Disregard Everything I Say

Ketamine, broken down and described

Sat, 18 May 2013 20:12:00 -0400

Dosage (insufflated),
Threshold : 10 - 15 mg
Light : 15 - 30 mg
Common : 30 - 75 mg
Strong : 60 - 125 mg
The K Hole : 100 - 250 mg

Duration (insufflated),
Onset : 5 - 15 minutes
Duration : 45 - 60 minutes
Normal After Effects : 1 - 3 hours

Dosage (oral),
Threshold : 40 - 50 mg
Light : 50 - 100 mg
Common : 75 - 300 mg
Strong : 200 - 450 mg
The K Hole : 500 + mg

Onset : 5 - 20 minutes (depending on stomach contents)
Duration : 90 minutes
Normal After Effects : 4 - 8 hours

Ketamine is a hallucinogenic drug used in human and veterinary medicine, primarily for the induction and maintenance of general anesthesia, usually in combination with a sedative. Other uses include sedation and anestheticin intensive care, (particularly in emergency medicine), and treatment of bronchospasm (a sudden constriction of the muscles in the walls of the lungs bronchioles).
Ketamine was originally developed as a medicine in 1965 as a derivative of phencyclidine (PCP), which was synthesized in 1926. It became popular among recreational users in the 1970’s but remains a ‘core’ medicine in the World Health Organization’s “Essential Drugs List”, a list of minimum medical needs for a basic healthcare system.
This substance is a dissocitive which falls into the arylcyclohexylamine class of chemicals, and possesses NMDA receptor antagonist properties. NMDA receptors allow for electrical signals to pass between neurones in the brain and spinal column; for the signals to pass, the receptor must be open. NMDA receptor antagonists close the NMDA receptors by blocking them. This disconnection of neurones leads to loss of feeling, difficulty moving, and eventually the famous “k-hole”.
This drug is the most famous of the classical dissociative hallucinogens and exhibits a wide array of complex subjective effects which are described in detail below…

Physical effects:
Assuming the substance has been insufflated, the very first physical effect hat is noticed is a sharp but relatively painless sensation within the nostril. An unpleasant taste is present for 15 - 20 minutes after insufflation and seems to come and go in an unpredictable manner.
At lower dosages, the physical sensations produced by the trip itself can be broken down into two distinct sensations. The first is a sharp, pleasurable tingling sensation which is location specific to the hands, feet and head. The second is a warm euphoric glow which emanates outwards from the centre of the body’s torso. Alongside of this, a significant decrease in the body’s overall weight is felt. This creates sensations of being extremely light and floaty in a way which is not necessarily stimulating, but still encouraging towards the act of moving around and engaging in physical activities.
As dosage increases, the physical sensations induced by the trip begin to become encompassed by feelings of physical detachment. This begins with feeling as if you are becoming removed from the body with a proportional loss of motor control and tactile sensation that increases along side of it. These sensations of dosage relative physical detachment are often described as feeling as if your body is not your own or feeling as if its movements have become partially to fully autonomous. As this effect increases motor control and bodily awareness are completely lost as total detachment from the physical senses and out of body experiences begin to take toll. This is accompanied by significant changes in the perceived direction and pull of gravity which results in feelings of flying over vast distances in multiple directions and varying speeds.
It’s worth noting that high dose ketamine trips can sometimes result in nausea and vomiting at the peak of trip. For most people, this is surprisingly not as unpleasant as they would initially expect due to the accompanying detachment from the physical senses.

Cognitive effects:
The most noticeable change in mental perception within the ketamine trip can be defined as a mild to complete detachment from the self and conscious awareness, which is the very definition of psychological dissociation. At lower levels this is usually described as feeling somehow separate and withdrawn from the external environment, as if life has somehow become a vague dream or film that plays out in front of you. Alongside of this, feelings of partial to complete autonomy associated with your thought stream and spoken conversation are often noted. As dosage increases, the cognitive detachment and dissociation eventually becomes so all-encompassing that ego death is inevitably reached, this is usually during high level out of body experiences. Along side of this, ketamine exhibits states of therapeutic dissociated introspection and spontaneous environment specific states of unity and interconnectedness.
It has also shown that ketamine, if taken even in small doses, is very effective for patients suffering from chronic depression and bipolar disorder. Specific studies which can be read about here and here have shown that the effect of the drug is immediate or within 2 hours and consistent in relieving patient’s depressive and/or suicidal symptoms, lasting up to 3 days after a single dosage. In comparison, common antidepressents, such as Prozac, are entirely ineffective for 40% of the population and can take weeks to show effects. This gives ketamine the potential to become an indispensable tool in the treatment of depression and bipolar, which is currently being held back by institutionalised drug prohibition. The mechanism behind this has been shown by studies which can be read about here. It stems from the way in which ketamine triggers the release of glutamate, which is a neurotransmitter that immediately stimulates the growth of damaged synapses which have been damaged by stress and depression.

Visual effects:
At lower levels of dissociation, the visual effects of ketamine can be described as the onset of a progressive detachment from the perception of sight and the brain’s ability to process it. This begins with blurred and doubled vision which leads onto the external environment, appearing as if it is being watched through a screen that becomes proportionally more distant dependent on dosage. Accompanying this, visual geometry similar in style to that of a psychedelic trip occurs. This experience is limited to level 1 - 4 experiences however and appears as significantly more colourful and intricate than anything found within MXE, but equal in complexity to that of DXM. Open eye perspective distortions such as alterations in the perception of size and distance attributed to the self and / or the external environment are commonly present.
Other dissociative specific visual distortions and alterations such as scenery slicing and environmental cubism are also present. As overall visual detachment increases in perfect proportion to its physical counterpart, out of body experiences eventually begin to set in. This takes a person’s conscious awareness into a place which can only be described as entering a vast and dark void, space or hole. It is commonly referred to by the drug community as “The k-hole” and contains within it an infinite array of level 1 - 4 hallucinatory structures.
Alongside of this, fully 3-dimensional hallucinatory states such as autonomous entity contact, landscapes and concepts are occasionally present, but significantly less consistent in their manifestation than psychedelics and deliriants.

Auditory effects:
At lower levels of detachment, a greatly enhanced sense of music appreciation becomes present. This can be described as the sensation of being able to comprehend and pay attention to each and every layer of sound to a complex piece of music. As dissociation increases however, sound can eventually become muffled, distant and extremely hard to perceive. Alongside of this, distortions in noise volume perception are often extremely altered at random points creating the sensation that everything is abnormally loud or silent.

Health effects, addiction potential and tolerance:
There are multiple dangers associated with compulsive ketamine abuse. It is because of this that I highly recomend doing as much research as you possibly can before considering trying this drug.
Extreme ketamine use can injure the bladder, causing ulcers (wounds) and fibrosis (stiffening of the bladder walls and shrinkage). This is strictly associated with regular overuse of ketamine and results in urinary frequency, urgency, pressure, pain, incontinence and/or bleeding from the bladder. They can receive a variety of diagnoses including ulcerative bladder, interstitial cystitis or ketamine cystitis.
Ketamine is also psychologically addictive when used on a regular basis. This can be avoided however by manually limiting your usage and not taking it compulsively.
Fatal ketamine overdoses are particularly rare but not completely unheard of. The LD50 for ketamine when injected into mice is 400mg/kg. As humans are generally more sensitive to drugs we devide it by 2, making 200mg/kg the estimated human lethal dose. Assuming the human weighs a conservative 50kg, this would require the lethal dosage to be atleast 10 grams. 40 times the amount of 250mg necessary for a highdose K-hole experience.
In terms of ketamine tolerance, this can take weeks to build up for some but for others it can take a single night of heavy use. Once a physical tolerance to ketamine has set itself in, it can often take a month or more to reset itself.

