What classifies Stim Abuse?

[srocco112]

We read alot and hear alot about people abusing stims/caffeine and suffering from adrenal fatigue and all that. What actually classifies stim abuse tho? Im sure using caffeine and other stims in moderation cant be all that destructive to your body, so what is too much?

I tend to take my pre-workout drink before the gym and then will usually have a coffee or espresso later in the day before classes or going out. Is this considered too much, or enough that will lead to adrenal fatigue? The pre-workout is only taken mon-fri, saturday and sunday i dont lift so no drink, but still will generally have one coffee per day. Is this still considered too much?

Any input is well appreciated

 

[wedlund6]

man your all messed up
j/k
do not believe all the bs. if you start feeling like you need more and more to keep going that is when i would worry.if your worryed now cycle of your preworkout for 2 weeks

 

[jp17815]

man your all messed up
j/k
do not believe all the bs. if you start feeling like you need more and more to keep going that is when i would worry.if your worryed now cycle of your preworkout for 2 weeks

If you find yourself snorting your pre-workout drink/pill then you may be over doing it. LOL. :sad6:

Nah, I think if you use it as directed you will be fine.

JP.

 

[Rodja]

Abuse mainly comes from either high dosing or high frequency of dose. There will always be some sort of tolerance from regularly using stims and I think most people misuse them, but, unless you take 1-1.5 recommended dose 3-4x/day, then you're not really "abusing" them.

 

[BabyHulk]

I agree with rodja. I too had a "problem". It wasn't considered abuse to me, because I was taking more and more to feel the effects due to adrenal fatigue, etc. For me it was more like an addiction if anything, cause if I didn't take them, I felt so drained I couldn't function. This is pill stims I speak of.

 

[Andy G]

Continued use despite consistent negative consequences.

 

[ecupirate]

speaking on adrenal fatigue.... I believe if you have a good diet with fruits and vegetable and gettting enough vitamins in your diet along with plently of sleep. You shouldn't worry about adrenal fatigue but I do the same thing that you do. My pre work out mon-fri. Maybe a cup of coffee and during the weekends maybe a cup of coffee. I would not classify that as stim abuse. Listne to your body since everyone is different when if comes to different stims.

 

[MAxximal]

Monday to Friday......Meth

Saturday and Sunday....Cocaine


lol

 

[bigrobbierob]

The worse thing I have experienced is if I don't have caffeine when I wake up I will have a killer headache about one in the afternoon. Something as simple as drinking a soda (which I normally don't do) makes it go away. I've always said it was withdrawl.

 

[ryanp81]

Could abusing them and being just purely addicted to them fall hand in hand is my question, I know alot of people that are so dependent on there RedBull's and Thermo's that can't seem to function without them and it's not to the moderation of "Oh I need some coffee" it goes way beyond that and it's pretty bad. As far as adrenal fatigue and beating the hell out of your adrenals, as long at I think you're putting good stuff in your body ( Greens,amino, B vitamins ) then your adrenals should be good to go I'm just stim dead after all these years.

Reset A.D. seems to work real well to get the adrenals functioning properly and there has been some pretty cool threads/topics here on AM such as topical pregnenlone and other methods to help and cleanse the adrenals, a cheap and very good product that I find works well is schizandra by Nature's way as well as Relora ( Reset A.D. has schizandra in it ) Cordygen5 by Millennium Sports Technologies which has a very potent blend/strain of cordyceps has good properties which help the adrenals as well as there Cre02 which has a bunch of great adaptogens as well.

 

[noot]

One of the obvious signs of abuse when it comes to stimulants is when you start relying heavily on it. And I mean, sort of like those addicted to nicotine and need a smoke at any chance they get to step outside. Sort of like that. It could just be someone that needs to take that stimulant at the start of the day, just for the rush, kick, push, etc. sort of like treating it like someone else would a cup of coffee. But since their tolerance would be higher, they are more comfortable with the "sport level" stimulants.

Speaking from example. Every single stimulant I have taken, whether it was the last few preworkout powders, caffeine pills, energy drinks, etc. all had the reason for "giving me that rush", and yes, I would take it it every morning...Even if I did not do any form of physical activity around that time, I still enjoyed that strong kick that such stimulants would provide...Also, there is some aspects of it where it would increase my mood, sociability, focus, etc. But I usually do not have that much money to spend on these stuff, so I guess with me it is pretty controlled...

But I am assuming that is at very least the borderline of abuse. Where you just need that extra kick towards your day, and most importantly without it you feel noticeably more tired, exhausted, and just not yourself. Then I guess it is abuse. Where you are not just taking it for exercising, studying, or any other specific activity...but you want that wired feeling constantly.

