Picamilon basics from wikipediaPicamilon Basics
Getting that out of the way, this is what I've noticed. It has great anti-anxiety potential but doesn't have as much of the down side of the cognitive problems that most anxiolytics that a doctor might prescribe. It does impede memory formation slightly, from what I noticed, but not to the degree that a benzodiazepine might. It works better at higher than recommended dosage, but the curb seems to have a plateau effect with its effectiveness and there are probably not too many investigative studies on such high dosages and their effects.
I have been taking a range from 300mg-3g and I have seen that the effectiveness stopped around 2g, so I have stuck with the 2-2.5g daily dosage. It has also helped cravings for alcohol; which, isn't discussed anywhere I could find on the internet, but might have some value there.
I have increased, added, and removed things one at a time to determine its usefulness in replacing or acting synergetically (correct adverb?) with certain ones. It seems to be a great one to take with the correct dosage of phenibut (which I've seen has to be adjusted in respect to picamilon's dosage). My normal "stressed-state" reaction to things have improved, but the combination can be synergetic in respect to creating a bit of brain fog, so watch out for that.
I would like to see how effective it is long term, but I will try to remain objective about whether or not an adjustment in dosage is truly warranted.
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Others:
Cayenne pepper: Taking a medication like omneprazole (Nexium?) seems to help a lot with the stomach acid problem without preventing the cayenne's ability to work (not a bad thing to try out after a few days of nexium if you require cayenne for whatever reason and have a stomach ulcer/acid problem).
Aniracetam cessation: Watch out for X2 brain fog (ie- if you were taking it to sharpen your attention and memory to start with, stopping supplementation can make it seem worse for a while, it's hard to say if it is truly that much worse or not, but it appears to be this way).
Phenibut: Dosage curb seems to make effects far more pronounced at higher dosage. Has an effect on memory: qualitatively- at a certain dosage memories are much harder to make and/or retain; quantitatively- 2x~=50% memory (rough estimate- cannot be confirmed).
Taurine: Is a great addition if you are already taking amino acids for weight training and you need to fight off anxiety. I would recommend starting low (~0.5g) and working your way up. (*I weigh 200 lbs, so my dosage requirements are likely different than someone who weighs 120 lbs).
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Possible therapy options:
PTSD- biometric stimulation, exposure therapy, and cognitive behavioral therapy.
Biometric stimulation- I've only used a couple of times, but it helped with retrieving memories from the traumatic event.
Exposure therapy- Helps to desensitize someone from the triggers of the flashbacks.
CBT- Well, sometimes it is good to just talk about what happened and how and what emotions it stirs up and how to handle those emotions, memories, sensations.
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Sorry about the long absence: I had some person problems come up and I wasn't able to make an entry and after making this entry I realized how unprepared I was for certain changes in my life.
Wednesday, August 5, 2015
Thursday, May 28, 2015
Oral Oleamide (Oleic Acid Amide)- CB1 agonist? But what does it do orally?
*See edit at bottom*
Oleamide
(Vendor-Liftmode)
50 grams (1.76 oz) >99% purity
Serving size suggested 50mg (dose more likely for injection-Will talk about that later)
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Observations of product.
Very fine granulated white/translucent powder (grains seem 1/2-1/3 size to nearly as large as normal table salt grains)
Strange plastic-like aroma.
Tasteless.
Greasy feeling between fingers (slip agent industrially).
Contains 16X28mm desiccant packet(probably shouldn't eat this).
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Measuring Method for this document.
AWS scale Lot:00-20739 (Capacity=600g, Graduation=0.1g/actual graduation and accurate to 0.2g [as 0.1g >/= +,- 0.03g-0.05g "best estimate"])
5 capsules=3.3g (-0.5g = 2.8g/5cap therefore 560mg Oleamide/00 capsule- specific method of filling, always measure!)
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Personal dosage and purpose*see edit at bottom*:
Dose worked up to 2.2g-2.8g per day.
560mg/morning
560mg/noon
560mg/afternoon (optional)
1.1g/bedtime
Used for regulation of sleep and as pain reducing agent for muscle pain (neck) from old injury. Original purchase was to assess abuse potential and medicinal value. Turns out that lung pain has improved also. Scoop used for measuring Oleamide's addition to drinks: Orange 0.625cc=1/8 Teaspoon, measured to be approximately 500mg/scoop.
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Solubility.
Solubility in water is 0mg/ml, ethanol reported as 14mg/ml (testing was inconclusive, but methodology was flawed), should be soluble in chloroform and DMSO and might also be soluble in other solvents, but DMSO is the only one I plan to test next. Seems to be mixable with cream and will likely test various oils, fats, and lecithin as well. The idea is to make a solution that can be used to dose using a medicine dropper.
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Findings:
Dose started at 500mg/day and gradually increased to 2g/day (with optional dose bringing final total daily dosage to 2.8g).
Experimental high daily dosage tried at ~5g/day for 5 days. No noticeable increase in effects/benefits at this daily dosage while increase in side-effects were noted. Slightly sedating, even when taken orally. Might even be compared to being very slightly stoned. This effect seems to plateau at 1.5g/day and subsides with continual use.
Causes constipation! I mean, very much so. This is dose dependant, so the more you take each day, the more solid your "stuff" gets.
Resistance was noted. To maintain effect for diminishing neck pain, dose had to be increased after 1.5-2 weeks. Increase might be variable with each person.
