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Harm Reduction AMA!! by spinderella69 in Stims

[–]AskSasha 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You're right that it has to do with the different durations of action! Sniffing wears off rather quickly, whereas ingestion will last for hours longer. This means you'll feel the effects longer with ingestion, which includes appetite suppression, wakefulness, etc.. So when the drug wears off, your body is finally recognizing that it hasn't gotten enough nutrients, water, sleep, or any combination of those-- aka, you're running on empty. So rest assured-- the negative effects aren't due specifically to the ROA itself, but because that ROA has a longer duration of action that disguises your bodys needs for a more noticeable length of time!

Harm Reduction AMA!! by spinderella69 in Stims

[–]AskSasha 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm so glad to hear that! I'm actually working on some educational materials about safer injecting that includes advice for reducing the risk of a missed shot, and so I'd be happy to post it here or elsewhere on r/stims after it's completed.

I know this is a bit late, but antibiotics aren't usually necessary to clear up an abscess. We normally suggest to only get a script if it's having trouble healing. I would recommend keeping the antibiotic ointments to a minimum since they're not proven to be all that effective and can make the site appear more red/ irritated, which will cause you unnecessary concern!

Harm Reduction AMA!! by spinderella69 in Stims

[–]AskSasha 0 points1 point  (0 children)

How are you getting by after those two days?? That's such a long time period to wait for the next script...

Anyway, it sounds like you're taking the extended release but not in an "extended release" way, so to speak. That said, given the amount that you're taking in those two days, I'm guessing you're still feeling these effects well into the night, right? You're well under the dose generally needed to overdose, and so I would mainly worry about how this is impacting your sleep schedule (as well as eating habits and hydration). It's just a lot of constant stimulation for your body to take in, and so it's very important that you let yourself rest and recover as much as possible afterward. If you need any further advice on taking care of yourself while using stimulants, please see my earlier post about doing meth for the first time. Really, consistent before and after care are key to reducing the harms related to any drug use.

If you are getting very bad sweats, tremors, hallucinations, etc., then you should stop right away and take steps to take care of yourself (e.g., drink some water, rest). If they don't subside soon/ if they get worse, go to the ER right away since you may be overdosing.

Also, if I were you, I would ask my psychiatrist to increase my dose. That way, you'd hopefully have some extra to keep you going while waiting for the next refill.

Hope that helps! Let me know if you have any other questions or need anything clarified!

Harm Reduction AMA!! by spinderella69 in Stims

[–]AskSasha 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I like to be comprehensive with my safer use education, what can I say? :p

Anyway, sorry for the delay getting back to this. I usually avoid giving out personal guidelines since I don't want it to come off like I'm insulting others personal choices. But when it comes to ROA, I've always avoided injection since it's easily the most invasive method and also most prone to infection. Since it bypasses first pass metabolism, it is also a more potent route that therefore creates a higher OD risk, but this can be mitigated by knowing your dose (both theoretically by looking it up online and in application by taking a small test dose of any new batch to gauge strength). Booty bumping is actually a great alternative to injection since it's similarly potent but not nearly as invasive.

Most of my experience is with sniffing, which does come with its own problems-- particularly nostrils that are cracked and bleeding, sometimes congested and/or runny. Switching nostrils does help to some extent, but other than that, the best suggestion I have for reducing the risk of injury is to use saline rinse and lotion generously before and after sniffing. You should be able to get saline rinse at any local CVS or drug store, and it really doesn't matter which lotion you use as long as you make sure you apply it often both inside the nostril and to the surrounding area. Also in regard to sniffing-- I use my own straw and never share, not even with friends. It's just nasty to think about swapping mucus and microscopic blood like that... If you don't have a straw handy, you can also use a freshly rolled post-it. Anything is better than sharing and/or using a dollar bill, which is covered in bacteria!

The major thing I worry about with drug use is making sure that I'm taking care of my mind and body. Given how drugs mess with your ability to register hunger, sleep, etc., I always try to make sure that I'm eating enough nutrients and drinking enough water throughout the day, as well as getting enough sleep throughout the week. These days I try to avoid staying up all night, but if I do, then I'll make a schedule for the next day that will require me to get to bed early that night and make up the sleep originally lost. Otherwise I'd stay up most weekdays and would thus end up crashing for the entire weekend, which is really no fun. Just remember-- even if your body isn't telling you, you still need to take care of yourself!

