Health - HELP? Boyfriend took trip 2 weeks ago and is still tripping

[rere]

Like really bad, I don't know what to say. This is my firstr time on this forum and I only joined this site to ask you this question. I hope somebody can help me.

We've been together since 2005, very close, but 2 weeks ago he lost his job and got kicked out of his grandparents house and got arrested and had to go to court, then the next day he took LSD behind my back and I only found out a week ago what he took.

This is how it went,
Sat 4th July he took trips. I don't know how much, he won't tell me, but I just know that he took too much than he can handle. He has only taken lsd once on his birthday in April and this is the first time after that.
Sun 5th: I see him, hes tripping bad, telling me he's gods child, screaming that I'm possessed, he think's hes been hypnotised, hes getting on the floor and praying to god, telling me he has to get out of the shadows and into the light, just tripping real bad. He jumped out of my car and ran off.
Wed 8th: comes to my house still tripping abusing my dad and uncle talking about how hes god's child and he can read peoples minds but hes not a fortune teller.
Fri 10th: comes over trying to break in screaming out the front, tripping out my neighbours, we have to get a 3 day restraining order i can't believe hes still tripping.
Sat & Sun he came over twice and wouldnt leave then he got arrested for breaching restraining order had to stay in lockup overnight go to court the next day.
Mon 12th: went to court for breaching got fined he was still tripping i asked cops if they could get him assessed but they think hes not bad enough! gets brought home to his nans by cops because he walked into some randoms persons hosue and had a shower and fell asleep.
Tues: ringing ringing ringing me, telling my friends i broke up with him, then ringing me and telling me he loves me, accusing me of sleeping with his friend, then groped his friends girlfriend to try get back at him, told me he hypnotised everyone in the lockup, told me he got baptised when he was off his face but he wants to get baptised when hes straight,
stayed in phyc ward that night but they sedated him and released him the next day.
Wed: calls me crying said he tried to admit himself to hospitasl but now they wont let him out, told me hes in a pushy cushion room and he wants me to come get him, talked to doctor on phone he wouldnt tell me whats wrong because im not immediate family.

So the question is, ive never taken lsd i dont know much about it and this is his second time that i know about and what do u think? whats your opinions do u think he will snap out of it? its been 12 days and hes delusional, paranoid and everything else i don't know what to do please tell me what you think.

you should also know hes a bit weak minded, never has had parents around always lived with nan & grandad, had very abusive childhood but last few years have been great, used to take ice every now and then but hasent in a year. we smoke weed everyday also. i think he wouldve been very depressed when he took the lsd. thanks for any help

rere added 0 Minutes and 36 Seconds later...

i'm scared ive posted it in the wrong section? sorry..

[mrsvend3245]

Are you positive that he has taken LSD? To me it sounds like hes taken some kind of deleriant such as datura or brugmansia. He would have to have taken a very very large amount of LSD to cause him to trip for 2 weeks straight. If the dose was big enough then it could have caused some sort psychosis in which a very small amount of LSD users experience. In this small amount of people about 2/3 recover to normal. I am unaware as to how long it takes for one to recover.

[Joe-(5-HTP)]

I have never heard of a reaction to LSD like the one swiy describes, it is extremely rare. If a person has a latent mental illness then LSD might trigger it, to me that sounds like the most likely explanation for this.

Swim had a friend who had an awful 18 hour trip and was paranoid and delusional for 4 weeks, gradually getting better over ~6 months but these problems were sporadic and he was 'himself', albeit to a lesser degree, for much of the time. It seems your boyfriend, however, is completely changed and out of control?

It seems he needs to be properly psychologically assessed. Most psychosis triggered by LSD use is short term. Proper treatment will ensure it is as short term as possible.

ps :You have indeed posted in the wrong section- ask a mod to move it for you.

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Good advice and way to help relate, plus good on you to help a newbie.

[Gradient]

Originally Posted by Joe-(5-HTP)

It seems he needs to be properly psychologically assessed. Most psychosis triggered by LSD use is short term. Proper treatment will ensure it is as short term as possible.

Agreed. Why was he kicked out of his grandparents house - has his behavior been abnormal or different lately? Do you know if he takes any medications? Twelve days sounds a bit too prolonged to purely be a result of one LSD ingestion event; there may be more substances involved in this manic behavior that he feels unable to discuss. Methamphetamine can absolutely contribute to this.

