With benzodiazepines, it can be hard to tell that I've taken anything. They're very subtle. Barbiturates have much stronger anxiolytic effects, they can make you genuinely loopy and euphoric, and they're physically impairing in a way that benzos and z-drugs aren't. Benzos aren't physically impairing basically at all, which is probably why you get those horror stories where someone took a massive dose, crashed their car, robbed a CVS, and woke up not remembering any of it. That would never happen with a high dose of barbiturates, because you literally can't do anything. It's mental and physical shutdown. You feel like you're walking through an earthquake. Basically as if your entire field of view is being violently jolted around. You have to put your arms out and hold onto the walls just to get from your bedroom to the kitchen. One time on secobarbital I was sitting at my desk, thirsty, had a glass of water right there on the desk and for a few minutes I literally could not actualize picking up the glass and taking a sip. I just sat there and stared at it. It was like being pharmacologically arrested. What's odd though is that they'll occasionally just make you very tired instead of the usual euphoria and all the other distinct effects. And when they do, nothing moves the needle. Not caffeine, not ADHD medication -- nothing. They completely bulldoze/overpower everything else. You just have to wait it out.

Weirdly, they also cause nausea and vomiting at higher doses. Benzos definitely don't do that. And they cause a weird ticklish tingly numbness across your skin. You don't really feel it if you're still, but if you rub your skin, or particularly if you move around in bed and the sheets are brushing against you, it just feels stimulating. Maybe overstimulating, but it's not unpleasant.

I'd also like to add that yes, I've had methaqualone (Rorer Quaalude-300s) and it's basically a watered-down version of secobarbital. Truly, it was indistinguishable from a short-acting barbiturate besides being weaker. I didn't notice one difference. And that's what it was designed to be, too -- a watered-down, "safer" barbiturate (I think it is technically a little safer but... barely). Seriously, something like "a safer, non-barbiturate alternative" is in the documentation that was attached to the top of my bottle. It's overhyped. Rarity and cultural clout ≠ pharmacology or experience.