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Filler material for harmala capsules

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blue.magic

blue.magic

Rising Star
I was going to fill "size 0" capsules with harmala HCl using The Capsule Machine.

Unfortunately, the target amount 100 mg per capsule is too little for a capsule so they are not getting filled evenly (the filling process relies on evening out the powder using a card, then pressing the powder a bit and repeat the process resulting in very little variation in weight between caps).

I therefore needed some extra filling material for the powder. I chose brown rice flour but this is not optimal (brown rice has quite short shelf life).

Other options coming to my mind: sugar, white flour, diatomaceous earth, bentonite clay, white clay.

Any suggestion for proper filling material that:

1) has a long shelf life
2) does not negatively interact with harmalas
 
Loveall said:
The ones you mention seem fine as long as you verify food grade (e.g. there are two kinds of DE).

Maybe something like this could be another option? Pharma without discomforts. - Pharmahuasca - Welcome to the DMT-Nexus
Click to expand...

Thanks. Yes the DE I have is actually a dietary supplement. My only concern is it can somehow bind the harmalas to itself rendering it ineffective.

The problem with sugar may be for someine with diabetes (although 50 mg or so shouldn't be a problem) and white flour contains gluten (but few mg of gluten should be also OK I guess).

The porridge with probiotics may have shorter shelf life. Ideally I would like the capsules to stay fully active or at least harmless for years.
 
White rice flour would last a very long time, as its the oils in the bran that goes rancid in brown rice, and it has a nice stable density.
I expect flour would work if nothing else were available but its too variable in density, it compresses quite a bit. Nowhere near as bad as corn starch would but it would be a variable.
A grain-free option would be powdered instant potato flakes. I ground some in a mortar and pestle once and it came out free flowing and almost identical to white rice flour.
If someone were of the type thats very serious about fasting a possibility would be ground epsom salts. It should just pass straight through with an imperceptible laxative effect, I just now mixed a small amount of dissolved epsom salts with a small amount of dissolved harmaline hydrochloride to verify that it doesnt produce any sort of precipitate. It did not.

If I were making those pills, just for fun, I would try using mescaline as filler on a couple. 160 or 200 mg mescaline with 200 mg of harmala.HCl might give a nice afterglow for after the DMT wore off 😉

But in practice I would probably use white rice flour or powdered instant potato, unless using for an absolute fast.
 
pitubo said:
Ascorbic acid (vitamin C).
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O size capsules fit about 500mg I believe, so that would be 400mg of vitamin C. Should not be an issue, but I would not take more than 200mg based on recommendations out there.

I would use dietary fiber. We need a lot of that stuff and hardly take enough. Also a happy tummy can't hurt during trips. To boot, it is used in the food industry to extend shelf life (but I'm not sure if that extends to harmalas). It is not too expensive ($10 per pound which is enough to fill over a thousand O pills.

From science direct:

sciencedirect said:
Dietary fiber added to cakes can prevent collapse, keep them fresh, and extend their shelf life.
Click to expand...
 
Ulim said:
Elrik said:
I dont think air would fit his criteria, the viscosity is too low :lol:
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Well i dont see him saying any criteria for the filler so i just put it in :p
Click to expand...


The way I understand it, if the gel caps are not full there is no way to ensure they all have the same weight. While filling, you "sweep" solid into the capsules, so the ones at the beginning of the sweep will be a lot fuller. So to ensure they all weigh the same is to fill them all to full capacity, hence the need for a filler (or smaller pills, but that is not the question posted).
 
I'd recommend ball-milling the harmalas with some kind of edible starch so that you don't get hot spots. Homogeneity is something of a must when formulating pharmaceuticals in this manner.

I wonder if there's an amino acid formula that might be suited to this purpose as well, although that wouldn't be as good for long-term storage.
 
Ulim said:
Air
Sand
Paper
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Air is not an option as I need something in increase volume to stuff it in capsule machine - it works by means of leveling out the powder.

obliguhl said:
DMT Fumarate
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Assuming the capsules will be used to enhance mushroom trips, this additive will surely enhance it even more 😁

Loveall said:
The way I understand it, if the gel caps are not full there is no way to ensure they all have the same weight. While filling, you "sweep" solid into the capsules, so the ones at the beginning of the sweep will be a lot fuller. So to ensure they all weigh the same is to fill them all to full capacity, hence the need for a filler (or smaller pills, but that is not the question posted).
Click to expand...

You got it.

Also dietary fiber seems to be great option.

Meanwhile I stumbled upon corn starch, which is actually a type of fiber - and very cheap. It has been used as placebo in many studies which - as with sugar placebo - are not concerned with it altering the glycemic response.
 
I say to not worry about using your capsule machine for this kind of dosing. Unless you can guarantee that your filler and substance are thoroughly homogenized, you run the risk of inaccurate dosing.

I have the exact same machine, and it's far more suited for powders where the exact 'packed amount' in each cap, is the exact dose you are seeking - for example, psilocybin mushroom powder (~0.5gm in each cap, depending on cap size). This machine is also great for capping 'non-actives' - spices like cinnamon, cayenne pepper, turmeric, black pepper etc.

For small amounts like 100mg, it's just far easier to put a rolling paper on your scales, and then scoop your desired amount onto the paper, and fold it up into a little bundle. When dosing you can just eat the whole bundle, or unwrap it carefully and lick it off. The paper bundles are easy to transport around but if desired, even the bundle can be poked into a empty capsule with ease.

EDIT:

You could also try making a harmala based liquid, and simply dose with certain amount of drops.

What the world really needs, is a kind of click-pen that you can fill with powder. With a single click, it could distribute 10mg of powder (depending on powder density of course) and it could make cap filling a much quicker process. Anyone know if anything like this exists?
 
Thanks for the advice. Using weighing paper and volumetric dosing is a good idea.

I like gelcaps as I can easily use them as daily supplements - make them once and need not to think about it for a month.

I finally chose cornstarch as it's a fine powder, the HCl salt can be also powdered in a mortart and the mix homogenized. It takes only a little practice with The Capsule Machine until it's a no brainer.
 
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