Modern humans must learn how to relate to psychoactives
responsibly, treating them with respect and awareness,
working to minimize harms and maximize benefits, and
integrating use into a healthy, enjoyable, and productive life.
My TwoCenta on Nucynta
Tapentadol, Alprazolam & Diphenhydramine
Citation:   Bandit. "My TwoCenta on Nucynta: An Experience with Tapentadol, Alprazolam & Diphenhydramine (exp81143)". Erowid.org. Nov 30, 2012. erowid.org/exp/81143

 
DOSE:
T+ 0:00
400 mg oral Pharms - Bupropion (daily)
  T+ 0:00 40 mg oral Pharms - Paroxetine (daily)
  T+ 0:00 1.5 mg oral Pharms - Alprazolam (daily)
  T+ 0:00 150 mg oral Tapentadol (pill / tablet)
  T+ 0:00 1 mg oral Pharms - Alprazolam (pill / tablet)
  T+ 1:00 50 mg oral Diphenhydramine (pill / tablet)
  T+ 2:15 150 mg oral Tapentadol (pill / tablet)
  T+ 2:15 1 mg oral Pharms - Alprazolam (pill / tablet)
  T+ 2:15 50 mg oral Diphenhydramine (pill / tablet)
  T+ 3:00 37.5 mg oral Tapentadol (pill / tablet)
BODY WEIGHT: 195 lb
I am a male in his early twenties and attend college at a university. I am of average height and weight. I come from a good family (upper-middle class). I am very interested in drugs and how they work, especially psychoactive drugs. I have been most of my adult life. I am an advocate for responsible recreational drug use. My history with drugs is quite extensive; I have been experimenting with prescription drugs for the last few years of my life. I am interested in the scientific aspect of prescription drugs (IE drugs effect on the psyche). I do not use drugs as a means to escape my troubles.

So my credentials: In total, I have tried most of the popular benzodiazepines (Alprazolam, Clonazapam, Lorazepam, and Midazolam). I am a regular therapeutic user of “benzos” and have a legit script for my horrible social anxiety. I am also on an antidepressant regime for depression and, as mentioned, anxiety. I take 400mg of Bupropion (Wellbutrin), 40mg of Paroxetine (Paxil) as well as 1.5mg of Alprazolam (Xanax) daily. I have tried a variety of opiates (Fentanyl, Hydromorphone, Oxycodone, Hydrocodone, Tapentadol, Codeine and Tramadol) hundreds of times. Not to mention others like cannabis, salvia, DXM, Zolpidem (Ambien), Methylphenidate (Ritalin) and many, many more. I am in chronic pain and see a pain management doctor regularly. I undergo a few procedures a year to ease my pain to a tolerable level which allows me to function without taking strong opioids (Oxycodone). The procedure I receive really does help a lot, however I am put in more pain than usual for about three to four weeks after it’s done. For this, I was prescribed Oxycodone (Percocet) 5mg. This is a relatively low dose of “oxy” but it is just enough to help me through my agonizing pain, along with rest.

Recently, I called my PM doctor and complained about the level of pain I was in so he wrote me a prescription for this new drug called Nucynta (tapentadol) 75mg and scheduled me an appointment to see him the next week. Nucynta not only has an affinity for the opioid receptors, but it also inhibits the reuptake of norepinephrine (which amplifies the opioid activity). This drug was created by Grünenthal (a German Pharmaceutical Company). Grünenthal also created Tramadol (Ultram). It is somewhat similar in action to Tramadol but much more potent as said by the pharmacist. It had only been released into the United States market about two months before my first prescription and when this report was submitted. As luck would have it, I had read about this new drug which was in the process of being approved by the FDA and scheduled by the DEA before it actually came onto the market. The DEA scheduled it as a C-II or class 2 controlled substance (the highest class for legal painkillers). Other drugs in this class are Hydromorphone, Oxycodone, Methadone and most other strong opioids. Weaker opioids such as Hydrocodone (Vicodin) are schedule 3, while most benzos are schedule 4.

