nicotine's psychological effects: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicotine#Psychoactive_effects
Gabapentin and alcohol withdrawal syndrome: Am J Health-Syst Pharm—Vol 65 Jun 1, 2008
p. 1039
Comparison of Gabapentin and Phenobarbital for treatment of alcohol withdrawal: DOI: 10.1080/10550490500419110
Comparison of Gabapentin and bupropion SR for stopping smoking: Nicotine & Tobacco Research Volume 7, Number 5 (October 2005) 809–813
Gabapentin for stopping smoking: Nicotine & Tobacco Research Volume 9, Number 2 (February 2007) 291–298
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)