Leading the wild into the ways of the man…
Photo Friday – Sleep [photofriday.com]
Nothing says sleep like flunitrazepam (Rohypnol, Hypnodorm). 🙂
Disclaimer: This photo was taken in June 2003. I have a legitimate flunitrazepam prescription
[sixthseal.com] in Australia. Flunitrazepam is not available for
prescription in Malaysia and that makes it illegal to possess. I do not possess any flunitrazepam.
The valid prescription I had in Melbourne and all unused pills has been
discarded (thrown away) before my flight back to Malaysia.
Imovane (zopiclone) – scanned blister pack
Zopiclone (Imovane, Zimovane) is one of the newer “z drugs” that is
pharmacologically similar in action with benzodiazepines but with a
different chemical structure. Zopiclone falls into the category of
cyclopyrrolone derivatives, and it’s a non-benzodiazepine with
benzodiazepine like properties. Zopiclone is not prescribed in the
United States but it’s available for prescription in Malaysia. It is a
prescription only drug here, but the middleman (doctor) was bypassed
thanks to my friend who has a pharmacy. My apologies for harping on
this, people would be emailing me about how to get a doctor to
prescribe things if I don’t make it clear how I got them. Which reminds
me, I have a large backlog of experience reports from The Wonderful
World of Pharmaceuticals in the backburner due to my acquaintance, but
I digress.
Imovane tablets comes in a blister pack containing 10 tablets, which
retails for RM 25 (A$ 10). This makes each 7.5 mg tablet of zopiclone
RM 2.50 which is not very cost effective as benzo equivalency charts
suggests that 15 mg of zopiclone = 10 mg of diazepam = 0.5 mg of
alprazolam. However, it is one of the longer lasting “z drugs” – with a
half life of 5 – 6 hours compared to 2 hours with the other two. It is
marketed as a hypnotic (sleeping pill) and is supposed to feel like
benzodiazepines, unlike OTC (over the counter – the stuff you can buy
without a prescription) “sleeping pills” which are usually
anti-histamines or stuff like St. Johns Wort which personally does
nothing (I am tempted to use the term “jack shit” but that would sound
like “drug elitism” ;)) for someone who is used to benzodiazepines.
Imovane tablets – side, front and back view
Anyway, I have taken doses ranging from 15 mg – 75 mg (whole blister
pack) and found that it’s quite recreational at high doses with alcohol
or opiates (be careful), but the BITTER aftertaste which can last till
the next day is rather off putting. I would liken that strange taste to
scraping an old piece of plastic onto dirty pebbles and stick an
aluminium foil at one side and lodging it in your throat for a day. It
does taste bad, no doubt about it, but it’s bearable, it just makes
drinking water kinda distasteful. It is helpful while tapering off
benzodiazepines though, I find that the benzo equivalence chart is not
really accurate – I have a high benzo tolerance, but zopiclone still
manages to induce sleep at doses less than the equivalent of diazepam
and alprazolam. Here are a few of my (unedited with spelling errors)
notes:
zopiclone at high doses
short term mem affected (slightly)
propensity to induce more (craving, chasing the high) quite strong
disinhibition – fairly high
hangover present at higer dosages
Imovane (zopiclone) blister pack – front
zopiclone – first time, 3 tablets. after 45 min, thought i saw blood
dripping, but it was just my red t shirt reflecting off the surface.
