Preliminary Matrine Results
Hey friends,
I recently acquired a small amount of matrine, and have performed a couple of introductory tests to find out more about this super interesting compound.
For those who don't know, Matrine is an agonist of the kappa and mu opioid receptors, as well as having anti-tumor activity. It's an active alkaloid in the herb Sophora flavescens, which has a history of use in traditional Chinese medicine. The kappa agonism is particularly interesting, as this is the suspected mechanism of the atypical dissociative Salvia. Mu agonism is usually associated with euphoria. Both can produce analgesia.
Prior to my trials, I could only find a single other report of usage, from /u/kpinner in a since deleted post, where they claimed to consume a full gram at once. They reported long lasting effects and visual distortions, especially CEVs.
I decided to be a bit more cautious with my trials, since I have only a minor opioid tolerance, from using kratom 3 times a week, and very little is known about the safety profile of this compound.
First Trial
Started with an allergy test. About an hour later, at 2:05pm, I mixed 100mg into a shot of pickle juice and downed it. The pickle juice was to neutralize matrine, because I was advised the freebase form could cause mucosal damage on its own.
My stomach was a bit upset before taking it (acid reflux) but this actually went away after use, despite drinking pickle juice. I believe this speaks to the pH of the freebase.
First alerts were noticed about 40 minutes later. Minor euphoria, mood boost, felt a bit more emotional as well. Not sedating, and even seemed somewhat stimulating, although lacking character. These effects persisted throughout the experience and didn't seem to develop into anything deeper at this level. Potentiated the effects of cannabis, but was not particularly synergistic, like with kratom. No visual effects were noted at this time, neither open nor closed.
At around 7:15pm, five hours into the experience and feeling like it wasn't going to develop into anything more, I decided to take 4gs of kratom. This combination potentiated the kratom much more than expected, felt like an 8 gram dose at least. Very powerful body euphoria, and I felt a bit warmer than normal. This lasted until I fell asleep at around 12:45am.
Second Trial
4 days later, at 9pm.
I mixed 250mg in with pickle juice again, although of a much better quality than last time. This stuff is fairly bitter, but easy to wash down if you chase it with water.
Similar effects to the previous experiment developed, slightly more potent, although I wouldnt say doubly so. Took a walk outside and noticed some minor visual distortions, very occasionally. It was very slight bending of things, similar to with some dissociatives. Later on, when I was back inside, I had some very persistent afterimages. After looking at the lights on my ceiling for no more than a second or two, I had remaining afterimages of them where I looked, both with eyes open and closed. They moved a tiny bit, and faded after a couple minutes. No other visual effects were noticed.
Another thing that I should note is that I was having some back pain earlier on in the day. It wasnt at its worst when I took the matrine, but it did disappear for the rest of the night after I took it, so it may have so efficacy for muscle pain relief. I went to sleep around 1 with little trouble.
