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Controlled experiment: microdosing mushrooms

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I am in too. I actually experimented it for a few days recently and had a nice preview of the potential of microdosing mushrooms. It's a really good idea to spread the experiment since I think microdosing psychedelics is an area which is not sufficiently resarched since. It would be a pleasure to be part of the experiment :D
 
EcstaticTrance said:
I am in too. I actually experimented it for a few days recently and had a nice preview of the potential of microdosing mushrooms. It's a really good idea to spread the experiment since I think microdosing psychedelics is an area which is not sufficiently resarched since. It would be a pleasure to be part of the experiment :D
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Great! Would you be willing to share the details of your personal experiments? What kind of shrooms did you use? What dosages? For how long did you take micro doses, how often did you take and what effects did you notice?

These details are important so I can deduce whether or not my initial 100mg dose is too much. I'll be taking a few days of 50mg doses next week to see how it affects me and then increase the dose to 100mg for a week to see how it affects me. I'm quite curious to see if it does indeed influence my behaviour during that time or not.
 
VoidTraveler said:
EcstaticTrance said:
I am in too. I actually experimented it for a few days recently and had a nice preview of the potential of microdosing mushrooms. It's a really good idea to spread the experiment since I think microdosing psychedelics is an area which is not sufficiently resarched since. It would be a pleasure to be part of the experiment :D
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Great! Would you be willing to share the details of your personal experiments? What kind of shrooms did you use? What dosages? For how long did you take micro doses, how often did you take and what effects did you notice?

These details are important so I can deduce whether or not my initial 100mg dose is too much. I'll be taking a few days of 50mg doses next week to see how it affects me and then increase the dose to 100mg for a week to see how it affects me. I'm quite curious to see if it does indeed influence my behaviour during that time or not.
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No problem! Well I was using some Golden Teachers I had for a while, so I guess the potency have maybe declined but I cannot know for sure since I haven't ate a full dose of them since a little while. I am actually kinda sensitive to shrooms nowadays since I had some really mind shattering experiences experimenting with heroic doses and fasting. Im in college at the moment and on the week I experimented I also indulged in some small doses of caapi tea on 2 or 3 days of the 7 days experiment which can have had some influence on the whole experience. On the first day I ate .2 in the morning and I had a class a few minutes after that, it ended up pretty manageable and I had a nice cognitive boost and got more talkative than usual but I had some anxiety in the beginning, which could be linked more with apprehension since it was the first day of the experiment. I still think it was a bit too much to begin with so I've continued the experiment with .1.

Then I only have dosed in the morning, I've never tried dosing more than once a day. I usually ate the shrooms after breakfast, but eating them before is probably ideal for quicker effects. At .1 the effects were kinda subtler but still present and lasted for approximately 4 or 5 hours. Redosing at that point would probably have been a good idea. A few days in I came to the conclusion that .1 of the shrooms I had was a bit too subtle in effect and getting back up to .2 made me realize it was actually my sweet spot for the cognitive enhancing effects (do not forget that my shrooms are 8 months old and that they've probably lost potency). I was actually quitting smoking cigs at the time of the experiment and the microdose made it quite easy though I had a few stressful events in a relationship that got me back to it and off the experiment... I think the only downside with mushrooms is that they have a little ''sedated'' feeling to them, at those doses it's not that present anyway, but I mean I was kinda inspired to dwell into this by James Fadiman's book, and I think the main difference with microdosing mushrooms and microdosing let's say LSD or mescaline is that they get you maybe into a more stimulating space and their long lasting effect will fulfill the day until you get back to bed. That's where it gets interesting to experiment with redosing let's say in the afternoon but maybe there will be a tolerance issue but as my understanding is tolerance with doses as low as that is not really an issue (correct me if Im wrong). I am really enthusiast to experiment some more since I think I was only testing the water since it my first experiment in that. To see results from more people will be quite stimulating and just an idea like that, maybe we could get our hands on some cacti for testing microdosing with it later on so we can compare, since the duration and the stimulating effect of cacti makes it a good candidate to experiment with too!

