DOSE:	repeated	vaporized	alpha-PHP	(powder / crystals)
	1 tablet	oral	Pharms - Alprazolam

BODY WEIGHT:

150 lb

A Very Dull Double-Edged Sword

I’m writing this report quite a while after using the substance. I’ve since stopped all drug use so there’s probably going to be a bit of bias against alpha-PHP (a-PHP from here on out) but the description of its effects should still be accurate.

I’m no stranger to stimulants. I’ve done all the ones you can name (excluding methamphetamine and crack), and probably a bunch that you can’t. They’re easily my favorite class of drugs, to the point that they really fucked me up for a while and were the reason I quit using. a-PHP was towards the end of my use and was the driving force behind me wanting to quit, alongside abuse of 3-MMC.

My very first dose was ~15mg vaped in a crack pipe. I had a decent tolerance at the time, probably in the range of half a gram of 2-FA in a day. If I hadn't had a tolerance I’d start around 5mg, and definitely no higher than 10mg.

Alright so I’m in my bathroom with my loaded pipe, a lighter, and a chair to sit down. I place the lighter about an inch away from the base of the bulb and begin cooking. It only takes about 10 seconds to start vaporizing. I keep the lighter going and begin to inhale the smoke. The effects are instant, maybe quicker. I feel like I’m quite literally weightless. My entire body is vibrating, to the point where I have to put the pipe down for fear of dropping it. I stand up, which requires what seems like a negative amount of effort. I can’t emphasize enough that I can’t feel my bodyweight. I assume this is what it’s like to weigh 0 pounds. I glide out of the bathroom and into the living room of my apartment, looking for someone to talk to. My roommate and his girlfriend are the only ones here, so I hope they don’t mind.

I knock, they answer and let me in to their room. The first thing I say is “Holy fuck I feel like I’m actually flying.” They’re used to putting up with me and my high bullshit, so they just kind of acknowledge my statement and wait for me to start rambling. Which I waste no time doing. I talk to them for maybe 15 minutes, and I’m not sure if I managed to talk about anything other than how light I felt. I did manage to mention the buzzing as well I think. If you’ve ever done MDMA, think of its body high. The vibrating sensation that is stimulating for some and stoning for others? The a-PHP is very similar, but forcibly stimulating and not nearly as calm. I’m talking a million miles a minute and probably look like I have RLS [restless leg syndrom]. I personally don’t mind, but I can tell I’m getting on my roommate’s nerves. The high is also disappearing very quickly, so I leave to redose.

I return to my bathroom and load up another 15mg. Same process as before, but I basically have to force myself to stop shaking so much so that I can actually vape this stuff. I inhale and am immediately brought back to the peak. Content, I go to sit down at my computer and open up an IRC that’s populated with a bunch of other people who are varying levels of high. I hop into the channel focused on stimulants and start typing, yearning for any amount of social interaction. As I begin to type however, I notice that it’s really fucking hard. I’m shaking so much that it’s hard to hit the keys accurately and it’s a struggle trying to stay focused long enough to finish even a single sentence. This is where the negatives rear their annoying heads.

Most apparent is the shaking. My entire body won’t stop, but it’s worst in my hands, mainly my fingers. Attempting to hit any given key is met with either me hitting said key (I’d estimate 20% of the time) or hitting any number of surrounding keys since I can’t fucking sit still (the remaining 80%). My right leg is starting to hurt because it hasn’t stopped moving in about half an hour, my mouth is drier than shit, and I’m sweating like crazy. The sweat smells too, and not good. Think cathinone sweat, but more rancid. I’ve been attempting to carry on a conversation with a few people, but my mind is racing and I’m constantly switching between IRC channels. On any other stimulant this speed would be very satisfying, but not with a-PHP.

I quickly learn that the only thing that is satisfying on a-PHP, is more a-PHP. Hoping to satisfy this urge, I load up another 15mg. It’s been 25 minutes or so, so I’m due a redose anyway. This time I get close to the initial peak of the first 2 doses, but not quite there. I return to my computer and attempt to watch a number of YouTube videos, but (surprise, surprise) I lose focus after maybe a minute or two. After doing this for 15 minutes, I go to redose. 20mg this time in an attempt to reach my initial peak. No dice. I get maybe 75% as high as my first dose, and each successive redose falls shorter and shorter of that mark. Additionally, the side effects are getting worse each time. More sweat, more shaking, water is barely keeping the dry mouth at bay.

I redose upwards of 15 times throughout the night, chasing that first peak that was so amazingly intense. Logically I know I’m not going to get there, but the irrational part of my brain convinces me to keep trying. I probably go through 350mg in a single night.

It’s getting late and I need to pretend that I’m going to make it to class tomorrow, so I put the a-PHP away and eat a bar of Xanax. Thankfully it’s enough to knock me out because the residual stimulation would have made getting to sleep almost impossible. The next day is kind of a haze thanks to the alprazolam, but that’s definitely better than dealing with whatever shitty stim hangover I would have had.

The short and sweet of this whole thing is that a-PHP is simultaneously the most hedonistic stimulant high out of them all, but it comes paired with some of the most severe side effects. The initial doses are pure dopaminergic energy. I feel as if I'm flying, ready to do anything as long as it allows me to move. I'm wide eyed and smiling, basking in the vibrating sensation and heightened senses. The side effects are there but not too noticeable. But after doing something for 5 minutes, I realize it isn’t actually that interesting. You know what is though? Vaping more a-PHP. So I do. I redose, and I redose, and I redose. I redose because it’s the only thing that feels satisfying, and I do it far past the point of a legitimately enjoyable high. After about the 13th or so dose of the night,I notice that I don’t feel that good at all. Quite the contrary in fact. I feel like shit. I smell, my leg is starting to cramp up, water doesn’t even taste good because my mouth is so dry. But unless I need to sleep, I’ll keep redosing. Why? I don’t fucking know. I mean I obviously feel like trash, why keep going? I don’t have an answer, other than that the drug is extremely addictive.

I’ve done a lot of substances, and this is by far the most addictive and impulsive. On other drugs there’s a clear end, where I’ve done enough and are done for the day. a-PHP doesn’t have an end point. I will redose one (or 12) too many times, long after the pleasurable feelings have subsided. I’ll go until I either run out or force myself to sleep/pass out.

The high is in the upper echelon of stimulant highs, but the side effects are just too severe. Nothing good comes from using this drug.

I suppose it’s worth mentioning that I did attempt nasal administration. 15mg up the nose burned quite a bit. A step below the MDMA burn. Effects lasted about half an hour. It was mostly the same as vaped, but the positive parts of the high weren’t as good as they were when the substance was vaporized.

Exp Year: 2016	ExpID: 112036
Gender: Not Specified
Age at time of experience: 20
Published: Feb 18, 2022	Views: 1,330
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alpha-PHP (677) : General (1), Retrospective / Summary (11), Hangover / Days After (46), Addiction & Habituation (10), Alone (16)