Phenibut

[sk8phaze (OP)]

Phenibut (or, alternatively, fenibut, phenybut) (brand name Noofen, Citrocard), contracted from β-phenyl-γ-aminobutyric acid (β-phenyl-GABA), is a central depressant and derivative of the naturally occurring inhibitory neurotransmitter γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA). The addition of a phenyl ring allows phenibut to cross the blood–brain barrier.[1] Phenibut was developed in the Soviet Union in the 1960s, and has since been used there as a pharmaceutical drug to treat a wide range of ailments, including posttraumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression, asthenia, insomnia, alcoholism, stuttering, and vestibular disorders, among other conditions.[4][5][1] In the rest of the world, phenibut is not approved for clinical use, and is instead sold as a nutritional supplement.[6] It has been reported by some researchers to possess nootropic actions for its ability to improve neurological functions,[4][medical citation needed] but others have not observed these effects.[7] It is generally accepted that phenibut has anxiolytic effects in both animal models and in humans.[1]

[Narkotikon]

If you don't mind me asking, what's your usage history like with this stuff?  I know I'm going to have to taper really well, but how fucked is someone who's been using this stuff daily for several months? 

[sk8phaze (OP)]

Well I started in September and quickly jumped to 3.5g daily for about 2 months, then I abruptly jumped down to 1.5g without and problems (j had a few twiches) but i was feeling good. Ive been using for about 4 months now.

[Narkotikon]

Well I started in September and quickly jumped to 3.5g daily for about 2 months, then I abruptly jumped down to 1.5g without and problems (j had a few twiches) but i was feeling good. Ive been using for about 4 months now.

Thanks for explaining. One thing I noticed when I was tapering was that I could drop down to a lower dose rather quickly, usually about a week. The only thing I noticed then were cravings, which caused some slip ups a few times.

I've been doing this stuff since mid-March. From then until the start of May I'd do it for three days then take a day or two off, rinse and repeat. Starting at the beginning of May though I've been using it daily. So eight months now.

For the longest time my daily dose was 3g BID (am / pm). Sometimes I'd up it when I wanted to sleep standing up because your tolerance to this stuff increases fast. But I'd only do that for 2-3 days then go back down to 3g BID.

The last few months I've been getting larger containers and have been doing more than I should. The most I've ever taken has been 12g at once. Right now I'm using 4.5g once, sometimes twice, per day. So yeah I'm worried how hard it's gonna be when I finally do quit.

I don't know if you can get this, but Lamictal / lamotrigine helps a lot with the shakes. It's not scheduled and is fairly easy to get. It's an anti epileptic drug used off label for anxiety, among other things. It lowers glutamate thereby allowing your GABA to work better.   

[sk8phaze (OP)]

One time on last halloween i was used to 3.5g daily, I doubled it, took about 7.5g and like 8 (300mg) Gabapentin, I slept for 24 hours, woke up, took a piss, then layed down and in the blink of an eye another 9 hours passed. I felt horrible. Never overdo it.

[Narkotikon]

I agree. The times I took high doses like that is when I worked my way up to it. So like 6g, then 8g, then 10g, etc. on subsequent nights. Definitely didn't go from 3g or 4.5g to 12g. The only thing that high doses like that does for me is to make me fall down. Which oddly enough I kinda like. I've had four bad bruises now. Luckily they're covered by clothes. And as embarrassing as it is, I got a small gash from falling down in May.

The drawback of doing high doses like that (IMO) is that it makes me feel extremely tired for the next 2-3 days afterwards. But the interesting thing is that it doesn't help me sleep that much. Normally I'd sleep a good ten hours a night prior to my phenibut use. Now though I'm lucky if I get a solid 4-5 hours. And 90% of the time it's cumulative from broken up 45-60 minute naps throughout the day.

Thanks for your help and information. Good addition to the drug categories.

[sk8phaze (OP)]

Yeah, me too. It works great by but I sleep only a few hours

[sk8phaze (OP)]

I just found sum baclofen and took 10mg & mixed it with 1.2g of Phenibut, Gabapentin, suboxone, weed, & booze. I was stumbling

[Narkotikon]

That's interesting you mentioned Baclofen. Everything I've read says phenibut and Baclofen are extremely similar. It's just that Baclofen is much more potent.

