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Microdosing experience Options
 
Swayambhu
#1 Posted : 2/2/2017 12:46:01 PM

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So, I have my doubts about micro dosing as a thing. I have my suspicions that it is, at least in part, a phenomenon borne of the intersection of psychedelic culture and "life hack" douchebaggery, or maybe appealing to people who want to get involved with the current psychedelic fad that seems to be going on, but can't commit or are afraid of an immersive experience.
Maybe.
Maybe not.
Anyway, I thought I should try it out. A week, maybe two, of microdosing.
It's been less than a week, and I think that I am done with this iteration of the experiment.
My findings;

It was hard for me to find the right dose. Day 1 I started out with a single mushroom taken in the morning, followed by one in the evening. This is way too much.

The mushrooms I have are P. Semilanceata, and I don't know if mine are particularly strong examples of this species, or if I am particularly sensitive, but I definitely feel one mushroom.
These mushrooms are very small, and correspondingly quite difficult to weigh in whole or powdered form as a micro dose, which is why I ended up dealing in fractions of mushroom rather than grams.

If I only felt the positive effects, it might be okay. I did feel extra clarity, richness of vision, improved stamina, concentration, etc.

But, I also felt the "oh dear, what's this" sense of bamboozlement tinged with angst that I feel at the beginning of a mushroom experience. Some kind of ego-defence mechanism wrestling with the mushroom. It seems that this feeling and the more pleasurable feelings are not on the same curve or coefficient in relation to dose. This feeling lasts for about 40 minutes and is distracting, and disproportionate to the minute level of perceptible pleasant feelings from the mushroom.

The dose in the evening was again one mushroom. I had not been sleeping very well, but slept like a log.

Interestingly, a case of haemorrhoids I was suffering from was instantly banished. Possibly a coincidence.

I then continued the experiment with an -approximate- half mushroom taken twice a day.

The lowered dose dose seem to have eliminated the unpleasant feelings, but the noticeable benefit is also less, and after a few days, things started to get a bit weird. Nothing major, just a vague feeling of over extending the capacity of the micro-dose experience, kind of a strung-out feeling, and also some distortion of time, which is really not good.

I am not very much given to woo-woo, but I do hold mushrooms in high esteem, and they do, to me anyway, exhibit a kind of personality, and do express on an ineffable level some kind of communication.
In the case of this micro dosing experiment, I did get a very strong feeling or "message" that daily tiny doses were not the way mushrooms are supposed to be taken.

Mushrooms give so much, why should we expect them to, basically, take care of our shit on a daily basis? Do we really need microscopic levels of psychotropic compounds coursing round our system everyday? Do we need to develop a reliance on supplements in order to be the person we want to be?

I now believe the answer is no, not really. I think it is possible for this microdosing to become unbalancing and an abuse.

However, I do think single, or thoughtfully spaced-out micro dosing events have a lot of potential, in my case for helping with sleep (and perhaps haemorrhoids!).



The End.







 

Good quality Syrian rue (Peganum harmala) for an incredible price!
 
entheogenic-gnosis
#2 Posted : 2/2/2017 2:22:07 PM
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Good post. I always enjoy anecdotal information regarding novel uses of these amazing molecules.

In THIS article, an individual outlines similar experiments with various substances.

I think the potential benefits of microdosing have been documented fairly well. Though one must consider that every individual and their biochemistry are unique and will react differently to different substances, other factors such as currant mental state, stress levels, appetite, and sleep may also play a role here.

Is microdosing some miracle phenomena? Of coarse not! But there are definantly potential benefits.

Below some interesting points are highlighted:
Quote:
A significant instance of problem solving resulted in a Nobel Prize for Kary Mullis. Until the invention of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), a common problem in biology was that biological samples were often too small to analyze, but Mullis solved that and won a Nobel Prize. He described how LSD aided him in doing so.

