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Self-medication for Aspergers?

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spacecadet612
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03 Jan 2012, 10:56 pm

Do any of you "self medicate" yourselves?

I use a mix of both klonopin (an anxiety medication that was prescribed to me once in high school) and marijuana (can't get medical in my state so i'm breaking the law on this too) to self medicate myself as it helps me relax and manage myself better with many aspects including emotions, anxiety, sensory overload, insomnia and social situations (including college and work).



Angel_ryan
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03 Jan 2012, 11:32 pm

I use 5-Hydroxytryptophan 5-HTP for my depression. For my ADHD symptoms I sometimes resort to energy drinks and coffee. I'm still having trouble getting the right med/combination prescribed. So far it's been an awful nightmare. Self medicating is my only option at the moment because I'm on a waiting list for a good psych trained on AS. I do find the 5-HTP helpful but only for my depression. When I was younger I experimented with weed I can see why people would self medicate with it. I'm thinking about trying some legal herbs with a vaporizer. I've been hanging out with hippie friends way too much LOL


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04 Jan 2012, 2:51 am

maybe and maybe not :twisted:


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winslow
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04 Jan 2012, 4:13 am

I live in a medical marijuana state............ :D



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04 Jan 2012, 5:12 am

As someone who smoked cannabis for years (though pre my awareness of AS) I would have thought that using it as an "aid" for the associated issues would be the last thing you'd want to do. Sure, it relaxes you, but I find it makes people far harder to read and my verbal skills which are always slower than others are then rendered almost useless. Maybe if you never had to leave your house and interact with anybody, but even so I still think it's a terrible choice.



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04 Jan 2012, 12:38 pm

It's almost like it filters out the AS for me. That's the only way I can explain it without being overly verbose. an example:

helps with the "don't want to do anything I'm not interested in-itis" because it makes the monotony of daily living a lot more bearable



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04 Jan 2012, 12:54 pm

I'd love to have a bottle of valium to self medicate myself. I wouldn't take it all the time, just when I have really bad anxiety attacks or my heart skips beats. I think my anxiety attacks are a little better lately because I moved and got away from some of my triggers but I still can have them randomly and over things that wouldn't upset other people.

In my late teens and early twenties I self medicated with alcohol when I socialized. I don't really socialize any more and now don't drink at all.

I tried taking valerian before but I don't remember if it really helped and it made my sweat smell funny. One thing I read about valerian that I didn't find out until many years after taking it is "An unusual feature of valerian is that the essential oil of valerian root is a cat attractant similar to catnip. Valerian contains the cat attractant actinidine. Cat attractants might mimic the odor of cat urine, which is caused by 3-mercapto-3-methylbutan-1-ol (MMB). Anecdotal reports claim that valerian is also attractive to rats—so much so that it had been used to bait traps. Stories describe the Pied Piper of Hamelin using both his pipes and valerian to attract rats. Research also shows that Valerian root (Valeriana officinalis) is the strongest chemo-attractant of slime molds (P. polycephalum)."

I never let my rats at the capsules but I sometimes let them smell the cap and they would sniff it hard and seemed very interested in it.



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04 Jan 2012, 1:03 pm

nemorosa wrote:
As someone who smoked cannabis for years (though pre my awareness of AS) I would have thought that using it as an "aid" for the associated issues would be the last thing you'd want to do. Sure, it relaxes you, but I find it makes people far harder to read and my verbal skills which are always slower than others are then rendered almost useless. Maybe if you never had to leave your house and interact with anybody, but even so I still think it's a terrible choice.


I think it makes it easier to relate to people......I will admit it can slow down my verbal skills and processing speed even more, but the people I tend to be around while under the influence are more likely to just laugh about it because they know whats going on.


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04 Jan 2012, 1:06 pm

hanyo wrote:
I'd love to have a bottle of valium to self medicate myself. I wouldn't take it all the time, just when I have really bad anxiety attacks or my heart skips beats. I think my anxiety attacks are a little better lately because I moved and got away from some of my triggers but I still can have them randomly and over things that wouldn't upset other people.

In my late teens and early twenties I self medicated with alcohol when I socialized. I don't really socialize any more and now don't drink at all.

I tried taking valerian before but I don't remember if it really helped and it made my sweat smell funny. One thing I read about valerian that I didn't find out until many years after taking it is "An unusual feature of valerian is that the essential oil of valerian root is a cat attractant similar to catnip. Valerian contains the cat attractant actinidine. Cat attractants might mimic the odor of cat urine, which is caused by 3-mercapto-3-methylbutan-1-ol (MMB). Anecdotal reports claim that valerian is also attractive to rats—so much so that it had been used to bait traps. Stories describe the Pied Piper of Hamelin using both his pipes and valerian to attract rats. Research also shows that Valerian root (Valeriana officinalis) is the strongest chemo-attractant of slime molds (P. polycephalum)."

I never let my rats at the capsules but I sometimes let them smell the cap and they would sniff it hard and seemed very interested in it.


Do you remember what sort of effects the valerian had? I've heard of that and was thinking of possibly trying it sometime....so just kinda curious.