got the feeling of “there’s someone behind me, but when i turn he/she’s
gone”, but whether that and the blood visual disturbance is influenced
by previous reading of this class of drugs causing hallucinations in
some people is not known. felt a low level anxiety, but whether that is
because of a first time w/ a new drug and mixing with 3 drinks (downed
quickly) at the 50 minute point is unknown. felt the “there’s something
wrong in my visual field but i can’t point out what it is, but
something is wrong” feeling like the start of an acid trip, and anxiety
is hightened. general feeling of unreality. when calmed down at 1 hour
point, felt hypnotic effects take over. not very strong, but drowsiness
is present at a low level. all manifestations of visual disturbances
have disappeared as of now (t+ 1:10)
no “horrible taste” in mouth as reported in side effects. first time
anxiety slightly present, could be due to benzo taper too. when ignored
and relaxed, it feels quite like benzos, nice and easy and sedating,
more hypnotic, i would liken it to valium and flunitrazepam in hypnotic
effects. “euphoria” (if you like benzo euphoria) is 5.5/10 with
flunitrazepam + alcohol + cannabis being 10/10. take note that is a
subjective/arbitiary figure. amnesia effects similar to benzos, could
still remember previous events before and after the dosing and alcohol
addition. it’s okay, good for SLEEP for recreation, hmm…its a bit to
hypnotic for that. er..yes…at t+ 1:25 there is a bitter taste in my
throat NOT in my mouth or tongue but IN the throat and can be “noticed”
upon breating in but not breating out. hypnotic effects seem to be
steadying, don’t feel any sleepier. not very drowsy now, (had to think
a little hard to get the “drowsy word 🙂 ) but memory affected as seen
in the aside. i’m liking it better now, nice and sedating, relaxing too
ie muscles relaxant properties seem to be present as well.ah
yes..bitter taste…crept up into my mouth when i took a drink of
(plain) water. fudge. the polite term for fudge, not the taste. 🙂 the
taste is a vague metallic taste. i’m slouching now, muscles relaxing
and i could be drowsy if i wanted to (lie down, ligths off). quite
euphoric, i would say at least equal to hm…lemme think. it’s
definately not as euphoric as xanax…so hm…valium, i would say the
euphoria is consistant with valium + small amount of alcohol. 🙂
starting to get forgetful now, wanted to say something but forgot.
reading back did not help, i lost that thought. oh well. anyway, these
are 2.50 per pill. can you say ouch? oh it’s t+2 now and i remembered
wat i wanted to say. i wanted to say the feeling is kinda like having
my mind obliterated. there’s a “pressure” in my brain that makes me
able not to think about anything at all. wat i meant to say is…i am
no expert in the pharmacological aspects, but subjectively, this
zopiclone seems to work by, let me think of an analogy…forcing dried
(hard) prunes into a piggy bank while benzos work like inserting coins.
in other words zopiclone = brute force, benzos = nice and easy. i say
that because i feel DUMB you know, unlike benzos where the mental
functionality is not affected as much. t+ 2:30 now, not really drowsy,
but can sleep if i lie down in darkness and read a book. bye
did not sleep well last nite. did not sleep until t+12, sleep quality
wasn’t good too – freq awakenings etc. slight resideuakl hangover
eeffects. bitter taste still there
Imovane (zopiclone) blister pack – back
hit you on the head, a good sleeping aid, fairly good recreational
substance, pretty low for a social substance. sedation quite powerful,
prob coz not used to these class of drugs.felt like it was brute for ie
it does it work by having a huge fan in frount of you, forcing your
eyes open and the wind blows until you’re tired. can resist easily if
you’re a benzo tolerance person, but if you relax and want to sleep
(which is what thisi s for) yeah it works great as a hypnotic. no
better than some benzos, no less than some. can’t even compare to
antihistamines, those dun even put me to sleep. (insert babble about
OTC sleeping pills). the equivalencey charts i do not agree with, it
seems zopiclone is sedative at less than the equivalancey suggests. 6 x
7.5 mg sedated me much much more than equiv amount of diazepam, but of
course apple and oranges cannot be compared, just that i feel its not
very accurate. otherwise, its a nice drug, yeah can be recreational by
itself in high doses or to potentiate something (opiates, alcohol etc),
but on its own, fairly goood fairly good but the bad taste in your
month is a minus though. i guess can be social drug as well since it
reduces inhibition, but yeah its expensive. i would buy this again if i
need to sleep and i don’t have benzos on hand, or use them both
together (did that twice, nice potentiation too). good for sleep, good
for fun, lasts long, so you can stay up reading or whatever while
enjoying the hypnotic effects. its a good thing. but it causes
dependency as well, so yeah, bewaere. some ppl dun find this “z drugs”
to be recreational. i guess you really have to definre rec in that
sence. its recreational, it makes you sedated and nice so i mean its
recreational. good, but not great, considering the price. i won’t take
this over a benzo, but for sleep, i just might. doesn’t seem to be
cross-tolerant w/ benzos (check this before publishing). nice
zopiclonone.
I won’t put it in the same class as benzodiazepines, but it is a
good substitute, it’s better than nothing and it really decreases sleep
latency. Very nice for sleep (higher than recommended doses is needed
though, but this is from someone with benzodiazepine tolerance) and
quite acceptable for recreational use as well. Better mileage could be
had with generic benzodiazepines though, because zopiclone isn’t cheap.