Synergetic effect noted with certain herbs, medicines, drugs, and nootropics (starting low is important because of this, but is a good practice with anything you put into your body).
Effects with narcotics are completely unknown at this time, but I would suggest that this is possible based on Oleamide's ability to dull/kill pain and increase constipation. [Though: "Correlation is not causation."] Just watch out for this interaction in particular.
Possible interaction with Cannabis based on Oleamide itself, but unknown by myself at this time.
Might have applications of alleviating nightmares (I suffer from it myself and it improved greatly).
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We should talk about what Oleamide is and how it is normally used.
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Oleamide is Oleic Acid Amide, meaning it is oleic acid, an omega-9 fatty acid, reacted with ammonia. No, you won't get the same results from consuming oleic acid, which can be found in various products including flax seed oil. Oleamide is used as a slip-promoting agent in industrial applications (ie. using oleamide on plastic films/packaging that normally stick together, will glide apart fairly smoothly- which makes it a tricky-buggar at times to put into capsules). It has been researched as a sleep-inducing/promoting agent when injected into the abdominal cavity (doses 5-50mg) and is found to be at increased levels in sleep deprived cats (feline). Long-term administration of oleamide into living creatures is lacking documentation. It was documented that animals (feline) injected with oleamide on a daily basis seemingly became resistant within 1.5-3 weeks. Oleamide is considered an endocannabinoid and is broken down by FAAH similarly. Whether it activates cannabinoid receptors when taken orally seems to lack documentation. Oleamide is listed as a CB1 agonist (like THC), but it's effects are hugely different than would be expected when taken orally. Questionable, ?-opioid activities mediated via cannabinoid receptors or opioid receptors in its own right. When taken orally, does not seem to possess addictive qualities and does not induce physical withdrawal symptoms when stopped abruptly.
All-in-all, very useful and might be far superior in many aspects when injected, but since preparations/methods weren't detailed anywhere, no attempt was made to assess oleamide's effects when injected.
Use measuring tools and start low! I hope this helps and please refer to previous post for vendors of oleamide, but liftmode.com is a good place to start.
EDIT:
Symptoms of apnea have dissipated. A document I found later confirmed oleamide as a possible sleep apnea treatment.
Dimensions/specifications of subject:
215 pound white male
Currently taking medications.
Restrictive diet (gluten and dairy).
Sensitive to paranoia + anxiety inducing substances.
Other items pertinent, but unable to document at this time.
Tuesday, May 19, 2015
Still Testing Items Of Interest-oleamide usage, dosage, methods
Sorry for the delay and the out of office experience. I have been testing oleamide supplementation and because I have run into some roadblocks, it is taking longer than expected. I will likely be able to post something soon, but I wanted to complete certain aspects before presenting the information I have so far. Information will include, how to take it (including what I have seen and noticed to work and not work), dosage (information on tolerance, effectiveness/dose, etc), and other random items and tidbits on methods of consuming it effectively and ineffectively. Plus, some useful links for your own research and foundation on deciding if this might be a supplement you might want to try. If you want to get started before I complete this post (ie. you don't need my help to decide that you want to try it :-) ):
US source:
LiftMode.com Oleamide 99% 20grams (50gram option available) for ~$11
Australia source(100gram):
ebay.com Wild Distributions Oleamide 99.9% 100grams (25gram option available) for ~$40
US source:
LiftMode.com Oleamide 99% 20grams (50gram option available) for ~$11
Australia source(100gram):
ebay.com Wild Distributions Oleamide 99.9% 100grams (25gram option available) for ~$40
Wednesday, April 29, 2015
CBD oil testing, CBD product to avoid, tips on cutting CBD costs
To start, I have to apologize for my sense of humor at times. Just because I think something is funny doesn't make it so. I won't be cracking jokes on my blog due to the fact that it would really just distract its purpose.
CBD oil products are "supplements only" in the eyes of the FDA, but even if that is the case there should still be testing done on these products to make them safe to use and to contain what they should and nothing they shouldn't. I tried to reach out to consumerlab.com to ask them if they would be willing to test the most popular ones, but I received no response. I will be contacting other organizations, but if I receive the same result I might have to proactively establish the need for this to be done and the responsibility of the government to do it. If I can prove that any of these products are falsely advertizing and/or selling products with harmful substances, this would become a much easier argument to make. This would require me to pay for testing and volunteer samples. If any of the samples exceeds the 0.3% THC limit, I might be able to get something started with certain agencies. If any of the samples contain levels of toxic/harmful substances that exceeds the limits established by laws surrounding supplements, I can contact other agencies to do something about it. If companies are advertizing one thing and providing another, that would involve yet a totally different agency. This is not a problem that is going to get solved with the- "let's see what happens" mentality.
hemphealthtechnologies.com product reviews from unbiased sources are next to impossible to find. The product description of their 2 ounce CBD oil is confusing at best. "Our CBD Oil contains 15-20% CBD that increases to 35% when held under the tongue (or warmed slightly) for 30-60 seconds." First of all, warming a CBD oil will not spontaneously generate more CBD. The label on the product is pretty unclear. 3 drops being the suggested dose. This dose not only failed, but so did increasing it to 10X of recommended dose (based on the premise that their label actually meant that each 2 ounce bottle contained 100mg CBD). I can't say for certain why this happened, because I don't know what these different products contain and how they differ. Perhaps the other products simply contained adequate levels of chemicals that hemphealth did not; whether that means that hemphealth's product didn't contain enough CBD or chemicals that would make the CBD it does contain effective.
