So you’re at a party and someone offers you a pill, maybe one you’ve taken dozens of times before. Suddenly you start to feel woozy, lethargic, and really nauseous. You’re left wondering whether that 6 pack of festival cool beers on the side was such a good idea or not…
Skip to stimulants + stimulants
Skip to depressants + depressants
Skip to alcohol + stimulants
Skip to alcohol + cannabis
Skip to psychedelics + other drugs
Taking different drugs is still putting drugs in your body
Mixing different substances is commonplace at a party or a festival. However, mixing substances can sometimes have unintended consequences, and can also place you at increased risk of something going more seriously wrong.
If you’ve already taken one drug, you’ll be feeling those effects. If you take another type of drug, or even if it’s more of the same type of drug, you’re adding to the work your body’s doing, even if the drugs cancel out each other’s highs and you don’t feel like you’ve taken anything.
A recent report from the NZ Drug Foundation found that of the 1,179 accidental drug overdoses recorded in the last 8 years, more than half of all fatal overdoses involved multiple substances. At least 35% involved alcohol.
Read the report on the NZ Drug Foundation website
Putting drugs in your drugs
Let’s talk about some drug combinations that could cause you some problems, and learn what to do to keep yourself safer and have the time you’re expecting.
Stimulants, or “uppers”
Stimulants include a wide range of drugs, (MDMA, amphetamines, cocaine and cathinones) legal substances (caffeine and nicotine), as well as prescribed but restricted medications such as dexamphetamine or methylphenidate (commonly prescribed for ADHD).
At lower doses they can make you feel euphoric, more alert, more chatty and help you stay awake through the night. At higher doses, they can make you feel tense, nauseous, anxious and increase your body temperature, heart rate and blood pressure.
Overamping
Adding stimulants to stimulants increases the strain it puts on your body. Your heart and central nervous system work harder which can make you feel anxious and increase the chance of heart attack, seizures and strokes.
Unfortunately, higher risk doesn’t mean higher reward. There’s only so much serotonin and dopamine your brain can dump into your system before it runs out. Adding more drugs isn’t going to magically replenish your neurotransmitters, but it will add to the body load and increase your risks.
Stimulants and anti-depressants
Certain anti-depressants are designed to increase the levels of serotonin in your brain in order to improve your mood. When combined with a drug like MDMA that can lead to big influxes of serotonin in your brain causing serotonin syndrome. Serotonin syndrome can be deadly if not treated urgently.
Read our blog about serotonin syndrome
When to call an ambulance
If you or someone else who has taken multiple stimulants has any of these symptoms:
- racing heart beat,
- anxiety or aggression,
- chest pain,
- breathing problems,
- Seizures or convulsions
- loss of consciousness.
Depressants, or “downers”
The category of depressants is broad; it includes alcohol, benzodiazepines (sedatives), opioids including synthetic ones like fentanyl and nitazenes, cannabis, and GHB/GBL.
At low doses, you might feel more relaxed, euphoric and more confident. At moderate doses they can dull your reflexes, cause slurring in your speech, affect your motor coordination and significantly affect your judgement.
Mixing depressants can lead to death, so please be careful
Mixing depressant type drugs is very dangerous. Depressants slow your central nervous system down, which is why they’re used as anti-anxiety medication. But this slowing of your CNS can slow things down a little TOO much – leading to respiratory depression where your breathing stops, or slowing your heart down to the point where it stops. We like the world with you in it, so be extra careful with your downers, eh?
Read our blog on how to help if someone has a depressant overdose
Always check to make sure any non-prescription drugs you take don’t interact badly with any depressant-type prescription medications you’re taking, eg benzodiazepines, or opiate-based medications.
When to call an ambulance
Things to watch out for when someone’s had multiple depressants are:
- confusion,
- headache,
- tremors/seizures,
- turning blue at the fingertips and around the lips
- vomiting
- unconsciousness
Alcohol is a drug, and we’re sick of pretending it’s not
Alcohol is the most commonly used drug here in Aotearoa. It’s so synonymous with New Zealand culture that it doesn’t even register to most people as a drug. This leads to more regular mixing with other drugs. As we mentioned earlier, mixing alcohol with other depressants is super risky. As it turns out, mixing alcohol with any other substance comes with risks.
