No recreational amphetamine use anymore

[izzy31]

SWIM has decided not to use speed for the soul purpose of feeling good and just sitting around high. He's decided to use marijauna for his recreational use now, and intends to continue using speed to make him feel better while doing normal things. Yeah, addiction is a plague. Nothing I ever do will be completely the same as it was before I had ever tried anything and if I could go back in time and stop myself I would, but I know I'd do it again anyway. I hate the pre-illustration of things in my mind when I overthink things (which is usually everything). However I have got some anti-psychotic medication to help with the delusions and paranoia that accompanies speed use.

[old hippie 56]

Speed is best left for work, long distance driving with mandatory breaks. Rec use is the pits. Addiction is just bad habits gone astray.

[Bio-Cellular Enigma]

^^ Agree with OH56. There was a saying "Speed Kills" which I believe originated in the early 1970s, as many of the ideals of the hippie movement began to succumb to drugs like speed and cocaine (hopefully OH 56 will correct any historical errors on SWIM's part).

Anyway, speed is at best recreational for a very short period of time, before turning against the user. It may not be wise to mess with even for utilitarian reasons, particularly if one is keeping anti-psychotic medication around to help deal with it!

[augentier]

ITA w/ oldhippie..and that's good that SWIizzy is trying to take control over his addiction, even if he has to have weed or something else for recreation..at least it's a lot more mild , and maybe it will help SWIY cope better with the idea of cutting back. This thread reminds me of a shirt I saw some guy wearing this weekend..it said SMOKE WEED NOT SPEED haha

Anyway, best of luck to SWIY.

[Nagognog2]

When I was younger, I was doing caving - speliology. We'd go out as a team from universities to explore new caves. We'd map them and study the chemistry of how they were created and...all kinds of things. And boy did we have fun! And fears! These were not caves like you saw on TV - these were miles of underground tunnels you had to squeeze through and, sometimes, wear SCUBA to traverse. People got killed doing this on occasion. But if there was a collapse - you had to keep you wits about you. Regards speed:

If a doctor was approached with what we were doing, and asked to prescribe a bottle of amphetamines in case of a problem - they would. But we learned not to use those. If you are in an extremely bad situation in need of rescue and medical care - speed was the worst thing you could do. Speed brings paranoia and a fight-or-flight reaction. Can you imagine what that would be like with a bunch of people trapped in a cave awaiting rescue? Give you a hint - it wouldn't be pretty.

So the carrying of amphetamines was dropped from the list of things to bring on mapping expeditions into caves. I'm sure some people still do - but heaven help you if the flipped-out speed-freak was trapped ahead of you in the collapsed section of the cave. Better to bring a bunch of batteries for flashlights and a song-book.

Just a little story. But who listens to me....Ahhhhh! The walls! The walls!.....

[izzy31]

The way it pulls you in when you first start using it by enhancing everything you do turns into just more craving for the drug. SWIM almost feels like he's got split personalities now. The SWIM that craves for the drug, sitting there and obsessing over his own thoughts which is unsuccessfully trying to divert attention away from doing more speed, and then the real SWIM. I'm now on abilify and lexapro which do help with the obsessive thoughts. At least now I can choose what to obssess over (if anything)

[stoneinfocus]

The thing with speed is, -I don´t think a normal guy would freak out, when taking speed in a cave for the first time in likee years it´d probably calm him down, give a clear mind and make him feel more unvulnerable, concetrating on the excellent breathing and body-control.

But I think, when you get this nasty speed hang-over, when your mind is just uncomfotably dreaming awake, neither speed will get you better, just dizzier nor the state of not being on is great.

Swim always enjoyed being high at nights and luckily got never even the slightest paranoia, just more optical changes like when the pupils didn´t react like they used to ... anyway..

One could get away from speed for a few years and then start using it for its only beneficial effects,or strart right away doing so, besides of getting hig, which swim does so a few times /year, nonethelss, as it´s an undenialble bonus of this drug/medicine.

[old hippie 56]

Originally Posted by Bio-Cellular Enigma

^^ Agree with OH56. There was a saying "Speed Kills" which I believe originated in the early 1970s, as many of the ideals of the hippie movement began to succumb to drugs like speed and cocaine (hopefully OH 56 will correct any historical errors on SWIM's part).

Anyway, speed is at best recreational for a very short period of time, before turning against the user. It may not be wise to mess with even for utilitarian reasons, particularly if one is keeping anti-psychotic medication around to help deal with it!

Swibce is correct, speed brought in violence and hate. It was a good program on PBS about the Haight-Ashbury scene at the end of the hippie movement.