DOSE:

600 mg

oral

Dimenhydrinate

(pill / tablet)

BODY WEIGHT:

30 lb

Cough syrup. Motion sickness pills. Allergy medication. All of these drugs I used to consider far beneath me. Kid's stuff. I'm an adult who has done a very, very wide variety of psychoactives, some way more than others, and all at very large doses. I'm a Clydesdale when it comes to physical size and psychoactive tolerance. Some of my more memorable (read: exceptionally dangerous) experiences have left me with an invincibility complex. Rationale: 'If I was able to handle X mg of Y, then I can definitely handle A mg of B.' Several very large doses of datura have taught me to find some twisted form of comfort in delirium, despite the fact that they were overwhelmingly unpleasant experiences. But, I guess I'm a sucker for misery as long as it kicks my ass out of normal consciousness.

Keeping this in mind, I assumed that 5.5mg/kg (600mg) would be a good first threshold dose to see if the substance was worth experimenting with further. [IMPORTANT NOTE: This definitely does not mean 600mg would be a good first threshold dose for a scrawny sophomore in high school.] I decided upon this dose after almost no deliberation whatsoever. Literally, I thought 'gee, I should try dimenhydrinate today' and five minutes later I was leaving the store with two 12-packs of Dramamine. Dimenhydrinate is probably the substance that I have the LEAST knowledge about, but I figured that this ignorance would enhance the novelty of the trip.

The set and setting of the trip were both good and bad. I was on my houseboat in Florida on a beautiful, sunny day. I was surrounded by geriatrics who were tripping on 80+ years of old age, meaning they were probably experiencing more delirium than I could hope to snort, swallow, or smoke my way to. I was expecting to take a short kayak trip with an acquaintance whom I didn't know all too well. I did, however, know that he would not be surprised or taken aback that I would be a bit out of it. As a chronic cannabis user on vacation, I was not able to get my fix so my mood was slightly perturbed. This most likely led to my quick decision to find a consciousness-altering substitute.

T+00:00 - I swallow twelve Dramamine tablets (dimenhydrinate 50mg) in one gulp after a sandwich and cross my fingers.

T+00:30 - My excitement has started to mount and decline in quick cycles, which is completely normal for me especially during first-time trips. The cycle goes something like this: 1.) I feel a little shift in consciousness. Maybe a flutter in the stomach, a momentary lapse in thinking, or any kind of involuntary body twitch. 2.) I become excited that the substance is actually working and begin to pay close attention to what is happening in my body and mind. 3.) The feeling subsides completely, I curse the placebo effect, and consider redosing. 4.) Rinse and repeat.

T+00:35- I've reached a + ! The dose I took is most certainly active, and its effects are beginning to mount. I feel a ballooning sensation in my stomach, and, ironically, I have begun to feel a bit seasick. I rarely if ever notice the gentle rocking of my houseboat, but now it has made itself almost annoyingly apparent. I've begun to double-take things that I see out of the corner of my eye frequently, such as reflections. My body feels light, my mind is still lucid, and I'm excited for the trip to progress further. I desire a lay-down, but not to sleep. A single ripple of black rushes horizontally past my vision.

T+00:45 - My stomach is queasy and I cannot get comfortable. I would roughly compare this to the first stages of a low-dose datura experience, but with only about 20% of the body load. No pins and needles...yet. My body is slowly beginning to lighten, yet walking requires a bit more motivation and coordination. The cycles have gone from [-/+ <--> +] to [+ <--> ++]. WHOOP! There I go! My ass just turned into concrete for a moment or so, then back to helium. Focused and very intent on writing this report, although it's entirely possible that I'm making these effects up as I go along in order to appear experienced. WHOOP! There it goes again. My stomach drops and I really, really want to puke. But that would be a waste of $4.49! I play some Sound Tribe Sector 9 and Shulman (both grade A certified puddle-person music) to chill out a bit. But what's this? I'm not feeling the music, for the first time in my life. It's almost as if it's too much of a chore to listen to the beat. Presently, it becomes akin to elevator muzak and I have to turn it off.

T+1:00 - The god-damned shit in the corner of my eye is starting to piss me off! Over ten times now, the waving of an American flag in the reflection of my computer screen caused me to whip around and see who was approaching. It's always no one. I am simply not able to train myself to expect the peripheral movement, no matter how many times I see it. Time to move the computer! Beginning to lose my train of thought quite easily, much like cannabis. However, unlike cannabis, I actually make an effort to remember it what I forgot. Odd-tasting dry mouth nearly identical to datura is occurring. Perpetually feeling as though I have just gotten off a particularly nauseating carnival ride. Unsurprisingly, I don't feel like interacting with people.