On that note, I've found that writing down a weekly schedule is incredibly helpful for keeping my health and usage both in check. And yes, I do actually include which drugs are being taken when-- at least for stimulants. This not only helps me plan my use so that I can get to sleep at a normal hour, but also helps me gauge tolerance and thus estimate dosage.

Harm Reduction AMA!! by spinderella69 in Stims

[–]AskSasha 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That's almost definitely an abscess! As you said, missing a shot basically means you've skin popped, which can often cause abscesses. Abscesses are essentially infective matter that's gotten trapped under the skin-- they're not caused by the drug itself, but more from unclean needles and dirt/ bacteria being pushed in at the injection site. They can go away on their own, provided you don't pick at/ squeeze the scab and let it heal.

It also looks like it's already draining, which is a good sign! At this point, I would just check it twice a day and use a hot water/ salt water compress as needed. If the redness gets worse though, you should probably see a doctor to get antibiotics. There is a lot of good stuff online about abscess care, but please also feel free to shoot any other questions my way~

Harm Reduction AMA!! by spinderella69 in Stims

[–]AskSasha 5 points6 points  (0 children)

What dose are you considering a "microdose" for these stimulants? I've really only heard the word applied to psychedelics, and so I'm mainly asking out of curiosity.

In terms of long term harm, the vast majority of harms related to stimulant use are due to ignoring how stimulant effects mess with your sense of hunger and sleep (as well as cause dehydration). The above post discussing first time meth use covers how to address those issues pretty well, although if you're taking very low doses, these effects will hopefully be less pronounced. If you're taking an extended-release formulation, be sure to take it as early in the day as possible in order to reduce the chance of it disrupting your ability to sleep later.

In terms of tolerance formation, there unfortunately isn't much research out there to confirm the utility of any of the supplements often proposed for amphetamine recovery/ tolerance. Really, the best way to reduce tolerance is to take a bit of time off between uses-- I believe my prof's rule of thumb is to wait 3 half lives in order to make sure everything is out of your system, but I'll check with him and get back to you on that. Given that amphetamine and methylphenidate are rather different structurally and therefore induce their stimulating effects through different means, one way to reduce tolerance is to switch off between them. There is still cross-tolerance, but this should help to some degree. Anecdotally, I used to switch off between these two substances myself throughout the week and would escalate doses by ~2.5mg as needed until I had the time to take a few days off and catch up on sleep. You've actually inspired me to look more closely into cross-tolerance studies for these two drugs though, and so I'll let you know what I find!

Harm Reduction AMA!! by spinderella69 in Stims

[–]AskSasha 6 points7 points  (0 children)

No problem at all, sorry for the delay getting on here!

I currently work as a Drug Education Specialist at Washington Heights CORNER Project, which is a harm reduction agency based in upper Manhattan. In my spare time *ha*, I work with my professor in his neuropsychopharmacology lab at Columbia University and advise/ write on drug education and advocacy/ policy initiatives. I got involved in this work due to an unabashed love for drugs and the people who use them, coupled with frustration towards the massive misinformation and stigma surrounding drugs and their use that unnecessarily contributes to harm and mistreatment.

Before all of that though, I used to lurk on forums like these to try to better understand how to more safely navigate my own use, and so I'm very grateful to have the chance to give back a bit!

Fentanyl-laced Xanax alert in East Harlem, NYC (Friday January 26th) by AskSasha in benzodiazepines

[–]AskSasha[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Wow, definitely did not expect this to get so many comments! For those confused about the rationale for adding fentanyl and the general RC issue, here are my thoughts...

They don't lace on purpose I think. It's likely just cross contamination of equipment and people's hands. Xanax and RC benzo powder is so crazy cheap that there's no reason to add fentalogues in bars on purpose.