My apologies for the lack of updates in the last couple of days. I’ve been feeling rather down lately, but I’m fine. Thanks Grace
[pixelphobia.net]. 🙂 Well, I’ve just booked my tickets using AirAsia,
flying out on the 17th (this Sunday) at 10:05 AM and reaching KLIA at
11:55 AM. My sister would have been waiting for a couple of hours then,
she’s coming back from Christchurch (NZ) to do her electives, and my
dad has a meeting to attend and he’s going to arrive 1 hour before me,
so we’ll all be heading down from the airport together.
Well, I’ve been a bit busy lately, going to do MyKad tomorrow
morning, so I’ll have to wake up early, so yeah, my apologies if I’ve
been posting less these few days. I will reply all the comments and
mails in due time (probably tomorrow), so until I get my stuff
together, there might be a slight decrease in posts here. I’m going
over to KL for good, so my gf and her brother is getting the
accomodations part sorted out for me, I’m planning to live somewhere in
Medan Damansara (?). Anyway, sorry for the lack of postings and thanks
for reading! 🙂
Busy today, update tomorrow.
There, a post with four words. 🙂
SEXPO
This site got a mention in the official Sexpo site! My coverage of the event (SEXPO 2002, Melbourne) is listed in the “All about Sexpo” news page
[sexpo.com.au]. You’ll notice that there is a comment from David Ross,
the promoter for Sexpo. He emailed me after that and told me that I was
eligible to apply for a Media Pass, which would make taking photos
easier (people without media passes are not supposed to take stage
performance photos). Anyway, if there’s anyone in Australia, keep that
in mind if you’re going to attend the expo and take photos – enquire
about a Media Pass. 🙂 Thanks for the link!
Snackspot
On a somewhat related note, I discovered this great snack site for
people who appreciate food in my referral logs. I surfed over to find
that the Snackspot admin had linked one of my Magnum Sixties Nine reviews
[snackspot.org]. Thanks! Well, I shamelessly mentioned my post which
has all 9 reviews of the series, as you can see in the comments. Now,
what really made my day was the comment later on from “Astounded” who
said:
Just a side note – a few posts up this page there is a post from
“HB”. Check out his site – he has really thrown down the gauntlet to
Snackspot. He reviews sweets AND recreational drugs!!! And he appears
to come from a country (Malaysia) where possession of illicit narcotics
carries the death penalty!!!!
I really appreciate that, it totally made my day. Thank you “Astounded”! 🙂
Sanlive
This
[sanlive.com] post is a really interesting one, the questions make the
answers an intriguing read. It would really be great if everyone can
answer these questions honestly in their own weblog. Here’s mine:
When and why did you start your daily reads list?
I can’t remember when, I had a “Links” page in my old HTML blog, but
those were mainly links to webpages and not blogs. The “daily reads”
(or “Blogs” in my case) was implemented after the move to Movable Type.
I started it partly to make easier navigation possible (the “Favorites”
drop down menu gets cluttered after a while) and partly to reciprocate
links.
Do you truly visit your daily reads DAILY?
Yes, unless I’m away or otherwise engaged. I don’t visit every blog
daily though, the ones that are frequently updated or which I like I
are clicked on daily, others less frequently. But the vast majority of
the links in my “Blogs” section are read daily.
Why do you add these people as your daily reads?
It could be one of many reasons – you’re one of my personal friends, I
like your blog/writing/personality, it’s a reciprocal link, you’re one
of the people who inspired me to start blogging or because you’re a
fellow Sarawakian. 😉 By the way, that last one is what would make me
link someone, NOT someone on my current “Blogs” list.
How many people are on your daily reads?
There are 18 people in the “Blogs” section as of today.
Have you deleted people from your daily reads, if so why?
Yes. There was the cut and paste disaster
(Note to self: Backup frequently) which made some people unaccounted
for, but most of that has been rectified. I’ve also been asked to
remove links because of my site’s emphasis on drugs, which was not
appreciated by either the blog author or people related to the blog
author. I don’t blame anyone for that, I’m truly sorry that a link from
my “recreational drug use friendly” site caused trouble for the people
involved.
I’ve also deleted people accidentally – the most recent being
Felicia. Oops! Making changes to the blog + generous amounts of alcohol
+ no backups = “Hey, one of my daily reads is missing!”. The Nazi Link Policy
(which has since been removed) also states that I delete blogs on
hiatus and password protected ones. Otherwise (bar accidents while
updating in a lack of sobriety) links do not get deleted unless it’s
one of the reasons above.