P.S : I dont know if there is some people on here who actually never really have dwelled into psychedelics, or maybe we could find some acquaintance that are not experienced with this field to try the experiment since I personnally think that my previous experiments have quite an effect on the ability to channel the psychedelic headspace at such low doses. I would like to see if people without experience would still have distinctive and positive effects from microdosing since the only people Ive heard of venturing in this venue had had previous experiences with psychs.
 
endlessness said:
Better powder the shrooms beforehand to homogenize the alkaloid content, since not only flushes or batches can vary but even one part of a mushroom can have different alkaloid content than another.

Very interesting idea, btw, VoidTraveler :)
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Maybe brewing a mushroom tea of a gram of shrooms and dosing only 1/10th of it each day after shaking it well would be of help to homogenize the alkaloid content.
 
I love the idea of an experiment like this. But I worry about the conclusions. I wonder why you want to do it. I suppose to draw some set of conclusions from the result. The potency will vary between individuals. In a true scientific study they deal with these variables. That is why Strassman, for DMT went to laboratory made DMT, so that the dosage would be the same for everyone...and I am not sure if he accounted for BMI etc.

I worry that after the experiment is over there is no way to actually have significant results. Science works very good for such studies. I think that it will be a highly suggestive outcome. People may WANT to feel better on them and then find it hard to be fair.

But if you wanna do it then you have to out out questionnaires first. U need to get details, like age, body weight, experience with shrooms and I do not think that people should be using any other substance at all when they join the experiment, because these things are serotonin affecting things. Who can say how a good DMT trip will interact with the low dosage of psilocybin.

It would be best if it was a double blind study :) Maybe you should look up someplace first how to set up such a research. There must be a standardized method to copy that can be used or adapted where needed as to have a framework from which you can actually draw some meaningful conclusions about the results.

Hell, maybe you can mail that Johns Hopkins dude who studied psilocybin and ask if he wants to unofficially give some outline as to how to set things up.

The best thing would also be to have one batch of shrooms and then send all participants from that batch. But then it will not be anonymous again. Me I have Colombian, Cambodian and McKenaii in stock to do this for a decade :) If you'd all live in .nl I'd send participants from my batches so you have a standard.

What I am curious about is if we could detect what McKenna was always on about. How shrooms suppress male dominator ego. Could it be that people doing this for a long time become less dominant, aggressive, more cooperative...etc.?
 
what about the fact that you will develope tolerace? Psilocybin is something that developes tolerance due to downregulation of seratonin receptors after they have been flooded with psilocybin..this happens due to the brain trying to regulate itself becasue I guess it responds as if it has too much seratonin so it lowers the receptor density..this is something that does not happen with ayahuasca..which is why microdosing ayahuasca is so great.

I am not saying it is not interesting, I just dont think it will end up being as benificial as ayahuasca microdosing..the dose of psilocybin will be so low though I wonder how much the downregulation will do..

People do microdose iboga though and it builds tolerance as well..but noribogaine also builds up in the system over time which is why people probly experience such positive effects of iboga microdosing..similar as to how ayahuasca seems to upregulate seratonin receptor density(the opposite of mushrooms and LSD etc)..

I think there are for sure positive neurological side effects of psilocybin I am just not sure how useful daily microdosing would be. If I was to do this I would do it every 3rd day to avoid any tolerance build up effecting the outcome.
 
jamie said:
what about the fact that you will develope tolerace? Psilocybin is something that developes tolerance due to downregulation of seratonin receptors after they have been flooded with psilocybin..this happens due to the brain trying to regulate itself becasue I guess it responds as if it has too much seratonin so it lowers the receptor density..this is something that does not happen with ayahuasca..which is why microdosing ayahuasca is so great.

I am not saying it is not interesting, I just dont think it will end up being as benificial as ayahuasca microdosing..the dose of psilocybin will be so low though I wonder how much the downregulation will do..

People do microdose iboga though and it builds tolerance as well..but noribogaine also builds up in the system over time which is why people probly experience such positive effects of iboga microdosing..similar as to how ayahuasca seems to upregulate seratonin receptor density(the opposite of mushrooms and LSD etc)..