Alcohol and stimulants
Drinking can also dull the effects of stimulants like MDMA, meaning you’re not going to have the time you expect; you might not feel “drunk” while the stimulants are still in your system. Because you don’t feel drunk, you might drink more than you would normally. Then, once the stimulants have worn off all the effects of the alcohol you’ve been drinking can hit you at once. This can mean going from 0 to vomit/passing out in the space of a few minutes.
Furthermore, the combination of both stimulants and alcohol is likely to cause more significant harm to your body, damaging your heart, liver and other organs more than one of these drug types alone.
The presence of alcohol can make it harder for your body to break down other drugs.
Cocaine + Alcohol = Cocaethylene
In the case with cocaine, drinking alcohol and taking cocaine can create an entirely new psychoactive substance in your body, which can intensify the experience of cocaine intoxication. Furthermore, it will also stay in your body for days, or even weeks, and continue to damage your internal organs. Most importantly it is more likely to damage your heart; be aware of this if you have an underlying heart condition.
If you are going to drink alcohol with stimulants, we recommend keeping it to one drink per hour (or per DJ set), and alternate your booze with water.
Alcohol and cannabis
Drinking while smoking weed can intensify weed’s effects, potentially leading to a stronger high. Combining the two drugs can increase your chance of “greening out”- an unpleasant experience that leads to a bunch of physical and psychological symptoms, including:
- nausea
- vomiting
- sweating
- dizziness
- anxiety
- paranoia
- psychotic symptoms (hallucinations, delusions)
While for a lot of people the effects of combining weed and alcohol are tolerable, individual experiences of this will vary widely.
Psychedelics
Psychedelics refer to a family of drugs that can alter your consciousness, perception, mood and thought patterns. It includes synthetic compounds like LSD, 2-CB and naturally occurring compounds found in various mushrooms, plants like datura, and certain cacti.
Psychedelics and cannabis
Cannabis can make the effects of psychedelics much stronger, and last much longer. It is also a moderate-risk combination as both cannabis and psychedelics can cause paranoia and anxiety. In some extreme cases it can sometimes cause drug-induced psychosis.
Psychosis is an umbrella term that describes a number of possible symptoms. The person experiencing psychosis might lose touch with reality and have trouble telling the difference between what is real and what is not. They might see or hear things that others can’t hear or see, or they might start to believe things that aren’t true; sometimes these beliefs can be quite frightening, such as that people are out to get them. For some people these symptoms might carry on even after the effects of the drug have worn off.
Psychedelics and alcohol
While alcohol can reduce some of the anxiety and tension associated with deciding to take LSD, it can also cause dehydration, nausea and fatigue, which might make for a more challenging experience. In addition, some research suggests that taking LSD and psilocybin-based substances can partially/completely block the desired effects of alcohol.
Psychedelics and prescription medication
Be careful of any benzodiazepines, anti-psychotics, anti-anxiety or anti-depressants you might be taking, as these can dull the effects of the psychedelic. While not a problem in itself, you may be more likely to take more to overcompensate for a lack of effect, which may lead to some negative side effects of the psychedelic.
What to do when you’ve combined some drugs and you aren’t feeling good
If you or someone around you is starting to feel any of the negative effects described in this article, call an ambulance. It’s better to have one on its way then to wait and call one when it might already be too late. In the meantime, there are some basic first aid things that you can do to support yourself, or to support someone else.
- Make sure you stop – don’t take any other substances
- Check in with a buddy. If you have a tripsitter with you, let them know you’re feeling off, make sure they stay with you
- Move to somewhere quiet
- Take slow deep breaths
- If you’re trip-sitting, put your friend in the recovery position
Check out the Tripsit mixing chart for a comprehensive, visual guide on different drug interactions
Tripsit also has a fantastic app where you can plug in the drug combo you’re thinking of and it’ll tell you what your risks are.
Visit the Tripsit app