Anyway, being the sport that I am, I gladly drove to my PM office to pick up my prescription. The prescription was for 30 pills of Nucynta 75mg to be taken b.i.d. (twice a day). This was only a two week supply, but it was enough to last me to my appointment. Nucynta is available in 50, 75 and 100mg strengths. I read online in a medical journal that 75mg was equal to about 15mg of Oxycodone, so I was pleased. Being a brand new drug, I knew it was going to be expensive to have filled but I didn’t expect it to be hard to find a pharmacy that stocked it yet. I finally did (after calling about 4 different pharmacies) and went there to get it filled. My co-payment with insurance was around $45, which is quite expensive especially when a similar prescription of Percocet would only be around $4.

So off I went, happy to try a new drug and expand my knowledge. Me and my girlfriend, who I’ll refer to as “L,” are quite fond of using drugs recreationally every once in a while. It was Friday, so I went to her place for a nice little week cap. I showed her the orange pills and we both took some. I will focus mainly on my experience.

It is important to notice that I don’t have a high opiate tolerance, and I take Alprazolam (Xanax) everyday (.5mg maybe 2 to3 times a day). Also, this report was written after the effects wore off, but I did take note of my experience during the time below and the latter portion is based on my memory and the observations made by my GF “L.”

T- 0:00- Ingested 150mg of Nucynta along with 1mg of Alprazolam (Xanax) to potentate, the mood is relaxed and laid back. It is just the two of us and we have no plans on going out and no one is coming over. So we chill and watch television. It is around 9pm.

T- 0:30- Not much of a feeling yet, besides an anticipatory high. We both are still chilling and watching television

T- 0:45- The effects are beginning to be felt. It feels like a warm euphoric feeling with a sense of well being along with the classic (and in my opinion loveable) opioid effects like itchiness and the heavy leg feeling.

T- 1:00- Moderate euphoric effects, its really starting to kick in. I haven’t reached the peak yet and it is stronger than I expected. My girlfriend L (who took only 75mg) says it feels like more than 10mg of Oxycodone. She is pleased. I took 50 milligrams of Diphenhydramine (Benadryl) to further potentate my experience, even though I have yet to peak.

T- 1:30- I am laid back on the couch enjoying life. Everything in the world at this moment is excellent. I have no worries or concerns about my day to day stressors. The euphoria is very powerful and intense. I feel a sense of heavy well being and am feeling more social than I normally do (which is weird for me because of my anxiety). The dose I took, 150mg is equivalent to (from what I’ve read from a medical journal) 30mg of Oxycodone. My vision is blurry and I feel messed up in a very, very good way.

T- 2:15- I take another two 75mg pills of Nucynta, 300mg so far, another 1mg of Xanax and 50mg of Benadryl.

T- 3:00- I take more Nucynta, one-half a pill (37.5mg), which is my last dose. I am up to 337.5mg so far. I feel very inebriated in a very good way. “L” is feeling good also, she takes another 75mg. We agree that this is our favorite opioid we’ve tried to date. The dose I took 45 min ago will take another 45 min to peak. I feel intense euphoria and completely satisfied. My legs are itchy and feel heavy. The wave of warm comfort and euphoria increases, especially when I lay down on the couch. My vision is getting pretty blurry. Also my short-term memory is starting to show a mild deficit. I have energy, which is actually a pretty cool side effect of Nucynta in my opinion. It is due to its chemical composition.

T- 3:45- I am incredibly euphoric and feel more (pardon my language) fucked-up than I have ever in my entire experience with opiates. While I have tried high doses (for me at least, maybe 30mg) of Oxycodone before I have never reached this level of well-being, warmness and euphoria. It feels like a warm blanket; an internal hug of sorts. Words can’t describe it. Nucynta is now my new favorite opioid.

