40 ms·

Psilocybin's effect can be amazing, but there were moments when I took truffles in Amsterdam that almost made me commit suicide. The sane part -- whatever was l

Psilocybin's effect can be amazing, but there were moments when I took truffles in Amsterdam that almost made me commit suicide. The sane part -- whatever was left of it -- recognized it and found an immediate way to stop it. So what actually happened is that I locked myself up in an empty room and cried (I couldn't harm myself there, because I didn't know how to get out until I sobered up a bit). After one hour of crying I started noticing the magical effects of "we're all connected" etc. So after the bad part of my trip, the amazing things came. I don't mind that I cried, but I do mind that I was acting on a suicidal tendency that I never experienced sober. I think I overdosed on it, being quite an inexperienced user. Because the first time I took half a dose, that was an amazing experience and it allowed me to reconnect to true child-like wonder (measured in units of whatever the smart shops in Amsterdam sell). N = 1, I know. All I'm saying is: be careful, have a trip sitter and a good set and setting. Don't go all out simply because you see a few positive papers.

voisin 5y ago
What dose on that first experience? Anyone know if dose needs to be scaled with body weight?
- mettamage 5y ago
  First experience: half Bad experience: a whole one Smart shops in Amsterdam have a pretty standardized dose that they sell. I forgot the actual amount of grams.
  - staticman2 5y ago
    This does not match my experience. I've found they have beginner, intermediate, or advanced truffles, presumably types with different natural dosages of psilocybin in the different types of Truffles. I've only taken the beginner ones and had a good time.
    - mettamage 5y ago
      I think in both cases we took an intermediate one. But I don't fully remember tbh.
- leke 5y ago
  When I went, they had the doses already set out like beginner, intermediate, advanced. Whatever you took, they recommended taking half and then waiting about 30 minutes. If you felt ok, you could take the other half. They should always recommend beginner, if you haven't had experience with truffles before.
- sparkie 5y ago
  Dosage is usually measured in grams for the dried out mushrooms. There's no standard scale because the amount of psilocybin in each mushroom can vary quite a lot. Counter-intuitively, larger fruits tend to be less potent than smaller ones. The amount you take should depend on the kind of experience you want. Body weight shouldn't make a big difference. (These assume potent mushrooms such as Cubensis, Liberty Cap, Wavy Cap). Main effects kick in around 60-90 minutes after eating. 1/4-1/2g: microdose. You should still be able to function pretty normally on this. 1.0-1.5g: Recreational dose, lasting a couple of hours. 2.0-3.5g: Deep trip, lasting 3-6 hours. 4-5g+: Hero dose. Not recommended for beginners. My first dose was 3.0g (cubensis) and it was great. I don't really see the point on microdosing and I see mushrooms as more medicine than a recreational drug. I usually take 3.5g as they're typically sold as 7g (1/4oz), which is 2 doses.
  - pmoriarty 5y ago
    The strain of mushroom taken can also greatly influence the experience. Some strains are far more potent than others.
  - jonkoops 5y ago
    In my experience it is better to measure the number of shrooms you are taking as the max. dose per shroom is pretty consistent vs. measuring the total weight. If only Psilocybin was available as a substance so we could just measure μg directly.
    - sparkie 5y ago