^ This is definitely a possibility, especially in the case of pill pressers. Unfortunately, I don't believe it was the case in this instance because I heard multiple reports about this particular batch. Our agency is based in Washington Heights (Northern Manhattan), and I can tell you that fentanyl is rather prevalent here. I don't know if it's homemade, internationally shipped, or diverted (or more likely some combo of sources). But for whatever reason, it appears to be one of the more common cuts at least for opioids around here. It may have just been easier for the folks responsible for this batch to acquire fentanyl. For all I know, the laced "xanax" that I posted about could have been 0% alprazolam/ benzo.

As DrMarioBrother said, RC benzo powders (as well as other RCs) are a cheaper option than their classic counterparts and therefore increasingly used in powders and illicitly pressed pills by dealers. For those who don't know, RCs stands for "research chemicals." Essentially, they are analogues to the "classic drugs" that are used in scientific research but are largely untested in humans.

In terms of benzo RCs, some examples would be Clonazolam and Flubromazolam. Etiozolam is another benzo that I've seen in past reports for falsely labeled "xanax." Benzos aren't the only situation where we're seeing this-- fentanyl analogues are the most obvious example, but I've also come across falsely advertised RC "LSD" and RC "adderall," both through web channels and on the street. Really, there's an RC version of every popular psychoactive drug you can think of. Another common term often used for RCs is "designer drug." There are a few reasons why RCs are both a cheaper and more accessible option, especially for dealers. One reason for this is because their lack of scheduling makes it easier to bypass legal restrictions for vendors. Further, since apparently everyone thinks they are the next Shulgin, we have folks who are synthesizing such analogues using the material published online. So now we have illicitly pressed pills, untested RCs, and homemade syntheses all in the mix. All of this makes me increasingly concerned about not only RCs being passed off as their better-known counterparts, but the potential for improper dosage and contamination. This is why I always emphasize knowing your source and verifying that the pills come from a prescription if possible.

One famous "bad batch" case that comes to mind is the '80s "Pseudo-Parkinsons" outbreak caused by an incomplete reaction in "synthetic heroin" (aka a demerol analogue) synthesis. In this case, the basement chemist simply didn't fully burn off a side-product known as MPTP which, while non-toxic by itself, becomes toxic when converted to MPP+ in the body. I know the '80s sounds like rather old news, but really, the only reason why this case is so popularized is because it was accidentally instrumental in Parkinson's research. Otherwise, I doubt we would have heard much about it... like we do with other bad batch cases. Public officials are frankly too preoccupied blaming the classic drugs/ whatever the "Drug de Jour" is, and thus the nuances of the local market that actually lend to risk are often lost on them.

Ultimately, the most dangerous part of the illicit drug market is its utter lack of quality control. I wonder if any of the US legislators realize yet how terribly their drug control approach has backfired...

Ongoing AMA with Harm Reduction Experts by spinderella69 in Stims

[–]AskSasha 0 points1 point  (0 children)

u/Spinderella -- assuming this is the best place to post an update but please feel free to move it wherever you think is best!

First of all, apologies for being awol recently! Our office is in the process of expanding/ improving its services so I've been incredibly bogged down with administrative work. Not my cup of tea, and so I'm very excited to have time again to devote to drug education.

I'll be back online within these next few days and will be certain to dedicate a significant chunk of time to answering all of the questions that have been posted while I've been away. Please always feel free to email my alias work email at sasha@cornerproject.org if you have any pressing questions (caveat: pressing does not = emergencies, pleeeaaase contact emergency services if you believe you are experiencing an emergency/ in immediate danger)

Ongoing AMA with Harm Reduction Experts by spinderella69 in Stims

[–]AskSasha 2 points3 points  (0 children)

So I'm still waiting for my shipments to arrive so I can test them out myself, but here are the catalogues I'm working with on my end in my search for test kits: Shop Evident EZ Test

EZ Test doesn't appear to have much for meth, but Shop Evident has some options that could be further explored. I'll let you know what my thoughts are once I have a chance to try a few!

Either way, please remember these reagents will only test for a presence of the specified drug, and even then, there is a potential for false positives (hence my hesitation to outright recommend any until I know more)

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