Do you comment on your daily reads DAILY?
No, I read them, but I don’t always comment unless I’ve something to
say. I will admit that I am susceptible to the “reciprocal comment”
syndrome though. :p You know what I’m talking about, someone comments
on your blog, you comment back aka “I’ll rub your back if you rub
mine”. 😉 In my case, that is due to either guilt or a lack of time.
How often do you modify your daily reads?
Not often at all. It takes time to recompile a Movable Type blog. I
know that only the front page needs to be recompiled, but I have this
OCD thing where I need to recompile the WHOLE site, and that takes
longer and longer as the site grows. :p I did move some personal
friends into “Personal Websites” though because the site doesn’t really
qualify as a blog due to a lack of updates, but I still want to link to
them, because they’re my real life friends. 🙂
Do you link people on your daily reads only because they linked you?
Guilt does pay a role in this, but my pastor told me guilt is just a
manifestation of Satan’s plan of deception and my dad always told me to
listen to the pastor. 😉 Seriously though, there is a lack of space, or
rather time, since “Blogs” are the people who I read daily. I don’t
want to be a “link farm”, just linking people for the sake of getting
reciprocals or reciprocating reciprocals, but chances are, if you link
me, I’ll find out sooner or later and you’ll inevitably get into the
“Blogs” list coz it’s like real life, hang out with a person long
enough, and he/she will become personal friends and you’ll hang out
(read) them daily.
Does daily reads have special meaning to you?
Yes. sixthseal.com is not a link farm. 😉
Your daily reads are mostly (F/M):
Female.
What do you get from reading your daily reads?
A peek into the daily life of someone interesting. Also, some blogs
have intellectually stimulating content which makes me think.
Are you likely to read LONG blog entries from your daily reads?
Yeah. However, if I’m strapped for time, I would only read long entries if they are interesting or well structured and written.
Do you expect your daily reads to read your blog everyday in return?
I don’t expect anything. I don’t want anyone to feel obliged to read my
blog, I’ll much rather have people read it because they want to or
because the content interests them.
Who on your daily reads has the coolest name?
Lye Cwan. 🙂 I like her name. She’s AlCee in the “Blogs” section.
Who on your daily reads has the coolest layouts?
I like Hilmy’s layout. He draws as well.
Who on your daily reads is most likely to comment in your blog?
I can’t really tell unless I write a script and I’m supposed to be
working on the photo story now, which would have to be postponed till
tomorrow because I spent all my time on this. :p You should too, it’ll
be great if everyone can answer this set of questions honestly.
How many people on your daily reads are your friends in “real life”?
None. I’ve known the people in “Personal Webpages” for years though.
Who is the most intelligent or insightful person?
Xiu. Her posts make me think.
Who is the least favorite/most annoying person on your daily reads?
Jia Hui. 🙂 I did not like her at first (and I told her in an email or
comment too, if memory serves) because her posts made her seem
arrogant, elitist and snobbish. That was a long time ago though, and in
my infrequent surfing around and stumbling onto her blog, her writing
style grew on me and I realized that she wasn’t that way at all. 🙂 It
was just me who was quick to make judgements based on someone’s blog
entry. I have read her frequently after one of her posts made me
realize that my first assumptions was wrong and I have read her ever
since.
Another person who falls into this category is Grace (graceshu), she
also seemed arrogant and sarcastic from her posts and but again, that’s
another wrong assumption. I’ve known her better since and she’s a
really nice person.
Who is most likely to give you news about the world or internet?
Xiu again.
Have you ever wanted to meet people on your daily reads?
Yes, it would be great to have a big blog meetup. 🙂
Who do you admire the most?
Grace (graceux5) because her posts tend to be happy, and that cheers me
up too. Wena (mum-mum) with her photos of food. Grace (graceshu) with
her photo stories. Hilmy (Hilmyworks) because of his artwork.
Who has an attitude problem?
I answered this in “Who is the least favorite/most annoying person on your daily reads?”. 😉
Who is the funniest?
Everyone has their moments but none of the blogs are full fledged humor/satire/parody blogs.
Who is the sweetest?
Literally? mum-mum is a food blog. 🙂
Who is the most out-going?
minishorts has a lot of personal posts, that takes courage.
