Aspergers and Drug Use

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Never smoked, never tried, never did drugs and never tried.

I don't care about these matters and they neither appeal to me nor put me off.

I drink alcohol a couple of times in a year though. On parties usually or when I'm going out and into a cocktail bar.

Not only do I like drugs they're one of my special interests! I know names of really obscure drugs, their effects, I know about what things people say about drugs are true or false (it's amazing how many npeople still believe government lies about weed), and I've done plenty of "bioassay".

In school when I had my first "drugs are bad mmkay" lecture they passed around these sheets with descriptions of marijuana, heroin, cocaine, alcohol, and tobacco. When I noticed that the first three were illegal and alcohol and tobacco had different age limits it struck me as odd that they didn't all have an age limit of 18. The justification I heard for age limits in the past whether for tobacco or voting was that children weren't mature enough yet. I wondered what made alcohol and the other drugs any different. When I started using the internet I found out that a lot of what was said about cannabis was a lie! This started a lifelong fascination with learning about drugs especially their effects, the propaganda, and what lead to anti-drug laws in the first place.

Interestingly, one of my favorites is completely legal. DXM cough syrup. And the funny thing is I think I've found it reduces symptoms of AS-related Anxiety.

DXM blocks NMDA, a key neurotransmitter related to information-processing. This effect makes sense considering studies show people with ASDs brains are more connected.

It felt great that my mind wasn't busy for once. I also socialized a lot more naturally. I don't know if I was doing it "right" or not but I didn't care.

But then I have a friend who also has AS and he says he tried it and hated it, said all it did was make him feel stupid. Then again this friend has less problems with anxiety even than most NTs and before I started taking DXM once in a while I was a major anxiety wreck.

I don't take it that much anymore, just once in a while and overtime I've seen a lasting benefit in my demeanor. The only drawback is sometimes there's a rebound of overconnectivity afterwards(and I notice the same thing happened after I tried salvia). Pattern recognition really goes up when this happens. I was on the bus and instantly noticed how all the chairs looked like they had faces(the holes in them were in that pattern). I didn't see real faces, just patterns but I felt creeped out. Still I've figured out when my overconnected brain is full of anxiety and I get rid of connections when the connections come back it's starting fresh and I don't have to fill it with anxiety if I just think positive. DXM can decrease anxiety overtime but you have to work with it. It won't do it by itself.

I vaporized marijuana daily for a while (not all day, usually soon before bed), I loved it. It wasn't as intense as some of the other drugs I've tried, but the health benefits, the fact it isn't physically addictivate, and the increase I noticed in the quality of my life made it, by far, by favorite drug. I think the main benefit was being able to look forward to using it at the end of the day, I've found the more things I have to look forward to, the happier I am. Now I just use caffine (constant struggle trying to quit), prozak, zyprexa, exercise, music, and a couple of times a year I'll try to get a little buzzed off of alcohol (usually it just makes me sleepy or gives me a headache and then makes me sleepy). All of which I use legally. I've got a job with that performs frequent background checks on employees so now I've got to be a good boy . Hopefully someday prohibition will end and I'll be able to start vapeing again, or I may just move to a decrim state and get a job that won't care if I get a ticket.

I never thought of this as a possible Aspie trait...of course I am just now realizing that I might be Aspie...

I despise cigarettes and cigars because of the smell.

I rarely take medications. Only if I am extremely sick will I do so.

I refuse to drink excessively, smoke, or do drugs because of the harm it could do to my brain and body.

I rarely drink for the following reasons:
* It doesn't taste good, and it never will. People tell me that it gets better after you have two or three....they are wrong...lol!
* I hate being sick and to me, getting drunk equals being sick.
* Why, again, do I need to be drunk? Losing control of my bodily and mental functions just does not sound like a good time.

Needless to say, people tend to try to pressure me into drinking a good deal. Fortunately, peer pressure has rarely been a motivator for me.

I do know that alcohol makes me more social ( though my behavior isn't necessarily more acceptable), but also when OTHERS are on alcohol they become more inept and it evens out the field, so to speak.
I don't drink that often, but sometimes it is nice to feel like "one of the gang" with society.

I smoked marijuana for a year and had an obsessive interest in pot plants and in "cannabis culture". The interest became all-consuming .....and led to me leave university (temporarily) ......I am back and finishing my degree now.

During that year I would have extolled the virtues (benefits) of smoking pot, but in actuality it made me nervous and paranoid (more than usual) and decreased my attention span and short-term memory. I function a lot better drug free. =)

Marijuana = paranoia.

Not really tried any other drugs. People tell me I shouldn't because I have a 'weird brain' according to them.