      If you pick fresh this may be a good idea. When you buy dried shrooms, it's not easy to tell what one fruit is because they shrivel up and break easily. Some sellers break them up deliberately - if some fruits are more potent than others, then by mixing them, the total psilocybin content is more likely to be similar in every package they sell. Interestingly, some vendors sell "mushroom pills" and "mushroom chocolate bars," where they do this on a bigger scale - mill the mushrooms down into powder form and then thoroughly mix the powder to give an even distribution. The idea then is that each piece of chocolate in the bar contains the same amount of psilocybin - and with some trial and error taste testing, they can recommend how many pieces of chocolate to have for the desired effect. This also doesn't give you the same nausea you typically get by eating the dried mushrooms directly, which might give you a better trip.
- creamynebula 5y ago
  Just google psilocybin dosage erowid...
retox 5y ago
Every time I took truffles I had a 'dirtier' and less predictable experience, more often than not they were negative. At the time I was very experienced with wet and dry mushrooms so maybe it was a nocebo.
- jk888 5y ago
  I have very unpleasant experiences on low doses. Maybe it is because the truffles are so weak.
bondarchuk 5y ago
Don't come to Amsterdam and take drugs without knowing how to deal with it, please. This kind of stupidity is exactly what got psilocybin mushrooms banned here.
- BossingAround 5y ago
  The problem is that if a person wants to learn how to deal with it legally, they have no other possibility than to come to a place like Amsterdam. Wouldn't the solution rather be for Amsterdam to create a "newbie coffee shops" or something similar? 1. Create safe newbie-friendly places that provide an opportunity to safely experience a legal drug X. 2. Mandate that for a foreigner to buy a legal drug X, they must have an ID-like document that says they are experienced with X. 3. Once a tourist experiences X in a newbie-friendly place, they award him/her with an ID-like document that enables the tourist to buy X on their own. Surely that create more jobs and opportunities in Amsterdam than the "bug off!" rhetoric I've seen from the local Amsterdam government.
  - mettamage 5y ago
    I've heard from friends that this exactly happens with DMT experiences. I'm not sure if DMT is legal here (they make it themselves, the ingredients are legal). Yet, they somehow advertize it publicly (?). He did it in the south of The Netherlands.
  - spdionis 5y ago
    To be clear, the staff in coffee shops do ask you if it's your first time and give you guidelines for how to use them safely, and usually informative leaflets are attached. At least in tourist places.
    - realce 5y ago
      I was actually really impressed with the effort to educate people about truffles last time I went.
- pmoriarty 5y ago
pmoriarty 5y ago
Were you on any other drugs at the same time you took mushrooms? Did you have a good set and setting when you took them?
- mettamage 5y ago
  Set and setting was neutral. I was curious that's all. Back then I didn't mix drugs. Now I sometimes mix alcohol with weed in certain social situations (don't do it, this is a personal failing on my side).
  - pmoriarty 5y ago
    "Set and setting was neutral. I was curious that's all." Your curiosity was part of your set (or mindset), but it's still not clear what the setting was (ie. where you did it). On the subject of mindset only, it definitely helps to make it as positive as possible (same with setting too, by the way). A neutral mindset could easily get to a negative mindset once you start tripping.. it's harder for that to happen if you have a very positive mindset. It's also good to have an experienced trip sitter you trust and like, to have constructive intentions for the trip, and to prepare in other ways (such as being in a comfortable, safe, and familiar environment at a time when you don't have any responsibilities to do anything else than enjoy yourself and don't have to deal with any people you aren't extremely comfortable around). Some other things that can help a lot are to have a good playlist of music to listen to (see the Johns Hopkins Psilocybin playlist[1] for a good example). Other props that have been successfully used to guide trips in a constructive direction were photographs of loved ones to look at during the trip, and a rose to look at towards the end of the trip. The time you trip can also influence how it goes. Some people like to