CBD is expensive and can be easily much more expensive than buying pure gold. If you can't afford it because of this, there are some options. CBD oil products come in varying strengths. If you want to initially try a CBD supplement, choose one from a company that offers a higher strength of the same type of product because the higher strength will likely cost less per milligram and trying the cheaper version can help you test a company's product line without spending too much. After trying a weaker version of a CBD product and you find that the company's product you tried worked for you, it would be something to consider to buy the higher potency to cut down on costs. The plus CBD has been very effective (although I thought the vanilla CBD oil tasted pretty gross) and that being so I decided to try their CBD capsules, 25mg CBD each (they have 10 capsule and 30 capsule products in case you want to try it first). Seeing as how my daily requirement of CBD is only about 6mg, a $40- 10 capsule supply provides more than a month supply or roughly $55/g CBD. This will work for anyone who has basic math skills, an accurate scale, and additional capsules (available at health food or supplement stores and can be even cheaper in bulk on the internet). Be warned that it would a silly mistake to assume that each capsule contains 25mg and with everything used to make the product, each capsule contains about 500mg of a yellow powdery substance making each 20mg of powder a 1mg CBD dose. This might be a little difficult to work with as the more accurate a scale becomes, generally the more expensive it becomes. There are a number of ways around this, but this post is not intended to be about compounding techniques. Milligram scales are available at a reasonable price on the internet, but I can't suggest that they all will be terribly accurate at 20mg measurements(knowing where your scale is accurate/inaccurate is very important). I plan on contacting plus CBD to ask them if they plan on carrying CBD capsule products that have a lower CBD/capsule amount and at the same time suggest that idea so that can be an option- I don't mind making my own custom CBD pills and find it to be somewhat fun, but not everyone will feel that way.
The easiest ways around this: solubilize the CBD powder, cut it with another powder, or order a special scoop for the purpose of measuring out 20-25mg. Best of luck!
CBD oil products are "supplements only" in the eyes of the FDA, but even if that is the case there should still be testing done on these products to make them safe to use and to contain what they should and nothing they shouldn't. I tried to reach out to consumerlab.com to ask them if they would be willing to test the most popular ones, but I received no response. I will be contacting other organizations, but if I receive the same result I might have to proactively establish the need for this to be done and the responsibility of the government to do it. If I can prove that any of these products are falsely advertizing and/or selling products with harmful substances, this would become a much easier argument to make. This would require me to pay for testing and volunteer samples. If any of the samples exceeds the 0.3% THC limit, I might be able to get something started with certain agencies. If any of the samples contain levels of toxic/harmful substances that exceeds the limits established by laws surrounding supplements, I can contact other agencies to do something about it. If companies are advertizing one thing and providing another, that would involve yet a totally different agency. This is not a problem that is going to get solved with the- "let's see what happens" mentality.
hemphealthtechnologies.com product reviews from unbiased sources are next to impossible to find. The product description of their 2 ounce CBD oil is confusing at best. "Our CBD Oil contains 15-20% CBD that increases to 35% when held under the tongue (or warmed slightly) for 30-60 seconds." First of all, warming a CBD oil will not spontaneously generate more CBD. The label on the product is pretty unclear. 3 drops being the suggested dose. This dose not only failed, but so did increasing it to 10X of recommended dose (based on the premise that their label actually meant that each 2 ounce bottle contained 100mg CBD). I can't say for certain why this happened, because I don't know what these different products contain and how they differ. Perhaps the other products simply contained adequate levels of chemicals that hemphealth did not; whether that means that hemphealth's product didn't contain enough CBD or chemicals that would make the CBD it does contain effective.
CBD is expensive and can be easily much more expensive than buying pure gold. If you can't afford it because of this, there are some options. CBD oil products come in varying strengths. If you want to initially try a CBD supplement, choose one from a company that offers a higher strength of the same type of product because the higher strength will likely cost less per milligram and trying the cheaper version can help you test a company's product line without spending too much. After trying a weaker version of a CBD product and you find that the company's product you tried worked for you, it would be something to consider to buy the higher potency to cut down on costs. The plus CBD has been very effective (although I thought the vanilla CBD oil tasted pretty gross) and that being so I decided to try their CBD capsules, 25mg CBD each (they have 10 capsule and 30 capsule products in case you want to try it first). Seeing as how my daily requirement of CBD is only about 6mg, a $40- 10 capsule supply provides more than a month supply or roughly $55/g CBD. This will work for anyone who has basic math skills, an accurate scale, and additional capsules (available at health food or supplement stores and can be even cheaper in bulk on the internet). Be warned that it would a silly mistake to assume that each capsule contains 25mg and with everything used to make the product, each capsule contains about 500mg of a yellow powdery substance making each 20mg of powder a 1mg CBD dose. This might be a little difficult to work with as the more accurate a scale becomes, generally the more expensive it becomes. There are a number of ways around this, but this post is not intended to be about compounding techniques. Milligram scales are available at a reasonable price on the internet, but I can't suggest that they all will be terribly accurate at 20mg measurements(knowing where your scale is accurate/inaccurate is very important). I plan on contacting plus CBD to ask them if they plan on carrying CBD capsule products that have a lower CBD/capsule amount and at the same time suggest that idea so that can be an option- I don't mind making my own custom CBD pills and find it to be somewhat fun, but not everyone will feel that way.
