5 ms·

I am genuinely curious to hear from someone who has taken both, how LSD microdosing affects them versus amphetamine salts (i.e. adderall)

tmp72636 10y ago
The differences are subtle with small dosages, and there might be a substantial placebo effect. But as a personal summary, LSD makes me smile and I feel like a better person. On it, I find myself preferring good life choices and productivity. Amphetamine gives me endless focus and nervousness-flavored mental energy, similar to too much coffee. As a bonus: Modafinil makes me almost angrily opposed to distraction and slacking off.
- pmoriarty 10y ago
  "LSD makes me smile and I feel like a better person. On it, I find myself preferring good life choices and productivity." This reminds me of the effect of low doses of marijuana.
  - amorphous_hn 10y ago
    Cannabis is more disabling IMO (I say that as someone that functions very well on cannabis)
northband 10y ago
In a good environment and state of mind good clean acid can freak you out initially but after you peak you have this longer period of a zen like state where it seems you have endless energy and concentration. That is why I'm interested in microdoses because if it can reproduce that zen period vs. the initial freak out period then it could potentially be very beneficial.
always_good 10y ago
Amphetamine wins at productivity without contest. It has a linear effect and you can take more. Much better as a therapeutic device. My experience with LSD microdosing is that I still don't feel like programming, just like I don't with a higher dose. I feel like doing other things. People say "you're taking too much", yet when I try to take less, then I don't feel anything at all. Very unpredictable. If I get the dose perfect (which might depend more on the state of me rather than the dose), then I'd liken it to a tiny dose of amphetamine -- it comes with the same sort of mental clarity. If I take a little too much, like within 10ug or something, I'm even more useless at my daily tasks. For 12 hours. This vastly limits the therapy of any of its effects since you can never advance beyond however you feel in microdose space (whatever that is), and you can't take more when you need more power. Is the dark web so prevalent that everyone in SF has their own sheet? My experience with proponents of microdosing in person is that they tried it a few times but never actually owned their own supply to experiment with. My ultimate opinion is to reserve my acid for when I want to take a 1/4+ tab on the beach to enhance an experience, and to reserve amphetamine for productivity. Bonus: amphetamine tolerance seems to change acid a bit for the worse, but I'm not sure how much of that is superstition which is too easy to accumulate around acid, which is why it's hard to evaluate microdosing.
throwaway2404 10y ago
Like the other reply said, amphetamines give you the nervous, high focus, zeroed-in feeling. Great for cranking out a ton of code if you write a to-do list beforehand, otherwise I get lost in trivial, pixel-perfect design stuff. An LSD microdose is a much more relaxed high, tons of mental energy but less focused (which is a good thing, compared to amphetamines). Especially for creative work or higher-level/algorithmic programming.
- oriel 10y ago
  I can usually get the same effect mixing a clear sativa and a low dose of amphetamine. Good for writing, designing, coding for long hours without that tingle of builtup stress behind the curtains.
psyc 10y ago
For me the effects aren't too related. Amphetamines provide focus and energy. LSD makes my mind extremely porous, so that information just goes in and I don't have to expend any effort to learn complicated things. So I don't actually do active work on LSD, I just read, and experience reading comprehension on a level I don't know how to achieve any other way. It's the closest thing I can get to "download this book into my mind" a la The Matrix.
amorphous_hn 10y ago
LSD is less linear. Increased focus, energy, visual acuity, but you won't get stuck organizing all your documents for the 12th time like on amphetamines. I actually take both substances together, and find that the synergy is superior to either one by themselves. But it takes real commitment to have such a dosing protocol because most "normal" individuals do not/would not understand it
cypherpunks01 10y ago
For a day when I'm working, I consider microdosing LSD if: - It's going to be a somewhat creative/self-directed day - Not likely to be a stressful day or a packed schedule While microdosing my brain will wander a bit more than usual in different directions, which is good under low stress but not helpful under high stress. It can help me focus on work tasks enormously, but doesn't bring me the same rapid-paced obsessive productivity mindset as adderall would. If I'm working and I know it's going to be a crazy day where I need to get 10 things done and can't afford to procrastinate or be otherwise distracted, I'd prefer adderall because it's more predictable in its effects on my focus. If I'm not working, I don't consider taking adderall at all (unless I need to be awake for something like an overnight drive). People should consider modafinil as well in cycling through different types of stimulants, I find it to have less of a physical effect compared to lsd or amphetamines.

