Phenibut – The magic bullet for anxiety

Intro

Phenibut is a substance that I’ve found to be extremely helpful for dealing with anxiety early on when I decided to take action and get my social anxiety under control.

I remember the early days of trying to beat my approach anxiety.

It was an awful experience being completely paralyzed, going home having not done any approaches then beating myself up for feeling like a pussy.

Phenibut was such a powerful tool that made doing cold approach during the day much more feasible.

A typical argument against using phenibut to beat social anxiety is that…

‘It’s not going to help you once you aren’t on it, you’re just putting on a bandaid and not addressing the real issue’.

While I understand where people that say this are coming from, it’s my experience that if you use phenibut to push your comfort zone, the reference experience gained while doing so is ‘banked’ and even when you aren’t using phenibut that same source of anxiety is lessened… because you’ve already done it and had exposure therapy.

Phenibut fast-tracked my approach anxiety and it quickly got to the point where I no longer needed it for cold approach or dates because I had so much reference experience that I was no longer anxious anyway.

Think of it like putting headgear and pads on while sparring and learning to fight.

In this article I’ll discuss what it is, its uses and applications, the side effects, how to dose it the right way and tips to make it more effective.

What is Phenibut

Phenibut is a powerful nootropic that acts as a GABA-b agonist. It was developed in the 1960s in the Soviet Union.

Today it is marketed in eastern Europe and Russia as an anxiolytic and used to treat insomnia and anxiety disorders.

During the early 2010s it was widely available on the internet in most parts of the world but has since been much more tightly controlled and as a result, much harder to find and more expensive.

It has a half-life of 5.3 hours, and a total duration of action of 15-24 hours.

What does it feel like?

The best way I can describe how it feels is – ‘Alcohol, without the sloppiness’.

You are still you, but the social barriers have been greatly broken down and you can relax into social environments much easier.

You’ll find that anxiety is reduced by 30-70% depending on individual response and dosage, and your mind is no longer looping on negative thoughts and toxic self-beliefs that would normally keep you paralyzed and in your own head.

At low and moderate doses there’s no perceptual alterations aside from slight drowsiness (which can be offset by caffeine) and a reduction in anxiety.

At higher doses it can produce a mild euphoria whilst doing activities like working out and listening to music. I’ve heard of it being compared to a low dose of MDMA.

How to use it

It’s definitely a substance that requires respect and proper application.

I’ve found that the best way to use it is before an important social situation/event to curb moderate to severe anxiety. Normally this situation would be very anxiety-inducing. Phenibut can allow the user to be much more relaxed and in control, so that they can present their best self without crippling anxiety and being socially stifled.

Such situations could include:

• Job interviews
• Dates
• Public speaking events
• Important social gatherings

How to dose it properly

This is my preferred way to dose phenibut, note that it’s best to take it on an empty stomach to maximize absorption.

If it’s your first time ever, don’t exceed 250mg.

This is because your first dose with any substance should be to test the waters to determine if you have any weird/unique reaction to it.

Dose it on as close to an empty stomach as possible.

If you had a positive or neutral experience, you can gradually increase the dose.

Low dose ~ 250-500mg

Moderate dose ~ 500-1000mg

High dose ~ 1000-2000mg

After dosing, take 50-200mg of caffeine.

Caffeine synergises very well with phenibut and offsets most of the mild drowsiness that can occur.

If you are taking a moderate/high dose and get no effects, you could be taking too much caffeine.

When to take it

Phenibut takes a notoriously long time to ‘kick in’. For this reason, it’s a good idea to take it hours before you want the desired anxiolytic effects.

If you take it on an empty stomach, aim to take it 60-90mins before you want the anxiolytic effects.

If your stomach is partially full, 2 hours.

If you’ve just eaten, 3 hours.

Use vs. Abuse

Unfortunately, it’s quite easy to abuse phenibut.

There’s countless horror stories, cases and examples of people on https://www.reddit.com/r/phenibut/ abusing it.

They start off having a pleasant experience and end up chasing those effects, resulting in an increase in dose and frequency. Eventually leading to dependency and full-blown addiction.

Phenibut withdrawal symptoms are very similar to those associated with benzodiazepine.

So what would I consider reasonable usage?

1. You are using it with the purpose of drastically reducing social anxiety permanently by ‘banking’ reference experience and expanding your comfort zone.
2. You are using it at maximum twice per week, and never exceeding 2g in one given dosage.
3. There’s a good justification to actually use it, like you have a date or job interview lined up.

All the above criteria must be met for it to be considered reasonable usage.

What would I consider abuse?

1. Use with no purpose or application.
2. Using it more than twice a week, risking a buildup of tolerance and withdrawals.
3. Using more than 2g in one given dosage, running the risk of the more extreme side effects.

Any one of the criteria above would be considered abuse.

Side effects

Although it is well-tolerated by the vast majority of people at moderate doses, phenibut can actually have some severe side effect if its abused.

Such side effects include heavy sedation, nausea, dizziness and even seizures have been reported.

WARNING: If you are taking any other medications, in particular sedatives – it’s important to check for potential interactions before using phenibut.

Conclusion

Phenibut has helped me immensely, but it’s not my position to say whether you should or shouldn’t use it.

You’ll have to make that judgement call yourself based upon your current situation and goals.

I believe it’s largely a safe substance if treated with respect and used properly, although that’s not to discount the minority of people who have bad reactions to it.

If you do choose to use it, go slow and steady.