Legal issues:

The increase in illicit use prompted ketamine’s placement in Schedule III of the United States Controlled Substance Act in August 1999.
In the United Kingdom, it became labeled a Class C drug on 1 January 2006.
In Canada, ketamine is classified as a Schedule I narcotic, as of August 2005.
In Hong Kong, as of 2000, ketamine is regulated under Schedule 1 of Hong Kong Chapter 134 Dangerous Drugs Ordinance. It can only be used legally by health professionals, for university research purposes, or with a physician’s prescription.
By 2002, ketamine was classified as schedule III in Taiwan.

Conclusion:
Ketamine and dissociatives in general are a truly fascinating experience which open up a whole new world completely unlike anything found with the world of psychedelics. However, they are not nearly as insightful and something which I only try on a very rare basis due to their addictive potential and adverse health effects.

A Comprehensive Analysis of Hallucinogen Induced States of Unity and Interconnectedness

Wed, 08 May 2013 19:22:00 -0400

I am writing this article to serve as a dedicated analysis and description regarding my current understanding towards what I consider to be the most profound and important freestanding component within the entirety of the hallucinogenic experience. In the past, I have already written about the experience of states of unity and interconnectedness within this article here. This piece of writing however makes the incorrect assumption that this state is exclusively associated with level 7B visual geometry. It was also written from a perspective which is extremely limited in comparison to the understanding which I have since built up over the past few months. However, it is extremely important for me to make it clear that I have not come even remotely close to fully grasping or even comprehending both the logic behind this experience and its many potential consequences.
This is a level of understanding which I do not expect to ever reach. Despite this however, I am determined to steadily progress what I have already learnt through a combination of constant analysis and in-depth discussions with an increasingly large amount of people who have undergone this component.

To begin with, I will describe the specific subjective experience and consistent effects of this component in as much detail as possible.
It starts with a change in perspective which is consistently interpreted as the lifting of a deeply embedded and all encompassing illusion. The destruction of this leads onto feelings that the tripper has undergone some sort of profound “awakening” or “enlightenment”.
This illusion feels as though it has always been in place, forcing a person’s perspective of the world into feeling as if their concept of “self” or “I” with which they identify themselves as, is assumed to intrinsically follow two fundamental rules. The first of these rules is that the self is inherently separate from the external environment and could not possibly extend into it. The second is that the self is specifically limited to not even the physical body as a whole, but exclusively a person’s ego or internal narrative and the image of their own personality as built up through social interactions with other people.
Once removed, the absence of this inbuilt illusion can lead onto two possible levels of cognitive intensities which both follow very consistent and interlocking themes.

The lower and more basic of these two levels can be referred to as external environment specific states of unity and interconnectedness. It can be described as a loss of perceived boundaries between the physical body and either the entirety of the external environment or specific things contained within it. This is felt to be the result of a person’s central sense of self becoming attributed to not just the internal narrative of the ego but in equal measure, to the human body in its entirety and the things around it which it is physically connected to through the senses. This creates the undeniable perspective that the external environment is no longer a separate world which the “I” is confronting and disconnected from, but a single unified system of behaviour. This experience provides the perspective that you are the external environment experiencing itself through the specific point within it that this body’s physical sensory awareness and conscious thought happens to reside in. This sensation is generally described by most people as “becoming one with the things around me”.
The most common and relatable examples of states of unity and interconnectedness, which are manifested as specific to the external environment, include but are certainly not limited to the following perspectives:

Becoming one with a specific object which you are interacting with.
Becoming one with a specific person which you interacting with.
(particularly common if engaging in sexual activities)
Becoming one with large crowds of people.
(particularly common at raves and music festivals)
Becoming one with immediately perceivable nature but not man kind.
Becoming one with the immediate external environment as a whole.

The second and highest level of intensity for this component can be referred to as all encompassing states of unity and interconnectedness. It is at this point of intensity when the experience become infinitely more profound and limitless in its effects.
Once this level is reached, the external systems which a person’s central sense of self has become attributed to and one with is no longer limited to the immediately perceivable environment. Instead, it envelops and becomes attributed to the entirety of a person’s internally stored model of reality, existence and the universe as a whole.

This creates the sudden undeniable perspective that you are literally the entire universe experiencing itself, exploring itself and performing actions onto itself through the very specific point of space and time which your ego and conscious perception happens to reside in.
This is a feeling that when experienced, is immediately and universally understood to be an undeniable truth by anybody who undergoes it. It results in a number of profound consequences and changes in worldview or philosophical perspective which seem to follow fairly consistent themes across almost all people who experience this component. These include but are certainly not limited to:

A new system of ethics which values the well being of the external as on par with the importance of the ego.
The sensation that talking to others is the experience of engaging with another part of yourself.
The sensation that the act of learning is the universe discovering itself and so extremely important this it is accompanied by pleasurable full body mind orgasms and frissons.
The immediate interpretation of music, films and art as messages which are sent to you through the universe as a whole.
A perspective which feels personally responsible for the entirety of histories human suffering, as well as every single human act of love and technological achievement which our species has committed onto itself.
The obviousness of monogamy as a culturally bound tradition which stems from a combination of the ego’s sense of separateness from others and its deep psychological insecurities.
A perspective which feels as if death can finally be accepted. This is because it is no longer felt to be the destruction of the self but simply the end of this specific point of conscious awareness which will continue to live on through everything which it resides in.

This is a component which can either be felt as a temporary sensation that disappears as the tripper sobers up or it can become integrated into a new perspective of the world for weeks, months or years after the experience itself.

It is seemingly completely spontaneous in its rate of occurrence but seems to be particularly common during states of level 7B visual geometry when the tripper is by themselves. It also seems to occur when deep introspection results in the tripper truly resolving and coming to terms with each of their specific sets of insecurities in a way that has allowed them to become finally acceptant and content with who they are as a person.

In terms of the specific substances which are capable of inducing this component, the list currently confirms that it is possible within,

Psilocin, 4-AcO-DMT, DMT, LSD, MDMA, Ketamine, DXM and Salvia divinorum.