I think there are for sure positive neurological side effects of psilocybin I am just not sure how useful daily microdosing would be. If I was to do this I would do it every 3rd day to avoid any tolerance build up effecting the outcome.
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Well I havent seen any tolerance in my week of experimentation. Fadiman, and his book, express that those kind of sub-perceptual doses doesnt create tolerance at all.. I dont think theres is much sources about that since its not really a researched area. Still I havent noticed any tolerance at all comparatively to dosing bigger dosages two days in a row. Well experimenting it is the best way to find wheter it is valuable and benefic and how we should go to get the most out of it.
 
Visty said:
I love the idea of an experiment like this. But I worry about the conclusions. I wonder why you want to do it. I suppose to draw some set of conclusions from the result. The potency will vary between individuals. In a true scientific study they deal with these variables. That is why Strassman, for DMT went to laboratory made DMT, so that the dosage would be the same for everyone...and I am not sure if he accounted for BMI etc.

I worry that after the experiment is over there is no way to actually have significant results. Science works very good for such studies. I think that it will be a highly suggestive outcome. People may WANT to feel better on them and then find it hard to be fair.
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I share these sentiments as I've pointed out in this post. I've gone over many of your concerns already. However I also believe that the results might provide inspiration for further research into the matter. If we have anecdotal evidence that mushrooms do indeed have a positive effect when taken in small dosages, perhaps that will lead towards more research and a better understanding of the matter.

Visty said:
But if you wanna do it then you have to out out questionnaires first. U need to get details, like age, body weight, experience with shrooms and I do not think that people should be using any other substance at all when they join the experiment, because these things are serotonin affecting things. Who can say how a good DMT trip will interact with the low dosage of psilocybin.
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Again, I concur and this has been asked in this thread as well. I'm not overly concerned about interaction with DMT due to it's short acting period. Longer acting psychelics, such as harmalas, LSD or mescaline do pose a potential problem and I wish to keep those out of the experiment. People using any of these should not participate.

Visty said:
The best thing would also be to have one batch of shrooms and then send all participants from that batch. But then it will not be anonymous again. Me I have Colombian, Cambodian and McKenaii in stock to do this for a decade :) If you'd all live in .nl I'd send participants from my batches so you have a standard.
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While I appreciate the gesture, please do not forget that even in the Netherlands Psilocybin is illegal. While it's "only" a schedule II drug(soft drugs), it's still illegal. Mailing around samples of these mushrooms is breaking the law and I'd hate to see you get in trouble because you want to be helpful.

However, since magic truffles are legal, we've discussed the potential of repeating the experiment in a more controlled setting with the use of Sclerotia within the confines of the Dutch border. However, I believe that doing the experiment here on the Nexus will provide (some) anecdotal evidence and insights that we can potentially use to refine the experiment parameters for a more controlled experiment. Yes, I agree this isn't the best experiment set up, but for now we'll have to get by.

Visty said:
What I am curious about is if we could detect what McKenna was always on about. How shrooms suppress male dominator ego. Could it be that people doing this for a long time become less dominant, aggressive, more cooperative...etc.?
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Could be interesting. I have a rather dominant behaviour but I haven't seen a reduction in my dominance or aggression. The use of mushrooms DID make me more relaxed and easy going. I get less riled up than before, but I'm still an aggressive dominant male. And by aggressive I do not mean it in the way that I'm going to rip off your head when angered, but I do have a tendency to display my male dominance in a group to 'attempt' leadership and when confronted with female specimens I do have a tendency to become rather flirty. But perhaps it will happen with prolonged exposure.
 
jamie said:
what about the fact that you will develope tolerace? Psilocybin is something that developes tolerance due to downregulation of seratonin receptors after they have been flooded with psilocybin..this happens due to the brain trying to regulate itself becasue I guess it responds as if it has too much seratonin so it lowers the receptor density..this is something that does not happen with ayahuasca..which is why microdosing ayahuasca is so great.

I am not saying it is not interesting, I just dont think it will end up being as benificial as ayahuasca microdosing..the dose of psilocybin will be so low though I wonder how much the downregulation will do..

People do microdose iboga though and it builds tolerance as well..but noribogaine also builds up in the system over time which is why people probly experience such positive effects of iboga microdosing..similar as to how ayahuasca seems to upregulate seratonin receptor density(the opposite of mushrooms and LSD etc)..

