As soon as you described the 'boom' as similar to the sound that the tripods made in War of the Worlds I could hear it in my head.

I too have felt that the first few doses were less visual than emotionally intense. Now that I have became more comfortable being in that space I can focus on what I see rather than how I feel.

Getting to know myself and what I needed was the hard part. Without a scale I am not sure if you will be able to find your happy medium without having to eyeball a dose. I would expect it would be a shoot and miss sort of scenario without one.