Similar notions of unity and the illusory nature of the self seem to be discussed heavily throughout a huge variety of religious, philosophical and psychological sources, which have been produced across both modern and ancient human history. Each of these exist independently from the experience of hallucinogenic substances. I have done my best to collect and list all of these below:

The Buddhist phrase of anatta, which can be read about in detail here, specifically refers to the concept of “no-self”. This is the teaching that all things perceived by the senses (including the mental sense of thought) are not really “I” or “mine”, and for this reason one should not cling to them.
Monism which can be read about in detail here, is a philosophical position which argues that there is only one thing, which all things are not separate from but working together within as a unified system of behaviour.
The Hindu philosophy known as Nondualism can be read about in detail here. This is an idea which states that there is no difference between the concept of Brahman (the external environment) and Ātman (the self).
The formally defined world view known as Interconnectedness, which can be read about in detail here, defines itself as the idea that all things are of a single underlying substance and reality, and that there is no true separation deeper than appearances.
In psychology, egolessness, which can be read about in detail here, is an emotional state where one feels no ego (or self); of having no distinct being apart from the world around oneself. This is often described as feelings of oneness and being inextricably woven to the fabric of one’s surroundings or environment.
In Freudian psychology, oceanic feeling which can be read about in detail here, is described as a sensation of an indissoluble bond, as of being connected with the external world in its integral form which is considered to be the source of religious energy. From this perspective, the feeling is referred to as an entirely subjective fact and is not an article of faith.
The overview effect, which is described in detail within this documentary here, is a documented change in perspective experienced by astronauts who see the earth from above. It is described as perceiving the earth as a single unified system with which we are all a part of.
Alan Watts, a famous philosopher spoke extensively about the illusory nature of the self. His lectures are extremely informative and can be found in full through torrents on the pirate bay and in parts within many videos across Youtube. His book “The book on the taboo of knowing who you are” is dedicated to a formal explanation of the philosophies and logic behind this perspective and can be found within the form of a free PDF here.

My personal interpretation or description of the themes within these philosophies (which may well be overly simplified or completely wrong) is that the individual and the universe cannot be logically defined as separate systems. This is because, to define a physical object of any sort in even the most basic level of detail, you must also provide an account of the way in which it physically interacts with and is completely dependent on its particular external environment. In turn, the external environment which the original object resides within cannot be fully defined without taking into account the surrounding systems which it is also contained within and so on outwards to encompass existence as a whole. This renders the self or any individual concept as something which can not logically be defined as a contained and separate system from the rest of the universe.
In the very same way that you cannot logically have up without down, left without right, something without nothing, light without dark or positive without negative. You cannot have self without other or each without all because the two concepts inter-depend and exclusively exist in an inseparable and unified relationship to each other.
This suggests to me that one is permitted to use terms such as “I”, “you”, and so on, not because they refer to an empirical and separate self, but simply because they are convenient linguistic tools for use in conversation which should not be considered as anything more than a symbolic approximation or measurement.

Regardless of the legitimacy of these theistic and philosophical perspectives which may be inherently delusional or false, feelings of becoming “one with universe” which are pervasive within human culture, is undoubtedly one of the most profoundly positive changes in perspective that a human being could possibly go through.
Assuming however that this is a rational and logically sound perspective, I am left with two alternate hypotheses in regards to why this illusion seems to be so deeply embedded into each and everyone of us.
The first of these is that it perhaps this illusion formed because it is an evolutionary advantage for the ego to feel intrinsically separate from and more significant than, the external environment as a means of ensuring the motivation for survival. This was my previous theory but upon further analysis has proven implausible. I do not see any physical route through which a drug that simply activates or deactivates receptors could change something that is hard wired into the very structure of the brain.
The second of these personal hypotheses is that the illusion of separateness does not stem from a hardware problem but a software problem. I personally believe that unity may well be the default evolutionary perspective through which human beings originally operated, but it has been suppressed through a purely cultural or more specifically, linguistic problem. This could potentially stem from the way that despite the many obvious benefits of language, it pays a price through completely reorganizing our perception of the world into intrinsically separate labels that in reality, are merely glimpses of a unified whole. It’s an overcoming of this deeply embedded illusion that hallucinogens could theoretically rise above through the way in which they forcibly induce embedded and otherwise hidden states of mind that exist within the subconscious.

If myself and the psychonaut community as a whole dedicate themselves to coming to a total understanding of this important component, the potential consequences could have historical significance. Were the subtle environmental triggers to be accurately determined, it would be theoretically possible to consistently induce permanent and all encompassing states of unity and interconnectedness in a clinical setting. This would provide the entirety of the human species to a total freedom from our psychological, unnecessary and purely ego driven suffering which consumes our entire perspective of the world.

If you have had any experience with this component whatsoever please do report this in the comment section below and the drug which it occurred on. This provides myself and everybody else with extremely valuable data and would be greatly appreciated.

Disregardeverythingisay.com featured on the Huffington Post

Fri, 03 May 2013 09:19:22 -0400

Disregardeverythingisay.com featured on the Huffington Post:

From Steve Jobs to the Beatles, many of Western culture’s most brilliant minds hold a special place in their hearts for LSD, the psychedelic substance that Timothy Leary once said “allow us to peer into bits and zones of Chaos.” Although Leary’s description sounds intriguing, if you haven’t dropped acid yourself it’s hard to imagine what these “bits and zones of Chaos” actually look like. That’s where Chelsea Morgan comes in.

The Huffington Post recently featured my girlfriends photography as an example of modern drug art and linked back to this very website.
They also interviewed us both with a few quick questions over email and it’s now up online, so feel free to go take a look!
This is the very first media inquiry we’ve received so far, who knows whether or not it will be the last.

Updates and 2 previously undocumented cognitive components

Thu, 02 May 2013 16:29:00 -0400

I am currently in the process of updating, rewriting and reorganizing every single thing on this website. During this process I am adding and documenting a few new cognitive components of the psychedelic experience which were previously undocumented and will be posting them over the next week or two as they are finished.
Below is a list of changes which I have made around the site…

Every possible hallucination is now broken down into 4 distinct components : Autonomous entity contact, Settings, Concepts and Scenarios.
Hallucinatory states can now be broken down into 5 different levels of visual intensity.
Visual geometry is no longer broken down into 6 distinct levels of intensity but 7, including 7A and 7B.
The fifth plateau of detachment and disconnection is now taken into account and fully documented within the dissociative guide.
Levelling systems every where! Tracers, Visual drifting, auditory hallucinations and Body highs now have their own levelling systems each.
Melting, breathing and flowing textures have now been combined to make a single unified component known as Visual Drifting.

As for the new components, below are the two which I have managed to complete so far…

Feelings of Deja vu:
Deja vu is a commonly known phrase from the French language which translates literally into “already seen”. This is a well documented phenomenon which commonly occurs at spontaneous points throughout both sober living and psychedelic experiences. It can be described as having the strong sensation that the current event or situation has already been experienced at some point within the past, when in fact it hasn’t.
Psychedelic drugs are commonly capable of inducing spontaneous and often prolonged states of mild to intense senses of Deja vu. This provides trippers with an overwhelming sense that they have “been here before”. Which is accompanied by an obviously false feeling of familiarity with the psychedelic experience itself, the current location or setting, the current physical actions being performed and the situation as a whole. Something which becomes triggered and felt by the tripper despite the fact that they are rationally aware that the circumstances of the “previous” experience (when, where, and how the earlier experience occurred) are clearly quite uncertain or simply impossible.

This component is commonly experienced throughout every psychedelic and does not seem to have any obvious trigger behind it.