Minor note: Try not to speak in the first person when describing experiences with drugs in the future. It's considered self-incrimination, and it protects both you and the longevity of the forums.

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Great to probe a bit deeper to help OP find reasons for issue. Good post.

[RaverHippie]

Originally Posted by Gradient

Agreed. Why was he kicked out of his grandparents house - has his behavior been abnormal or different lately? Do you know if he takes any medications? Twelve days sounds a bit too prolonged to purely be a result of one LSD ingestion event; there may be more substances involved in this manic behavior that he feels unable to discuss. Methamphetamine can absolutely contribute to this.

Minor note: Try not to speak in the first person when describing experiences with drugs in the future. It's considered self-incrimination, and it protects both you and the longevity of the forums.

Agreed with everything mentioned above.


Yeah this sounds is entirely abnormal. Maybe he is redosing because the initial dose was so life-altering? Or he is driven to redose considering the restraining order and stress caused by the rapidly changing environment surrounding him?

[terrapinzflyer]

swims turtle has seen this more then a few times...

if its what he thinks it is it is essentially an underlying mental illness triggered by LSD. usually this will be short term but turtle has seen this last months to some degree.
Swims turtle had an epihany once while dealing with such a situation, and it has proven true in every case since then- the person gets stuck in what is essentially a faulty logic loop- in other words they had what they thought was some life changing revelation, but can't see the mistake in the logic. Sorry turtle can't explain it better atm...but in this case it looks to involve the "gods child" thing.
It simply is not possible that the chemical is still causing these problems, it is in his mind and can be broken...

Turtle wishes you the best of luck- he's obviously lucky to have you. If you or someone close to him can help him find the fault in the logic he may snap out of it, if not time will do it. (sometimes illogic can be the trick in these circumstances) Best of luck and be safe.

BTW- do you have any idea if he is sleeping? sleep deprivation can definitely contribute to the situation.

[Desertfox]

With the way you described the events leading up to his trip it is obvious that your BF did not take into account set and setting. He was most likely not in a stable brain state if he has lost his job and was kicked out of his house. The already high anxiety of these events was amplified by the LSD to the point that it broke your BF's mind a bit, but the good news is that everything heals with time. If it is permanent then it was an underlying mental condition that would of appeared later in his life anyways, despite whether he chose to ingest LSD or not.

[Taken]

Swim has a friend at school that takes lsd with his girlfriend (like 3 hits 6 times a week). The last time he saw them was a few days ago. He was tripping but just normally and able to have a normal conversation with and stuff. Now today Swim just found out that they both got Perma Fried and can't even go to school. He didn't see them but his freinds said that if you talked to them it would be like a minuet before they respond. They can't hold a conversation anymore. The fact that they are both fried shows that it was somthing to do with the acid. Maybe laced or somthing?

[cra$h]

with "lsd" now adays, who the fuck knows what you're really getting. Of course this can be an acid trip, swim can relate to the god's child style thinking and all, but I don't really know for sure. I don't think its the LSD anymore, but he's just finally cracked. It seems like he's lived a rough life, and it finally got decent, and then all this shit happens, and he just gave up. LSD could have inspired this, but definitly didn't CAUSE it. This is something that was on his mind pre-trip, and the trip seems to just have intensified the magnitude of how much he drops out of society. I'm terribly sorry to hear this. He needs a job and a place to call his own and he'll be back to normal.

[rere]

Awww I didn't think Id get so many replies, thanks guys
Just like to let you know he has been staying in a phyciatric hospital for the last 2 nights and they have been sedating, assessing him and all sorts. I might get to see him today.
Knowing my boyfriend, when he gets off his face he really does get off his face, he'll take anything and everything.
I heard he had been taking ectasy, maybe some ice, and he thinks that some junkie shot him up :| I have no idea though. when it comes to drugs my boyfriend is never completely honest with me. he told me he gave his friend trips but his friend hasent seen him in ages.
And yes i think he has just cracked, he has always had sorta mental problems, always been a bit bipolar (he was never diagnosed but man he is skitzo) hes never really held a job for long, he's got a bad group of friends, parents left him on his grandparents doorstep when he was 9 and theyve brought him up.. he's never really been able to handle his alcohol and i definetely knew he couldn't handle ice, i think hes just taken too much drugs and has just lost the plot completely.
i talked to my older brother about it and he used to do lots of lsd and told me he's been tripping out for maybe 2 weeks but not going delusional or nothing, he said it was really hard for him to tell himself to snap out of it cause he didnt think he was doing abnormal things.
Well my boyfriend is definetely delusional, hes hallucinating, he thinks his grandad is dead, hes being paranoid and scared, crying to me that hes in a pushy cushion room and ahh.. i dunno, thanks a lot again though its better to hear it from people that know about the drug because i dont!