Used to smoke cigarettes because it was a good reason to leave a social situation (go outside for a smoke), or instead of just standing their struggling to make conversation I'd just smoke and let them speak (or not, they might just say cya and walk away allowing me to enjoy my cigarette ). ( Originally started because I noticed smokers leave social situations to smoke, they'd be on their own outside and that was what I wanted; short breaks from people by going outside to smoke. Also, they all tended to be friends at school so it seemed like a way for me to make some friends. Plus a girl I liked smoked and was curious what smoking was like ). Quit though when I realized this wasn't going to help me in the long run. Same for alcohol. I'd drink in social situations because I'd be bored and have nothing to do, plus people seemed to like me when I was drunk :/

I smoke weed on and off. It really helps me sleep. I think it's fair to say though that it robs me of all communication capabilities as all I would do, if high in a social setting, is respond to peoples questions with "yeah" or "nah". Usually smoke for a few months, get bored of it, realise I'm wasting my time and then stop for a few more months. Noticed I only seem to do activities that require no effort when I'm smoking and I do tend to get slightly paranoid. Got into that through smoker friends due to curiosity.

Took speed once, can't really remember much about it. Took it when camping with smoker friends, spent most of the night rummaging around a forest breaking off branches for a fire. Had a lot of fire wood by the end of it due to a few hours of super-high-focus branch collecting. Didn't care too much for it after and haven't done it again.

I don't drink, smoke, or do recreational drugs. I tried alcohol when I was younger, but it just made me dizzy and a little nauseous. Honestly I am a bit curious about marijuana, but I have psych problems, so that's probably a sh***y idea, plus I don't know how to get any in the first place. I have no desire to do any other kind of drug.

I am, however, on a lot of psych meds (bipolar, ADD).

I've done 32 different types of drugs, soon to be 33 this week.
Some over the counter, some prescription, and the rest illegal.
I sometimes wonder if my current mental status is as a result of one of those.

Prescription pills was one of my special interests, I know most all prescription names related to psychiatric conditions, what they do, why they are used, and how long they take to work.
Other mind alternating substances was also a special interest for awhile.

I find prescription stimulants to lead me to psychosis, big side effects, and general unpleasentness. Though I am able to get a lot done, I always regret taking prescription stimulants.

Opiates are like heaven in a pill for me, but the withdrawl/addiction cycle sucks too much. I have phases where I binge on opiates for a few months and quit. Usually when I am really stressed, I also use opiates sometimes to help me recover from heavy weight lifting sessions. This type is by far my favorite, however it is not at all the most beneficial. I find nyquil (Sleep it off) is a decent way to get off opiates or by alternating weaker opiates in.

Cocaine doesn't do much for me, not worth the price.

Benadryl and or Dramamine is a dilleriant, I was quite addicted to dramamine for awhile. This might have been the cause of my current Aspie symptoms. I would be gone for weeks/months unsure of reality and what was real or not. Seeing things that were not there but unable to decipher what was really there from what wasn't. No benefits here, I always tell people to stay away from it just from my own experience. I wonder sometimes if this drug has caused me to disconnect from who I was at a previous time but there is no way to resolve this question.

Weed, was addicted to it (yes it is possible though it is more of a mental thing then physical) Which was fun at first...me and a friend would go on road trips and smoke 4g in a few hours, once a month. However that eventually turned into weekly, then daily and finally multiple times a day and not being able to get high unless I got very strong stuff. Started becoming sort of psychotic, gained a bunch of weight, lost muscle, got lazy, didn't shower or cut my hair. I did get some benefit for a period during school however consider the benefit mostly to the buspirone I was taking at the time but one joint in the morning before school is all that I was smoking at the time and it could have helped. Also can help clear out a lot of ambient thoughts that tend to build up if you just smoke once or twice a month.

Shrooms/acid:
I found shrooms to be more visual then acid, (Got some crazy ones though and didn't delve into acid heavily) However the general confusion was often uncomfortable and made me want it to go away. Visuals were the neatest part I found, night or day settings seemed to effect the trips a lot as well of course who it was done around. I found both beneficial and they gave me a type of clarity the next few days/weeks. Also near the end of the trips though it was very unnerving I would find I work some things out in my head with positive results.

Ecstacy was fun but short lived and I hate the following day. No long term benefits though my brother finds it beneficial to have a night of doing a lot.

Umm...well those are the big ones...make your own decisions, dont underestimate the cons and dont underestimate the benifits.

O and alcahol...I can see myself being an alcaholic but I mostly stick to beer so i feel like it isn't so damaging. I have liver damage though so I am trying to avoid drinking it.

