Leading the wild into the ways of the man…
Open Sesame mouth!
Disclaimer: The Xanax and Rivotril depicted in the photos above are not mine. It is in fact, very empty collectibles. Please do not zoom in or squint in any way to verify the veracity of my claims since you’ll most likely find that it is not in fact empty. In any case, I have prescriptions for both from a doctor in KL.
Xanax nightlight
I have a cool Xanax nightlight (which I think is rather ironic) which I got from my ex-gf. Ahh…the perks of having a pharmacist as a gf. 😉 It comes in a small plastic receptacle that has “Xanax” and “alprazolam” emblazed on it in red.
The pharmaceutical promotional product is from Pfizer (probably for the new 3 mg steady state plasma concentration Xanax) and is a fully working night light for reading a book on those sleepless nights (see ironic).
Viagra soap
This huge bar of Viagra shaped soap is also courtesy of Pfizer. It smells really nice.
It contains a large Viagra shaped blue colored soap with the imprint “Pfizer” on one side…
…and “VGR 100” on the other, just like the real thing. Except this is soap.
Which I also found rather ironic.
]]>This is a box of 100 x 0.5 mg tablets of Xanax (alprazolam) made by
the original pharmaceutical company. It contains 10 blister packs of 10
x 0.5 mg alprazolam each.
The side of the box states that Xanax should be dispensed only by or
on the prescription of a physician. What? And tie down all the medical
resources? What happened to good ol’ Do-It-Yourself self-medication? We
don’t need no damn doctors back in the days, we just got the box and
took them Xanaxes as needed. 😉
Them Xanax tablets are good till 2007 too…
Alright, have a great week everyone, I’m flying back to Sibu later today for the long Gawai holidays.
veritas in Malaysia.
Greetings from Malaysia! I am not dead yet, though I did have to
make another trip to the ER (drug related) before I came back. 🙂 I may
or may not be posting about that in the future since I’m still deciding
if doing that will reveal too much and break my anonymity. I will say
that it was the BEST service I ever had though, no triage nurses, it
was straight into a bed where I was hooked up with all sorts of
thingies and a doctor came immediately. Hypertensive crisis in
progress, heart failure probable. I would have enjoyed it if I wasn’t
really afraid for my well being. Heh. It was a bit too close for
comfort this time, please don’t take too much stimulants over a
prolonged period of time if you have an existing medical condition
which contraindicates stimulants (hypertension, heart problems etc).
I digress, that’s not what I’m talking about today. All turned out
good though, so fear not, veritas will not kick the bucket that easily.
😉 I hate it when people refer to themselves in the third person too,
so you’re not alone. Anyway, today I will be reporting about doctor
shopping in Malaysia. Yeah, you heard me right, doctor shopping, not
pharmacy runs. 🙁 Unfortunately, the days of freely available
benzodiazepines seems to be over…the pharmacies now display a startling
respect for prescribing procedures, and Xanax (alprazolam) and other
benzos seems to be getting the bad kind of attention due to unknown
instigating factors.
Front of the blister pack.
Pharmacy #1
This was the good one that I had no problems getting Xanax
(alprazolam) and Valium (diazepam) off of last time I was back home
(about six months ago). Unfortunately, they seem to have stopped all
restricted drug sales (or so they claim) and they don’t stock any
benzodiazepines anymore. Well, too bad, but I’ve had a nice haul from
this one last time I was back so it’s all good. Thanks anyway.
Pharmacy #2
I did not want to visit this one due to personal reasons. However, a
friend of mine gets her Xanax from here, so I know they stock the
stuff, but they’ve not displayed a willingness to hand over the goods
without a prescription the last time I was here, so I was not
optimistic about walking out with benzodiazepines. Nevertheless, it
won’t hurt to try, so in I walked and told them about my situation
(just got back from Australia, couldn’t bring my prescription back, can
I have some alprazolam please?). Well, they said they’ll be happy to
sell it to me, with a prescription, which I didn’t have. Oh well.
Pharmacy #3
They don’t carry restricted medications.
Pharmacy #4
They also don’t carry restricted stuff.