rere added 13 Minutes and 19 Seconds later...

oh & he hasent been sleeping much either, he got kicked out of his grandparents cause he lost his job again and they're sick of it. hes 19 but theyre a big tough

i know he hasent been sleeping cause hes been calling me 24/7 all hours of the day night and morning

at first i thought he was having a manic episode or something but its gone way too far, i get what you are saying about the lsd could have triggered something and i agree, like i said he is very weak minded

hopefully with him being in the hospital now they can help him and i pray this isnt a long term thing.

[FlyingFurthur]

Well, first of all i wish you all my best.

LSD usually only lasts 12 hours. Now, it is really bad to take Lysergic Acid Diethylamide while in a bad mood, depressed, angry, or in a chaotic environment.

It sounds like the weak mind, hard times, and bad mood was just open arms for a horrible trip. And might I remind you, bummers, which differ extraordinarily from good trips as you know, can have serious consequences.

Schizophrenia, PTSD, Anxiety, ecetera.

Schizophrenia has been said to be a Shamanic state of mind, and that does seem to be the most logical thing that happened to him, rather than a numerous day trip.

I would calm him down, get him to a doctor, and start him on medication, if the doctor says so.

Best of luck.

FlyingFurthur added 1 Minutes and 28 Seconds later...

Originally Posted by FlyingFurthur

Well, first of all i wish you all my best.

LSD usually only lasts 12 hours. Now, it is really bad to take Lysergic Acid Diethylamide while in a bad mood, depressed, angry, or in a chaotic environment.

It sounds like the weak mind, hard times, and bad mood was just open arms for a horrible trip. And might I remind you, bummers, which differ extraordinarily from good trips as you know, can have serious consequences.

Schizophrenia, PTSD, Anxiety, ecetera.

Schizophrenia has been said to be a Shamanic state of mind, and that does seem to be the most logical thing that happened to him, rather than a numerous day trip.

I would calm him down, get him to a doctor, and start him on medication, if the doctor says so.

Best of luck.

Oh dear. I didn't see your last post and i posted this. Very sorry for this mistake. Will not happen again, i feel very foolish.

[cra$h]

Originally Posted by FlyingFurthur

LSD usually only lasts 12 hours. Now, it is really bad to take Lysergic Acid Diethylamide while in a bad mood, depressed, angry, or in a chaotic environment.

Well, swim might be a weirdo, but he tripped LSD (had experience with mushrooms though) on his best friend from elementary shcool's birthday, and it actually made everything alright. He had found LSD to be simply fun, while mind expanding (not nearly as much as mushrooms though). Now swim isn't suggesting that when you have a bad day try some LSD, but trippin helps swim figgure things out in the darkest hours. Swim does agree with the chaotic enviornment aspect though. Surroundings are everything. When you're in a spot that if highly exagerated could be bad, it just might be.

Sounds like this BF needs a vacation. Somewhere natural like the mountains. Stay far away from people and in a couple days he'll find himself. Damn, swim's inner hippie is commin out again haha

[rere]

lol thanks & thats okay i do it all the time (post before reading it all)
hes been in the hospital for 4 days now.. theyve had to sedate him a lot, the nurses told us he will come out of it but it will take time.
thankyou

[Nature Boy]

Looks like a straightforward case of underlying mental illness triggered by the use of a psychedelic coupled with pre-existing delusions that would exasperate this condition. From what you've described, this guy doesn't sound like a very rational person to say the least. Believing to be the son of a deity wouldn't exactly be typical of a person suited to using psychedelics. I find that people who have very little knowledge of the natural world can have unstable experiences. Without understanding the mechanisms of how drugs act on the human mind as well as connecting the experience with some sort of supernatural element seems like a recipe for disaster. Harbouring these mental instabilities going into a trip seems dangerous. The ideal psychedelic user should be open-minded and they should understand the effects of the drug in question. Without being able to rationalise, taking a LSD is effectively like spiking oneself with a completely unknown, unpredictable substance that might leave the user thinking they've lost their mind.