Feelings of predeterminism:
Predeterminism is defined as the belief that all events, including human actions, are established or decided in advance by prior causes.
This is a perspective that can become spontaneously triggered and felt through an undeniable change in thought processes which is accompanied by an intense set of physical sensations.

In terms of how his component feels subjectively, it can be described as the sensation of the ego or internal narrative as an independent decision making agent being lifted from your perception of the world and revealed to be illusory. This creates the sudden undeniable sensation that your physical actions, current situational perspective and linguistic content of your current thought stream have always been completely predetermined and under the full control of the subconscious’s autonomous decision making faculties. Meaning that thoughts, decisions and physical actions are not reached through a conscious choice or planning of the ego and never have been at any point throughout a persons life. Instead they are revealed to have always been a vast and complex set of internally stored, instantly decided and completely autonomous preprogrammed responses to specific sets of received sensory stimuli that are acted out by the subconscious faculties.
Along side of this, there is also a powerful physical sensation that makes the precise arrangement of your external environment and the objects within it become felt to be the true deciding force in regards to the way in which you physically interact with it. This is done by instantly triggering your responses and decisions towards them through the simple sensory perception of them.

The experience of this component as a whole is consistently interpreted by anybody who undergoes it as a profound revelation or insight into the illusory nature of freewill.
It lifts the tripper above the culturally ingrained illusion of being an independent decision making agent that is somehow intrinsically separate from external physical systems, allowing triers to see themselves as what they really are. Which is the suddenly undeniable perspective that living organisms are nothing more than complex electrochemical systems, walking around and responding to sensory stimuli in a completely predetermined and mechanical fashion.

This component has so far been confirmed to occur during high dose trips with LSD, Psilocin and 4-aco-dmt. It usually seems to occur spontaneously during the experience of level 7B visual geometry.

If anybody is interested in learning more information on both the science and philosophies behind physical predeterminism which this component is essentially the subjective experience of, I would highly recommend that they watch this lecture here.

If you have experienced any thing described above during a psychedelic experience, please use the comment system below to report it and confirm the specific substance which it was experienced on. This helps provide genuinely useful data.
Besides the components above, the complete list of new cognitive effects will include,
Induced mindfulness, outrospection, induced spiritual and religious perspectives, thought loops and delusions.

25I-NBOMe, broken down and described

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 17:12:00 -0400

Duration,
Total : 6 - 10 hrs
Onset : 15 - 120 mins
Plateau : 2 - 4 hrs
Coming Down : 1 - 4 hrs

Dosage,
Threshold : 50 - 250 ug (micrograms)
Light : 200 - 600 ug
Common : 500 - 800 ug
Strong : 700 - 1500 ug

25I-NBOMe or 2C-I-NBOMe is a serotonergic N-benzyl derivative of the substituted phenethylamine psychedelic known as 2C-I.
It has nearly no history of human use prior to 2010 when it first became popular due its ease of purchase from online research chemical vendors.
25I-NBOMe was discovered in 2003 by Ralf Heim at the Free University of Berlin, it differs from 2C-I structurally through a substitution on the amine (NH2) with a 2-methoxybenzyl (BOMe) group as shown in the image above. This change in structure results in a sixteen fold increase in potency when compared to 2C-I, allowing even the most extreme of dosages to fit in liquid form onto tabs and blotter paper which people often mistake for LSD.
There are, however, methods of differentiating between LSD and adulterants like 25I-NBOMe with and without test kits.
For example, one of the key differences between 25I-NBOMe and LSD is that this substance is only active when taken through a sublingual or insufflated route. This means that in order to get the full effects, 25I-NBOMe blotter paper must be lightly chewed on within the mouth for 10 - 20 minutes and never immediately swallowed.
Insufflation however is not recommended due to the amount of people who have suffered through dangerous and often fatal overdoses thanks to this route of administration.
25I-NBOMe is pharmacologically unique when compared to other psychedelics through the way in which it is one of the only full agonists for the human 5ht2a receptor in existence. In comparison, classical psychedelics such as LSD, DMT and Psilocin can only be considered partial agonists. This difference in receptor affinity results in an unusual and qualitatively different trip which is broken down and described below…

Physical effects:
Assuming the substance has been taken sublingually, the very first physical effect which a person will notice immediately after sublingual absorption is a strong, unpleasant metallic chemical taste. This is accompanied by a very obvious feeling of general numbness of the tongue and mouth which can stay for up to an hour after the blotter paper has been consumed.
This is the key difference when it comes to determining whether your blotter paper contains LSD or 25I-NBOMe.

As the tripper begins to come up, nausea is not uncommon and can sometimes result in initial vomiting but passes once this has happened or the trip begins to fully set in. However, in comparison to other psychedelics such as Psilocin, LSD, 2C-E and 2C-I this could actually be very considered very mild in intensity.
For most people this substance induces a unique type of physical stimulation which can be described as feeling extremely energetic but in a way which does not force the tripper to move unless they genuinely choose to. This is a very different experience when compared to other stimulating psychedelics such as AMT, MDMA and the 2Cx family which at high doses, will leave a person uncontrollably shaking and vibrating should they attempt to ignore the stimulation and sit still.
For a certain percentage of people however the stimulation can be quite uncontrollable, occasionally resulting in bodily shakes and a grinding of the teeth comparable to that of MDMA and traditional stimulants such as Amphetamine. This cannot be prevented but made very comfortable and quite bearable with the addition of chewing gum.

The body high itself can be described as a generally mild, all encompassing soft but euphoric tingling sensation. This tingling sensation is also accompanied by spontaneous rushes of euphoria that become longer and more drawn out proportional to the dosage consumed.
In terms of the body’s perceived weight, this substance consistently leaves people feeling extremely light, often to the point of total weightlessness.
This is commonly accompanied by strong feelings of physical autonomy and a sense of disconnection from the body which makes it feel as if the body is not your own and partially or completely moving under its own accord.
Along side this; there is also a mild reduction in a person’s ability to use fine and gross motor control, making it difficult to perform physical tasks. However, in comparison to other psychedelics such as Psilocin, LSD and 2C-I this could actually be very considered very mild and relatively functional.
It is worth noting that an undetermined percentage of people who experiment with this drug will experience negative physical side effects such as a temporary difficulty in urinating and vasoconstriction. This is defined as the narrowing of the blood vessels resulting from contraction of the muscular wall of the vessels and is triggered through the way in which 25I-NBOMe’s target receptor (5ht2a) modulates both vasoconstriction and vasodilation among its many other functions.
Physically speaking, this can become very uncomfortable but can be considered as safe at sensible dosages. The sensation itself can be described as feelings of tightness and mild to distinct stinging sensations within the arms, legs and neck.