The easiest ways around this: solubilize the CBD powder, cut it with another powder, or order a special scoop for the purpose of measuring out 20-25mg. Best of luck!
Friday, April 24, 2015
The Gangnam Style Phenomenon
It might seem trivial at face value, but it is very psychosocial in nature. The most viewed version of "Gangnam Style" tops the most viewed youtube video with a blistering 2.3 billion views (twice as many as the second most viewed, "Baby" by Justin Bieber). "Gangnam Style" secures 10% (strangely, it was exactly 10%) of all the top ten most viewed combined. It's silly, catchy, fun, mesmerizing, and even sexy. So why do so many people like it? To better understand where I'm coming from in the rest of this post, you should watch the video, decided if you like it and ask yourself why you do or don't like it. I chose the HD official music video, so it won't reflect the number of views that I mentioned.
"Gangnam Style" by Psy
Humor:
The rapper plays, makes fun of himself, performs a silly dance, pokes fun at social norms and trends, and even might inspire others to be humorous.
Charisma:
We've all known that charisma is a desirable trait and can make people convincing; thus, powerful. So, what is it about charisma that makes most of us want to have it and be around people who do? If you've been around someone who has it, what do you remember about being around that person? They are confident, fun, easy to get along with, often funny, and tend to focus on what is happening now. They also seem to be much happier people, also a desirable trait. Most women agree that charismatic men are far more desirable than men who lack that quality; I'm uncertain, but I would venture a guess that this appeal factor could be linked to a woman's inherent need for survival. Psy plays the charismatic rapper very well and even President Obama, who is known for his charisma, not only took notice, but made his own "Obama Gangnam Style" music video (click the link below).
"Obama Gangnam Style"
He does very well and conveys many of the same messages as the original. Besides, it's nice to see a public servant do something like this... It shows a side to him that we ordinarily wouldn't get to see and know.
The music:
The music is catchy, rhythmic, memorable, and, depending upon taste, enjoyable.
Sex appeal:
Most people know that "sex sells." This video is very sexual in nature and it's not just sexy, it exudes sexual confidence.
The dance:
It's silly and pretty easy to replicate. Dance has been important to humans for a very long time. Because this particular dance doesn't require a lot of time and dancing abilities, people can replicate it themselves and, hopefully, have as much fun as Psy seems to be having.
"Jump on the bandwagon!" factor:
Throughout the video, it's not just Psy dancing in a silly way, everyone seems to join in. This implies, "everyone is doing it and so should you." This can be seen in the trends that have affected society. In that, once a trend reaches a certain point, it really takes off due to the fact that people don't want to be left out- people generally strive to be a part of a group. This can be seen throughout history and amongst other creatures. It generally ensures survival. If you want to understand why certain things suddenly change, "The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell is an interesting book on the point where drastic changes can happen.
There a many other potential driving forces with this video. Freud's works can also help, but I didn't want to touch on that because this post wasn't intended to be in depth.
"Gangnam Style" by Psy
Humor:
The rapper plays, makes fun of himself, performs a silly dance, pokes fun at social norms and trends, and even might inspire others to be humorous.
Charisma:
We've all known that charisma is a desirable trait and can make people convincing; thus, powerful. So, what is it about charisma that makes most of us want to have it and be around people who do? If you've been around someone who has it, what do you remember about being around that person? They are confident, fun, easy to get along with, often funny, and tend to focus on what is happening now. They also seem to be much happier people, also a desirable trait. Most women agree that charismatic men are far more desirable than men who lack that quality; I'm uncertain, but I would venture a guess that this appeal factor could be linked to a woman's inherent need for survival. Psy plays the charismatic rapper very well and even President Obama, who is known for his charisma, not only took notice, but made his own "Obama Gangnam Style" music video (click the link below).
"Obama Gangnam Style"
He does very well and conveys many of the same messages as the original. Besides, it's nice to see a public servant do something like this... It shows a side to him that we ordinarily wouldn't get to see and know.
The music:
The music is catchy, rhythmic, memorable, and, depending upon taste, enjoyable.
Sex appeal:
Most people know that "sex sells." This video is very sexual in nature and it's not just sexy, it exudes sexual confidence.
The dance:
It's silly and pretty easy to replicate. Dance has been important to humans for a very long time. Because this particular dance doesn't require a lot of time and dancing abilities, people can replicate it themselves and, hopefully, have as much fun as Psy seems to be having.
"Jump on the bandwagon!" factor:
Throughout the video, it's not just Psy dancing in a silly way, everyone seems to join in. This implies, "everyone is doing it and so should you." This can be seen in the trends that have affected society. In that, once a trend reaches a certain point, it really takes off due to the fact that people don't want to be left out- people generally strive to be a part of a group. This can be seen throughout history and amongst other creatures. It generally ensures survival. If you want to understand why certain things suddenly change, "The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell is an interesting book on the point where drastic changes can happen.
There a many other potential driving forces with this video. Freud's works can also help, but I didn't want to touch on that because this post wasn't intended to be in depth.