time it so that they get to see the sunrise towards the end. Others prefer to trip during the day. Tripping in nature can be very nice.. In modern therapeutic contexts, the trip is done in a comfortable apartment with pleasing decorations, with a mask you put over your eyes to shut out the light and headphones with a carefully curated playlist (so you can go deep inside), and a therapist at your side. This is a far cry from how most people trip recreationally, where they might be in a party, club, or festival among people they don't know with music they can't control or just out in the streets. That can be a recipe for disaster. [1] - https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/articles/inside-the-johns-hopkins-psilocybin-playlist https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/articles/inside-the-joh...
saturdaysaint 5y ago
I hope that nobody reading this has an unsupervised psilocybin experience in 2021. We are so close to being able to pay for a professionally supervised experience (and you can almost surely find one today if you look in the right circles and come with the right intentions) - these will enhance the moments of clarity and alleviate a lot of the confusion and darkness that are part of the territory with psychedelic experience. I've benefitted greatly from a handful of psilocybin experiences in my life. The experiences were marked by long periods of profound terror and deep sadness, but I consider these to be powerful literalizations of anxieties, fears and attachments that helped me grapple with them in new ways. That said, I've glanced at scary thoughts that don't occur to me in daily life and came close to getting in trouble when I ran outside. Get a good babysitter - even better, track down a professional.
- efficax 5y ago
  > and you can almost surely find one today if you look in the right circles and come with the right intentions It would be great to know more about how to make this happen
  - pmoriarty 5y ago
    See: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27759681 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27759681
  - jk888 5y ago
    https://www.eleusiniaretreat.com/meditating-on-mushrooms-with-vr/ https://www.eleusiniaretreat.com/meditating-on-mushrooms-wit...
  - heroHACK17 5y ago
    https://maps.org https://maps.org or, more specifically, https://integration.maps.org https://integration.maps.org
- cambaceres 5y ago
  Tripping alone can be wonderful, just don’t take too much.
napkin 5y ago
I've just concluded it's more difficult to dose psilocybe truffles than mushrooms. The psilocybin content in the former is wildly inconsistent. I had two experiences, shared with a friend, spaced months apart using the same variety, vendor, dose (strong) and preparation method- The first was overwhelming and mystical, the second left us struggling to identify any effect beyond placebo. I spoke with the very friendly shopkeeper afterwards, also an avid psilocybe user, and she has also concluded sometimes they're just duds and prefers mushrooms for that reason. In your case, you got a scarier surprise as I guess you had the order reversed. To respond to the somewhat rude "don't come to Amsterdam and do drugs if you don't know what you're doing" post: You have a strong psychedelic substance being legally sold with totally unknown strenghth (as 'grams of truffles' doesn't count). What could go wrong? These products definitely need better labelling. I've also seen ridiculously strong pot edibles being sold in Amsterdam with insufficient labelling, but I digress. This particular doseage mistake might not have been made if mushrooms were legally available as their psilocybin content is much more predictable. ("I did X grams last time and that was fine so I'll do X grams again!" is mostly reasonable) The problems are exacerbated by prohibition.
ASalazarMX 5y ago
> I think I overdosed on it, being quite an inexperienced user. Because the first time I took half a dose, that was an amazing experience Why did you go for a full dose when the half-dose was amazing? Did you expect a different outcome?

