DOSE:

repeated

oral

Dimenhydrinate

(pill / tablet)

BODY WEIGHT:

160 lb

Throughout the summer of 2003, I had gone on a long gravol binge. It started as an attempt to cure my temporary insomnia that summer, since I knew that antiemetics mostly have drowsiness as a side-effect. I tried them in various small doses (100 - 200 mg), and even included alcohol with them now and then to try to intensify the drowsiness. It would never work. At best sometimes I'd just get light-headed, then have restless sleep.

The following year (Fall 2003 - Summer 2004) I began trying dimenhydrinate again as a recreational drug. I still use it. Here is where I'll mention that I've always been a drug/intoxicant heavyweight - I almost always, without exception, require more than most people I know in order to experience effects similar to theirs.

A few other notes before I start. I've experienced a dry mouth every single time I've done it. I now keep a bottle of water next to my bed everytime I do it, if not for the trip then for the annoyingly dry mouth next morning. The come-on time is variant for each of these. Depending on when I last did it, the more recent, the longer the time. It may take anywhere from 40 minutes to 2 hours to fully come on.

I generally keep the dimenhydrinate (which I now just call 'dimen') for the nights when no plans with friends form, plans bunk, etc. I always leave it for the solitary-trip nights. I've had a multitude of different experiences with dimen. I can lump them into three categories, with any given night giving me a trip from a random category - I never managed to pin down a pattern for them. The three categories are 'Mild Stupidity,' 'Mental Stasis,' and 'Hysteria.'

-- MILD STUPIDITY --

On a night of mild stupidity, it is just that. I become light-headed, have trouble relaying thoughts to others, or even following on one thought train. A typical night like this goes:

I wait until I know for sure that the drugs won't come on until my brother and mom are in bed, and take the pills. It's never a good taste, and I sometimes have a very subtle wavering as they go down, as though I shouldn't have done that. It passes within seconds. I then sit down to do whatever - watch TV, chat with friends on the computer, work on the computer. Whatever it is, it's never a multiple-person task. I'll get to why that is later. Eventually, I'll notice that when I move my head around, I have very laggy response to what I see, as though my whole brain is slowed down. It's usually at this point that I head to my room. If I'm co-ordinated enough, I'll usually have a shower, then head to bed. I'll leave my window open (even in plain winter), and sometimes put the fan in my room on.

At this point, I always put music on. I stare at the ceiling, thinking that I'm thinking. In reality, nothing is going through my head at all. I generally stare off into space in one direction, then center my vision back to directly above me, as though I'm regrouping. I may see colour spots appear, which then join to make an overall colour layer on what I see, which feels like a 'rush' feeling over the lenses of my eyes.

I eventually get too tired to listen to music, turn it off, roll over, and fall asleep. After how much time, I don't know. That's it for a mild stupidity night. Nothing spectacular, but it obviously dulls the boredom of a night of nothing and stops me from thought overkill.

-- MENTAL STASIS --

Mental stasis is, as before, just that. My mind freezes to outside reception. A typical mental stasis night goes like this:

As always, I'll wait until I know I don't have to deal face-to-face with my family, and take the pills. Bitter as usual. The temporary feeling of wrong-doing for a few seconds. Off to do something while waiting for it to come on. When it does come on, I notice it very well. My brain slows so much that while talking to someone, I may stop mid-thought for no apparent reason and stare straight ahead. At this point, I know it's time to recede to my bedroom.

I almost always stop for a shower along the way. The shower usually causes a subsequent slowing for a few minutes, since the steam reduces the amount of clear air I get. I usually step out and sit down to get some fresh air right away. Then I'm off to my bedroom.

As I lay in bed, I look around at various objects and begin very very deep thought about the items - the etymology of their names, their original purpose, how I came to own them, possible different uses for them, just everything I can think of. Then suddenly my mind will freeze, I will lose every shred of thought to do with it, and find something else. Repeat the process. Sometimes after staring at a face for a little while (any face in my room, beit the wall, the ceiling, whatever), it may appear as though there are ripples originating from it. I get this a lot with my window, which has a towel hanging in front of it since I'm too lazy to install blinds. With music, I find myself almost travelling along it mentally, and concentrate on it very closely.

One night, I took gravol thinking that I wouldn't be doing anything later. Then a friend wanted to know if I'd go to his college to drop off a paper which was due that morning. I said yes, since I figured he could do with the company while driving. On the way there, it wasn't bad. I was quite coherent and co-ordinated. I even got out of the car and walked to the doors with him, trying to find a way in or a place to drop it off. No luck. We got back in the car, and began to drive away.

Then, the dimen came on as mental stasis. I would stare out the window, at my hand, whatever, and sometimes murmer a word or two, then stop. My friend was really confused, and tried asking me stuff. I could hear every word, and understand the question, but then when I went to reply, I'd forget where I was going with the answer halfway through, and abandon any attempt to complete it. This is why I never do dimen with others - it's pointless. Any communication opened between two people is automatically shut off, and any expression to another person meets a dead end. I'm off in my own world.

Eventually, after a bit of tossing and turning, I fall asleep. The difference between this and mild stupidity is that there is a lot more unconscious thought, in that you think a lot more, but never yield any lasting ideas.

-- HYSTERIA --

I've had this one happen twice. It only comes at excessive dosages. Both times, it's been very difficult to describe. A typical night goes like this:

Wait, take pills, do something. When it comes on, it's like the others - disorientation, slow reactions. The way I know it's headed for a bad ending is when those two climb to such a degree that I no longer know what's going on around me. I generally try to stumble to my room before I lose complete awareness of my surroundings.

At this point I'd like to note that it's these types of trips that I read about on here where hallucinations occur. I've not once had an actual hallucination from it aside from slight rippling and colour rushes. And I've done this drug a little over 40 times in the recent months. Maybe it's just me.

At any rate, once I get into bed, it's a long, arduous journey into the morning. I continually look left and right, toss and turn, look around, clench my bedsheets, anything that involves motion, since it almost parallels the motion in my brain. It keeps turning around and around in my head that I have no idea what's going on, why I've done this, what I've done that was so horrible, why it won't go away, what kind of horrible long-term implications it will have on my life, when will I be able to sleep, why won't this go away, etc etc. It's hysteria simply because you're confused, scared, in awe of everything and nothing at the same time. The best I can liken it to is a bad mush trip.

I've come to embrace all three types of trips I get. Pretty much everyone save a few ask why on earth I'd like the hysteria. I think it's somewhat necessary now and then as a head-clearer, keeping yourself in check, and getting out subconscious messes. Anyone can disagree with me on that, and that's fine. It's a very personal choice.

While some say it would be best to have a sitter, the sitter would just get bored and lonely, since it's a very solitary drug. I'd recommend in place of a sitter, a familiar and closed off place with little social contact. But that's my personal experience - others may have other experiences.

Exp Year: 2003	ExpID: 34438
Gender: Male
Age at time of experience: Not Given
Published: Feb 12, 2007	Views: 24,484
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Dimenhydrinate (17) : Alone (16), Music Discussion (22), Retrospective / Summary (11)