Thursday, April 23, 2015
myo-inositol: personal experience with its effects (a description of what got me here and how it changed, as well)
Whatever it's called that is wrong with my brain is of little importance (especially since giving it a name has never seemed to help doctors effectively treat it). I have been diagnosed with some pretty serious mental disorders and if I thought telling you what names they have put in my patient files would help, I would mention it here. Because myo-inositol is not FDA approved to treat illnesses, vendors sell it as a supplement only and legally can't sell it for the treatment of anything, even though that's why people often buy it.
Even before my life-altering and traumatic event 10+ years ago, I had symptoms of mood instability, poor impulse control, anxiety- to name a few. These are the things that myo-inositol affected the most.
My mood was chaotic, fluctuating from depressed to the point of wanting to die to a megalomaniacal, euphoric state, and often those two would occur simultaneously. I'm sure those of you who know a thing or two about mental illness might think, "Oh, I know what that is!" Knowing what that is is pretty irrelevant when trying to treat it. I've tried close to 20 different mood stabilizers with varying degrees of success and in the end, even the most effective combination of the right ones left me with terrible side-effects and little relief.
My impulse control problems were not likely due to OCD, but more likely from another pathology. I would know about a particular boundary, possibly understand it, and might even really, really want to obey it, but, against my will at times, I would violate boundaries anyway and even when the consequences are well known to me. I couldn't reason it, will it, or medicate it away. I would have all the proof in the world not to do something, but still be driven to do it. It really got old years and years ago. My first memory of this happening, I was about 4 or 5 years old.
My anxiety was through the roof! This started at very young age with most of the other symptoms. I started drinking at a young age(8 or 9). Initially it wasn't to combat anxiety (I didn't even know the word or that what I was experiencing was anything other than how I was). I realized very quickly that alcohol was super effective in removing the anxiety and providing a superior comfort with interacting with others. If you're wondering how I managed to start at such a young age, you should spend some time with some Polish families... This approach was very effective and without consequence until high school. Up until that point, I generally drank very little (I had to- even at a young age I figured that I should keep it to a minimum so nobody noticed and I would, in turn, be able to keep it up). I never went to school intoxicated or even inebriated. But during the first part of high school, I started to experiment with getting drunk, which was how Pandora's Box was opened. Even though I kept it to the weekends and enjoyed how great it made me feel, as I increased the amount and frequency and would have black outs. By this point, I wasn't using it like medicine anymore. I will end my alcohol story there, because, as you can imagine, it only got worse. I had long periods where I didn't drink or do anything else. So for much of both middle and high school, I used exercise, vitamins, and nutrition to assist the problem... But it still prevented me from doing a lot. When I had just turned 17, right before I was supposed to become a senior, I looked right and not left (literally and metaphorically), and that truck changed my life (again, literally and metaphorically). I am not going to sit here and claim that I did nothing wrong and that I didn't deserve any of it, but this event took my awareness, my psyche, my soul to a place I wouldn't wish upon even my enemies. One incident, one moment can change a lifetime. Even to this day, I can't explain the full extent to what I experienced: not to my family, my friends, my therapists, not even my dog. From that point, it took everything in me to hang on, but everything just kept unraveling faster and harder. It wasn't until I grieved that I was able to start to get past it and I still have to fight back the tears. Perceptions were permanently hijacked, belief systems shattered, and my will to live seemed to be melting away like an ice-cube on a hot day. My anxiety was no longer a problem... It completely took over. I tried a variety of therapies, a variety of medications (many were addictive, which produced a new variety of problems), and when those failed, I sought help from drug dealers. Though smoking pot was very helpful, it wasn't practical to do long term. This cascade effect and dwindling desire to live, set me up to consider suicide as a potential solution. I had already had one close call with suicide in 8th grade, but had abandoned it until I thought my life, which was already unbearable, would continue to get worse- so yeah, the concept of ending my life seemed more logical than prolonging my agony. This continued until the end of last year. I had recently regained my faith, but still thought that dying was the only option left. I had plans of hanging myself, asphyxiation, or using a substance to either stop my body's ability to get oxygen or my heart's ability to contract. Ideally, I wanted it to not appear to be a suicide so my family would be spared from blaming themselves in any way. So, I prayed about it and every time I made a move to get ready to go through with killing myself, I received an answer of some kind. Not being convinced by these answers, I still had plans to end my life. Finally, out of the blue and without anything really provoking/preceding it, I had a vision that changed my life. What I saw was unimportant, but the message that came with it was "Not yet." Seeing as how I hadn't used a drug and that I have never had a hallucination of any kind like this, I was pretty stunned. So I vowed to not give up and to gaze upon my life in a different perspective. So I devoted my time and efforts to fixing myself which set the stage for the rest of my life.