Pharmacy #5
This was attached to a medical center so I doubt they will sell it
w/o a prescription but again, it won’t hurt to try, so in I went. The
counter was staffed by only a single girl, who was friendly even though
I think she suspected I was attempting to acquire benzos for
recreational purposes. I asked for alprazolam and told her my situation
(see above) and she pulled out this deliciously large container full of
generic 0.5 mg Xanax. The packaging looked like that beta blocker that
pharmacies #3 and #4 was offering me as an alternative, so I said it’s
not a beta blocker but a benzodiazepine. She said, this is a
benzodiazepine. Oops, my mistake, it was alprazolam. 🙂 Unfortunately,
she says that company policy does not allow her to sell it without a
prescription, but she suggested that I visit the medical center beside
and get a prescription, come back and she’ll sort me out. Sounds like a
plan, until I walked into the medical center and saw rows upon rows (I
am not exaggerating) of waiting patients. I doubt it’ll be my turn come
evening, so I walked back and *cough* asked if bending the rules would
be possible. She smiled and said they have regular stock counts so she
would not be able to sell even a small amount to me even if she wanted
to. Thus, Project Doctor Shopping had to be revived in Malaysia.
Back of the blister pack.
Doctor #1
I walked into this clinic because it was empty, so I didn’t have to
wait. After registering as a new patient, I got to see the doctor and
explained my situation. I have to add that I wasn’t properly dressed
for the occasion and my current attire (which revealed my tattoos –
something I found to be a hindrance when doctor shopping) probably
contributed to the lack of helpfulness from this doctor. He said they
didn’t stock Xanax, and he was unwilling to write a prescription for it
and suggested that I visit a clinical psychologist instead as they are
more qualified to issue these medications. The doctor also commented
that I was a bit young to be taking Xanax, he said that “it’s what old
people take” (his words). I refrained from correcting his presumption,
and he refrained from charging me consultation fees. 😉 No harm, no
foul, walked out in a couple of minutes and visited another doctor.
Consultation fees: RM 0
Medication fees: What medication?
Interesting fact: Every single blister pack has a different tablet
arrangement. The first one had all the tablets with the front showing,
the second one had all backs except for the last three, which were
fronts, and the third was all fronts, except for the first two and last
two, which were backs.
Doctor #2
I ensured I looked presentable before dropping in on this one.
Doctor: Hello, what can I do for you?
Me: Hello, I have been diagnosed with anxiety disorder.
Doctor: Yes, what medication are you taking?
Me: I was prescribed with 0.5 mg alprazolam twice daily in
Australia. I just came back, but unfortunately I could not bring the
medication back.
Doctor: I see. How long have you been taking it?
Me: Oh, about one and half years. I just graduated (shows him my
Student ID card) and my health insurance (shows him my Medibank Private
card) does not allow me to bring back the medication, so I have to get
a new prescription here.
I showed him the cards and offered him additional information
because it seemed like this was a go, and if it was, I wanted to
establish a long term relationship with the doctor, considering the
stricter pharmacy guidelines which have fallen into place during the
time I was away.
Doctor: Okay, I’ll just show you the tablets that I have.
(talking to nurse) Bring me the Upjohn tablets. Is these the ones that
you’ve been taking?
He shows me a blister pack of 10 x 0.5 mg brand name Xanax tablets. I examined the pack for a while and replied:
Me: Yeah, the packaging is different but the ingredient is the same.
It never hurts to play the ignorant patient. 😉
Doctor: That’s expected, the packaging would be different as
this are the ones packaged for Malaysian sale, but if it’s the same
thing, it’ll work like your last prescription did. How many do you want?
Me: How much are the blister packs?
Doctor: It’s RM 1.50.
Me: RM 1.50 for the blister pack?!?!?
Doctor: Oh, it’s RM 1.50 per tablet, RM 12 for a blister pack.
Me: Okay, can I have two blister packs please?
RM 1.50 = A$ 0.75. RM 12 = A$ 6. The price per mg of alprazolam is
RM 2.40 or A$ 1.20, not cheap for someone who paid A$ 26.40 (RM 52.80)
for 200 mg of clonazepam. Clonazepam is equivalent on a mg to mg basis
with alprazolam so that works out to just RM 0.26 or A$ 0.13 per mg,
almost 10 times lower than the price I’m getting in Malaysia.
Doctor: Sure, just remember that this is a restricted drug, so
remember to carry the authorization letter with you (?) and don’t give
the tablets to anyone else.
Me: Yeah, I’m aware of that. Oh, can I have three blister packs? It would be easier to come back in 15 days instead.
