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    Alyzarin

    Paradoxically Stimulated and Sedated

    by , 04-22-2012 at 03:10 AM (912 Views)
    Paradoxically Stimulated and Sedated [Trip Report]
    L-Theanine
    Date: April 21st, 2012

    Dose:
    T+0:00: 400 mg, oral, L-Theanine

    Today I decided to give L-theanine a run after reading that it had some stress-relieving effects and reading about its pharmacology. It increases levels of GABA and dopamine and has some affinity as a NMDA receptor antagonist, meaning overall it's a sedative, stimulant, and dissociative. The bottle I bought had one 200 mg pill as the recommended daily dose, so I chose to double it for this test; the LD50 is said to be very high. As a final note, I'm feeling rather sick today so my resulting lethargy may have skewed the results slightly as far as how much energy the dose gave me goes.

    I took the dose in the early afternoon and waited for it to set in, totally unaware of how long it was supposed to take or what the duration of the effects would be. Within half an hour I was feeling noticeably sedated, but not necessarily enough for me to say it definitely wasn't placebo. But by the hour mark I could feel a bit of a head fogginess that I recognize from other GABA drugs, and the music I was listening to had started sounding wider and deeper. Though this could have been from NMDA antagonism, I'm going to say it was likely at least mostly from the increase of dopamine. The mood it created was one of being paradoxically stimulated and sedated. Figuring that staying on the couch would be a waste of a dose, I decided to go for a walk in the nearby park forest.

    Unexpectedly, once I actually got outside I had a good deal of energy. Or rather, my body was moving very swiftly and fluidly, despite feeling rather at peace. It was a great day outside and being in the sun and feeling the wind rush by me was very soothing. Once I reached a hill that I really like in the area I could tell that my senses were somewhat expanded. I felt like I had a wider panoramic view than normal, as if my vision had been flattened somewhat horizontally, but I believe that was only an illusion caused by the fact that I was taking in a very large quantity of visual data at once (like the opposite of tunnel vision). Among the forest wall I could easily spot several complex patterns of leaves and branches, and colors were fairly saturated in a way that was almost cartoony, but not quite. There was definitely a dopaminergic filter applied to the world, but given that I am very accustomed to this mental change and can pick up on it easily.

    I ended up walking down a path in the forest and found myself feeling very connected to nature. I watched bugs fly around me and animals scamper through the trees as I just walked by. The feeling of mental calmness despite the stimulation made for a very synergistic mindset at this point. I read that L-theanine may have effects on increasing serotonin as well, though it's still disputed. I'd believe it after experiencing this, but it could have just been from the GABA increasing/NMDA antagonist effects as well. Eventually though, I started to feel a bit tired. This may be due to my sickness, like I said, but I also suspect that the dual nature of L-theanine might make the stimulation more susceptible to reduction from fatigue than the average stimulant. It wasn't really an exhaustion though, just that I had gotten my fill. I headed home and basically relaxed until the effect died out. I'm not totally sure when that was, I didn't much pay attention to it after that.

    This was more impressive than I had hoped. It wasn't a very powerful effect, but it wasn't negligible either. I do think though, based on some reports I've read of people getting "drunk" from higher doses, that L-theanine's sedative effect will eventually overpower and probably blunt its mild stimulant psychedelia. This is one probably best used as a compliment to truly psychoactive doses of stronger drugs, as it seems like it could ease your mindset a bit if need be or maybe just smooth out an experience a bit, while still maintaining the same level of hallucinogenic effect. I'll certainly be keeping it on my shelf.
    sinoblak and Wolfwood like this.

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    Updated 04-24-2012 at 09:13 PM by 50803

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    Comments

    1. sinoblak's Avatar
      Lol, Aly, you're so generous to share these experiences with us! Let's say I'm not so interested in what is causing one or other psychedelic effect, I rather aim at the effects themselves, but it is a very useful piece of information.
      I'm not so brave to experiment with drugs myself, definitely.
      Alyzarin likes this.
    2. Alyzarin's Avatar
      Haha, I thought it'd be worth uploading. It's a good reference guide! And I care about what is causing the effects so I can know how to experience psychedelia in as many different ways as possible, and anything I find may prove useful later on! In fact right now I'm obsessing over the potential of mGluR5 antagonists and negative allosteric modulators. They lead to lower levels of phospholipase C, which leads to increased levels of PIP2, which inhibits serine racemase. That means less (or no) L-serine is metabolized into D-serine, and therefore less glutamate is able to activate the NMDA receptor. That means that these mGluR5 antagonists should create dissociative psychedelic effects at least somewhat characteristic of the far more well-known NMDA receptor antagonists, but I would imagine still unique. That's a whole new class of hallucinogens to explore!

      I'm so excited thinking about it that I'm still up on DV because I can't fall asleep.
      sinoblak likes this.
    3. sinoblak's Avatar
      You would make a good drug designer, indeed.
      I found blue morning glory seeds, btw. I intend to crop them.
      Alyzarin likes this.
    4. Wolfwood's Avatar
      " The bottle I bought had one 200 mg pill as the recommended daily dose, so I chose to double it for this test"

      LoL @ your approach. Though from reading about dosage, seems 500mg is recommended for a decent, noticeable effect. Pretty much what you took. I think I might buy this....but you get 60 tablets 200mg for 10 quid, so 20 quid for 60 doses, about 25g. Pure powder route....100g for same price. More mess, yay.
      Alyzarin and sinoblak like this.
    5. Alyzarin's Avatar
      You would make a good drug designer, indeed.
      I found blue morning glory seeds, btw. I intend to crop them.
      Nice! The friend of mine I first used them with just started growing them, too. They're pretty cool.

      " The bottle I bought had one 200 mg pill as the recommended daily dose, so I chose to double it for this test"

      LoL @ your approach. Though from reading about dosage, seems 500mg is recommended for a decent, noticeable effect. Pretty much what you took. I think I might buy this....but you get 60 tablets 200mg for 10 quid, so 20 quid for 60 doses, about 25g. Pure powder route....100g for same price. More mess, yay.
      Haha, well it's not like I didn't know it would be safe. Technically, I was starting small. Like I said in the entry, I can pick up on these subtle changes in my state of mind pretty easily. I was also afraid of going too "high", since I realized that most people who use L-theanine for recreational effect are going for the benzo- and alcohol-like effects, the ones that blunt out the dopaminergic effects. And those are always nice for having a good time, but I prefer having my mind expanded, personally.

      But I'd definitely recommend getting it if you're getting all these supplements anyway. The powder route sounds fun. I just bought it at a local supplement store so I didn't have that option.
      sinoblak likes this.