[merecat]

At first I also thought it looked like latent mental illness triggered into an active state by stress (job + home) and lsd.

But reading more of what the OP had to say- I think it would be far more likely that the meth/ice abuse continued behind OP's back, and I would think that the prolonged use of this substance is more likely to blame for triggering a mental illness than a single dose of lsd is.

[Songcycle67]

Originally Posted by merecat

At first I also thought it looked like latent mental illness triggered into an active state by stress (job + home) and lsd.

But reading more of what the OP had to say- I think it would be far more likely that the meth/ice abuse continued behind OP's back, and I would think that the prolonged use of this substance is more likely to blame for triggering a mental illness than a single dose of lsd is.

SWIM sent me the following:

Absolutely agree. Especially the combination of meth and LSD, it can make a tripper violent/very strange and can also prolong the effects of the LSD, especially if high doses of each were used (and it sounds like they most definitely were, from the story, it sounds like he actually injected the meth himself and was too fucked up to tell a proper lie about some guy maybe injecting him...c'mon).

The second thing, and the most obvious to mine ears, that is a big factor in all this is that this person is bi-polar. That's manic depression. People who are in manic states (as one would be in such a set and setting--no stability mentally and an unstable environment, no place to live, and all the other bad situations the OP mentioned) they can have small spells of psychosis without the aid of acid or meth. I would think that this meth abuse has been happening a lot lately and that he has been nurturing this psychosis for a while...combine that situation with 300 mics or so and you got a highly volatile reaction in the brain.

People with bi-polar syndrome should not take Meth-Amphetamines or Psychedelics/tropics.

As to whether it's permanent or not, I'd say the worst parts are over and the person mentioned seems to be doing a bit better. He may have some signs of psychosis after release: twisted tongue, drunken staggers, an inability to handle emotions and distortion of light, sound and/or other sensory information.

If any of this is seen, call the psychiatrist who treated him.





If SWIM were this person's friend, knowing what he knows about manic depression and LSD/Meth-Amphetamine, he would tell them to stay the hell away from any form of psychedelics, speed, pot, or even alcohol. All of these things can not only worsen the manic depression, but boost the psychosis back into effect.

And next time it may never wear off.

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Impeccable analysis.

[Frond]

Originally Posted by rere

Knowing my boyfriend, when he gets off his face he really does get off his face, he'll take anything and everything.
I heard he had been taking ectasy, maybe some ice, and he thinks that some junkie shot him up :| I have no idea though. when it comes to drugs my boyfriend is never completely honest with me. he told me he gave his friend trips but his friend hasent seen him in ages.
And yes i think he has just cracked, he has always had sorta mental problems, always been a bit bipolar (he was never diagnosed but man he is skitzo) hes never really held a job for long, he's got a bad group of friends, parents left him on his grandparents doorstep when he was 9 and theyve brought him up.. he's never really been able to handle his alcohol and i definetely knew he couldn't handle ice, i think hes just taken too much drugs and has just lost the plot completely.

Sounds like a real prize. Lying to you about his drug use. Mentally unstable. Past history of dangerous drug abuse. Obviously I don't know this person, but I would advise them to stay very, very far away from anything psychedelic, and in fact it's probably a good idea to clean up for good at least for a while. If you really do care about him I would probably try to steer in him that direction if it's at all possible (I know how maddeningly difficult it can be to help someone that doesn't want to be helped). Otherwise stay very far away from this person because this sort of destructive behavior will end up in tears for everyone involved.

It's pointless to speculate as to what happened not really knowing what he took (lots of things are sold as "acid" these days and not all of them are LSD), how much of it, what mental state he was in, whether there was any amphetamine psychosis or withdrawal, etc. LSD is not known to cause these sorts of reactions in regular recreational doses, but there is a very remote possibility of latent mental disorders being triggered, and there seems to be plenty of that going on here. But without the facts there's no way to know. So if you want to know for sure find out as much as you can about what he took and what condition he was in.