Doctor: No problems, I’m happy to sell you as many as you need.
Hehehe!
Me: Thanks!
Consultation fees: RM 0
Medication fees: RM 36 (A$ 18) for 15 mg of alprazolam (Xanax).
These are the Pharmacia & Upjohn brand name tablets, so it would be
more expensive than generics.
Xanax 0.5 mg pink tablets. Mmm…
Success! 🙂 This also established a possible long term relationship
with the good doctor and a good medical history with the clinic, so I’m
happy with the way things turned out. The clinic did not charge me for
consultation, and that was good. I went back to Pharmacy #5 and asked
if they were willing to sell me the generics with my “unofficial
prescription” and the she said that company policy requires a signed
doctor’s prescription for filing purposes, so it’s a no go. However,
she told me that the generic alprazolam they carry is RM 0.50 (A$ 0.25)
per 0.5 mg so that works out to be cheaper than the brand name Xanax
tablets. I’ll probably get a prescription next time I drop in on the
good doctor to get the generics instead. It was a good project, nice
and easy. 🙂
Disclaimer: This is an April Fool’s Day Joke by veritas, who is a guest author on this blog. The owner of this domain is not responsible for the posts made by any guest authors.
I am actually Huai Bin. There is no guest author on sixthseal.com.
There is no veritas. veritas is the pseudonym I use to distance myself
from drug related postings. I’m surprised no one picked this up. The
writing itself should have tipped you off. The writing style, formation
of sentences, terminology, language quirks and favorite words should be
a dead giveaway. 🙂 It’s hard to change one’s writing, it’s like a
fingerprint. I’ve also made some mistakes that would give me away in
the past, which I thankfully picked up and corrected before anyone
could notice.
However, other than the language style (and what one my good friends
refered to as photography style) I’ve done well to cover my tracks
though. One example I particularly loved is the “veritas still in
Malaysia while killuminati is already in Melbourne”. I intentionally
posted the pill report late because there was suspicion brewing. I also
did little things like commenting on the veritas’s posts comments box
with my killuminati nick and then replying with the veritas one again
so it seems like two people are actually having a conversation. Got
tired of that after a while though, which is why I don’t do that
anymore. 🙂
There isn’t even an email address veritas@sixthseal.com. All of that
goes to a catch-all email address which is me@sixthseal.com, so I would
be hesitant to reply you unless I don’t know you personally and even
then I’ll have to caution you not to mention anything about it in the
blog because:
1 My parents read my blog
2 My girlfriend reads my blog
3 Law enforcement officers may stumble upon it
Numbers 1 and 2 are against recreational experimentation with
illegal substances and I don’t want them to worry about me. I’ve tried
educating them about the effects, risks and any dependency issues which
can arise from the consumption of various drugs, but the government
propaganda machine is sadly much stronger than me, despite my
references to research papers and studies done by distinguished
scientists and researchers of the field. I don’t want them to have to
worry about me, so veritas sprang into existence.
Number 3 is to protect myself against any raids from the police,
although without the amphetamine induced paranoia, I think that’s
pretty unlikely. Wasting the money and manpower just to bust some uni
student on possession charges isn’t very likely, although I’ve heard
horror stories about that happening. The risk factor is pretty low, the
time, money and manpower involved in coordinating a raid just to find 2
grams of cannabis isn’t a very likely scenario. Personally, I think the
chances of that happening are pretty low because their resources would
have been better spent on raiding drug dealers or underground chemists.
However, being safe is always better than being sorry. 🙂
Anyway, it also distances me from being associated with recreational
drug use, as the general public back home is being terribly misled by
the government propaganda machine and associates all drug users with
the “dirty junkie” stereotype. I don’t want to have the social stigma
of that hovering over me, because the uninformed public just look at
you and treat you like you’re some kind of scumbag. I find that even
some friends have subtly changed their opinion about me after a
disclosure. It’s like recreational drug use is the overriding factor in
evaluating my character, instead of more important things like honesty,
integrity, loyalty and any other more important characteristics that
you have.
Of course, the media doesn’t help either with their misinformed and
ill-researched articles, news items and shows. There are exceptions
though, I’ve read some mainstream magazines with well researched and
accurate articles about recreational drugs. Unfortunately, this is the
exception to the rule. In the media business, their bottom line is to
ultimately to draw in more viewers. What better way to do that than
sensationalist reporting? Which headline do you think sounds better?
a) KILLER DRUG ECSTASY CLAIMS ANOTHER VICTIM IN A “RAVE” LATE LAST NITE!!!
or
b) Excessive consumption of water lead to a water poisoning death at a rave last night.
b) probably won’t even make the news. Ecstasy doesn’t kill people.