(O ya....like another said drugs can damage vital organs, especially if taken orally and of the prescription kind though this is mostly as a result of taking too many or mixing with alcahol or others)

I would be considered a regular pot smoker...I smoke a joint about once a week as it creates focus for me and lowers my anxiety considerably. I also eat it if I want to go on a trip, which are always carefully timed and involve only myself in a secure situation...these trips don't happen very often though, only when I have a pressing issue on my mind and I want to figure things out. I will use psyclobin mushrooms for these trips as well.

I drink socially and can do so safely as long as I am with just one other person or a small group of people that I can trust. In certian situations, however, my drinking spirals out of control...this usually happens when I am with a) a group of people that I don't trust or b) in an environment where getting drunk is encouraged. It is then when I binge drink to lower my anxiety. I still have problems with this, but am adamant about conquering them.

In the past, I've regularly done. but no longer do the following...

* MDMA/X (made me feel warm, sociable and huggy but leaves HORRID body pains and depression/crying spells afterwards),

* ketamine (made me feel very drunk, and out of touch with reality, at times I forgot who I was.)

* cocaine (made me a ditzy, stupid party girl, energetic, impulsive and horny.)

* smoked cigarettes (greatly relieved anxiety but had to quit once I realized what I was doing to myself)

* acid...only once. NEVER AGAIN.

I'm also on Celexa for my anxiety, which works for the most part.

I started drinking in my early teens due to mild depression, and I felt that alcohol may allow me to socialize easier. I still drink most evenings, smoke cigarettes and smoke marijuana. The marijuana can calm me down, but in some social situations it can cause me to have an anxiety attack and start getting sick. One of my problems with quitting smoking has always been the habit more than the chemical addiction. One of my stims has always been holding something between my fingers. It can be a cigarette, pen, toothpick. I'll find myself holding an unlit cigarette in between my fingers, spinning it around for about a half hour before lighting it. It also helps in social situations to have a stim that doesn't stand out as much.

I've had a horrible history with drugs and I'm only 15. I used to abuse benadryl which made me feel delirious for 8 hours. Basically I would see things that weren't there, hear things, see people that didn't exist, spiders were crawling on me all night, I smoked a cigarette that I never had, used a phone that I never had, the best way to describe it was I was a full blown schizophrenic. I used to take up to 36 25mg pills. I have extracted DXM out of robotussin, used that. I use pot whenever I can, I drink once in awhile. Pot takes away any bad feeling I am having for the moment. At least it helps. One of my special interests is drugs, the way they work in the mind, how they change my perception, and how they make me feel. I hate my conciseness, I would do anything to have a different state of mind forever. I've had interest in probably all psychedelic drugs.

I drink, but I rarely get drunk anymore.

For the past few months, I've also enjoyed quality tobacco out of a pipe. I've also found that smoking a pipe while driving calms my road rage quite nicely. As a side effect, some stoners around town give me a thumbs up thinking I'm toking up at a stoplight or whatever.

A jay in the tub is always nice once in a while...


I'm also on Paroxetine for anxiety.

I am mom of 27 yr. Old daughter with an opiate addiction who is starting in recovery. She has not been diagnosed with AS but I have wondered about this for some time. As young as 2 yrs. We noticed isolation and difficulty with peers. Her whole life she has not been able to figure out social situations, relationships, non-verbal communication although extremely bright and obsessively knowledgable about certain topics. She has been bullied her entire school life, very hurtful social interactions.

I think maybe she began using drugs because they helped her feel more comfortable in social situations. Wondering if others with AS found drug use eased the pain of social connections?

The first step is her getting sober, but if AS is part of her life, it may help her understand what is going on....how should we go about finding out? Thanks!

I'm a big DXM user. I've done it probably around 70 times. I know I may need to quit sometime (health reasons would be the biggest reason for me), but whatever. It's changed my life. I love it for so many reasons, but in so many ways it's the opposite of my other favorite, alcohol. Alcohol makes me feel like a genius and makes me feel like I can conquer the world, while DXM makes me feel stupid and childish and powerless. That's what I love most about it, really. Nothing makes sense like it does sober, so in effect, it feels like being a child again, filled with wonder about the world. My thinking is fundamentally changed about anything and everything, which for some may be the basis for delusions. And it's definitely much easier to become delusional on DXM, but my strong rationality usually prevails. There's a fine line between delusions (holding demonstrably false beliefs) and altered thinking.

Really, I'm more interested in drugs and alcohol than I am in sex. Coming up on a dose of DXM feels more pleasurable to me than an orgasm anyway. My addiction is reinforced a lot of times when I yawn and consequently want to do it again soon. I get the DXM yawns big time while coming down, lol. I mean, both sex and drugs carry some degree of risk of bodily harm. The only reason drugs are held in lower esteem is because of social reasons, while society praises sex fiends. (I suppose the reason could be evolutionary, too, as sex is far more beneficial to the propagation of the species. But of course, with the state of our world, that's not necessarily a good thing anymore.)