Cognitive effects:
The head space of 25I-NBOMe is remarkably light and underwhelming in comparison to classical psychedelics such as LSD, Psilocin and 2C-I.
An extremely unique aspect of this trip is the way in which most people report feeling almost completely sober even throughout visually intense experiences in terms of their cognitive abilities, with no noticeable change in the specific style of their current thought stream.
At other points however, waves of mild to overwhelming cognitive alterations are certainly present. These waves of cognitive alterations become longer and more drawn out proportional to the dosage consumed. They have so far been confirmed to include,
emotional euphoria, introspection, an enhancement of current mind state, an acceleration of thought, an increased connectivity of thought, time dilation, feelings of deja-vu, the removal of our cultural filter, the emancipation of our internal narrative from the limitations of exclusively linguistic content, induced mindfulness, introspection, induced spiritual or religious perspectives, ego suppression, ego loss and ego death.
There are also mild to powerful but inconsistently manifested entactogenic effects for people who try this substance. This results in increased feelings of love and empathy towards friends and partners in way that therapeutically builds relationships and solves interpersonal problems. These effects do not seem to be quite as strong or profound as those found within other entactogens such as MDMA, AMT and 2CB but are still certainly present and very noticeable.

Visual effects:
The visual effects of 25I-NBOMe are extremely diverse and significantly more complex than 2C-I, with a style to them which could be considered to be similar in appearance and behaviour to that of a typical LSD trip.

In terms of visual enhancements, 25I-NBOMe presents a full and complete array of effects with increased visual acuity, enhancement of colours and an increased sense of pattern recognition all displaying themselves in a level of detail on par with any of the classical psychedelics.

As for visual distortions and alterations,
Visual drifting (melting, breathing, warping and flowing) displays a complete smoothness and high level of detail in its appearance that is far beyond the comparatively embarrassing simplicity and low frame rates of equivalent visual effects found under the influence of the close structural relative of this substance known as 2C-I.
Tracers are reported by many to be much more powerful and colourful in proportion to the visual intensity of the trip when compared to substances such as LSD, Psilocin and 2C-I. This stems from the way in which they are capable of reaching opaque level 3 tracers and trails throughout even the lightest of experiences.
Texture repetition is also present alongside this but does not reach the same level of complexity found within classical psychedelics such as LSD and Psilocin.
Colour shifting and depth perception distortions are present but do not seem to differentiate themselves in stylistic appearance from that of any other psychedelics.
Scenery slicing is so far unconfirmed but entirely possible.

The visual geometry that is present throughout this trip is extremely similar in appearance to that of LSD.
As these geometric forms stand for themselves in terms of stylistic appearance they can be comprehensively described as algorithmic in geometric style, intricate in complexity, fine and zoomed out in detail, fast and smooth in motion, structured in shape, colourful in scheme, glossy in colour, sharp around the edges and motly rounded across their corners.
In comparison to other more commonly used psychedelics they can be described as significantly more intricate than the visual geometry found within 2C-I and most of the 2Cx family in general as well as completely on par with LSD, Psilocin and DMT.
In terms of their behaviour, 25I-NBOMe’s psychedelic geometry leads onto level 7A visual geometry with level 7B remaining so far unconfirmed within this substance. They also seem to consistently build up in visual intensity when the tripper stares at a central point. This eventually envelops the visual field and creates the sensation that the tripper has broken through into a continuously shifting geometric landscape or structure with a vast sense of immersive physical size attributed to it.

In terms of hallucinatory states with 25I-NBOMe, this substance seems to be extremely lacking in defined imagery, autonomous entity contact, imagined landscapes, concepts and scenarios. However, transformations within the external environment which partially follow the content of your internal narrative are consistently present.

Auditory effects:
The auditory effects of 25I-NBOME are particularly high in comparison to that of LSD, DMT and Psilocin.
They are most commonly manifested in two distinct forms,
The first of these is a loss of audio filtering which is on par with that of any of the classical psychedelics resulting in an extremely sense of music appreciation.
The second of these two effects are auditory hallucinations, these generally regard random audial concepts such as music, voices and sounds throughout the duration of the trip.
To a lesser extent, auditory distortions and thought stream relevant sound effects such as phasers and other noises are also present.

Health effects, addiction potential and tolerance:
25I-NBOMe is a very new substance, and little is known about its pharmacological or behavioural risks. The LD50 is not known. Some deaths have been attributed to 25I-NBOMe overdose caused by improper handling and uneducated use of this substance. Its recent widespread use suggests that death is primarily caused from overdoses and not from ordinary doses, particularly from insufflation.
The fact that 25I-NBOMe is active in the microgram range is likely a contributing factor since this makes measuring doses significantly more difficult.
It’s worth noting that although many 5-HT2A agonists have documented safety, none of these have been full agonists so their safety data can not be applied to 25I-NBOMe.
In terms of its addictive potential, 25I-NBOMe has not been studied formally but due to its immediate tolerance build up which lasts up to 2 - 3 weeks after the experience, it is essentially impossible to use this substance compulsively.

Legal issues:

25I-NBOMe is unscheduled under United States federal law. However, it could possibly be considered an analog of 2C-I (a Schedule I controlled substance) under the Federal Analogue Act. In this case, sale or possession of 25I-NBOMe with the intent of human consumption would be illegal.
Virginia, Louisiana, and Florida have specifically scheduled 25I-NBOMe as a Schedule I controlled substance.
All NBOMe substituted phenethylamines are controlled in Russia.

Every where else in the world however, 25I-NBOMe is completely unscheduled and freely available to anybody with an internet connection. If you wish to obtain this substance despite the risks involved you can literally type “buy 25I-NBOMe” into google and find several legitimate vendors on the very first page.
Please keep in mind however that 25I-NBOMe is NOT being sold by anybody specifically for the purposes human consumption as this would be genuinely illegal within most if not all countries.

Conclusion:
In conclusion, 25I-NBOMe is an extremely interesting psychedelic but does not quite compare in terms of visual and cognitive depth if you have access to classical psychedelics such as genuine LSD, DMT and Psilocin.
I will not be seeking this substance out again but experimenting with it has certainly been an interesting and enjoyable experience.
Please go ahead and let me know if you agree or disagree with any particular points contained within this article by using the comment system below.

Previously undocumented component : The emancipation of our internal narrative from the limitations of exclusively linguistic content

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 13:09:00 -0400

This article is dedicated to providing a detailed description for one of four previously undocumented cognitive components of the psychedelic experience which I am currently in the process of writing up. I have experienced this component throughout every single one of my countless trips over the past 3 years. Despite this however, it has taken me 2 and half years to develop a vocabulary which was capable of even noticing its presence, several months to formulate a description which could be considered comprehensive in my own eyes and even longer to pin down a suitable title for that which has never before been named.
This specific component is not a high level effect and can generally be felt along side and above level 1 – 3 psychedelic geometry. It is extremely common and could be described as universal, occurring at varying levels under the influence of almost every psychedelic compound known to man.
So far this list confirms through myself and others to include but certainly not remain limited to,
Psilocin, Psilocybin, Psilacetin, Mescaline, DMT, Ayahuasca, LSD, LSA, AMT, Harmine, 2C-B, 2C-E, 2C-I, 2C-P, and 5-MeO-DMT.

