Be careful what supplements you take

I’ve spent the last week in literal hell.

Literal.

Being roasted alive couldn’t hold a finger to what I’ve been going through. I started taking a supplement called Phenibut about a year and a half ago for work related anxiety. It was originally developed by the Russians in the 1960’s for the cosmonauts because it gives you a reduction of anxiety without effecting motor skills. For the first year it worked perfectly. Then about 6 months ago I started getting flashes of impending doom. Like something really bad was about to happen, even though my life was amazing and I had no reason to think that.

Fast forward to about 2 and a half weeks ago. I’m up in the mountains with my girlfriend. About our second day there I start getting all these weird dysphoric feelings. Ending in a panic attack while sitting in a restaurant. I’ve never had panic attacks or anything like that, so I was genuinely freaked out. At first they started a couple times a day, but over the next week they progressively got worse.

Then I stopped taking it.

So last Friday I woke up around 8 am with my head so dizzy I could barely walk. I had to hold on to the wall while walking to the bathroom. It kept getting progressively worse.

It was insane. Hallucinations, dysphoria so bad I couldn’t get out of bed and the most evil scenes and what felt like premonitions flashing in front of my face constantly. I didn’t sleep at all Friday night. I sat up in the living room of my 200 year old house talking to confederate soldiers that had been dead for almost 200 years.

About 6 am I thought I was having a heart attack and my girlfriend woke up and convinced me to let her drive me to the hospital. They admitted me, stabilized me on Valium and kept me overnight. Which was horrible. My roommate was withdrawing from alcohol and spent the entire time screaming in gibberish and whistling for a nonexistent dog. They discharged me the next morning, sent me home and today I found a doctor that actually listened to me and prescribed me the drugs I needed to get off of this satanic substance.

Thing is, I had no idea it could have these side effects. You can buy it at GNC, The Vitamin Shoppe. Hell, it’s in certain energy shots at gas stations. Everywhere. That’s how I started taking it. I’m all for drug legalization, including phenibut, but there should be warnings making people aware of the dangers of it if they choose to use it. It’s evil to market this to people without a warning or explanation of what you’re getting yourself into.

I’ve done a lot of substances, and I’ve never experienced such a prolonged psychedelic hell from anything. The withdrawal felt like your mind is being ripped apart piece by piece while terrible hallucinations swirl around you, taunting you. I’m reminded of the adrenachrome scene from Fear and Loathing Las Vegas, but more frightening. And more evil.

So the moral of the story is, stay the hell away from this drug. Part of me thinks it’s some kind of chemical warfare the Russians are supplying to unwitting Americans that just see it as a supplement like anything else.

Here’s some links that talk about it:

Link

Link


Please do not use this under any circumstances. It’s also present in many weight lifting stacks. It’s supposed to promote HGH and I did notice I bulked up through all the physical labor at my new job, but it isn’t worth it. Check your supplements and stacks for this if you lift.

The name is beta phenyl gamma aminobutyric acid. They may try to shorten the name on certain products but it will still look similar. It’s in a lot of things that it shouldn’t be otherwise. I’ve even seen it in some CBD formulations, notably the Hemp Bombs brand. Watch out for that too. The energy shots that have phenibut are called Sleepwalkers, though I’m sure there are more now.

So be careful. Unless you want to lose all touch with reality and sit up talking to dead people all night long. And I don’t mean that in a good way.

Be careful out there and research every thing you decide to put into your body.

a reply to: underwerks

This is why it's a good idea to read about things before you start taking them.

en.m.wikipedia.org...