Irresponsible drug use kills people. Not knowing contraindications
kills people. If you’re interested, there’s plenty of links to the left
where you can find out more about harm minimization and real facts
about illegal or legal substances. I remember reading a funny article a
couple of years ago in a Malaysian newspaper. This was a “Dear Abby”
type advice column where someone writes in. Anyway, this guy wrote in
and asked if taking Ecstasy is harmful to the body.
The reply: (paraphrased from memory) ARE YOU KIDDING???
Taking just one will hook you for life! It makes your head shake so
hard uncontrollably you won’t even be able to stop it and you’ll feel
like your neck is going to break off and it probably will.
I would laugh, but I was too angry at this irresponsible and
misinformed reply. Oh, it’s worthy to note that most “Ecstasy” pills
(or feng tau yuen (literally: shake head pill) in the local dialect)
here are mostly meth(amphetamine) or ketamine. The “amphetamines makes
your head shake” myth stems from the local version of the Melbourne
shuffle. The users congregate around speakers and does a repetitive
horizontal movement (picture yourself while saying “no”) with just
their heads. I admit, doing that is fun while on amphetamines,
repetitive movements just feels right and it gets you nicely dizzy and
adds to the high. MDMA pills does exist but it’s not that common, since
the market is saturated with the cheaper (meth)amphetamine and ketamine
pills.
And don’t get me going about the government propaganda in Malaysia.
They actually print absolute fucking bullshit as “facts”. I don’t know
if it’s getting better now, but with the government’s “2003 War on
Drugs” campaign, I don’t think it would. Shock tactics like saying
you’ll die/go down an irreversible path to addiction/get brain damage
the moment you try a drug does not work. In fact it’s
counterproductive. The first drug I took was LSD was at a rave, and I
had an experienced group of friends with me and it was an amazing experience. I didn’t get irreversible brain damage, I didn’t go blind, I didn’t go psycho, I didn’t get addicted to it.
Instead, it opened my mind and at the risk of sounding clichéd, it
gave me a new and improved perspective on everything. After the
experience, I find myself being more open to new and unorthodox ideas
and this “thinking out of the box” mindset has been with me ever since.
🙂 This is contrary to the government propaganda I read, so like many
other people, I thought “Hey, what they’re saying isn’t true…hell,
probably all the things they say isn’t. I’m going to try another drug
now”. This is bad because some of the things they say are true, and
that deserves mention. I’m very much for a harm minimization approach
which gives accurate information (including the positive effects as
well as dangers) about drugs.
The government’s approach to dealing with the “drug problem” is not
going to change though, at least not in my lifetime. I have a friend
who was forced to go into a stay-in “drug rehabilitation center” (read:
prison) where you can’t leave the premises and visits are for family
members only. Guess what he was busted for? Nothing! There was no drugs
at his house, he just failed a urine test. He smoked cannabis a couple
of days ago, and that’s the sentence he got. Can you imagine that? Just
for detecting cannabis use in his urine test…he was a minor at that
time (17) so he was forced to go to rehab. It’s for his own good you
see. He’s an evil marijuana addict. Hey, I typed that without laughing too hard.
I’m sure everyone has heard of the drug laws of Malaysia [pemadam.org.my]. If you don’t read Bahasa Malaysia, here’s a short summary about the interesting bits (emphasis mine):
Section 10 Sentence for possessing drug paraphernalia like a bong (without drugs, just the equipment):
Jail sentence up to 5 years AND a fine of up to RM20,000 (A$10,000)
Note to self: Do not bring bong back
Section 39(A)(1) Possession of 20 grams or more of cannabis (marijuana):
Jail sentence not less than 2 years but not more than 5 years AND a MANDATORY caning between six to nine times.
You’ll fear the caning if you’ve seen it done before…
Section 15(B) Being in the same premises where drug use is
taking place (just being in the same place, it doesn’t matter whether
you’ve taken drugs):
Jail sentence not less than 2 years or a fine of not more than RM5,000 (A$2,500)
Ridiculous…
Section 15(A) Ingesting a scheduled drug (positive urine test):
Jail sentence not less than 2 years or a fine of not more than RM5,000 (A$2,500)
Very, very puzzling. I’m seriously mystified by this. Possessing a
bong gets a higher sentence than ingesting a drug? Who made up these
laws?
