Medicated, Anxious and Desperate - Tried DMT but nothing happened - How can I experience DMT?

[ronmo]

Hello all,

SWIM has always been extremely apprehensive about joining forums and has almost no social media presence - just a Facebook account from way back when. SWIM has always been introverted, and over 40+ years, this has caused a lot of distress, for reasons SWIM doesn’t want to go into here.

SWIM takes multiple medications for mental and physical health, including Effexor (SNRI), Remeron (NaSSA), and Bisoprolol (beta-blocker). SWIM’s mental health diagnoses include treatment-resistant depression and generalized anxiety disorder, and SWIM is also autistic. The most recent crisis was triggered by an inability to feel pleasure at all (anhedonia).

Recently, SWIM came across DMT and felt it might be a way to glimpse what their “end state” could look like - giving some direction and hope in life.

After being rejected from an Ayahuasca retreat in the Netherlands (due to medications) [Mod edit: no talk of buying or selling!] and being scammed, SWIM finally got a DMT cartridge. But there’s no way to know if it’s genuine.

Last night, SWIM tried it in dim light, hoping to enter Hyperspace and get some answers. SWIM vaped carefully, holding each puff for at least 10 seconds. Almost immediately, a heaviness set in. After 5–6 puffs, though, nothing happened. Pre-flight anxiety faded quickly, but the only effect was sweating, which lasted a few minutes each time. 2–3 more puffs later, still nothing.

SWIM’s first thought is that the cartridge isn’t genuine. This experience reinforced the decision to extract DMT personally (SWIM has already obtained MHRB and plans to try extraction in the coming days).

SWIM hasn’t explored the forums in depth yet, but wants to know: has anyone had a similar experience? What’s the best way to reach Hyperspace even once? SWIM isn’t afraid of dying; in fact, they look forward to it, but hope it will be a relatively pain-free passing. Finding some insight through DMT feels like the only hope for guidance in life, and any advice would be deeply appreciated.

Cheers all!

 

[blig-blug]

Hi @ronmo,

First of all, welcome to the Nexus.

In the past, I have been in a situation similar to yours (terrible mental health, very unstable, a lot of medications), so I can empathize. It really can feel desperate.

It's very likely that your medications are blocking the effects of DMT. SSRIs and SNRIs can greatly reduce the effects of serotonergic psychedelics, and in my personal experience mirtazapine (brand name: remeron) has the ability to almost completely block them. This makes sense, as it's a 5-HT2A receptor antagonist (meaning that it blocks the receptor site), and that's the main receptor involved in psychedelic effects. In a similar line, the Ayahuasca retreat did well in not allowing you to take Ayahuasca on your current medications, as it can be deadly to do so. Never combine MAOIs such as Syrian rue or Caapi with SSRIs or SNRIs.

It's also not unlikely that your DMT cart is weak or altogether bunk. So it's always a good idea to extract your own and be sure that you have a pure, potent product without any dangerous adulterants. In this case, I think the main factor is likely to be the medications.

I would not advice you to stop taking your meds suddenly for the purpose of a DMT experience, although that's ultimately your decision to make. Suddenly withdrawing medication can be very unbalancing: one of the worst periods in my life was when my dose of medications was quickly lowered, due to a new psychiatrist having to undo the dangerous medication excesses by a previous one. The ensuing mania led me to stop taking any medication all at once and to several months of highly destructive behavior to myself and others. So, if you decide to stop taking your medications, I highly advise you to do it under medical supervision.

As for the DMT experience and the psychedelic experience in general: it can be very interesting, very beautiful, and contribute to understanding and healing. It can also be hellish or unbalancing ("too much at once", "too much at the wrong moment"). There's no guarantee of what may happen with a psychedelic, however they are much more likely to leave you with more questions than answers. This is not to say that it won't be useful to you and your situation: what I mean is that there is no guarantee that it will be so. It may offer the guidance you hope for, it may not, or it may even be disturbing.

I'm saying this not to tell you to not have psychedelics, but to temper your expectations. It could be guiding, it could be the opposite. This is a highly personal decision that is only yours, but it's important to do it with the right information and realistic expectations, particularly when it involves discontinuing medication in a difficult personal situation. Also, remember that deciding to not take it now doesn't mean that you can't decide to take it in the future.

Again, welcome to the Nexus, your participation here will be highly welcome regardless of your personal decisions about psychedelic use. And learning to extract DMT is a good skill even if you end up deciding to not take it right now.

I wish you the best in your journey and that you find a more stable situation, I know by personal experience that it is possible even when it doesn't seem so

 

[ronmo]

@Blib Blob thank you for your views. Without going into too much detail, SWIM has been on Venlafaxine for 6+ years and on Mirtazapine for 2+ years. Venlafaxine helped initially, but after a while its effects subsided. Mirtazapine was added to the mix to take SWIM out of their crisis, which while initially helpful, made SWIM sleepy and lethargic. SWIM has already reduced Mirtazapine from 30mg to 15mg over the last 6 months under supervision of a psychiatrist. This might be a good opportunity to stop taking Mirtazapine altogether for 2-3 weeks and then try the DMT experience again. SWIM will never know whether a view into Hyperspace will be ultimately beneficial or not until they try it themselves. And trying new things is something that SWIM loves to do

 

[blig-blug]

If you are considering to stop taking mirtazapine, it's probably a good idea to do it in a similar manner you reduced your dose, even more given that it's not the same to go from X amount to half, than to go from half to zero.
I understand this is not always possible, but the more information you can share with your psychiatrist, the better.

By the way, the use of "SWIM" is discouraged here, as it adds no legal protection whatsoever and just makes posts harder to read (and write)

 

[Jamie01]

From my limited understanding it can take quite a while for some people to respond to 2a agonists after some of these meds. I’m talking years not weeks or months. Some providers/clinics etc turn to ketamine for these people instead as SSRI SNRI use etc doesn’t effect ketamine tolerance. It seems that this is the only option for some folks who want to experience psychedelics while coming off psych medications.