Side effects of phenibut include sedation, sleepiness, nausea, irritability, agitation, dizziness, and headache, among others.[4][6] Overdose of phenibut can produce marked central nervous system depression including unconsciousness.[4][6] The medication is structurally related to the neurotransmitter γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), and hence is a GABA analogue.[5] Phenibut is thought to act as a GABAB receptor agonist, similarly to baclofen and γ-hydroxybutyrate (GHB).[5] However, at low concentrations, phenibut mildly increases the concentration of dopamine in the brain, providing stimulatory effects in addition to the anxiolysis.[7] Subsequent research has found that it is also a potent blocker of α2δ subunit-containing voltage-dependent calcium channels (VDCCs), similarly to gabapentinoids like gabapentin and pregabalin.[8][9]

None of that sounds good.

a reply to: underwerks

Sorry to hear of your suffering.

but there should be warnings making people aware of the dangers of it if they choose to use it

Isn't there a leaflet in the box of pills with a list of side effects among other things?
There is here in Europe in packets of pills

a reply to: dug88

Yes, it is.

But a person like me has to touch a fire before I know I’ll get burned. I take completely responsibility for what happened to me. Nobody forced me to start taking it.

originally posted by: SecretKnowledge
a reply to: underwerks

Sorry to hear of your suffering.

but there should be warnings making people aware of the dangers of it if they choose to use it

Isn't there a leaflet in the box of pills with a list of side effects among other things?
There is here in Europe in packets of pills

It’s sold in tubs of powder here in the United States.

a reply to: underwerks

Full spectrum CBD oil might be worth a shot, I won't try to sell you the idea but it's worth looking into,

All the best, take care,

a reply to: underwerks

Thanks for the warning. I sometimes take a pre-workout powder before going to the gym (unfortunately not frequently enough). I did read the label, and don't recall any warnings that stood out, but sometimes I have trouble falling asleep the night I take it and just passed it off as being all hyped up from my workout.

Sorry your going through that. I have had every symptom you have had. sounds almost identical to coming down or rapid stop of taking benzos(xanax,clonepin,valium). Exactly identical especially holding the wall to walk, severe anxiety, feelings of heart attack, thinking you will die. It is a horrible feeling and one I will never out myself in a position to go through again. Stay strong, it will pass, each day you WILL get a little better and be back to yourself in no time. And the post above this says it effects gaba receptors, so it's no suprise because both benzos and alcohol effect the gaba receptors. As I've said I've been through it took about 6 months to fully pass, the big symptoms were gone within a week, just the anxiety lingered for months. Stay strong, best of luck.

I'm not a fan of taking things like that simply because of what happened to you. Despite our political differences I'm glad you're ok, I don't want to see anyone suffer like that.

a reply to: underwerks

Fair enough, wasn't trying to be lecturing about it. I just have a severe distrust of most things sold as medicine or supplements. Many of them are useless or downright harmful.

Glad you're recovering from it though. It sounds like a really lousy experience.

a reply to: dug88

I've been taking steel libido black and horny goat weed for about 5 months. They have been the only supplements to ever actually help me, and my wifey lives it. But I agree most do more harm than good.

originally posted by: 772STi
Sorry your going through that. I have had every symptom you have had. sounds almost identical to coming down or rapid stop of taking benzos(xanax,clonepin,valium). Exactly identical especially holding the wall to walk, severe anxiety, feelings of heart attack, thinking you will die. It is a horrible feeling and one I will never out myself in a position to go through again. Stay strong, it will pass, each day you WILL get a little better and be back to yourself in no time. And the post above this says it effects gaba receptors, so it's no suprise because both benzos and alcohol effect the gaba receptors. As I've said I've been through it took about 6 months to fully pass, the big symptoms were gone within a week, just the anxiety lingered for months. Stay strong, best of luck.

That’s the closest thing it can be described to. It acts on the GABA-b receptors. While things like benzos and alcohol act on GABA-a receptors. So the withdrawal effects are similar.

I wouldn't take that supplement, it is similar to gabapenten. It isn't very natural. Gabapentin can cause side effects too, it interacts with the gaba receptors and is not really natural either. Withdrawl from that sort of stuff can be problematic sometimes, you can't quit cold turkey.