I’ve got a question for any Malaysian lawyers reading this. Do I get
to choose or is it the courts decision? How nice it’ll be if I can just
consume whatever and pay RM5,000 (A$2,500) for a “Get out of Jail Free”
card.
Anyway, despite my differing views regarding Malaysia’s (and just
about every country’s) drug laws, I still love my country. Home is
where the heart is, even though the draconian drug laws make me
paranoid every time I take any illegal substances back home. Oh well,
at least Xanax and other pharmaceuticals are OTC if you go to the right
pharmacists. 😉
Oh, and look at the date. 1st of April. April Fool’s Day.
Disclaimer: This post and all other drug related posts is made by veritas, who is a guest author on this blog. The owner of this domain is not responsible for the posts made by any guest authors.
Mosaic on doctor’s handwriting, script number and other possible identifiers
I got a Xanax (alprazolam) script off my regular doctor (the Benzo Nazi) last Friday. You probably have to read this
[sixthseal.com] to understand the background. I had wanted to visit the
Benzo Messiah and get 100 x 2 mg Klonopin (clonazepam) tablets by
claiming that it wasn’t working, so I called back to my doctor back
home and realized it was 2 mg pills after all. I made two appointments
but the Benzo Messiah was not in both times coz he was sick. I have
made another appointment for this Friday, and I’ll probably visit Doctor Dexamphetamine [sixthseal.com] on the same day, so wish me luck! 🙂
Pharmacia Xanax 250 microgram 50 tablets – Made in Belgium
Anyway, I was kinda worried when I visited Benzo Nazi. My pupils were absolutely huge
from my dexamphetamine run, and I tried to avoid eye contract to give
myself away, but I think the doctor didn’t pick it up anyway. Anyway, I
just told him the Aropax (also known as Paxil, contains paroxetine)
wasn’t working and I went to another doctor and he scripted me 0.25 mg
of Xanax twice a day and it helped a lot. This of course was not true,
and I do feel bad about being untruthful. It may surprise a lot of you,
but being untruthful makes feel me guilty and I don’t do it unless I’m
doctor shopping for scripts.
The front of the blister pack
Pill front: Upjohn 29
Pill back: Single score, beveled edges
I told him that the other (fictional) doctor gave me only a two week
supply and I changed my story by telling him I’m aware that it’s
addictive, but it really helps me with my anxiety. Of course, I didn’t
visit another doctor, I just wanted to try an alternative angle to see
if he would prescribe me Xanax. Well, long story short, he did. 🙂 He
actually wanted to script me Valium but I told him that makes me too
sleepy and I needed to concentrate in class and he went “Oh, yeah,
that’s true”. 🙂
The back of the blister pack
Xanax
alprazolam
tablets 250 ug
PHARMACIA
He scripted me 50 x 0.25 mg Xanax tablets on the condition that I
make an appointment with a clinical psychiatrist to evaluate me. The
Xanax is only enough for 5 recreational doses if I combine it with
alcohol or 2.5 recreational doses if I don’t. I usually take 2.5 mg +
alcohol or 5 mg by itself. The script isn’t much, but I didn’t want to
blow it by saying I was scripted 0.5 mg or 1 mg pills by the fictional
other doctor because standard prescribing procedure is 0.25 mg at
first. I don’t think it’s worth the A$15.05 I paid for it, but at least
the consultation is free.
Update: My math is so screwed up. It’s actually cheaper than the prices back home so it is worth it. Very much so. 🙂
10 mg Temazepam tablets (Normison)
Temazepam is a short acting benzodiazepine that’s usually prescribed
for short term treatment of insomnia. I recently aquired 3 x 10mg
tablets for some quality relaxation. No, I didn’t get it from the
streets (there is black market here coz heroin users inject temazepam
to potentiate the effects of heroin) but from a doctor! I got it for
free too, I’ll tell you all the story one day. It’s part of this
project from a GP for my ‘sleep disorder’. [Edit: After reading
it again, I have no idea about what I was going on about here. I think
I wanted to tell you about the project but suddenly switched trains of
thoughts to “I got it from my GP for a ‘sleeping disorder'”. heh! I
feel my short term memory going already. Very, very nice.