Done with that lengthy explanation of how I got here. Now to explain what happened when I started supplementing with myo-inositol. I started with very low daily dosages and worked it up over time. I started with 1g/day for about a week. By the end of the week, I was noticing that the severity of my mood swings was decreasing. I increased it to 2g/day for a week. To my amazement, my mood swings were going away with great haste and the only side effect I noticed was loose stool. I kept it at 2g/day for a little longer (not certain if it was for an additional week or 2 weeks). I noticed that the longer I took it, the more I noticed my mood swings continued to improve. I then increased it to 3g/day. That seemed to be the tipping point for my mood swings, at this dosage they nearly vanished. What's more, by this point I noticed that I was able to control my impulses and no longer had a huge desire to use psychotropic drugs. Whether it has to do with my mood instability, impulse control improving, or some unrelated issue- I wasn't losing my temper like I was. In fact, it was as if I could be more reasonable and logical when interacting with other people, even people that drove me bonkers. A random and confusing thing changed as well: the hair on the back of my legs especially, but also elsewhere on my body had been gradually disappearing for 2-3 years before I started taking myo-inositol; after a month of taking it, nearly all of the missing hair came back... Right now it seems a little bizarre. As far as the anxiety is concerned- yes it helps, but CBD was more effective in that regard (and I might do a post just on anxiety relief options). And just to make sure I make this perfectly clear, the higher the dose means more of a problem with loose stool, BUT if you don't already have a problem with that sort of thing and are willing to wait it out, it does subside/even-out. I would suggest the possibility of increasing the daily dosage as gradually as possible to minimize that side effect (I was told that consuming a lot of sugar can do the same thing and is a practice used in children with constipation. Since myo-inositol's structure is very much like sugar, is nearly as sweet as sugar, it might be fair to consider the loose stool effect to be the body identifying it as a sugar).
All-in-all, I would never have guessed that myo-inositol would do so much. I still can't locate adequate information about how it effects the brain. It is naturally occurring in the body and can be found in various food (highest concentration in whole grains). It used to be called Vitamin B8 but is not considered an essential nutrient (ie. required in our diets). My thought is this, if we called it Vitamin B8 in the past, we must have thought that our bodies need it. Question came to be when I studied it and witnessed my reaction to taking it: can a person be deficient of myo-inositol? If so, what would cause a deficiency? Could people with certain conditions have a higher risk of deficiency compared to others? With fast paced lifestyle people are so used to, would a diet deprived of foods that contain myo-inositol have any impact on the brain and/or body? Though important questions to consider, answering them would likely produce more questions.
Something to leave you with (tried to html the images into the post but .jpg and .png images didn't appear correctly with my limited html skills):
Click on hyperlink text to view image
This enzyme...
Is our body's manufacturing site of the phosphate version of...
Even before my life-altering and traumatic event 10+ years ago, I had symptoms of mood instability, poor impulse control, anxiety- to name a few. These are the things that myo-inositol affected the most.
My mood was chaotic, fluctuating from depressed to the point of wanting to die to a megalomaniacal, euphoric state, and often those two would occur simultaneously. I'm sure those of you who know a thing or two about mental illness might think, "Oh, I know what that is!" Knowing what that is is pretty irrelevant when trying to treat it. I've tried close to 20 different mood stabilizers with varying degrees of success and in the end, even the most effective combination of the right ones left me with terrible side-effects and little relief.
My impulse control problems were not likely due to OCD, but more likely from another pathology. I would know about a particular boundary, possibly understand it, and might even really, really want to obey it, but, against my will at times, I would violate boundaries anyway and even when the consequences are well known to me. I couldn't reason it, will it, or medicate it away. I would have all the proof in the world not to do something, but still be driven to do it. It really got old years and years ago. My first memory of this happening, I was about 4 or 5 years old.
My anxiety was through the roof! This started at very young age with most of the other symptoms. I started drinking at a young age(8 or 9). Initially it wasn't to combat anxiety (I didn't even know the word or that what I was experiencing was anything other than how I was). I realized very quickly that alcohol was super effective in removing the anxiety and providing a superior comfort with interacting with others. If you're wondering how I managed to start at such a young age, you should spend some time with some Polish families... This approach was very effective and without consequence until high school. Up until that point, I generally drank very little (I had to- even at a young age I figured that I should keep it to a minimum so nobody noticed and I would, in turn, be able to keep it up). I never went to school intoxicated or even inebriated. But during the first part of high school, I started to experiment with getting drunk, which was how Pandora's Box was opened. Even though I kept it to the weekends and enjoyed how great it made me feel, as I increased the amount and frequency and would have black outs. By this point, I wasn't using it like medicine anymore. I will end my alcohol story there, because, as you can imagine, it only got worse. I had long periods where I didn't drink or do anything else. So for much of both middle and high school, I used exercise, vitamins, and nutrition to assist the problem... But it still prevented me from doing a lot. When I had just turned 17, right before I was supposed to become a senior, I looked right and not left (literally and metaphorically), and that truck changed my life (again, literally and metaphorically). I am not going to sit here and claim that I did nothing wrong and that I didn't deserve any of it, but this event took my awareness, my psyche, my soul to a place I wouldn't wish upon even my enemies. One incident, one moment can change a lifetime. Even to this day, I can't explain the full extent to what I experienced: not to my family, my friends, my therapists, not even my dog. From that point, it took everything in me to hang on, but everything just kept unraveling faster and harder. It wasn't until I grieved that I was able to start to get past it and I still have to fight back the tears. Perceptions were permanently hijacked, belief systems shattered, and my will to live seemed to be melting away like an ice-cube on a hot day. My anxiety was no longer a problem... It completely took over. I tried a variety of therapies, a variety of medications (many were addictive, which produced a new variety of problems), and when those failed, I sought help from drug dealers. Though smoking pot was very helpful, it wasn't practical to do long term. This cascade effect and dwindling desire to live, set me up to consider suicide as a potential solution. I had already had one close call with suicide in 8th grade, but had abandoned it until I thought my life, which was already unbearable, would continue to get worse- so yeah, the concept of ending my life seemed more logical than prolonging my agony. This continued until the end of last year. I had recently regained my faith, but still thought that dying was the only option left. I had plans of hanging myself, asphyxiation, or using a substance to either stop my body's ability to get oxygen or my heart's ability to contract. Ideally, I wanted it to not appear to be a suicide so my family would be spared from blaming themselves in any way. So, I prayed about it and every time I made a move to get ready to go through with killing myself, I received an answer of some kind. Not being convinced by these answers, I still had plans to end my life. Finally, out of the blue and without anything really provoking/preceding it, I had a vision that changed my life. What I saw was unimportant, but the message that came with it was "Not yet." Seeing as how I hadn't used a drug and that I have never had a hallucination of any kind like this, I was pretty stunned. So I vowed to not give up and to gaze upon my life in a different perspective. So I devoted my time and efforts to fixing myself which set the stage for the rest of my life.