tmp72636 10y ago

The differences are subtle with small dosages, and there might be a substantial placebo effect. But as a personal summary, LSD makes me smile and I feel like a better person. On it, I find myself preferring good life choices and productivity. Amphetamine gives me endless focus and nervousness-flavored mental energy, similar to too much coffee. As a bonus: Modafinil makes me almost angrily opposed to distraction and slacking off.

pmoriarty 10y ago
"LSD makes me smile and I feel like a better person. On it, I find myself preferring good life choices and productivity." This reminds me of the effect of low doses of marijuana.
- amorphous_hn 10y ago
  Cannabis is more disabling IMO (I say that as someone that functions very well on cannabis)

northband 10y ago

In a good environment and state of mind good clean acid can freak you out initially but after you peak you have this longer period of a zen like state where it seems you have endless energy and concentration. That is why I'm interested in microdoses because if it can reproduce that zen period vs. the initial freak out period then it could potentially be very beneficial.

always_good 10y ago

Amphetamine wins at productivity without contest. It has a linear effect and you can take more. Much better as a therapeutic device. My experience with LSD microdosing is that I still don't feel like programming, just like I don't with a higher dose. I feel like doing other things. People say "you're taking too much", yet when I try to take less, then I don't feel anything at all. Very unpredictable. If I get the dose perfect (which might depend more on the state of me rather than the dose), then I'd liken it to a tiny dose of amphetamine -- it comes with the same sort of mental clarity. If I take a little too much, like within 10ug or something, I'm even more useless at my daily tasks. For 12 hours. This vastly limits the therapy of any of its effects since you can never advance beyond however you feel in microdose space (whatever that is), and you can't take more when you need more power. Is the dark web so prevalent that everyone in SF has their own sheet? My experience with proponents of microdosing in person is that they tried it a few times but never actually owned their own supply to experiment with. My ultimate opinion is to reserve my acid for when I want to take a 1/4+ tab on the beach to enhance an experience, and to reserve amphetamine for productivity. Bonus: amphetamine tolerance seems to change acid a bit for the worse, but I'm not sure how much of that is superstition which is too easy to accumulate around acid, which is why it's hard to evaluate microdosing.

throwaway2404 10y ago

Like the other reply said, amphetamines give you the nervous, high focus, zeroed-in feeling. Great for cranking out a ton of code if you write a to-do list beforehand, otherwise I get lost in trivial, pixel-perfect design stuff. An LSD microdose is a much more relaxed high, tons of mental energy but less focused (which is a good thing, compared to amphetamines). Especially for creative work or higher-level/algorithmic programming.

oriel 10y ago
I can usually get the same effect mixing a clear sativa and a low dose of amphetamine. Good for writing, designing, coding for long hours without that tingle of builtup stress behind the curtains.

psyc 10y ago

For me the effects aren't too related. Amphetamines provide focus and energy. LSD makes my mind extremely porous, so that information just goes in and I don't have to expend any effort to learn complicated things. So I don't actually do active work on LSD, I just read, and experience reading comprehension on a level I don't know how to achieve any other way. It's the closest thing I can get to "download this book into my mind" a la The Matrix.

amorphous_hn 10y ago

LSD is less linear. Increased focus, energy, visual acuity, but you won't get stuck organizing all your documents for the 12th time like on amphetamines. I actually take both substances together, and find that the synergy is superior to either one by themselves. But it takes real commitment to have such a dosing protocol because most "normal" individuals do not/would not understand it

cypherpunks01 10y ago

For a day when I'm working, I consider microdosing LSD if: - It's going to be a somewhat creative/self-directed day - Not likely to be a stressful day or a packed schedule While microdosing my brain will wander a bit more than usual in different directions, which is good under low stress but not helpful under high stress. It can help me focus on work tasks enormously, but doesn't bring me the same rapid-paced obsessive productivity mindset as adderall would. If I'm working and I know it's going to be a crazy day where I need to get 10 things done and can't afford to procrastinate or be otherwise distracted, I'd prefer adderall because it's more predictable in its effects on my focus. If I'm not working, I don't consider taking adderall at all (unless I need to be awake for something like an overnight drive). People should consider modafinil as well in cycling through different types of stimulants, I find it to have less of a physical effect compared to lsd or amphetamines.