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nemorosa
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04 Jan 2012, 1:22 pm

Sweetleaf wrote:
nemorosa wrote:
As someone who smoked cannabis for years (though pre my awareness of AS) I would have thought that using it as an "aid" for the associated issues would be the last thing you'd want to do. Sure, it relaxes you, but I find it makes people far harder to read and my verbal skills which are always slower than others are then rendered almost useless. Maybe if you never had to leave your house and interact with anybody, but even so I still think it's a terrible choice.


I think it makes it easier to relate to people......I will admit it can slow down my verbal skills and processing speed even more, but the people I tend to be around while under the influence are more likely to just laugh about it because they know whats going on.


That's kind of the point: it's limited. Outside of a narrow circle of friends there is no benefit in my experience, and some times not even that as occasionally I would feel decidedly uncomfortable and paranoid. Even on a good day being chilled and having a giggle doesn't help much with the wider issues and difficulties in life.



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04 Jan 2012, 1:29 pm

nemorosa wrote:
Sweetleaf wrote:
nemorosa wrote:
As someone who smoked cannabis for years (though pre my awareness of AS) I would have thought that using it as an "aid" for the associated issues would be the last thing you'd want to do. Sure, it relaxes you, but I find it makes people far harder to read and my verbal skills which are always slower than others are then rendered almost useless. Maybe if you never had to leave your house and interact with anybody, but even so I still think it's a terrible choice.


I think it makes it easier to relate to people......I will admit it can slow down my verbal skills and processing speed even more, but the people I tend to be around while under the influence are more likely to just laugh about it because they know whats going on.


That's kind of the point: it's limited. Outside of a narrow circle of friends there is no benefit in my experience, and some times not even that as occasionally I would feel decidedly uncomfortable and paranoid. Even on a good day being chilled and having a giggle doesn't help much with the wider issues and difficulties in life.


Well its certainly not for everyone........I personally really have no trouble going out and about while under the influence, it does not really make me paranoid because I doubt the people I might run into on the bus or at the bus stops really care if I seem 'stoned' its none of their buisiness. Not to mention I bet more than half the people around here use or have used cannabis I mean there's a head shop every few blocks. As for me depression, anxiety and PTSD are wider issues in my life and the cannabis happens to help with the symptoms.....so does alcohol since alcohol impairs the frontal lobe and creates that 'I don't give a crap about anything feeling.' Then the next day I wake up and realize things are just as bad as they where before I got drunk. With cannabis I still know how I feel about things but can just deal with it easier as it reduces the anxiety, depression and PTSD symptoms but does not impair the frontal lobe like alcohol.


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nemorosa
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04 Jan 2012, 1:37 pm

Sweetleaf wrote:
Well its certainly not for everyone........I personally really have no trouble going out and about while under the influence, it does not really make me paranoid because I doubt the people I might run into on the bus or at the bus stops really care if I seem 'stoned' its none of their buisiness.


Oh it wasn't the worry that people thought I was stoned, that didn't bother me at all and like you I didn't care. No it was more of a general "he's looking at me funny" even with my friends, and sometimes when it was really intense there would be slight visual and auditory hallucinations.



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04 Jan 2012, 1:50 pm

nemorosa wrote:
Sweetleaf wrote:
Well its certainly not for everyone........I personally really have no trouble going out and about while under the influence, it does not really make me paranoid because I doubt the people I might run into on the bus or at the bus stops really care if I seem 'stoned' its none of their buisiness.


Oh it wasn't the worry that people thought I was stoned, that didn't bother me at all and like you I didn't care. No it was more of a general "he's looking at me funny" even with my friends, and sometimes when it was really intense there would be slight visual and auditory hallucinations.


I love when I get the slight visual and auditory distortions, I don't think I've ever had a legitimate hallucination from cannabis......but the auditory distortion can really add a lot to music. But yeah not everyone likes the effects so I say to each their own when it comes to these matters. But I only smoke that much if I have free time, otherwise I might take a couple hits in the morning just so I am more relaxed for the day.


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winslow
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04 Jan 2012, 1:59 pm

Sweetleaf wrote:
I think it makes it easier to relate to people......


this too

I am way more in touch with people, and myself for that matter.

Fortunately I don't have as many probs with MJ induced anxiety and paranoia as I did when I was younger. For one thing, being in an MMJ state I can be very picky and stick to strains that I know agree with my body chemistry. Another thing is just experience from paying attention to myself over the years. I can talk myself down when it does happen etc. I'm also not a heavy smoker, ie - more the one hitter quitter type these days. A little in the morning, a little in the afternoon, a little in the evening and I'm good to go....



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08 Feb 2015, 4:19 pm

I tried Ritalin (officially prescribed). buth that made me very unstable.

I tried dextroamphetamine (officially prescribed), but that may me rather numb.

I tried various illegal substances including LSD, MDMA, levoamphetamine, methylone and 2-FMA (self-medicated). Those did benefit me a lot, but the stimulants to tend to be addictive and result in dependence.

Currently, I try to stay free from any medication most of the time, although I do self-medicate occasionally.

My prefered combo for alleviating the more negative Autism symtoms is a mixture of levoamphetamine, methylone and 2-FMA.



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09 Feb 2015, 2:34 am

Growing up in the 60's I was pretty much always 'medicated'. While I tried a LOT of things my go-to ' meds' were alcohol because I thought it helped me fit in....it didn't, and mescaline because it made me not care if I fit in or not. Now I just stick with nicotine...it takes the edge off just enough so I don't beat irritating people to death.