voisin 5y ago

What dose on that first experience? Anyone know if dose needs to be scaled with body weight?

mettamage 5y ago
First experience: half Bad experience: a whole one Smart shops in Amsterdam have a pretty standardized dose that they sell. I forgot the actual amount of grams.
- staticman2 5y ago
  This does not match my experience. I've found they have beginner, intermediate, or advanced truffles, presumably types with different natural dosages of psilocybin in the different types of Truffles. I've only taken the beginner ones and had a good time.
  - mettamage 5y ago
    I think in both cases we took an intermediate one. But I don't fully remember tbh.
leke 5y ago
When I went, they had the doses already set out like beginner, intermediate, advanced. Whatever you took, they recommended taking half and then waiting about 30 minutes. If you felt ok, you could take the other half. They should always recommend beginner, if you haven't had experience with truffles before.
sparkie 5y ago
Dosage is usually measured in grams for the dried out mushrooms. There's no standard scale because the amount of psilocybin in each mushroom can vary quite a lot. Counter-intuitively, larger fruits tend to be less potent than smaller ones. The amount you take should depend on the kind of experience you want. Body weight shouldn't make a big difference. (These assume potent mushrooms such as Cubensis, Liberty Cap, Wavy Cap). Main effects kick in around 60-90 minutes after eating. 1/4-1/2g: microdose. You should still be able to function pretty normally on this. 1.0-1.5g: Recreational dose, lasting a couple of hours. 2.0-3.5g: Deep trip, lasting 3-6 hours. 4-5g+: Hero dose. Not recommended for beginners. My first dose was 3.0g (cubensis) and it was great. I don't really see the point on microdosing and I see mushrooms as more medicine than a recreational drug. I usually take 3.5g as they're typically sold as 7g (1/4oz), which is 2 doses.
- pmoriarty 5y ago
  The strain of mushroom taken can also greatly influence the experience. Some strains are far more potent than others.
- jonkoops 5y ago
  In my experience it is better to measure the number of shrooms you are taking as the max. dose per shroom is pretty consistent vs. measuring the total weight. If only Psilocybin was available as a substance so we could just measure μg directly.
  - sparkie 5y ago
    If you pick fresh this may be a good idea. When you buy dried shrooms, it's not easy to tell what one fruit is because they shrivel up and break easily. Some sellers break them up deliberately - if some fruits are more potent than others, then by mixing them, the total psilocybin content is more likely to be similar in every package they sell. Interestingly, some vendors sell "mushroom pills" and "mushroom chocolate bars," where they do this on a bigger scale - mill the mushrooms down into powder form and then thoroughly mix the powder to give an even distribution. The idea then is that each piece of chocolate in the bar contains the same amount of psilocybin - and with some trial and error taste testing, they can recommend how many pieces of chocolate to have for the desired effect. This also doesn't give you the same nausea you typically get by eating the dried mushrooms directly, which might give you a better trip.
creamynebula 5y ago
Just google psilocybin dosage erowid...

retox 5y ago

Every time I took truffles I had a 'dirtier' and less predictable experience, more often than not they were negative. At the time I was very experienced with wet and dry mushrooms so maybe it was a nocebo.

jk888 5y ago
I have very unpleasant experiences on low doses. Maybe it is because the truffles are so weak.

bondarchuk 5y ago

Don't come to Amsterdam and take drugs without knowing how to deal with it, please. This kind of stupidity is exactly what got psilocybin mushrooms banned here.

BossingAround 5y ago
The problem is that if a person wants to learn how to deal with it legally, they have no other possibility than to come to a place like Amsterdam. Wouldn't the solution rather be for Amsterdam to create a "newbie coffee shops" or something similar? 1. Create safe newbie-friendly places that provide an opportunity to safely experience a legal drug X. 2. Mandate that for a foreigner to buy a legal drug X, they must have an ID-like document that says they are experienced with X. 3. Once a tourist experiences X in a newbie-friendly place, they award him/her with an ID-like document that enables the tourist to buy X on their own. Surely that create more jobs and opportunities in Amsterdam than the "bug off!" rhetoric I've seen from the local Amsterdam government.
- mettamage 5y ago
  I've heard from friends that this exactly happens with DMT experiences. I'm not sure if DMT is legal here (they make it themselves, the ingredients are legal). Yet, they somehow advertize it publicly (?). He did it in the south of The Netherlands.
- spdionis 5y ago
  To be clear, the staff in coffee shops do ask you if it's your first time and give you guidelines for how to use them safely, and usually informative leaflets are attached. At least in tourist places.
  - realce 5y ago
    I was actually really impressed with the effort to educate people about truffles last time I went.
pmoriarty 5y ago

pmoriarty 5y ago

Were you on any other drugs at the same time you took mushrooms? Did you have a good set and setting when you took them?