T- 4:45- (My memory is somewhat fragmented and this part is based upon L’s observations as well as my own). I begin to nod off while sitting up and watching TV with L. It started with me staring at the wall and TV in front of me. L, who hadn’t taken as much of Nucynta, engages me in conversation. I listen but can barely comprehend and process what she is saying, I am too far opiated. She asks me a question and, sure enough, I respond though I make absolutely no sense. I am saying words but they are heavily slurred, not in order (almost random) and have nothing to do with what she asked me. I was nodding in and out every few minutes, even though I didn’t think I was. She later told me that my head went backwards and I just sat there, and would come back and start talking, babbling again being completely oblivious to nodding off.

T- 5:30- (My memory is moderately fragmented and observations are reported through a combination of my memory and L’s comments). I continue to nod in and out of an on-going conversation I am trying to sustain with L. I remember this as being very difficult. Also, I kept forgetting what we were talking about. I nod off (pass out/fall asleep) without feeling tired whatsoever and wake up intermittently having little recollection of nodding off in the first place. The buzz continues as strong as before, my vision is heavily distorted. The only way I can describe my vision is by saying it was like being extremely drunk without having a tolerance for alcohol. It was all over the place.

T- 5:45- My girlfriend L who is feeling very buzzed also, explains to me that I am nodding in and out and should go to bed. I didn’t feel tired and I still wanted to stay up, hang out and enjoy my buzz, but L convinces me that I am nodding in and out and I should go to bed. So I stumble to my room and lie in my bed and fall asleep. It is around 2am. L goes to bed also.

T- 16:45- I awake around 1 pm in the afternoon on Saturday. I have no hangover effect. I still feel the Nucynta buzz mildly. It is pleasant. I wake up L and we talk about the crazy night we had. She is feeling fine albeit tired. We continue with a normal lazy day.

In conclusion, I greatly enjoyed my experiences with Nucynta. To me, it is an effective opioid. I feel that Nucynta has a very promising role in both the therapeutic and recreational spheres now and in the future. To those who read this article I urge you to take caution when using drugs especially in combination as I had. The synergistic effect of different agents (opioids, benzodiazepines, antihistamines, etc.) can cause unpredictable and unwanted side effects. Although my experience was pleasant, it could have easily led me to the emergency room or even kill me through respiratory depression. I am an advocate for the responsible use of recreational drugs, so I urge you to use caution while experimenting with any drug or substance.

UPDATE 7/8/10:     

Looking back on the report I would like to say that Nucynta has proved to be an effective pain killer, and has continued to produce euphoria despite being taken almost daily for a year. Tolerance seems (in my situation) to form very slowly compared to other opioids.  It's also noteworthy to mention that the abrupt discontinuation of this drug (in my situation) produces no/little withdrawal.  I stopped taking Nucynta for about a week on several occasions with no ill effects besides my normal pain returning. I only take a relatively normal dose.  It seems to be an excellent analgesic/euphoriant with a low withdrawal profile.  

Exp Year: 2009ExpID: 81143
Gender: Male 
Age at time of experience: 22
Published: Nov 30, 2012Views: 93,936
[ View PDF (to print) ] [ View LaTeX (for geeks) ] [ Swap Dark/Light ]
Tapentadol (495), Pharms - Alprazolam (98), Diphenhydramine (109) : Small Group (2-9) (17), Combinations (3), General (1)

COPYRIGHTS: All reports copyright Erowid.
No AI Training use allowed without written permission.
TERMS OF USE: By accessing this page, you agree not to download, analyze, distill, reuse, digest, or feed into any AI-type system the report data without first contacting Erowid Center and receiving written permission.

Experience Reports are the writings and opinions of the authors who submit them. Some of the activities described are dangerous and/or illegal and none are recommended by Erowid Center.


Experience Vaults Index Full List of Substances Search Submit Report User Settings About Main Psychoactive Vaults