Originally Posted by Taken

Swim has a friend at school that takes lsd with his girlfriend (like 3 hits 6 times a week). The last time he saw them was a few days ago. He was tripping but just normally and able to have a normal conversation with and stuff. Now today Swim just found out that they both got Perma Fried and can't even go to school. He didn't see them but his freinds said that if you talked to them it would be like a minuet before they respond. They can't hold a conversation anymore. The fact that they are both fried shows that it was somthing to do with the acid. Maybe laced or somthing?

I don't buy it. 3 hits 6 times a week? Tolerance buildup will make this completely pointless, and they would feel nothing more than a light buzz after a week of such use. No offense to the poster but this sounds like urban legend.

[rere]

thanks for the feedback it was interesting to read
i saw him today and he was very sedated, could hardly talk to me
seems like hes starting to realise whats happening but he's still talking about seeing ghosts and hearing voices and shit like that.
i was trying to explain what was happening to him, told him he can't ever do drugs again because he might have another episode and not come out of the next one. he was alright for a while then when he realised I wasn't taking him home he asked me to leave.
the doctors& nurses said hes been very irritable & moody and hes having a review on Monday
i know he did drugs behind my back but it wasn't a every week thing, maybe once a month and i know I shouldn't have put up with it but i never wanted to leave him because i knew I was the only person he had there for him, and I really do love him too we have a really good relationship and i've been with him since i was 15. I don't know if im going to stay with him after this but i don't want to abandon him right now.
have a good day everyone

[Songcycle67]

Originally Posted by rere

thanks for the feedback it was interesting to read
i saw him today and he was very sedated, could hardly talk to me
seems like hes starting to realise whats happening but he's still talking about seeing ghosts and hearing voices and shit like that.
i was trying to explain what was happening to him, told him he can't ever do drugs again because he might have another episode and not come out of the next one. he was alright for a while then when he realised I wasn't taking him home he asked me to leave.
the doctors& nurses said hes been very irritable & moody and hes having a review on Monday
i know he did drugs behind my back but it wasn't a every week thing, maybe once a month and i know I shouldn't have put up with it but i never wanted to leave him because i knew I was the only person he had there for him, and I really do love him too we have a really good relationship and i've been with him since i was 15. I don't know if im going to stay with him after this but i don't want to abandon him right now.
have a good day everyone

Shew, it's so sad that you are going through this; that his problems have become so bad that they're impeding upon your way of living. No good partner would do things like this if they loved their partner. All of his actions seem very selfish and, more importantly, potentially harmful. This is a very serious thing, as I'm sure you're aware, and really you have to draw some kind of line and make it stick or this guy is going to go completely over the edge and probably take you with him.

No one should ever have to go through what you're going through right now just because someone who supposedly loves you, went behind your back to tweak out while he was tripping balls in the middle of a manic episode.

Granted, I don't know the full picture, and it's not my place to tell you what to do; but honestly, how much more of this type of behavior can one person take before they begin heavy substance abuse themselves or even worse...self-mutilation or suicide attempts?

May sound far-fetched right now, but if you crawl into that pit with him and stay there beside him, although tremendously honorable, it's not going to take long before all the stress moves you on to hard drugs or a harder life style.

Either way, you sound like a super excellent person, truly concerned, and all of us on this forum are there with you, I'm sure.


Truly best wishes,
Songcycle


Edit: Also it is definitely obvious that there is some kind of psychosis sprouting. Aside from the seeing ghosts and hearing voices, irritability and mood swings are also hallmarks of general psychosis. Did he seem tongue-tied and sort of "drunk"? Usually being tongue-tied and stumbling around, fumbling your words and actions are indicative of higher levels of psychosis, but that word itself is a blanket term so vague that it tells you nothing except that the person is disconnected from reality to the point that it may be harmful to how they view the world ever after, should they recover.

[Slater]

he probably took benzidamina. I had those effects cause of benzidamina. It is a delirant like Datura but u can take it very cheap and easy from the pharmacy here in europe.

[Songcycle67]

With no prior history of ingestion of such drug, as well as the scarcity of benzidamina almost everywhere, I see no reason to include it as a possibility.

