Drug Experiences

[Kitsune]

The roads down here are yellow. No, wait, I haven't started sharing a drug experience, yet -- the roads down here are dusted visibly yellow with pollen. My sinuses were killing me, so I popped a Claritin and my head clears up. But, ah, the "medicine head" sinks in and I'm floating around, feeling relaxed and sleepy like a balloon set free from the floral section at the grocery store. "They should market this as the 24 hour, time-release bong hit."

But I can't say that since I've never sampled. Anyone care to share if it is really liquidless intoxication without a hangover?

I did overdose on caffeine, once. The paranoia that sets in, the skin crawling feeling is absolutely awful. I slammed a 20oz black tea Chai in one minute after already having consumed an uncountable number of cups of coffee at a bookstore. I became very, very concerned about the car idling outside at the curb, to the point I had to leave. My entire drive home was edged with worry that the car behind him was following me and I even took some unusual turns through the neighborhood, but every set of headlights looked like the previous pair. I didn't sleep that night and I ended up bombing the test I had slammed the caffiene to study for. I could hear my heart pounding through all the tossing and turning until the sun came up.

Legal drugs also produce interesting effects. A close friend says his initial trial of Seroquel made his mornings feel like a slow movie of empty scenes in which he was unable to process any concious thoughts. The disconnection he felt often resulted in lost memories of the day.

And then there's the new one: Ambien Drivers.

"The brain is literally partly awake and partly asleep ... awake enough to perform very complex behaviors but not awake enough to monitor what's going on," says Dr. Mark Mahowald