"PCR's another place where I was down there with the molecules when I discovered it and I wasn't stoned on LSD, but my mind by then had learned how to get down there. I could sit on a DNA molecule and watch the [indistinct] go by. . . . I've learned that partially I would think, and this is again my opinion, through psychedelic drugs . . . if I had not taken LSD ever would I have still been in PCR? I don't know, I doubt it, I seriously doubt it." (Mullis 1998; "Horizon: Psychedelic Science" 1997)

From the point of view of psychedelic cognitive studies, Mullis's example is noteworthy because he did not have his insight while taking psychedelics but instead used psychedelics to increase his ability to visualize, then transferred that cognitive skill back to his ordinary mindbody state. This confirms the idea that some skills learned in one state can be transferred to another. Transference and nontransference between mindbody states is itself a cognitive process that deserves study — learning to remember dreams, for example. Learning to increase this flow, if it is possible, would increase access to stores of information and possibly to new cognitive skills.

Unlike Mullis's experience of transferring a skill back to his ordinary state, most instances of psychedelic problem solving occur while the person's cognitive processes are psychedelically augmented. This is most clearly illustrated by "Psychedelic Agents in Creative Problem Solving: A Pilot Study," by Willis Harman, a professor of engineering economic systems, and a team of researchers at Stanford Research Institute. Working with twenty-seven men who were "engaged in various professional occupations, i.e., engineers, physicists, mathematicians, architects, a furniture designer, and a commercial artist and had a total of 44 professional problems they wanted to work on," the Stanford Research Institute team divided them into groups of three or four and gave them 200 milligrams of mescaline, followed by a quiet period of listening to music. Then they had snacks and discussed their problems with their group. Following this they spent three or four hours working alone on their problems. As a result of psychedelic enhancement, the practical results were impressive
http://realitysandwich.c...nding_cognitive_studies/


I think mescaline, LSD, and some of the novel substituted phenethylamines in particular, all have great potential as "smart pills" and as agents which can enhance and improve the human mind and quality of existance....

That's not to say that I think one can microdose and profess psychedelic expertise, again, I'll let McKenna articulate:

Quote:
There are a lot of wannabe experts running around who didn't take enough, because you have to take a lot -- not a LOT -- but you have to take a frightening amount to get into what it's really about. People who have taken, you know, 50 gamma of LSD or 100 gamma of LSD or two grams of mushrooms or something like that, they are not qualified to hold forth on the nature of the psychedelic experience, because those doses don't deliver it to you. What they deliver is the periphery of the psychedelic experience: accelerated thought processes, a kind of depth and richness to cognition that is unfamiliar, an ability to analyze situations from unusual perspectives, or to reach unexpected conclusions. -terence McKenna


I think that by taking constant small doses of, lets say psilocybin, that you are ultimately building tolerance to the substance, without ever comming close to its true potential, I think you must build a relationship with these substances, you must get to know them at many dose levels under many conditions in many environments in order to gain the full range of what these substances can offer...

Yet, I'm fascinated with improving focus, memory, attention, concentration, productivity, creativity, performance, ability to absorb and understand new information, ability to form novel and abstract concepts and solutions to problems, ability to learn new skills, and so on...and I feel psychedelics hold the most potential for achieving these abilities. Our brain uses endogenous tryptamine and phenethylamine neurotransmitters to facilitate higher brain function, including cognition, memory, creativity, focus, etc...so I feel tryptamine and phenethylamine psychedelics, which could be viewed as "exogenous neurotransmitter homologues" hold the most promise in this area.

However, I think those concerned with microdosing should turn their attention to 2,5-dimethoxy-4-methyl-phenethylamine, and it's ethoxy homologues.

In the publication " SMART PILLS " By Darrell lemaire, potentials of these compounds are briefly outlined. I feel these compounds deliver all the benefits microdose users are seeking, minus the intoxication states which may hinder nootropic function.

It's a complex issue...

-eg
 
Swayambhu
#3 Posted : 2/3/2017 11:51:59 AM

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Thanks for the reply, e.g.
After reading the first article (or articles linked therefrom) I was interested (embarrassed) to note that my understanding of "microdosing" was quite incorrect.

I thought that microdosing was taking a little sprinkle every day as a sort of gentleman's nerve tonic.

It seems that the accepted format is a sprinkle every 4 days.

d'oh!

In my experience that seems to make sense, as it has been maybe two days since I ended the experiment, and I still feel (placebo or not) in an elevated mood and level of function.

Is it more or less than the feeling I get during the days or weeks following a dedicated dose?
I don't think so, but I guess for those who do not want that, this could be a way to engage with a herbal supplement that basically does not intersect with psychedelics or psychedelic culture in any way.

 
 
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