Whom can you trust the most?
You’ll know if you know. The people in “Personal Websites”. If I had to
choose from “Blogs”, I would say graceshu. Xiu is also a confidante.
Whom do you know the best?
The people in “Personal Websites”, I’ve known them for years!
Whom do you talk to most online?
Claire (minishorts), Grace (graceshu), Wena (mum-mum) are the top three.
Who is the lastest daily reads you added?
Jikon Lai. I like him.
Whose blog do you wish to drool all over on?
Jasmine. She was the first one to link me back in the old days of my HTML-only blog sans comments.
Whose blog do you enjoy reading the most?
I like to read them all, they’re daily reads.
You are least likely to comment on which blog(s)?
That would probably be unsung, although I do read him.
The annual durian season seems to have started in Sibu. A friend of
my dad dropped by with a couple of durians. These are local ones, seems
unripe but it tasted great! Soft, creamy custardy texture, just the way
I like it. Photo story will be up later tonight (early morning
probably), applications for employment gets priority. 🙂
Sorry everyone, I’ve been really busy selling myself lately. Selling
myself to the HR people that is. 😉 My quest for employment is still
ongoing and so is the search for a good post graduate Masters program.
I will update tomorrow, with a collaborative photo story – “A sliver of
liver”. 🙂 Until then, see ya. I will reply all the comments and mails
tomorrow, my apologies, I didn’t get any sleep last night and I’m so
ready to hit the bed right now.
I woke up in the evening to find strange men assembling a wardrobe
outside my room. I did not remember taking any drugs (well, any
psychedelics anyway ;)) so I concluded that someone bought a wardrobe
for me. Photo taken using a webcam, so excuse the quality.
This is a veritas [sixthseal.com] post.
Normison 20 mg capsules
This is temazepam in liquid form inside a gel capsule. It costs RM 2
(A$ 1) for each capsule. It’s a benzodiazepine, but not a very strong
one. 20 mg temazepam = 10 mg diazepam = 0.5 mg alprazolam, so it’s not
cost effective either, considering 10 mg of diazepam goes for half that
price. The best bang for the buck is still alprazolam (Xanax) though,
that’s RM 1 (A$ 0.50) for a 1 mg tablet, but let’s not talk about
benzos while I’m tapering off from them. 🙂 Anyway, there have been
reports of heroin users injecting this (liquid temazepam capsules)
during the heroin drought a couple of years ago in Australia. Don’t do
it unless you want to look like this [drugs.vic.gov.au]. 😉
Temgesic sublingual 0.2 mg tablets
This is 0.2 mg buprenorphine tablets, a mixed opiate
agonist/antagonist. It costs RM 20 (A$ 10) for a blister pack of 10 x
0.2 mg tablets. Due to its water soluble properties, people have also
been injecting this, which is not the wisest thing to do in the world.
There have been reports of success with insufflating (snorting)
buprenorphine, and IMHO that would be a safer method, if you want to go
against the prescribed route of administration (letting it dissolve
under your tongue). Needless to say, if you’re dependant on opiates,
the antagonist properties will make you go into withdrawal, but if
you’re not, it is a recreational drug.
Disclaimer: To protect myself, I only post AFTER the abovementioned substances are no longer
in my possession. In other words, this did not happen today. 🙂 It
would be obvious to frequent readers anyway, since I mentioned I’m
tapering off benzos. These two are part of the group of reviews in the
backburner – stuff I’ve consumed long ago, but haven’t gotten around to
writing about yet. A more detailed experience report would be
forthcoming.
Here are the direct links to all the 5 Sega mini video games that
were released once a week (in a series) for five consecutive weeks from
26th June 2003 – 30th July 2003 as a McDonald’s promotion:
Sonic’s Speedway
McDonald’s & Sega Mini video game #1 – Sonic’s Speedway [sixthseal.com].
Knuckles Soccer
McDonald’s & Sega Mini video game #2 – Knuckles Soccer [sixthseal.com].
Tails Sky Patrol
McDonald’s & Sega Mini video game #3 – Tails Sky Patrol [sixthseal.com].
AiAi Banana Catch
McDonald’s & Sega Mini video game #4 – AiAi Banana Catch [sixthseal.com].
Sonic’s Action Game
McDonald’s & Sega Mini video game #5 – Sonic’s Action Game [sixthseal.com].