I've found some case studies where people who were using phenibut had to quit suddenly and they were tapered off using Baclofen. In one of the case reports they equated 1g phenibut to 10mg Baclofen.

The thing with that is Baclofen has a half life of 4-6 hours I think, whereas phenibut is much longer acting. I mean I can still feel my dose from last night. I'm sure that will have an additive effect to the dose I just took tonight. So in that sense I'm assuming 1g phenibut is equal to 10mg Baclofen taken every 4-6 hours. Something like that at least.

Whatever the case, I really wish I had known about this stuff when I was still going through opiate withdrawal. It would have been a life saver for the RLS and anxiety. Those were always two of my three biggest complaints, the third being insomnia. Might have helped with that too, at least right at the first.

[Chip]

That's interesting you mentioned Baclofen. Everything I've read says phenibut and Baclofen are extremely similar. It's just that Baclofen is much more potent. <snip.

i mentioned before that i was prescribed Baclofen for a few days in a hospital.

.. long story ... i mentioned that i needed muscle relaxants to stop nerve spasms -- big pain, like 9/10 bad !

[Reezy]

I know the last time I had phenibut i used it to get "fucked up" like 2-3g doses but this time around its a blessing.(never got w/d)

Now I take 3-4 scoops of the same brand you posted every morning, only in the morning. You know those little white scoopers they give you? so about 500+mg(I REALLY go big on what one scoop is)

I don't really feel it ever, but I have noticed my social anxiety has been shot down. I also combine it with tianpetine. but only in the morning.

[Opus]

Baclofen isn't more potent than phenibut, not IME anyway. Baclofen is one of those drugs that you can kinda tell it's there, and that it helps especially if you're used to other GABA related drugs, but you won't get loaded on the stuff, at least I don't. I like it though, especially the first couple days it's around.

Phenibut is different. Take enough of that shit and it *WILL* knock you on your ass. I've had some weird experiences on that shit, like some wickedly vivid and confusing dream-like states, not scary just really confusing. I would take upwards of 8-10grams of the shit, and one day I started having petit-mal seizures. I quit fucking with that shit after it all kinda pinnacled with those experiences. That shit is no joke, it's extremely slow to come on and and also long lasting. Be careful with high doses of that stuff, I could easily see someone getting into trouble with that shit. It makes baclofen seem like aspirin above about 5G..

[Narkotikon]

By more potent I just meant on a mg to mg basis. So 10 mg Baclofen is more potent than 1g phenibut. Perhaps I worded it wrong.

Thanks for the warning. I've been worried about this for a while now. When you were taking high doses, what type of taper schedule did you do? Did you have significant withdrawal when you finally quit? The way I read the petit-mal seizures is that they occurred when you were on the phenibut, or did you mean after you quit taking it? Anything GABA related makes me worry about seizures.

[Opus]

By more potent I just meant on a mg to mg basis. So 10 mg Baclofen is more potent than 1g phenibut. Perhaps I worded it wrong.

Thanks for the warning. I've been worried about this for a while now. When you were taking high doses, what type of taper schedule did you do? Did you have significant withdrawal when you finally quit? The way I read the petit-mal seizures is that they occurred when you were on the phenibut, or did you mean after you quit taking it? Anything GABA related makes me worry about seizures.

I don't recall exactly what I was taking at that point -- my posts from back then would probably give a lot more insight into what I was doing than I could here. The PM seizures weren't caused from a taper tho, it was weird because it happened when I was on a really high dose of the shit. I posted about it at the time, unfortunately it's not so easy to just search my old posts anymore

Tapering is the same story with most other things, use something long-acting and go as slow as possible, and I think it's really key to get down really low for awhile before you jump.

[Narkotikon]

I don't recall exactly what I was taking at that point -- my posts from back then would probably give a lot more insight into what I was doing than I could here. The PM seizures weren't caused from a taper tho, it was weird because it happened when I was on a really high dose of the shit. I posted about it at the time, unfortunately it's not so easy to just search my old posts anymore

Tapering is the same story with most other things, use something long-acting and go as slow as possible, and I think it's really key to get down really low for awhile before you jump.

Thanks for answering, Chops. I really do appreciate it. I'll make sure to go slow and low with the taper.