Done with that lengthy explanation of how I got here. Now to explain what happened when I started supplementing with myo-inositol. I started with very low daily dosages and worked it up over time. I started with 1g/day for about a week. By the end of the week, I was noticing that the severity of my mood swings was decreasing. I increased it to 2g/day for a week. To my amazement, my mood swings were going away with great haste and the only side effect I noticed was loose stool. I kept it at 2g/day for a little longer (not certain if it was for an additional week or 2 weeks). I noticed that the longer I took it, the more I noticed my mood swings continued to improve. I then increased it to 3g/day. That seemed to be the tipping point for my mood swings, at this dosage they nearly vanished. What's more, by this point I noticed that I was able to control my impulses and no longer had a huge desire to use psychotropic drugs. Whether it has to do with my mood instability, impulse control improving, or some unrelated issue- I wasn't losing my temper like I was. In fact, it was as if I could be more reasonable and logical when interacting with other people, even people that drove me bonkers. A random and confusing thing changed as well: the hair on the back of my legs especially, but also elsewhere on my body had been gradually disappearing for 2-3 years before I started taking myo-inositol; after a month of taking it, nearly all of the missing hair came back... Right now it seems a little bizarre. As far as the anxiety is concerned- yes it helps, but CBD was more effective in that regard (and I might do a post just on anxiety relief options). And just to make sure I make this perfectly clear, the higher the dose means more of a problem with loose stool, BUT if you don't already have a problem with that sort of thing and are willing to wait it out, it does subside/even-out. I would suggest the possibility of increasing the daily dosage as gradually as possible to minimize that side effect (I was told that consuming a lot of sugar can do the same thing and is a practice used in children with constipation. Since myo-inositol's structure is very much like sugar, is nearly as sweet as sugar, it might be fair to consider the loose stool effect to be the body identifying it as a sugar).
All-in-all, I would never have guessed that myo-inositol would do so much. I still can't locate adequate information about how it effects the brain. It is naturally occurring in the body and can be found in various food (highest concentration in whole grains). It used to be called Vitamin B8 but is not considered an essential nutrient (ie. required in our diets). My thought is this, if we called it Vitamin B8 in the past, we must have thought that our bodies need it. Question came to be when I studied it and witnessed my reaction to taking it: can a person be deficient of myo-inositol? If so, what would cause a deficiency? Could people with certain conditions have a higher risk of deficiency compared to others? With fast paced lifestyle people are so used to, would a diet deprived of foods that contain myo-inositol have any impact on the brain and/or body? Though important questions to consider, answering them would likely produce more questions.
Something to leave you with (tried to html the images into the post but .jpg and .png images didn't appear correctly with my limited html skills):
Click on hyperlink text to view image
This enzyme...
Is our body's manufacturing site of the phosphate version of...
Hyper weed vs sleepy weed (head high vs couch-lock high): CBN pills as an alternative to marijuana for sleep?
For those of you who have smoked various kinds of marijuana, you will understand this post's title. To explain it simply to those who haven't experienced the difference: some batches of marijuana will make you energetic, clear-headed/focused, and motivated while others will make you want to sleep, not think very well(in some cases you will feel stupefied), and pretty lazy. It is often a misconception that all weed smokers become lazy right after they smoke, when it depends on certain variables. Though, in essence of how the body metabolizes and responds to certain cannabinoids, some degree of sedation and a kind of "winding down" will usually happen.
Why does this happen? Well, to put it simply: depends on the strain, growing and harvesting practices, and age and storage of the final product itself. Different strains have different phytocannabinoid profiles. A perfect example of this is the difference between: the high THC % + low CBD % type strains (psychotropic strains) and the low THC % + high CBD % type strains (commonly called hemp). I've seen a recently emerging trend of selective breeding transitioning from favoring THC strains to THC:CBD:CBN (1:1:1) strains (which is nothing terribly new, just more prominent and profitable now). Growing and harvesting techniques gets complicated as you address the different variables that can affect the plant's phytocannabinoid profile. Easiest way to explain this is to demonstrate the diverse "tricks" that can be employed to manipulate a plant. Generally, it's a pretty terrible idea to shock or cause excessive trauma to any plant, but in some instances, it can be a great thing for cannabis. Some examples for vegetative plants are: trauma and shock early in a cannabis plants life can kill it or even shift it's sexual preference (generally cannabis favors hermaphroditic, both reproductive parts, identity and various common environmental mistakes can induce this-hermaphrodites and males generally contain far less THC); mistakes involving water, fertilizer, temperature, neglect, or light can severely stunt a plant, leading to its death or making it difficult to work with and possibly affecting yields; even the wrong kind of light (poor intensity and/or color/composition) will ruin a grower's crop. Those were some problems with growing a plant and can also affect the composition and amount in the yield, but here are some nifty tricks for making a superior end product: light timing manipulation (you can easily trick the plants into working harder during the flowering stage, increasing mass and quality); light composition (HPS, high pressure sodium, lights are the kind we use to light streets, and though, when used as the sole source of light, usually increases the weight of the harvest it isn't the best if you want more resin and a higher potency final product; use MH, metal halide, lights or another configuration that provides enough UV-B light); the list goes on and on. Another trick used to produce a final product with a purple coloring (yes, some strains do it anyway) is careful treatment of the plant in a certain point in the flowering stage with cool air (notice I said cool and not cold) and increasing potassium levels in the fertilizer can also do this, but that method is undesirable. All these things can affect chemistry, quality, and yields. The THC-killer is this part: THC degrades to CBN and many factors shift the reaction to be more favorable of CBN; like havesting too late, storing final product improperly (ie. UV-intensive light, heat, air, time, or a combination of those). There is so much more I didn't mention because there is so much and would entail writing a book and not a blog post.