Euphoria…)hehehe! I’ll tell you the story behind that one day. It’s
part of a project (codename: PROJECT DEEP SEDATION) that I’m currently
working on. I’ll write that up in the near future after the project is
finished.
Front view of the blister pack
Anyway, about temazepam. The ones I got are manufactured by Sigma
Pharmeceuticals (I passed by their Melbourne factory a couple of days
ago…too bad I didn’t take a photo then) and are called Normison. They
contain 10 mg of temazepam in each tablet. The tablets are white, with
no score. It has a ‘double twin peak’ imprint on one side. The tablets
are very, very slim and small. I have yet to see tablets slimmer than
these ones. The size is even smaller than the gas release button on
cigarette lighters.
Well, I took all 3 tablets for a total of 30 mg and drank quite a few shots of this 95% stuff + cannabis
[sixthseal.com] on an empty stomach. I haven’t had any benzodiazepines
for about a month. The last time was a couple of Valiums with heroin
[sixthseal.com]. I didn’t think 30 mgs would do it for me, since I have
quite a high tolerance to benzodiazepines. My ‘normal dose’ would be
2.5 mg of Xanax (alprazolam) with a six pack of beer to feel buzzed.
Thus, I combined it with alcohol and smoked a couple of bowls of
cannabis for further sedation. 🙂
Back view of the blister pack
Anyway, it feels very nice. I can’t remember half the things that
happened just a minute ago. It’s euphoric, very much so. My apologies
for being slightly incoherant and confusing. Forgive me if I’m
over-enthusiastic. This just feels so good. So sedating…All this
happened just an hour and half ago and I’m feeling like happy jelly
now, sitting on my chair and nearly slouching off the chair. 🙂 Jelly.
It’s very sedating with the euphoria that’s comparable to Xanax +
alcohol. Perhaps slightly better, but I still like Xanax (my first
love) + alcohol.
Well, instead of talking slightly incoherantly, I’m going to fix up the photos now and post this up. Temazepam…Mmm…
Temazepam + alcohol + cannabis = Jelly. Wobbly, happy jelly.
What’s short term memory?
Caution: Combining benzodiazepines with another CNS depressant like alcohol in large amounts can be dangerous.
OMG I did a very, very stupid thing this morning. I went to my usual
pharmacy to get some diazepam (Valium) and alprazolam (Xanax) and
incidentally asked if they happen to have Phensedyl, GHB or worst of
all, ketamine (!!!). Oh, the stupidity. The pharmacist really
looked at me ONE KIND when I asked about ketamine. I felt like kicking
myself for asking about ketamine. I hope this doesn’t change our
relationship. It would be too bad if I lost my only benzo source.
Anyway 50 mg of diazepam (Valium) + 600 mg of caffeine + 2.5 mg
alprazolam (Xanax) seems pretty fun. It was taken in that order
(diazepam, caffeine, alprazolam). Perhaps it could be a cheap
alternative for a bit of fun if funds happen to run low.
Veritas’s el-cheapo recipe for getting high:
Recipe name: The Bell Curve cocktail (TM)
Ingredients:
50 mg diazepam (Valium)
600 mg caffeine
2.5 mg alprazolam (Xanax)
Cost:
Diazepam (Valium) @ 50 cents for every 5 mg tablet = RM 5
Caffeine pills (No-Doz) comes to about 25 cents each 100 mg = RM 1.50
Alprazolam (Xanax) @ RM 7.50 for a 2.5 mg blister pack = RM 7.50
Total cost: RM 14 or A$ 7
Modify dosage according to personal tolerance.
It’s pretty fun if you have nothing better lying around. It’s like
feeling mellow at the beginning, stimulated and pumped up at the
middle, and nice and nodding off towards the end. The best aspects the
benzo and caffeine shines through. It starts out really mellow and
after the caffeine kicks in it feels very stimulating and the euphoria
comes in waves and yet there is no “caffeine fatigue” and there is no
anxiety which can happen with larger doses of caffeine. After a while,
you start popping a 0.25 mg Xanax pills every 10 minutes or so after
you’ve enjoyed the stimulating caffeine. I think it feels better that
way instead of eating all the Xanax all at once. I’m eating them like
candy. Mmm…very funny feeling. Started out relaxed and anxiety free
and chilled out, then peaked on a caffeine high and then slowly
progressed to a pleasant nodding off stage. I had a feeling of being
slightly drunk, felt heavy and uncoordinated (stumbling), but in a
pleasant euphoric sense, during the trip. Highly recommended (and won’t
damage your wallet too much) if you don’t have any alternatives.
