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Apytele@sh.itjust.works ⁨14⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

fun fact; drugs that act on your GABA nervous system (benzodiazepines such as xanax, also barbiturates and alcohol) are the only drugs that will kill you outright on withdrawal.

Stimulant withdrawal (amphetamines, cocaine, caffeine, nicotine) causes headache, confusion, fatigue, and occasionally suicidal ideation. Opiate withdrawal (oxycodone, heroin, fentanyl), causes flu-like symptoms that can be fatal if severe enough (dehydration, GI complications) but do not kill you outright. (THC / marijuana withdrawal is the chillest, usually only causing mild irritability and appetite loss, which the others do to a much greater extent).

Benzo (and other GABA active withdrawals) causes a rebound of your nervous system’s stress and fight or flight system that cascades from extreme anxiety, then into vivid hallucinations and paranoid delusions, and finally into back-to-back seizures that eventually result in nervous system failure, hypoxia, and death.

If you begin using them at an unsustainable dose (which can cause respiratory depression and weakness of gait / traumatic head injury) you will need to be withdrawn in a either a specialized rehab with medical capabilities or if the addiction is severe enough a hospital or even specifically an intensive care unit.

This has been a PSA.

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three@piefed.social ⁨12⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
too long; abused xanax

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AnarchoEngineer@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨13⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
The real curious thing is that these expected neurological rebound effects aren’t universally experienced. Some people are affected more strongly and in weird ways by withdrawal.

Being ADHD probably has something to do with it, but I can take my adderall (a relatively high dose btw) every day for months and then quit cold turkey and feel no noticeable withdrawal symptoms besides being hungrier and laughing at things more easily on the first few days after quitting lol

Now I wondering if there are neurodivergences for which GABA modulators cause different effects than expected and for which withdrawal symptoms might be negligible. Then again, GABA is like the major inhibitory neurotransmitter so maybe it’s not possible for the brain to function/develop well at all with any anomalies dealing with those receptors.

(This is not my field; I’m just curious.)

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- Apytele@sh.itjust.works ⁨12⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  tbh I’m not on the research end I’m on the butt end with the people experiencing it directly (which is where I wanna be the most I wanna do is maybe teach someday) so I have empirical backup but most of my knowledge is experiential.
  
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SubArcticTundra@lemmy.ml ⁨12⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
This is crazy. My friend went a while taking GABA tablets as a supplement

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- Apytele@sh.itjust.works ⁨10⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  so I looked into this because your comment sparked some curiosity and from what I can tell it’s less about the chemical itself and more about how your brain regulates and uses it. There’s also limited evidence as to whether GABA as a dietary supplement is even crossing the blood-brain barrier (where it would cause these effects). The other thing you need to keep in mind with most “natural” supplements is that the FDA regulates them under the F, not the D! Things like melatonin (which I even take personally) are regulated as FOOD, not DRUGS. Drugs have to
  
  be exactly the chemical they say they are
  
  in exactly the amounts they say they are per. pill.
  
  and as over the counter medications have to have approved safe dosages and frequencies on the packaging
  
  and all pills prescription or not have to have a unique alphanumeric imprint on each pill that can be used to identify it if it is separated from its packaging. Even different doses need unique imprints.
  
  Food needs to:
  
  mostly probably be the thing it says it is. If it’s a plant it might be a different strain between different manufacturers.
  
  that plant also might have a variety of other chemical structures in it that aren’t advertised on the bottle.
  
  say almost whatever the manufacturer slaps on it in terms of dosage or frequency.
  
  have no imprint whatsoever to identify it if it’s not in the original packaging.
  
  Like I said I use several supplements myself that even have good evidence behind them in terms of safety and efficacy. But you need to be aware of the ways in which they’re regulated differently than drugs and know that you’re gonna have to do a little more research for yourself to really find what’s going to be safe and effective for you. Finding a physician who’s educated in holistic and integrative therapies can be super helpful for something like this.
  
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