All of this is speculation, but that is some really specific speculation, with no grounds for its suggestion. The person is reported to have taken LSD and Meth-Amphetamine, that's as far as we need look to answer the OP's questions. Including obscure drugs with obscure backgrounds and no indication of its use by the person in question is actually a bit counter-productive to the discussion.


Not to mention the fact that Benzidamina has effects similar to almost every other psychedelic in various doses... geez, talk about left field.

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Fantastic contributions to this thread!

[rere]

yeah he did seem tongue tied & drunk.. what does that mean?
i thought it was just cause of all the meds he's been taking.

[Fast_like_Tree]

First off I, as most of the posters have also expressed, am deeply empathetic and I do hope that he gets better and remains there.

At the moment there seems that there is very little that you can do and I know how frustrating that can be. I personally think that the best course of action would be to engage him in a positive manner when you can, encouraging him to avoid drugs and maintain a more healthy lifestyle (and thank you to those who have already expressed this opinion).

As for diagnostics at the moment, it would be hard to imagine that any reasoning would be more than just mere speculation. Also I do not believe that dwelling on the multitude of possibilities would be productive from your position or even beneficial for quelling your anxieties. This all said I have first hand experience when it comes to these places and it is very often hard to get strait answers especially if you are not part of the family, so continue reading if you wish and I will tell you what I think.

From what I have heard it is most likely that the LSD combined with stress triggered or worsened a preexisting state of psychosis. This is infrequent and when it does happen the large majority of individuals recover quickly with little or no long lasting side effects. It, although not proven, is likely that LSD cannot cause psychosis as most of those whom this happens tend to have serious preexisting conditions (such as bipolar dis). I do not believe that the amphetamine abuse directly triggered this. Although it is likely that it was harmful to his psychological state and has much to do with the overarching problem (the two drugs in mixture as mentioned above would be a very worrisome also). I say this because the preexisting condition is more congruent with serotonin than dopamine (manic episodes are very often triggered by increased levels of serotonin and their modulation; if he was already manic, LSD, which acts on many serotonin receptors including the 5HT2A receptor and acts specifically on pyramidal lvl 5 cells in the frontal cortex, would likely bring on the psychotic elements of mania). This said, there are many different possibilities. It is possible that it was not LSD at all, but he used it thinking that it was (could be although likely not a bad dose of DOI). It is also possible that he could have taken something entirely different than LSD. Finally and most worrisome, it is possible that he could have combined LSD with a medication. You say that he is bipolar, many mood stabilizers used for bipolar do not mix well with LSD and can lead to serious complications including potentially fatal seizures (lithium and LSD does this). If he was on any anti-depressants (MAOI's, SSRI's, or SNRI's) or dopamine related anti-psychotics I wouldn't worry to much (though being on an anti-psychotic would be indication enough not to do LSD). Those are likely all the possibilities but as I said before there is really no way to figure out what exactly happened simply on a forum discussion.

By the way, the slurring and drunkenness which you describe is likely due to his medication. It is typical particularly in the case of a bipolar individual to be given a benzodiazepine upon entry to in patient care, and a benzodiazepine can have many of the side effects similar to the stupor that is common with alcohol (it acts essentially on the same receptor/ ion channel).

Again I hope that everything goes well for you and your bf.
sincerely,
FLT

[Songcycle67]

Originally Posted by Fast_like_Tree

First off I, as most of the posters have also expressed, am deeply empathetic and I do hope that he gets better and remains there.

At the moment there seems that there is very little that you can do and I know how frustrating that can be. I personally think that the best course of action would be to engage him in a positive manner when you can, encouraging him to avoid drugs and maintain a more healthy lifestyle (and thank you to those who have already expressed this opinion).

As for diagnostics at the moment, it would be hard to imagine that any reasoning would be more than just mere speculation. Also I do not believe that dwelling on the multitude of possibilities would be productive from your position or even beneficial for quelling your anxieties. This all said I have first hand experience when it comes to these places and it is very often hard to get strait answers especially if you are not part of the family, so continue reading if you wish and I will tell you what I think.