Mmm…Xanax
I’ve always wanted to try Xanax coz the 2mg bars just looks so sexy.
Thus, I decided to go shopping for some Xanax today. It’s a relatively
short acting benzodiazepine. Xanax is the same drug that Noelle Bush
(the niece of the current United States president George Bush) was
arrested for because she tried to pass off a fraudulent prescription
[cnn.com]. The first pharmacy I went to regarded me with suspicion when
I asked for Xanax. They didn’t want to sell it without a prescription
and told me to get some at the clinic instead. I got a general feeling
of not being welcome the moment I mentioned Xanax.
The second pharmacy I went to was more accommodating. They didn’t
know what Xanax was and asked me to write down the name of a piece of
paper. I wrote down Xanax, Alzoram (the Malaysian generic brand name)
and Alprazolam (the chemical name). The old lady there asked his son to
read the paper and he instantly recognized Alprazolam. He told the old
lady it’s sleeping pills (?) asked where it’s kept.
She said they have some at the back and he went over to rummage
about under a cabinet. I was feeling hopeful at this point, I didn’t
even get asked for my prescription script. He didn’t find any at the
back and rummaged about some more in a box of Handiplast (the st
bandage). He came out with a stack of blister packs tied together with
a rubber band from the box of Handiplast. Don’t ask me why it was kept
there, I was puzzled too.
Xanax/alprazolam/0.25mg
The old lady asked me who the medication was for and I made up a
cock and bull story about doing an exhibition about benzodiazepines for
my university and I was going to stick one pill on a piece of manila
card. I don’t know if she actually believed that story (I had the
feeling she didn’t from the look on her face) but there was not
questions asked after that. I got the impression that this is a “no
questions asked” pharmacy if you catch my drift. The guy came back at
this point and asked me how many blister packs I wanted. I examined one
of the blister pack and saw that it’s brand name Xanax pills with each
tablet containing 0.25 mg of alprazolam. I was hoping that they carry
the beautiful 2 mg pills, but oh well, this will work perfectly well
too. There were 10 tablets in the blister pack, which comes to 2.5 mg.
I decided to just go for one blister pack and it was sold to me, for
RM7 (A$3.50). This is the brand name Xanax (alprazolam) marketed by
Upjohn pharmaceuticals (the old name, they have since merged with
Pharmacia). On a side note, I’ve read in the newspapers that being
caught with possession of Xanax pills without a prescription carries a
RM2000 fine and/or a 2 year jail. Someone who was caught with 24 pills
got that sentence recently. They were credited as “upjohn” pills
though, which further illustrates that mainstream journalism has their
heads planted firmly up their ass when reporting on technical or drug
issues. Upjohn is a pharmaceuticals company, not a drug name.
Upjohn 29/single score at back
Trip Report
Substance name: Alprazolam (Xanax)
Street names: Z-bars, bars, Upjohn (in Malaysia)
Dosage: 2.5 mg (10 x 0.25 mg) taken orally in a mixture of
powder, broken off bits and whole pills. The pills seem rather crumbly
and some broke into pieces as soon as I pressed it from the blister
pack. I do not have any tolerance to benzodiazepines.
Usual recreational dosage for people with no benzodiazepine tolerance: 1-2 mg
Pills: White oval pills with Upjohn 29 imprinted on one side and
a single score on the other side. The pills have beveled edges. Each
pill contains 0.25 mg of alprazolam. They come in a blister pack
containing 10 pills for a total of 2.5 mg, if you eat them all.
T+ 0:00
I took all 10 pills at 11:00 pm sharp. The pills are in a mixture of
powder, bits of tablets and whole tablets. This was because the pills
are either very brittle or this is old stock so they break easily. The
tablets tasted like powdered mint (without any hint of sweetness) at
first and very bitter when i washed it down with water.
T+ 0:05
noticed some clumsiness and a heaviness in the head and a general feeling of being mildly stoned only 5 minutes later (!!!)
