...your pea experience doesnt make sense it does antagonise pea but i never heared anyone noticing any pea rebound effects, i was i did as that would be a nice amp like experience, on selegiline atleast, pea is inactive on its own.
Actually I've had the same experience of what could be described as "PEA rebound" and I've also had experience with PEA being extremely active when combined with an MAO-B inhibitor.
I'm a phenibut "addict" and the rebound feeling I get is very similar to taking a large dose of PEA. PEA is NOT ineffective in the brain! It is ineffective as an oral supplement because it normally gets oxidized into a metabolite before it reaches the brain, unless the MAO-b inhibitor prevents this reaction.
PEA is a potent endogenous neurotransmitter that naturally exists at trace levels in the brain. The rebound hypothesis makes sense.
HOWEVER, my experience has also been consistent with "acetylcholine overload," LSD minus the psychedelic effect, rasagaline (similar to selegiline), adderal... Basically, my brain goes into hyper-drive but it's not productive. I get locked in mostly focusing on my computer monitor and I can stare at something for long periods. To an outside observer it could look like I'm chilled out and just concentrating on something, but internally it's like a cerebral hypo-mania.
There is absolutely no hope of getting sleep while experiencing phenibut withdrawal, so I've had to take several other substances to get any sleep at all. Of course etizolam works, but I try to minimize use of that and instead I'll use a combo of melatonin, magnesium, cyproheptadine (serotonin antagonist, antihistamine, and anticholinergic), gabapentin, valerian, baicalin, magnolia extract, bacopa, ashwagandha... often I'll take ALL of these and it still can't fully get me a good night's sleep. Only the etizolam reliably does the job. I've never used more than 1 mg of etiz, so I'm doing well with staying out of addiction with it.
Reading this thread, and some others on problems with phenibut, I'm feeling pretty worried. I've been taking phenibut every day for almost 3 years, and I take several other things that are also problematic in the long run. In some ways they balance each other out, but I think I've been gradually destroying my gaba receptors and basically rewiring every other type of neurotransmitter pathway in my brain. I can function well just reading and writing, but my social skills have diminished and I never leave the house if I don't have to. I feel totally content to do nothing all day, every day. Fortunately I haven't been feeling any anxiety. I hate anxiety, it's the worst, especially in the form of panic attacks.
I think the down-regulation of the dopaminergic system could lead to a hyper-serotonergic condition as part of phenibut withdrawal. It feels a bit like that is happening, along with PEA, possibly acetylcholine, and general disinhibition due to gaba down-regulation. Another way I could describe the feeling I have when I try to cut back on phenibut is that it's a bit like modafinil, a drug that I hate. I feel hyper-awake yet less alive. Here's the full drug effect analogy: I feel like I'm on a combination of low-doses of modafinil, huperzine, rasagaline, 5-MeO-MiPT, and ritalin. It's not fun. I want to feel grounded, human, relaxed, and normal. I don't think that's going to be obtainable any time in the foreseeable future.
EDIT: I just went outside for a few minutes and talked to a neighbor, and I felt fine. I think most of my symptoms might be due to the fact that I sit in my bedroom staring at a computer monitor all day, a lifestyle for which we did not evolve. I need to go hiking! I bet that exercise in general is a good partial treatment for PAWS due to any type of withdrawal.
Edited by deeptrance, 13 December 2014 - 08:03 PM.