From what I have heard it is most likely that the LSD combined with stress triggered or worsened a preexisting state of psychosis. This is infrequent and when it does happen the large majority of individuals recover quickly with little or no long lasting side effects. It, although not proven, is likely that LSD cannot cause psychosis as most of those whom this happens tend to have serious preexisting conditions (such as bipolar dis). I do not believe that the amphetamine abuse directly triggered this. Although it is likely that it was harmful to his psychological state and has much to do with the overarching problem (the two drugs in mixture as mentioned above would be a very worrisome also). I say this because the preexisting condition is more congruent with serotonin than dopamine (manic episodes are very often triggered by increased levels of serotonin and their modulation; if he was already manic, LSD, which acts on many serotonin receptors including the 5HT2A receptor and acts specifically on pyramidal lvl 5 cells in the frontal cortex, would likely bring on the psychotic elements of mania). This said, there are many different possibilities. It is possible that it was not LSD at all, but he used it thinking that it was (could be although likely not a bad dose of DOI). It is also possible that he could have taken something entirely different than LSD. Finally and most worrisome, it is possible that he could have combined LSD with a medication. You say that he is bipolar, many mood stabilizers used for bipolar do not mix well with LSD and can lead to serious complications including potentially fatal seizures (lithium and LSD does this). If he was on any anti-depressants (MAOI's, SSRI's, or SNRI's) or dopamine related anti-psychotics I wouldn't worry to much (though being on an anti-psychotic would be indication enough not to do LSD). Those are likely all the possibilities but as I said before there is really no way to figure out what exactly happened simply on a forum discussion.

By the way, the slurring and drunkenness which you describe is likely due to his medication. It is typical particularly in the case of a bipolar individual to be given a benzodiazepine upon entry to in patient care, and a benzodiazepine can have many of the side effects similar to the stupor that is common with alcohol (it acts essentially on the same receptor/ ion channel).

Again I hope that everything goes well for you and your bf.
sincerely,
FLT

SWIM wrote this:


I generally agree with all this, except the underlined parts:


A) It is infrequent for LSD to cause psychosis in stressed individuals: Actually this is very very common Especially in the case of stress mixed with mania. That's what set and setting is all about. LSD should never be taken by individuals that have an unstable (whether it's stress or schizophrenia), set.

B) Large majority of individuals recovery quickly/minor side effects:
Really it all depends upon so many different variables that there can be no base set for what the people who do recover quickly with minor side effects do differently or chemically (in the brain) than those who do not recover quickly and have major side effects. Someone with mania, shooting crystal should be expected to take a while.

C) LSD cannot cause psychosis
While it cannot produce the brain chemistry necessary for a life-long psychotic illness, it absolutely can trigger the illness--and I do believe that it can create a "pseudo-psychosis" even in individuals who are not high risk. Most psychosis that is not triggered by drug use is triggered by some other random reaction in the body akin to taking LSD. Whether it be a nervous breakdown or panic attacks, psychosis doesn't happen unless it is triggered. The only difference is, with LSD, one is knowingly taking the chance. Generally, however, people who are unstable and have the potential for a psychotic reaction (which is very easy to have) tend to avoid the drugs. This person had obvious psychological problems, mania no less, and still chose to take it...several times. In this instance, the individual knowingly increased his chances of getting psychosis, so in that way LSD can cause psychosis.

Often times even "normal" users, who have no risk for psychosis at all, can get hung up on something and develop a minor psychosis in which they are subtly re-programmed to interpret/analyze such data differently--with massive psychosis this happens to the entire flow of information: these are generally the kinds of psychosis that wear off quickly.

D) Amphetamine abuse and psychosis
Not even figuring in the LSD, which as I said in an earlier post would be greatly heightened both in duration and intensity by Amphetamine. Amphetamine and especially Methamphetamine have psychosis and "delusional behavior" as standard side effects.

When someone with mania takes ampethamine, it's basically like dropping a toaster in the bathtub of their brain, only the short-circuiting can last for days or years or forever for some. And as SWIY mentioned above, LSD is the perfect catalyst for a terrible manic episode.


All of these things led to the resulting psychological mindfuck, I believe.

This guy seems to have just been extremely irresponsible with his use of LSD, and with the internet and its vast libraries of information, there's just no sense in that.

He had to at least have know that (high-dose) meth-amphetamines and bi-polar syndrome don't ever mix well. Although there are doctors who write low-dose amphetamine salt pills for some types of bi-polar syndrome, this person should've known better.

[lil angel15]

Psychotic break much. :\