I use a Taurine supplement, it helps with my epilepsy. It also effects the gaba receptor but Taurine is naturally in our bodies so it is not so much of a problem if you use a small dose. I just take the 500 mg dose once a day, it is cheap. It did drop my trigliceride level back into the normal range when I took it too, but I did have a little problem with it initially, I have reactive hypoglycemia, so it caused a few episodes of low blood sugar initially. But I learned how to overcome that problem by altering my diet. Taurine does inhibit platelets from sticking together too, so you need to understand if you are on blood thinners or take aspirin or eat a pile of onions, you should maybe not take it or at least talk to your doctor. If I ate more meat cooked medium I would not need this, but the wife wants her meat cooked well done, so I cook the hell out of all meat. No pink allowed.

All supplements can have side effects, I always evaluate these things and it is why I rarely give recommendations on taking anything or even eating certain foods unless I have information that can help me determine possible increased side effect risk.

originally posted by: underwerks
My roommate was withdrawing from alcohol and spent the entire time screaming in gibberish and whistling for a nonexistent dog.

Sorry.

a reply to: underwerks

Glad you’re better, friend.

Putting warnings on every last thing will just get giant government agencies even more giant and involved in our affairs than they already are. You can bet more of our tax dollars would be “needed” too.

People need to take responsibility for themselves and what they put into their bodies, and not give that power and responsibility over to the entirely corrupt government.

In this age of information, there is no need for the government to tell us what the side effects of something may be. People need to TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEMSELVES and do some reading for themselves. No authority needed to baby us- do it yourself.

I am glad you are getting the word out! Just want to add my 2 cents about your insistence on the warning label issue- maybe you had not thought about it from a practical angle and what that would really entail.

Stay healthy and glad you’re better!

a reply to: underwerks

Yea it's pretty much identical. If it's to much to handle you could try to slowly taper off if it. I know for a fact it can cause temporary psychosis. I hate those feelings of a heart attack. It textbook to jaw pain arm pain chest pain all left side. I've been through it many times. I could tell you 100 times you'll be fine your not having a heart attack, but your mind overrides that and thinks it's real. I would heavily suggest coming down slowly, but I am not a doctor. Be aware it also increases the risk if seizure substantialy and I know you don't want to hear that if have anymore things in your head, but it something you should be aware of. It takes months to a year just to taper down off of a couple mgs of xanax. So take it slow and again best of luck, the majority of the bad symptoms should pass in a few days.

Sounds EXACTLY like a lucy flashback dude.
Don't ask me how I know.

a reply to: 772STi

I’ve got an ongoing script for Valium and baclofen that should help. Baclofen is almost a god send for what I’m going through. It hits the same receptors and doesn’t have a withdrawal like phenibut.

I’m just lucky I found a doctor that would prescribe me something that would help. Most doctors have been so intimidated by the government in how they prescribe drugs that a lot of times they’re scared to prescribe the most helpful ones.

a reply to: underwerks

That's actually very good to hear. The valium raises you seizure threshold, so you should be fine in that aspect. I have had baclofen it works very well, I currently take xanaflex also a muscle relaxer they work great they just done last long. Muscle relaxers also double to help with anxiety.

originally posted by: underwerks
a reply to: 772STi

I’ve got an ongoing script for Valium and baclofen that should help. Baclofen is almost a god send for what I’m going through. It hits the same receptors and doesn’t have a withdrawal like phenibut.

I’m just lucky I found a doctor that would prescribe me something that would help. Most doctors have been so intimidated by the government in how they prescribe drugs that a lot of times they’re scared to prescribe the most helpful ones.

Glad you are doing better, I hate taking any prescribed medicines, but now I'm on lisinopril for high blood pressure, well it's working fine till like a dumb ass I put some stuff on my aching heel. It was full of sodium and evidentially a little dab was enough to spike my BP all evening and into the morning hours, the worse it's been in months.