15 years of GHB

autodidact · #1 25-01-2008, 05:50

The following was composed by SWIM and is a first-person account of his experiences with GHB, a drug he has been ingesting fairly regularly for the last 15 years. Somehow he still manages to enjoy positively rude health.

“I was first introduced to this chemical by a bodybuilding friend in about 1992.
Back then a tub of pharmacy-grade, light and fluffy GHB could be bought from supplement firm Chemical Warfare for about £40.
A heaped teaspoon readily dissolved in hot water to give a euphoric high that lasted about an hour-and-half.

Now, while a lot of people seem to have some difficulty in conveying the GHB experience (my friends at least), what I tell newbies is that it is like the best bits of all the other drugs they have tried, but with none of the bad bits or a comedown.
It’s like say, half an E, a touch of diazepam and a smidgeon of speed.

Even if it’s past your bedtime and you are not really in the mood to get high, swallowing a dose will soon energise you and change your mind.
For me, it used to come on with a tingling in my lower legs, which then gave way to a warm glow that seemed to shroud my body like the ReadyBrek heat outline (at the moment the euphoria has been replaced by a sedative effect, but a period of abstinence will sort that out).

Like alcohol, once the feeling begins, it relaxes you into the rest of the experience, and, even if you do not particularly like where the drug is taking you, just close your eyes and sleep won’t be long in happening.
Unless you are sick on it, which seems to happen in about half of users. I have never honked up.

GHB increases empathy, talkativeness, motivation and appetite.
Also unlike E, there is no time-accelerating effect. With E, you drop, an hour speeds by and before you know it, it’s time to drop again.
However, with GHB, an hour seems to last the full duration, or more.

Another advantage over E is that the high can be successfully ‘chased’.
Whereas with E, successive pills produce fewer desired effects and more undesirable side effects, subsequent doses of GHB get you right back up there.

In fact, slightly lower doses are actually a good idea, else you risk passing out.

Balance is progressively affected by stronger doses, evoking scenes that make it look like the Klingons are attacking and you are traversing a pitching Enterprise bridge.
Eyes take a hit too and often it becomes hard to focus as each eye seems to want to look at something different. The solution to this is to simply cover one eye and everything immediately beings to make more sense.

Once you are stepping over your ideal level of intoxication, blinks start to last somewhat longer. Seconds, then minutes, then hours.
The funny thing is, when woken, you’ll swear that no time has elapsed and that your watch must be lying.

Paradoxically, GHB passes the mirror test. Unlike with E, dope and booze, when you look in the mirror you don’t look wasted while on GHB. I generally look not too bad and this is utterly at odds with how sideways I often feel.

I even occasionally have a small (repeat small) dose, plug in my earphones and go running. It makes the music sound great, helps me tune out from the world around, increases endurance and decrease fatigue.
The only negative thing I can repost as far as an adjunct to aerobic exercise is that you sweat bit more. Quite a lot more. Like a gimp in a sauna, in fact.
One word of caution is to know your dose, otherwise you risk the whole world staring at you as you navigate in wavy lines with your eyes half closed.

In stark contrast to all its positive effects, out of all the chemicals I have consumed, GHB is the one with the most potential for harm.
Unlike most other drugs, overdose is very easy and often accomplished completely accidentally.

Whereas with alcohol, drinking a bit too much will get you a bit more drunk, and with E, double-dunting will make gravity pull even harder on your face, having double your personal dose will render you unconscious.
Note that I say unconscious and not dead.
Although this may not sound too serious, it potentially is as users can become utterly wakeable – a condition not seen with say booze, dope, E, coke or speed.

This can be truly alarming for someone who finds you (a parent, perhaps) and rightfully so, easily warranting the summoning of and ambulance of a trip to A&E.
Such a scenario befell a good friend, himself an experienced user, who, unwittingly simply took too much before engaging his mum in conversation.
The GHB really took effect as he was walking across his livingroom and made him sink to his knees and pass out – all as him mum looked on with understandable alarm.
His dad ended up slapping him about and had picked up a phone to dial 999 when my buddy responded to further slaps with laughter.
My pal later made a full recovery, had some explaining to do and was hit with a barrage of probing questions as to where he had come by whatever compound had caused his mid-stride collapse.

Another friend who overdosed did not even waken when a cigarette he was smoking burned right down between his fingers and took the skin off.
Had he been awake, this would have been excruciating, so the lesson to take here is that, even if the cigarette had set his house ablaze, he still would have not woken. Not good.

One strange thing GHB has induced in me several times is sleep paralysis.
Sleep paralysis happens every time you nod off, with the brain shutting down your muscles so you don’t enact your dreams.
Generally the switch off occurs after your fall asleep.
However, it’s a particularly weird experience when you’re sitting in a chair, eyes closed, motionless, frantically willing your arms to move and shouting in your head.
It’s disconcerting the first time, but when you recognise it for what it is, you learn that it will soon pass and give way to sleep.
Many cultures have myths associated with sleep paralysis and generally involve small imps sitting on your chest and sucking your life away, or alien abduction.

Really folks, this stuff is one of the most positive drugs you can take, but you have got to give it the respect it deserves, else end up in hospital, or put someone else there.
And if that happens, the cops/docs/parents will want too know where they got the stuff.

Peace."

Reputation Comments on this post:

	Welcome to the forum, SWIY's years of experience will be welcome but please always try and be balanced and objective.
	Very good and detailed retrospective report. Especially liked the "pitching Enterprise bridge" - SWIY can rel...
	Great post, good review about a Drug SWIY used
	Thorough and informative post

**MrG** · #2 25-01-2008, 08:32

Ok, thanks for the post but we are somewhat reluctant to provide such seemingly rave reviews for a drug so, whilst there are a number of things that SWIM does agree with I think it is important to also highlight some of the things that you raise in order to remind people of a more balanced aspect of GHB use.

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