The emancipation of our internal narrative from the limitations of exclusively linguistic content can be described as a forced change in perspective which frees the ego’s conscious thought stream from remaining strictly limited to words and labels. This allows it to think not just in descriptions, but directly in the internally stored concepts that lay behind our linguistic and descriptive knowledge base.
In terms of how this feels experientially, it can be described as the sensation of the concepts behind the words of our internal narrative becoming somehow cognitively felt at every point across themselves in a very high level of detail. Along side this they are also perceived through a simultaneous partially to fully animated visual manifestation that differs from that of an ordinary hallucination through the fact that it exclusively occurs within the minds eye, always remaining completely separate from the trippers direct line of sight.
The experience of directly experiencing the internally stored concepts which lay just behind human description results in the perceived ability of being able to clearly feel in a profound and emotionally intuitive format, the precise consequences, limitations and position within this universe of any singular concept. These feelings are consistently interpreted as a “higher level of understanding” which seems to stem from the way in which this perspective reveals human language to be intrinsically self limited. This intrinsic self limitation is shown by integrating previously held knowledge into a persons felt perspective, transcending our intellectually understood knowledge and showing that words can only act as mere shortcuts to the concepts which they exist to describe.
At lower levels, these integrations of previously held knowledge into the trippers felt perspective can be described as thought stream specific. This means that the concepts which are being felt and seen are exclusively relevant to the words which you are currently thinking. These will feel identical in stylistic behavior whether the concept is arrived at by a simple wandering of thoughts or triggered through the experience of a concept or object perceived within the external environment.
Perhaps the most common example of this which those within the psychedelic community could relate to would be the experience of looking at a plant of any sort and internally feeling as well as visually perceiving, everything that you happen to know about photosynthesis and the evolution of plants no matter how vague or abstract this knowledge might be.
At higher levels, these integrations of previously held knowledge into the trippers felt perspective stop being specific to the words contained within your current thought stream and start becoming all encompassing towards every last internally stored piece of knowledge the tripper has ever known.
This leads onto feelings which are consistently interpreted as a new found level of “total and complete understanding” as the consequences, limitations and position within this universe of every single concept which the tripper previously only knew in terms of its description, becomes felt through a very real and undeniable perspective.
Perhaps the most common examples of these which those within the psychedelic community will relate to, that I have experienced myself and observed through others, would be the experience of a total and profound understanding regarding but not limited to, the themes and archetypes listed below.

General scientific principles.
Taking care of your personal health.
Your position within nature and higher systems of order.
The consequences of your actions and your responsibility towards them.
Human civilization as the literal cutting edge of physical complexity.
Living in balance with nature to the best of your abilities.
The inevitability of death.
The sheer unlikeliness of personal existence.

It’s through the direct experience of the concepts behind our knowledge that new life changing perspectives are suddenly felt in an obvious way. These new found viewpoints are rarely considered by the tripper to be the creation of a single new idea or creative insight. Instead they are nothing more than the integration of previously held knowledge which was already understood intellectually into a new fou them in an undeniable, clearly understandable and emotionally felt format which lies within a level of detail far beyond normal human language and description.
At lower levels, these integrations of knowledge are felt to be temporary and consistently subside along with the effects of the substance which has been consumed.
At higher levels however, specific or all encompassing pieces of knowledge can become permanently integrated into a trippers felt perspective for weeks, months, years and even a lifetime after the experience itself. If the knowledge integration has been specific it will likely consist of things which have been only recently learnt or discovered in the preceding days or perhaps weeks before the trip.
This component allows psychedelic users to gain access to a profound and very literal expansion of their consciousness, resulting in extremely therapeutic changes in their perception of the world.

It’s worth noting however that many people including myself have reported that they can experience low level versions of this component when simply high on marijuana.
Personal experience has led me to confirm that this state can even be triggered throughout every day life in temporary, thought stream specific forms through mindful meditation sessions. I have yet to write anything regarding my knowledge behind meditation but intend to at some point in the future and will tie the relevant parts of it directly into this component.

If you have had any experience with this component whatsoever please do report this in the comment section below and the drug or mind state which it occurred on. This provides myself and everybody else with extremely valuable data and would be greatly appreciated.

Defining formal guidelines for documenting the subjective effects of hallucinogens

Sat, 23 Feb 2013 11:29:00 -0500

I am writing this article to define the exact analytical processes that I run through when breaking down and describing the subjective effects of any specific substance. This is because I consistently receive messages on a regular basis from people who seem to be genuinely astonished that I can seemingly describe “the impossible” in a clear and understandable format. This is despite the fact that many of the people who send me these messages seem to be vastly better spoken as well as considerably more intelligent and educated than I will ever be. Something which has led me to the conclusion that it has almost nothing to do with a person’s intelligence, use of language or background because at this point, I am simply well practised and nothing more. This is because over the last two years I have gradually and unconsciously developed a technique which can be applied to literally any substance in existence for the purposes of documenting their subjective effects in a formal and understandable manner.

It’s here in this article that I will explain in detail every single variable and piece of information that needs to be analyzed and questioned when a person is breaking down, for the first time, the experience of a previously undocumented hallucinogen. It will serve as an organized index of hallucinogenic effects and also provide people with guidelines on the pre-existing knowledge and experience they should have as well as general tips regarding the easiest and most convenient ways to record accurate data in the correct setting with minimal amounts of external influence.
I am doing this for two reasons, to better define the process for myself and so that if I die in some sort of horrible accident tomorrow, the project can continue regardless.

Preparation:
It’s important to note that before anybody is capable of accurately documenting the subjective effects of any class of specific hallucinogen, they need to have a good understanding of what they are getting into. There are two equally important methods behind this that are both necessary to ensure the tripper is not overwhelmed with disorientation and that they have the appropriate vocabulary to describe very specific details regarding the experience.
The first of these is to study and understand in as much detail as possible, the exact effects which their chosen class of hallucinogen is going to induce. This can be done by thoroughly reading through and studying the pre-existing guides which I have already written for psychedelics, dissociatives and deliriants. If this is done, it will ensure that you are completely familiar with the names, descriptions and preset terminologies’ regarding each and every specific effect that you are likely to come across. This will equip you with the appropriate vocabulary to understand and describe the experience which you are currently going through in a level of detail which would be otherwise impossible. It will also guarantee that others can understand your writings, because knowledge of the preset terminologies and names will mean that your use of language should be consistent with how other people would describe the same experience.
The second of these methods is to ensure that you not only understand what you are getting into but are completely familiar with it. This should be done by ensuring that you have had prior in-depth experience with at least one class of hallucinogen to the point where you can remain calm and aware of the current situation throughout the entirety of the experience with minimal confusion. This is completely necessary because without prior experience you will not be able to accurately describe the effects to others and will simply become overwhelmed with the disorienting intensity of the trip instead. So, if you are not already familiar with the class of hallucinogen which the specific substance resides in, you can do so by simply experimenting with it. Starting with low threshold dosages and working your way up in small increments as you feel comfortable, until you feel that you are completely familiar the substance. If you want to be truly familiar and experienced, the goal should be to become capable of comfortably withstanding the specific style of ego loss and eventually ego death which the substance you are experimenting with has to offer. This could take anywhere from 3 to 50 separate trips and is completely dependant on the individual but it is extremely important to note that nothing should be rushed and the user should only increase their dosage as they feel comfortable.
Finally, although this is not 100% necessary, it’s worth noting that if you are categorizing the effects of specific psychedelics it can be extremely helpful to do this not just as they stand for themselves but in comparison to other more commonly used psychedelics such as LSD or Psilocin (Mushrooms / 4-aco-dmt). These are the two substances which I write every specific substance guide in relation to simply because they are the two most widely used psychedelics in existence and writing about substances in relation to them provides a significantly clearer picture to potential users.