I think there are for sure positive neurological side effects of psilocybin I am just not sure how useful daily microdosing would be. If I was to do this I would do it every 3rd day to avoid any tolerance build up effecting the outcome.
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Those ideas a worth pursueing in the future! For now, I'd like to keep it confined to mushrooms and the concerns / potential results from the experiment. I'll keep these on the backburner and once these experiments are completed / done I might pursue further experiments with other entheogens.

Thank you for pointing out the risk of downregulation of serotonin receptors. I'll keep this mind and most certain try to see if there's a way to determine any of those effects. As stated, downregulation shouldn't be a problem with micro doses, but it's certain a thing to keep in mind.
 
Another thing you may want to consider adding to this experiment is something with vision enhancment/imparment. Everyone knows that even small doses will cause visual enhancment, maybe even micro dosing over time may have a positive effect and could someday end up in a multivitamin lol.
 
I am definietly up for participating in this survey myself. It's something I've been thinking about heavily since Psychedemia, where I was exposed to Jim Fadiman's ideas about microdosing on LSD. I've gone to work a couple times on 1/2 gram of mushrooms and had some of the most AMAZING days.

I do agree that making "shroom shots" would be the best way to go with this to even out the doses and give you a better sense of what is what.

I've also found that microdosing LSD seems to be better than shrooms, in terms of positive effects on the day.
 
I'll do whatever you want, just give me the mushrooms. And please don't be angry with me if I decide not to microdose and eat like 4g's to the head. I tried to behave. I really did. But they like me, and I like them 😁
 
I've been doing this informally for a long time , not every day
But periods of regularity . The mushrooms are ground and encapsulated
It works and I have never experienced a downside
Other than trying to function in everyday life situations
And not being able to fully enjoy the ride.

Mushrooms in low doses have many benefits
Mainly mood lifting and great personal insight, awareness and creativity
 
I've been doing it whilst I have been getting flushes for a couple of weeks, but I have not been weighing it or anything... When I get up on a morning and see new shrooms ripe for picking, before drying them I pick up a big ole shroom and bite it's head off! The doses are probably an average of about 0.2 dry weight as a rough guess.

I don't think the way I have been feeling lately is a placebo, I seem to be able to free associate in an almost poetic way in my head with all manner of things. The effect is hard for me to describe. I don't physically feel much different (though I do feel pretty good mentally). Perhaps it's placebo, but I seem to be better at it than usual. I wish I could describe it in more detail.

Wish I had spotted this thread sooner.
 
I am on day 5 of my microdosing experiment. I have been eating .1-.2 grams of Ps. Cyanescens everyday except I missed day 3.

I was taking .1 twice a day, but yesterday decided to up it a bit and ended up taking a single .17 dose and it was a bit too much for running around town and what not, I was just feeling too good to want to move mainly, but also a little too disoriented to be going to the store or interacting with large crowds comfortably. I think I will stay between .1 and .15 maybe just once a day to conserve supplies.

So far I can't say I've noticed too much in the way of mental affects. It does seem that I am able to be more "in the moment" rather than thinking about future events. I have noticed a few things about my own personality that I may not have otherwise noted, but I can't say for sure if it was due to the mushrooms. It is still early in the test though and I didn't expect any observable changes so soon anyway.

As far as tolerance, I don't think there is much build up. Although I can barely feel threshold effects, they seem to be consistent with the dose and haven't diminished yet.
 
I know this is an old thread. Wondering if anone experienced with micro dosing knows how it effects macro dosing tolerance?

And if anyone is still looking for participants I'm in.
 
I would be very interested to learn if psilocybin microdosing has nootropic effects and which amounts. I mean increase in IQ, problem solving, memory improvement and so on.
 
i am glad this post has been brought back to life....it leads me to yet, another question i have not heard discussed...i've scanned the thread and don't see it mentioned:

what effect, if any, would the micro-dosing have on the DMT experience, and would exploring with spice be contraindicated whilst on a micro-dosing program?

thoughts or experiences, anyone?

thanks!
 
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