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"Endorphin Rush" - anyone? anyone?

Lucky Dog Hot Sauce

Lucky Dog Hot Sauce

I would never call BS on something just because I've not experienced it, but I keep seeing the same quote and for some reason I find it irritating. I just saw it again in the "arms race" topic.

While that's a topic I've vowed to never get into again, I wonder what y'all's feelings are about this supposed "endorphin rush" that eating hot sauce or hot peppers gives you?

My personal experience: I've eaten whole yellow brainstrain, T.Scorp (Moruga) and 7-pot "Jonah" - raw and super intense.

I have experienced the following effects:

1. "OHMYFOCKINGGODTHATSHOTSOMEONEPOURBEERONME!!!"

2. thinking "good golly when will it end, did I do permanent damage to myself? make it stop!!!!"

3. Hiccups (brain strain)

4. slight cramping (Moruga)

5. "Yummy!" (1st 20 seconds of each of the above peppers)

6. ring sting (all of the above, but pretty mild)

I've sweat buckets, cried out in pain, banged on a table and chugged beer. I've eaten hot wings so hot I thought I'd never eat another hot wing.

But I have never, not even a little bit, caught a rush, a high, or anything resembling one. And believe you me, I know what being high feels like. The 80s and 90s were a blur of experimentation. :rofl:

This whole vague quote about "some even report experiencing a rush or endorphin high" gets repeated so often that it's now like a stock quote in the go-to bag of crap to write about, mandatory in every single article about hot peppers. It reminds me of the thing when we were kids about how if you lick a banana slug you'll get high. It was pretty much just a way to get your stupid friend to lick a slug.

So I put it to you, the good people of THP: is there such a thing? Have you personally experienced an endorphin rush from hot sauce or hot pods? Or is it an urban legend?

Folks like Naga Chomper, Biz & Compmodder would seem like excellent resources since they eat INSANE things, but having eaten whole pods I can attest that it did nothing as far as a psychotropic response, nor did I get a "body high" as one might experience from say, pot brownies.

So what say you THP-ers? To get high or not to get high - are peppers the question? :dance:
 
I actually have experienced mild rushes from eating hot peppers and hot food. I used to go to a Vietnamese restaurant and use the chili paste and Sriracha sauce to get that mild endorphin high. But because I've been purposely building up my tolerance lately, I was unable to achieve that "rush" the last time I went to that restaurant, and I was using the chili paste and Sriracha like ketchup!

This past Summer, I was hired to walk precincts for the election. I would usually drink a small Red Bull before I started my walk. One day I ate a fresh Chiltepin while drinking the Red Bull, and I actually experienced a "rush" that lasted about a half hour or so.

Last weekend, I had to attend a really early morning breakfast meeting for my current job. I showed up tired and dragging my ass, even after a few cups of coffee. I brought along a Habanero hot sauce, poured it on my eggs and potatoes like ketchup, and it woke me up and gave me energy for about 30 minutes (and then the crash started coming).

I don't know if it is the Capsaicin that gives me the rush, or if it has something to do with my increased breathing and blood circulation caused by the "heat." Either way, I do enjoy the nice mild endorphin rush I get.
 
i don't know if i'd call it a rush, but i do get a relaxed, calm feeling about me sometimes after i get a good burn going. the human body definitely has endorphins that are released during pain, this is the whole reason why people cut themselves. maybe eating hot peppers is just a tastier and less messy way to get a similar feeling. ;)
 
different kind of rush....

I don't always get it - for me, it seems to occur when I have really good Thai or real Mexican food.

I don't think whole Superhots would allow the buzz for me.
 
I actually get a pretty good rush from eating whole superhots. It's not as strong as it used to be, but my tolerance has increased. In a few of my video reviews that I've done, I've experienced a VERY strong endorphin rush. It starts with my head and face getting very tingly, then my head feels very light. Finally, I get a very calming feeling come over me and I actually feel high, like I've just finished smoking weed (don't do that anymore, but there was a time when I, um, experimented a fair bit ;)). I think the video review I did of the Butch T from Butch Taylor, you can actually tell my speech started to slur from how buzzy I got. So yeah, I definitely get an endorphin rush off superhots.
 
I used to have a job where I got hurt a lot. An ouchie every other day, a bandage every other week, a trip to the doctor twice a year. I had this job for 8 years until I quit. At my next job I didn't get hurt. I started getting irritable, frustrated, tense for no reason and wondered what was wrong with me. About 5 minutes after I got hurt I was on cloud 9 and figured it out. After a while I was back to normal without getting hurt, but I had been addicted to it.

I wonder if some of you are addicted to peppers and don't know it yet.
 
I've felt a flush and gotten hand shakes.

One of our first Pure Evil testers reported-
no heat sensation from the drops, so he added about 40 drops to 1/3c bbq sauce, ate it all with chicken fingers. About 20 minutes later, he reported a full body heat flush, shaking hands, some stomach ration.

BigCedar reported feeling like he'd drunk 30 cups of coffee 8 hours after the challenge at last years NWCF. Several of the other contestants seemed like they were 'buzzing', kind of disoriented, breathing heavy, shakes...


LDHS, when you come up this year.....we'll get you buzzed for sure! I can even replicate that early batch so you don't get any heat in the mouth, just the buzz later... :evil:
 
salsalady said:
, LDHS, when you come up this year.....we'll get you buzzed for sure! I can even replicate that early batch so you don't get any heat in the mouth, just the buzz later... :evil:
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Uh.....uh....uh....I think I just got a fear rush.


:rofl:

Prehensile said:
I think it becomes a rush after you figure out the PAIN is subsiding and your still ALIVE!!!!
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See, that's where I've been....I am so relieved that the burning has subsided that I'm calmly and peacefully relieved.

I don consider that an endorphin rush...more like a survival reflex and associated relief. Maybe that is the high - I dunno.
 
Lucky Dog Hot Sauce said:
See, that's where I've been....I am so relieved that the burning has subsided that I'm calmly and peacefully relieved.

I don consider that an endorphin rush...more like a survival reflex and associated relief. Maybe that is the high - I dunno.
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In my experience, I feel the rush coming on in the middle of the most intense part of the burn. When the burn is most intense, is when I start to feel the tingling happening in my head and face (sometimes my arms and hands too). That is soon followed by becoming light headed. Then, by the time the burn starts to go down is when I get that calm, buzzed feeling.
 
The only thing that gives me a rush is Pure Evil in 20+ drop quantities, and pods, notably 7 Pots and hotter.
 
Lucky Dog Hot Sauce said:
Man I wish I was a lightweight. I wonder if I done fried my endorphin pumps or something. lol
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20 years ago I decided to make peace with fire.
So I got a branding in the shape of a lizard on my calf.
The endorphine rush was insane..... beyond anything I have ever felt.

I would bet if you got a nice hot pepper brand done, your endorphine pumps would work just fine...LOL

 
JHR said:
The only thing that gives me a rush is Pure Evil in 20+ drop quantities, and pods, notably 7 Pots and hotter.
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JHR- 20 drops ???? We need to get you the new-and-improved 1.5mil version!!!!

side note- hubby and myself (by accident, LONG STORY) ate about a tablespoon of a 3+million sauce and it put both of us out cold. Literally for him...passed out on the kitchen floor. Nothing "Pleasant" about that experience, and we didn't document it as I thought I was going to have to call the medics....
 
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