T+ 0:08
a feeling of not being very sober, but i can’t put my finger on what
exactly gave me this feeling of non-sobriety. i just feel not very
sober. the medical term for this is derealisation i believe.
T+ 0:14
mild nausea. a feeling of numbness in my extremities, especially the
fingers, very much like the feeling you get when you’re starting to get
drunk. Heaviness of the head is present all throughout the time.
T+ 0:18
feeling a kind of “super enhanced sight”. its like i can see every
movement i make is in full frame and with a high framerate. don’t
really know how to explain it besides this. it feels like the start of
a LSD trip visually, everything looks enhanced, colors stand out etc,
but this is very mild. clumsiness did not get any worse. numbness in
extremities still present.
T+ 0:20
a mild euphoria. not like ecstasy euphoria but more like codeine
euphoria. aka stupid euphoria. 🙂 a better word will be contentment.
palms are feeling sweaty, which is peculiar for me since i seldom get
sweaty palms
T+ 0:22
pupils VERY dilated (?!?!?!) even in bright light. looking at myself in
the mirror feels wierd. uneven dilation. my left pupil is more dilated
than the right one.
T+ 0:30
feeling contented and relaxed. not much progression other than that.
feeling slightly disappointed due to high expectations. i’m more of a
fan of “fuck me up” drugs like LSD which provides cool visuals and
wierd trains of thoughts.
T+ 0:40
hmm…feeling slightly sleepy now.
T+ 0:43
er…i’m trying to fight this feeling of being sleepy. it’s getting stronger. heh.
T+ 0:50
i caught myself staring at a half eaten chocolate bar with a bit of
chocolate sticking out in an interesting manner. stop hypnotizing me
dammit.
T+ 1:00
yawn. i’m trying to keep an open mind but it seems that this is all
Xanax has to offer. a feeling of being (very) mildly drunk and
admittedly quite significant relaxation. not much euphoria to speak of.
valium (another benzodiazepine) provides much more euphoria compared to
this.
T+ 1:10
wtf? i feel myself returning to baseline already. baseline = normal (sober) state
T+ 1:15
i still felt slightly clumsy and my body feels heavier than usual when
walking. not much more numbness in the fingers and i’m still feeling
sleepy.
T+ 1:20
noticed some problems with memory. i dropped my cell phone to the floor
earlier and didn’t remember to retrieve it until 30 minutes later.
T+ 1:26
hehehe
walking arond in the dark with my arms swinging freaked me out
considerably. and i thought Xanax was supposed to be prescribed for
anxiety and panic attacks. =D
T+ 1:30
feeling close to baseline now. i suspect i’ll have a nice deep sleep later tonight too. 🙂
T+ 1:40
a nice afterglow can be felt. still feeling contended and happy.
walking still feels a bit strange, but nice. i just noticed that time
passes pretty damn fast on Xanax. i didn’t even notice that nearly 2
hours have passed since i took the pills. hmm…i wonder what i did in
those two hours since it didn’t felt like i did much at all. 🙂
T+ 2:20
i did another time jump. don’t ask me where the past 40 minutes went, coz i seriously don’t know. i wasn’t even doing anything.
Afternotes:
I don’t see the appeal in taking Xanax by itself. It’s basically just a
chill pill, and I’m not into this particular class of drugs. I can see
its value in helping with meth/coke/other stimulant comedowns, but when
taken on its own, it doesn’t have very much to offer. Possible good
combos will be Xanax + alcohol (be careful, a lot of deaths has been
attributed to this combination) and Xanax + cannabis (the sedative
effects will probably provide a nice synergy). Personally, I feel
Valium (diazepam) would be a much better alternative if you like
benzodiazepines. Valium actually gives pretty good euphoria when taken
in recreational doses. An interesting thing with Xanax is time seems to
go much faster. It’s almost as if time jumps forward. One minute you
look at the clock and it’s 2:15 am. You feel that only a minute has
passed but next time you look, the time is already 2:45 am and you’re
left scratching your head about what happened during the last 30
minutes coz you don’t remember doing anything at all. Huh? It happened
a lot of times during the trip too. Very bizarre.
Caution:
Being in possession of prescription drugs without a prescription could be against the law in your country.
Additional info site:
Always follow a doctor’s instructions when taking prescription medications like Xanax. Deviate from doctor’s orders and take more of the said drugs, and you might find yourself addicted to prescribed drugs in no time.