I am not sure if I had any experience with these "long-term use effects", but I am quite familiar with major crashes, thanks Jack3d, that just makes it feel like you are free-falling towards the ground.

 

[wedlund6]

The worse thing I have experienced is if I don't have caffeine when I wake up I will have a killer headache about one in the afternoon. Something as simple as drinking a soda (which I normally don't do) makes it go away. I've always said it was withdrawl.

i have tried stoping caffeine 2 times now the longest i have made it is 3 days the headache does not go away and i use vary little caffine 1 tab in the morning and prework.

 

[noot]

I am surprised how common this "headache" side-effect is from lack of caffeine. I personally never had such a problem. But couldn't this also be the result of too much sugar exposure as well, not just caffeine. I mean if you are drinking soda often, that has a good number mg of sugar alone, that is already has the potential for stimulating your body. And add that too general caffeine intake, your body is pretty much on a roller coaster through out the day.

I might be wrong though. But maybe cutting down on both sugars and caffeine would be a good way to wean yourself out of this headache-inducing withdrawal symptoms.

 

[ecupirate]

For a while, I cut out all other stim products except for my prework and I only used 1 scoop of what ever I was using just to get that boost. It really seemed to help

 

[matthias7]

Yeah this is not really abuse. There is possible "dependency" to stims in general, but what your experiencing is your adrenal response requiring a stim. The fact different stims can be used makes the point that it ain't a worry.

Epephrine however could be dangerous.

Stims don't penetrate the CNS. Its stuff that does thats the problem.

With adrenal fatigue bad diet is a big part. Poor diet, relying on stims to get your energy going is downward spiral.

Best thing with stims is to taper them and cycle.

 

[matthias7]

Could abusing them and being just purely addicted to them f

Technically they are not addictive. I agree though if the diet is trash, or to max. the impact of stims cycle them against an adrenal fatigue program is way to go.

 

[tnubs]

i took like 5 days away from any kind of caffeine or stim. it was sluggish the first 2 days, then i was better but i took my stim this morning and it feels amazing. still riding it a little bit after 12 hours it does feel better staying away from caffeine for a while after the headaches stop. i read somewhere to give it two weeks if youve been taking it for a long time at high doses (a year or more) and the withdraw will go away.

 

[wedlund6]

2 weeks for the headaches to go away f that

I am surprised how common
this "headache" side-effect is from lack of caffeine. I personally never had such a problem. But couldn't this also be the result of too much sugar exposure as well, not just caffeine. I mean if you are drinking soda often, that has a good number mg of sugar alone,

not sugar for me i eat a vary clean diet. no processed sugars, no white flour, no white potatos no soda no candy

 

[bigrobbierob]

not sugar for me i eat a vary clean diet. no processed sugars, no white flour, no white potatos no soda no candy

It's the same with me.



Apparently I developed another caffeine related issue other than headaches. I've been having a problem peeing and apparently caffeine may be to blame. http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1066713/give_your_prostate_a_caffeine_break.html?cat=5

Plus at the same time I started taking Claritin-D for my allergies (I hate this time of year) and that could have contributed as well.

Needless to say I laid off both...and returned to normal. I'm glad, waking up 6-7 times a night needing to use the bathroom but not being able to sucks.

 

[noot]

Damn. Talk about having my stimulant use "controlled", just bought a bottle of andorush right now from VitaminShoppe. Need that extra focus for an exam in a while....Can't benefit from all that studying if tired, lol.

And I must admit, me with a stimulant in my body and without...Just so much degree of difference. I feel rather amazing right now, confidence through the roof, strong focus....simply, great.

Damn you stimulants! Why must you be so delicious and good. It would be nice to feel this way sans. :/

 

[drvinnybombat]

Adrenal fatigue is NOT a real condition. I have heard from physicians, trainers, and a lot of experienced athletes, and they all have concluded that the condition just doesn't add up. I can go in to a whole bunch of reasons based on chemistry, physiology, etc. that I myself don't fully understand; but the bottom line is that you can grow too tolerant to stims for a result and you can become dependent on them because you become unaccustomed to normal energy levels. But adrenal fatigue is a MYTH.

 

[wantmoresize]

I know I ama stim abuser - always on them but hey, I don't drink, smoke or do drugs (other than whatever VPX throws into their LiqClenbutrx (DAMN I miss the old ephedra days - you could get ripped in like 2 daysLOL)

 

[A_I_Sports_Nutrition]

Using them when your not fatigued.

 

[srocco112]

For the past year I have been playing around with a few pre-workouts and also started drinking coffee, before this i never used to use either. I think what I am going to do is rather than drink my pre workout before the gym and then have a coffee later on in the day. Im going to limit myself to just one coffee before the gym and thats it. Go like this for about a month then look into trying a new pre workout.