mettamage 5y ago
Set and setting was neutral. I was curious that's all. Back then I didn't mix drugs. Now I sometimes mix alcohol with weed in certain social situations (don't do it, this is a personal failing on my side).
- pmoriarty 5y ago
  "Set and setting was neutral. I was curious that's all." Your curiosity was part of your set (or mindset), but it's still not clear what the setting was (ie. where you did it). On the subject of mindset only, it definitely helps to make it as positive as possible (same with setting too, by the way). A neutral mindset could easily get to a negative mindset once you start tripping.. it's harder for that to happen if you have a very positive mindset. It's also good to have an experienced trip sitter you trust and like, to have constructive intentions for the trip, and to prepare in other ways (such as being in a comfortable, safe, and familiar environment at a time when you don't have any responsibilities to do anything else than enjoy yourself and don't have to deal with any people you aren't extremely comfortable around). Some other things that can help a lot are to have a good playlist of music to listen to (see the Johns Hopkins Psilocybin playlist[1] for a good example). Other props that have been successfully used to guide trips in a constructive direction were photographs of loved ones to look at during the trip, and a rose to look at towards the end of the trip. The time you trip can also influence how it goes. Some people like to time it so that they get to see the sunrise towards the end. Others prefer to trip during the day. Tripping in nature can be very nice.. In modern therapeutic contexts, the trip is done in a comfortable apartment with pleasing decorations, with a mask you put over your eyes to shut out the light and headphones with a carefully curated playlist (so you can go deep inside), and a therapist at your side. This is a far cry from how most people trip recreationally, where they might be in a party, club, or festival among people they don't know with music they can't control or just out in the streets. That can be a recipe for disaster. [1] - https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/articles/inside-the-johns-hopkins-psilocybin-playlist https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/articles/inside-the-joh...

saturdaysaint 5y ago

I hope that nobody reading this has an unsupervised psilocybin experience in 2021. We are so close to being able to pay for a professionally supervised experience (and you can almost surely find one today if you look in the right circles and come with the right intentions) - these will enhance the moments of clarity and alleviate a lot of the confusion and darkness that are part of the territory with psychedelic experience. I've benefitted greatly from a handful of psilocybin experiences in my life. The experiences were marked by long periods of profound terror and deep sadness, but I consider these to be powerful literalizations of anxieties, fears and attachments that helped me grapple with them in new ways. That said, I've glanced at scary thoughts that don't occur to me in daily life and came close to getting in trouble when I ran outside. Get a good babysitter - even better, track down a professional.

efficax 5y ago
> and you can almost surely find one today if you look in the right circles and come with the right intentions It would be great to know more about how to make this happen
- pmoriarty 5y ago
  See: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27759681 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27759681
- jk888 5y ago
  https://www.eleusiniaretreat.com/meditating-on-mushrooms-with-vr/ https://www.eleusiniaretreat.com/meditating-on-mushrooms-wit...
- heroHACK17 5y ago
  https://maps.org https://maps.org or, more specifically, https://integration.maps.org https://integration.maps.org
cambaceres 5y ago
Tripping alone can be wonderful, just don’t take too much.

napkin 5y ago

I've just concluded it's more difficult to dose psilocybe truffles than mushrooms. The psilocybin content in the former is wildly inconsistent. I had two experiences, shared with a friend, spaced months apart using the same variety, vendor, dose (strong) and preparation method- The first was overwhelming and mystical, the second left us struggling to identify any effect beyond placebo. I spoke with the very friendly shopkeeper afterwards, also an avid psilocybe user, and she has also concluded sometimes they're just duds and prefers mushrooms for that reason. In your case, you got a scarier surprise as I guess you had the order reversed. To respond to the somewhat rude "don't come to Amsterdam and do drugs if you don't know what you're doing" post: You have a strong psychedelic substance being legally sold with totally unknown strenghth (as 'grams of truffles' doesn't count). What could go wrong? These products definitely need better labelling. I've also seen ridiculously strong pot edibles being sold in Amsterdam with insufficient labelling, but I digress. This particular doseage mistake might not have been made if mushrooms were legally available as their psilocybin content is much more predictable. ("I did X grams last time and that was fine so I'll do X grams again!" is mostly reasonable) The problems are exacerbated by prohibition.

ASalazarMX 5y ago

> I think I overdosed on it, being quite an inexperienced user. Because the first time I took half a dose, that was an amazing experience Why did you go for a full dose when the half-dose was amazing? Did you expect a different outcome?