Drugs affecting autistic people differently
I have unusual reactions to all drugs. Amphetamines tranquilise me, opiates stimulate me, high doses of benzos give me energy, GHB keeps me awake etc. Unfortunately NTs can't comprehend this, they seem to be mentally challenged when it comes to thinking outside the box and don't seem capable of comprehending the fact that psychoactive substances effect people differently. I am prescribed dexedrine but it has massive side effects which almost counteract the therapeutic properties. I discovered that I can remedy all of these side effects with a particular combination. I take a low dose of dihydrocodeine in the morning, along with about half of my ordinary dose of dexedrine, then in the evening, I take another low dose of dihydrocodeine and I am able to function at 150%. Unfortunately doctors are too ignorant to accept that opiates have any uses other than for pain management and the people around me are too dumb and ignorant to accept that this is a safe and effective way to alleviate my symptoms.
I quit DHC cold turkey so I am aware that mild opiate withdrawals are easily manageable. Its a silly world we live in. So called intelligent people are like programmed robots that are incapable of stepping back and looking at matters objectively and thus, rising above their preconceptions. I know one other person with high functioning autism and he actually seems to see what I see. He doesn't use any drugs himself but he sees them for what they are. Tools. Whether they are destructive or constructive depends entirely on how they are used. A hammer can be used to build a house or destroy it. When I try to explain this to NTs, its like talking to a brick wall. Their preconceptions seem to trigger emotions which temporarily convert them into irrational robots. However, my words do plant seeds. I often notice that a person who would initially passionately oppose my views, a few months later they agree wholeheartedly with my views. I think NTs for whatever reasons, are more susceptible to programming by the media. Their programmed in such a way that their emotions will be triggered in response to certain things. When they hear the truth, they initially reject it but the seed of truth will grow in their minds and sooner or later, they will accept it. Its not just NTs that are this way though, I am too. Human nature I suppose.
My mom is also on the spectrum. She has adverse reactions to almost all drugs. The doctors never believe her or listen, so she avoids them (doctors and drugs) as much as possible.
As far as everything else you said about NTs thinking, I agree. Their communication is based around social status and is emotionally driven and "relational". By that I mean it has to do with some kind of interpersonal connectivity, not facts. The literal, verbal content of communication is not very important to them. This makes communication with those of us on the spectrum very hard much of the time. We are wired for different kind of use of language.
hartzofspace
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I am the same way with drugs. I have been on many things for many reasons, but when I have an adverse response, the way that the doctors react is always the same. The maddening response I usually get, is "Well, you are the first to react that way. Are you sure it is the medicine?" Or worse, "Just continue to take it. The side effects lessen with time." Well if the side effects are horrific, why on earth would I continue to take it? It's like watching a house burn down and being told not to intervene, and that the flames will subside in time. After having done how much damage? I was once put on Lyrica. It had the effect of making me feel "high." Then my sleep started getting disrupted so that I felt manic,, only being able to sleep for about 6 hours at a time. My doctor then prescribed Ambien for sleep. I suffered one of the most horrible nights in my life when combining those two. I actually had vivid hallucinations and cowered under my pillow afraid to open my eyes. Now I use Melatonin for sleep. Even Valerian can act as a stimulant, effecting me much the way alcohol would (which is why I don't drink.)
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As far as I know, weird side effects are not all that unusual in NTs either. Especially old people, who metabolize chemicals slower and may be taking several medications at the same time, get this sort of problem. And then get prescribed medication against the side-effects of the other medication...
For myself, anything that can possibly be psychoactive but was not meant to, will. I become tipsy on codein-free cough syrup, drowsy from mild painkillers and dentist's local anesthetic makes me so dizzy and drowsy I can't work for hours. Luckily I'm not very pain-sensitive so that much dental work gets done without anesthetic.
Sweetleaf
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Drugs and alcohol affect everyone differently. Some people get aggressive when drunk, whilst others get depressed, whilst others become calm. My brother gets really depressed when he drinks, and wets the bed too. My dad goes all calm and quiet when he's drunk, and becomes more chatty than when he's not drunk (he is NT). And someone else I know gets sick every time he drinks, no matter how much he has. Alcohol just doesn't agree with his stomach, even though he drinks enough to the point where most people's body becomes used to it, his doesn't.
I don't know what I'm like when drunk or on drugs because I've never got drunk nor taken drugs before (yes, I'm good).
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I don't know what I'm like when drunk or on drugs because I've never got drunk nor taken drugs before (yes, I'm good).
Alcohol is a major depressant.
and this stuff everyone is taking Bubble is evil, if that was added to the water supply in the uk millions would end up dead just with the violence
I know most OTC drugs- and drugs I've been prescribed are useless to me. But it makes sense as drugs work with chemistry and neurotransmiter receptors in our brains mainly, and autism is considered a synaptic disorder- being traced to somewhere in the synapses of the brain/transmitters. So that certain drugs work- or don't work- and have odd effects because of autism would make sense.
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low doses of caffeine make me tired, but a high dose i stimulating.
I'm told by a "psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner" (say that twelve times real fast) of my acquaintance that this is common for those on the spectrum - what's supposed to calm us down revs us up, and so on. I find odd and over-reactions to drugs of all kinds, though. Like it only takes a little tylenol to kill a headache for me, and if I take a standard dose I get nauseated and sick. That kind of thing.
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Sweetleaf
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I don't know what I'm like when drunk or on drugs because I've never got drunk nor taken drugs before (yes, I'm good).
Alcohol is a major depressant.
and this stuff everyone is taking Bubble is evil, if that was added to the water supply in the uk millions would end up dead just with the violence
Yes a CNS depressant, those are not the polar opposite of say an anti-depressant drug since anti-depressants aren't really CNS anything, they just increase the serotonin in the brain. I do not think CNS depressants technically reduce levels of serotonin as they more effect the CNS than the brains serotonin level. The opposite of a CNS depressant would be a CNS stimulant.
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