T+1:15 - I'm having even more trouble walking now. I fell sideways and hit my head lightly on the cupboard (insert scornful remark about tripping without a sitter). I am relatively close to a +++. Could go about my business normally, but it would require a great deal of concentration and most likely I would appear drunk. The prospect of doing anything requiring moving, thinking, or talking is unnerving at best. I still can't believe how similar to datura the dry mouth tastes. I have begun to act like a neurotic dog trying to lie down in a room piled high with electrical cords. I circle, circle, lay down, get up, find a new place to lie down, get up, feel antsy, wander around, circle, circle, try to lie down, etc. The concept of being comfortable or satisfied is non-existent in my headspace.

T+1:45 - Phantom noises! Eidolons! Any kind of stimulus I receive seems to hint that there's someone coming by to visit, which I seriously don't want. I must appear slightly paranoid to a third party observer, quickly whipping my head around every ten seconds to discover the source of a fabricated noise or imaginary object in my periphery. At the dose I've taken, my mind is not quite confident enough to associate a hallucination with a bona fide identity. Like a half-done painting, the visions and noises cannot be adequately described without a whole lot of guesswork. Of course, I could say that I saw a winged chrome orangutan fluttering around in the corners of my vision and heard the voice of my long-dead grandmother telling me not to eat shellfish, but this would merely be trying to rationalize something that is not rational. I'm inclined to leave the identity of these hallucinations undefined. Motivation is at an all time low. I'm definitely not in love with this drug; so far it has made me uncomfortable, antisocial, and highly unmotivated. The mental effects are minimal for me so far, I just feel ill and bored.

T+2:00 - Just heard someone (I.E no-one) say my name. I understand that this is a common occurrence on deliriants, so it doesn't worry me at all. It has been proven that in a crowded room full of such clamor that understanding even a thread of conversation is impossible, one can clearly hear their own name (or a word/phrase that sounds like their name) even if it's spoken quietly. Therefore, I assume that my mind naturally wants to perceive an unknown noise as my name due to both subconscious self-absorption and my knowledge that this phenomenon may occur during the experience. Imaginary footsteps are becoming common, which does not help to ease my mild paranoia. I'm very glad it's sunny, warm and beautiful outside, as this would probably be markedly more eerie at night. Then again, night time would almost assuredly give more credence to my hallucinations such that I could conceivably describe them in detail. My acquaintance arrives, and I am both relieved and disappointed. Relieved because I don't have to fret about unexpected drop-bys anymore, disappointed because the last thing I want to do is get up and move.

T+2:30 - My acquaintance has brought along a packet of herbal incense (damiana, blue lotus, and other crap that isn't weed) as well a lemon to smoke it out of, and no fire-making device. My head is filled with frustration and incredulity. Even at baseline I would consider this a rookie move, but in my current state I am deeply annoyed and troubled that I have to go through the trouble to give him some matches and watch him repeatedly try and fail to use a lemon as a pipe with matches on a windy day. Finally, I lose patience and tell him to just give it up. We take off on the kayaks.

T+2:45 - At this point, my experience nearly ceased. Now that I was actually doing something, it became nearly impossible to put the Dramamine experience in the forefront of my mind. I felt as though I had to constantly remind myself that I was on drugs, and that it was my responsibility to catalogue the effects. At this point and afterward, the experience was a +/++, mostly the former. The sun burned my eyes, I felt either too warm or too cold, I could not think of anything interesting to say, and I was experiencing mounting annoyance with my acquaintance, who simply would not shut up about the most idiotic subjects. Under normal circumstances, I would have tolerated this, but I was supposed to be having a good time. I bid him a spontaneous farewell and kayaked back to my boat.

T+4:00 - The experience has diminished almost completely. I feel drained, dissatisfied, and cheated. The lion's share of the experience has been boring and uncomfortable, and really only the first hour or two of the experience was worthwhile. I go to bed.

T+24:00 - 99% to baseline, although I don't have much energy and I have heard one or two isolated phantom noises. Now that my vision has returned to normal, I'm given a good reference point for how messed up it was yesterday. I barely notice the waving of the American flag in the reflection of my computer screen, when previously it literally drove me crazy.

Conclusion: Well, another psychoactive down. I most definitely will not PLAN on another Dramamine experience. I'm certain that the time will come when I resort to it for a quick fix, but the whole dimenhydrinate experience has left me with a nasty taste in my mouth (literally and figuratively). Yes, it altered my consciousness, but not nearly in the way that I had hoped it would. Granted there were certain things I did wrong, but I feel that even if every safeguard was taken to ensure a decent time, Dramamine would leave me wanting, just like ever other deliriant has. I hate to be didactic and project my experience on others, but for Christ's sake, if you're looking for a psychedelic then get a god-damned psychedelic! I simply cannot tell you how many times I have been fooled by deliriants. For some reason, an odd little fold in my gray matter repeatedly convinces me that 'this time will be different.' Nope, it's not going to be different. It's going to make me feel like shit and wish I hadn't done it...sort of a two steps forward, three steps backward feeling. Learn from this big idiot's mistake!

Exp Year: 2008	ExpID: 84346
Gender: Male
Age at time of experience: 22
Published: Mar 17, 2010	Views: 39,871
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Dimenhydrinate (17) : First Times (2), Various (28)