I'm sure you're thinking- What about CBN pills. CBN is a very sedating component in poorly managed cannabis and unless you live somewhere that you can buy it you best bet is to force the degradation of THC in the cannabis you can locate it (CBN is not scheduled and is available in US states that have legalized cannabis enough, BUT even though it's not specifically mentioned in the Controlled Substance Act and doesn't get you high, the chemical structure is similar enough to THC to qualify it as "implied" illegal in the Federal Analogue Act. Not to mention, most CBD oil products are, by virtue of having ANY THC, also illegal(lower than 0.3% is overlooked, but more than 0% is technically illegal). A thing to remember is that the "umbrella law" nature of the FAA can be argued in your favor in some cases. These CBN pills are offered exclusively to those who live somewhere that there is some level of protection to use them. There isn't a lot of information about how effective they are, but if they work at all, it sure would beat the medicines a doctor might put you on. But take it with face value, you won't know if a CBN pill will really work for you until you try it.
Why does this happen? Well, to put it simply: depends on the strain, growing and harvesting practices, and age and storage of the final product itself. Different strains have different phytocannabinoid profiles. A perfect example of this is the difference between: the high THC % + low CBD % type strains (psychotropic strains) and the low THC % + high CBD % type strains (commonly called hemp). I've seen a recently emerging trend of selective breeding transitioning from favoring THC strains to THC:CBD:CBN (1:1:1) strains (which is nothing terribly new, just more prominent and profitable now). Growing and harvesting techniques gets complicated as you address the different variables that can affect the plant's phytocannabinoid profile. Easiest way to explain this is to demonstrate the diverse "tricks" that can be employed to manipulate a plant. Generally, it's a pretty terrible idea to shock or cause excessive trauma to any plant, but in some instances, it can be a great thing for cannabis. Some examples for vegetative plants are: trauma and shock early in a cannabis plants life can kill it or even shift it's sexual preference (generally cannabis favors hermaphroditic, both reproductive parts, identity and various common environmental mistakes can induce this-hermaphrodites and males generally contain far less THC); mistakes involving water, fertilizer, temperature, neglect, or light can severely stunt a plant, leading to its death or making it difficult to work with and possibly affecting yields; even the wrong kind of light (poor intensity and/or color/composition) will ruin a grower's crop. Those were some problems with growing a plant and can also affect the composition and amount in the yield, but here are some nifty tricks for making a superior end product: light timing manipulation (you can easily trick the plants into working harder during the flowering stage, increasing mass and quality); light composition (HPS, high pressure sodium, lights are the kind we use to light streets, and though, when used as the sole source of light, usually increases the weight of the harvest it isn't the best if you want more resin and a higher potency final product; use MH, metal halide, lights or another configuration that provides enough UV-B light); the list goes on and on. Another trick used to produce a final product with a purple coloring (yes, some strains do it anyway) is careful treatment of the plant in a certain point in the flowering stage with cool air (notice I said cool and not cold) and increasing potassium levels in the fertilizer can also do this, but that method is undesirable. All these things can affect chemistry, quality, and yields. The THC-killer is this part: THC degrades to CBN and many factors shift the reaction to be more favorable of CBN; like havesting too late, storing final product improperly (ie. UV-intensive light, heat, air, time, or a combination of those). There is so much more I didn't mention because there is so much and would entail writing a book and not a blog post.
I'm sure you're thinking- What about CBN pills. CBN is a very sedating component in poorly managed cannabis and unless you live somewhere that you can buy it you best bet is to force the degradation of THC in the cannabis you can locate it (CBN is not scheduled and is available in US states that have legalized cannabis enough, BUT even though it's not specifically mentioned in the Controlled Substance Act and doesn't get you high, the chemical structure is similar enough to THC to qualify it as "implied" illegal in the Federal Analogue Act. Not to mention, most CBD oil products are, by virtue of having ANY THC, also illegal(lower than 0.3% is overlooked, but more than 0% is technically illegal). A thing to remember is that the "umbrella law" nature of the FAA can be argued in your favor in some cases. These CBN pills are offered exclusively to those who live somewhere that there is some level of protection to use them. There isn't a lot of information about how effective they are, but if they work at all, it sure would beat the medicines a doctor might put you on. But take it with face value, you won't know if a CBN pill will really work for you until you try it.
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