Documentation:
First and foremost, the most important thing to understand when you are documenting the effects of hallucinogens is to understand exactly what you should and shouldn’t be recording. The goal of categorizing and documenting the subjective effects of hallucinogens is to describe in an easy to understand, empirical and objective manner the very specific effects which these hallucinogens induce across all people. This should be done in a way that uses clear, rational language that does not depend on metaphor or analogy. It is not a trip report and therefore does not include personal experiences but should concentrate exclusively on the universally experienced effects.
The easiest and most efficient way to ensure accurate documentation of the subjective effects of any hallucinogen is to record your experience through audio or video as it is happening or having a close friend write down everything which is being said. This should ensure that you do not become a victim to drug induced amnesia and simply forget the experience immediately after it has happened.
A close friend who is equally as knowledgeable, experienced and familiar with these states as the tripper should be there to facilitate the experience by interviewing them in as much detail as possible. They should do this by ensuring that they are comfortable and by actively encouraging the tripper to describe the effects, ensuring that each and every relevant comment which they make is recorded.
In the section below I am going to provide every one of the differing variables between the various categories of sensation which are experienced throughout every specific hallucinogen. To determine and comprehensively document the exact nature of the drug which you are using, simply study the information below and use it as a check list which allows you to choose and note down the specific components and sub-components which most accurately fit and describe the exact experience you are currently going through.
Be sure to not only note their presence and how often they occur, but to comment on their level of intensity in relation to the current level of visual effects and experience. It’s also important to note that many of the subcomponents below can only be described in relation to their opposites. This means that a large portion of the sensations are usually lying somewhere between the two conflicting extremes but can also be felt as a mixture of the two. If they are felt as a mixture of the two, be sure to note down whether these conflicting effects occur simultaneously or if they alternate between the two in an either spontaneous or consistent rhythm.

Potential Physical effects:

Increase in pre-existing tactile sensations,
This can be described as a mild - extreme increases in a persons awareness of the nerve endings across the body.
This can result in an the pleasure derived from tactile sensations such as touching, hugging, kissing and sex becoming greatly enhanced, or it can result in an oversensitivity of the skin which causes the same sensations to become overwhelming and uncomfortable.
Effects such as these are a near universal experience with psychedelics but seemingly non existent and unconfirmed for both dissociatives and deliriants.

Decrease in Pre-Existing Tactile Sensations,
This can be described as sensations of Physical Anaesthesia and a simple lack of sensation and general numbness across the body. It eventually increases until nothing is felt and the body is completely anaesthetized.
This effect is universally present throughout dissociative experiences but currently unconfirmed with pyschedelics and deliriants.

Spontaneous Tactile Sensations (body high),
The differences between each differing style of body high can be broken five basic opposites of sensation.

Moving vs. Motionless – Feelings of tingling nerve endings will either fluidly move themselves up and down various parts of the body in spontaneous directions or they will remain still and consistent in their position.
Constant vs. Spontaneous – Feelings of tactile noise will either be constantly present throughout a significant portion of the trip or they will spontaneously and temporarily manifest themselves at random points for differing durations of time.
Sharp vs. Soft – Feelings of tingling nerve endings will either be perceived to feel soft, warm and gentle on the skin or sharp and cold.
All encompassing vs. Location specific - Feelings of tactile noise can either be felt across every square inch of the skin or in very specific locations such as the ends of the fingers and toes, up and down the spinal column or across/ within the head.
Euphoric vs. Dysphoric – At appropriately high dosages, feelings of tactile noise and tingling nerve endings can either be interpreted as immensely and overwhelmingly pleasurable or they can go in the opposite direction and become extremely uncomfortable.
Tactile hallucinations – This particular subcomponent of hallucinogen induced spontaneous tactile sensations is unique in that it behaves differently and feels as if it is generated by a different neurological mechanism entirely. Instead of differing styles of euphoric tingling sensations, these manifest themselves as hallucinations which occur across the skin. They are best described as feelings of physical things such as people or insects touching the body and in various places in a wide variety of ways. In addition these hallucinations can be felt as complex and structured arrangements of vibration across the skin.

The above effects are a universal experience with psychedelics and a common experience with dissociatives and deliriants.

Changes in energy levels,
A persons energy levels can be changed in a way that is either interpreted as physically stimulating and encouraging when it comes to movement or physically sedating and discouraging through sensations of bodily calmness and relaxation.

Changes in Physical Perception,
This can be described as not a change in the amount of tactile sensation that is received from the physical body but a change in the way in which our body is perceived. It can be manifested in three differing styles.

Increase vs. Decrease in weight – Feelings of a change in physical perception can manifest itself as feelings of the body becoming extremely heavy and difficult or sometimes impossible to move, resulting in feelings of slowness and sluggishness. In contrast however, feelings of the body becoming extremely light and easy to move are also possible, resulting in feelings of increased energy and a general sense of bounciness.
Increase vs. Decrease in size – Feelings of a change in physical perception can manifest itself as feelings of the body becoming moderately to infinitely larger in size. In contrast, the perceived size of the body can decrease and become anywhere from moderately to infinitely smaller in size.
This effect is extremely common on dissociatives, possible on psychedelics and specifically on amanita muscaria but is so far unconfirmed for deliriants.
Changes in the direction and intensity of gravity – Feelings of gravity changing in its direction and intensity are most common throughout high level experiences on certain hallucinogens. For example, feeling as if you are flying forwards, backwards, upwards, downwards, in multiple directions at once or in a singular direction that doesn’t make sense are extremely common throughout dissociatives, Salvia divinorum and high dose psychedelics such as DMT and Ayahuasca.
Shifts in felt bodily form - Feelings of a change in physical perception can manifest itself as feelings of the body shifting in its perceived physical form without any visual alterations. For example, feelings of the body folding into itself many times over as well as stretching, expanding and condensing into, over and across itself in extremely complex ways are entirely possible.
This effect has only been confirmed to exist within dissociatives and remains unconfirmed for psychedelics and deliriants.

Changes in motor control,
This can be described as a simple increase or decrease in a person’s gross and fine motor control which can be defined as a persons ability to perform physical tasks such as walking, balancing, crawling, running, house hold tasks, instrument playing, writing, spliff rolling, etc.
Depending on the substance consumed, motor control can either decrease or increase throughout the experience. If it is decreased a general loss of balance and difficulty performing physical actions combined with unsteady and shaky hands will either partially or completely prevent the tripper from moving. If it is increased however, a greater sense of physical connection to the body will manifest itself, resulting in a newfound ability to accurately control every single muscle across the entire body with the tiniest of precise mental triggers and leading onto feelings of nimbleness and a sense of ease when performing any physical action.
Another direction in which a person’s motor control can be altered into is a sense of physical autonomy. This can be described as movement not necessarily becoming any easier or more difficult but completely automatic in its processes, creating the sensation that the body is performing the actions which you wish it to act out on its own accord.

Negative side effects,
Although most hallucinogens are a safe and generally a physically comfortable experience for the prepared, there are still certain hallucinogens that can come with a range of negative side effects which happen throughout the experience, immediately after it once the substance has worn off or both and it is important to note the specific part of the trip which these effects are felt.
Negative side effects, “come downs” or “hangovers”, are just as important to document as the positive effects. There are a number of negative side effects and I have tried to list as many of them as possible below.

Nausea and/ or vomiting.
Head aches.
Jaw clenching.
Vasoconstriction.
Bodily aches and throbbing.
Frequent urination.
Difficulty urinating.
Sensitivity to sunlight.
Serotonin depletion.
Loss of coordination.
Dry mouth and dehydration (sometimes to the point where it becomes impossible to swallow).
Excessive sweating.
Difficulty regulating body temperature.
Abnormal heart beat.
Temporary Erectile Dysfunction.
Dizziness.
Drowsiness.
Muscle cramps.

Some of these side effects (particularly nausea and vomiting) may not be a result of the drug itself but the way in which it has been consumed and potential contaminants which may have been ingested with it. If you are documenting the subjective effects of any hallucinogen, be sure to differentiate between the two potential causes of any negative side effects which may occur.

Potential Cognitive effects:
In this section I am going to break down and organize each and every one of the differing variables and subcategories of effects between the various cognitive sensations and alterations in thought processes which are experienced throughout every specific hallucinogen.

Enhancement of pre-existing mind state and thought processes,
This can be described as profound and exponential enhancements of a person’s current emotional state and perspective on the world. Alongside this enhancement of current mind state there are alterations and enhancements of thoughts that allow people to look at them selves and the world around them with levels of mental insight so far beyond sober living that they are often capable of having life changing consequences. These enhancements and alterations of thought patterns can be broken down into 5 basic categories.

Acceleration of thought - This can be described as the mental process of thought being sped up significantly resulting in an abundance of new and insightful ideas.
Increased connectedness of thought - This can be described as thought patterns becoming characterized by a powerful and fluid association of ideas with extremely wandering thoughts that are highly interconnected, resulting in the removal of any creative block as the thoughts begin to flow free.
Increased empathy and sociability – Many hallucinogens possess what are referred to in the scientific literature as “entactogenic” or “empathogenic” effects. An entactogen or empathogen is a specific class of substance which share an ability to produce intense feelings of empathy, love, and emotional closeness to others. Many psychedelics such as 2C-B, 2C-E, 2C-I, MDA, AMT, 2C-T-7, and 2C-T-2 possess entactogenic effects and certain entactogens such as MDMA are capable of producing psychedelic effects. These can be described as general feelings of,
- Increased sociability and feelings of communication being easy or simple.
- Increased urge to communicate with others.
- Increased empathy and feelings of closeness or connection with others.
- Reduced insecurity, defensiveness, and fear of emotional injury.
These very therapeutic and mentally beneficial changes are triggered by what feels like a complete breakdown of each and every one of our inbuilt cultural and social boundaries that we have all been raised into. Allowing people to truly express their emotions and understand the perspectives of other people whilst still maintaining full control over their actions.

Suppression of pre-existing mind state and thought processes,
This is the opposite of mental enhancement and can be described as an overall suppression of mental insight and normally functioning analytical abilities. It can be broken down into 5 different simplistic subcategories of thought suppression.

Thought deceleration – This can be described as a person’s thought stream remaining identical in its capability to reason and process information but simply becoming much slower in its ability to do so.
Suppression of emotion – This can be described as a person’s current emotional state being suppressed and simply blocked out regardless of it being either positive or negative.
Suppression of information processing – This can be described as a partial to complete suppression of a person’s ability to process information and logically analyse a situation in an understandable and linear fashion. This is something which can result in irrational behaviour, delirium and an inability to understand or speak in normal language.
Suppression of memory formation (amnesia) – This can be described as the experience of large periods of time throughout the trip becoming partially or completely impossible to recall after the tripper has sobered up in the exact same fashion that our dreams are often extremely difficult to remember.
Suppression of cultural filter – This can be briefly described as a partial to complete removal of our cultural filter. This is a psychological filter which exists within human beings and gives us a powerfully consistent, unconscious tendency to notice and assign significance to observations that confirm existing cultural beliefs, while filtering out and rationalizing observations that do not fit with prior beliefs and expectations.
This seems to occur on many psychedelics including LSD, Psilocin, DMT and Mescaline but is so far unconfirmed throughout other hallucinogens such as the 2C-X family, dissociatives and deliriants.
Ego suppression, loss and death - Put simply, the ego is a human being’s sense of self or “I” as intrinsically separate from and somehow more important than the external environment. Every class of hallucinogens reduce and diminishes the trippers ego proportional to the dosage consumed, meaning that as dosage increases the ego goes down with it. This is a process that can be broken down into 3 basic levels.
- Ego suppression - Partial failure of a person’s short term memory resulting in a loss of focus and increased distractibility.
- Ego loss - Complete failure of a person’s short term memory resulting in a complete inability to keep track of the present situation.
- Ego death - Complete failure of a person’s long term memory resulting in an inability to remember any basic fundamental human concept including any sense of what the “I” even is.
Depending on the hallucinogen that has been consumed, the ego will be inhibited at different levels in relation to the visual intensity of the trip. For example, Ayahuasca and DMT will remain at level 1 ego suppression throughout level 5 visual experiences. In comparison, psychedelics such as LSD or Psilocin will set themselves at level 2 or 3 ego loss / death at identical levels of visual intensity. With other substances such as Salvia Divinorum however, level 2 ego loss can occur even at extremely mild levels of visual intensity. It is extremely important to note how proportional the inhibition of a person’s ego is in comparison to the visual intensity of the trip when documenting the subjective effects of any specific hallucinogen.

Inducement of previously non-existent mind states,
This can be described as triggered states of mind that are induced regardless of a persons state of mind prior to ingesting the drug.

Euphoria vs. Dysphoria – When hallucinogens have an effect on emotion they can either induce states of positive mental euphoria that can be described as mild to overwhelming states of forced happiness, often resulting in uncontrollable smiling and laughter. In contrast to this they can also induce states of mental dysphoria which can be described as mild to extreme feelings of depression, fear and paranoia.
States of Introspection - This can be described as overpowering levels of thought that consistently direct themselves towards an unbiased analysis of the self and ones actions, leading people to profoundly therapeutic and mentally beneficial changes in their perspective on themselves and the world around them.
States of Outrospection - This can be described as overpowering levels of thought that consistently direct themselves towards an unbiased and extremely insightful analysis of the external, leading towards a forced contemplation of subjects which regard the “bigger picture” such as life, reality, the past, the future, the universe, our place within it and higher systems of order.
These effects have been confirmed to exist within all of the classical psychedelics and are possible with dissociative experiences but unconfirmed with deliriants.
States of profundity, awe and reverence - This can be described as mild - overwhelming feelings of fascination and awe attributed to the external environment and everything within it. It can be described as a new found and deeply emotional childlike sense of wonder. Giving the impression that everything is profound and important, be it the universe, nature, life or everyday household objects.
This effect has been confirmed to exist on most of the classical psychedelics such as LSD, Psilocin, DMT, Ayahuasca and Mescaline but is so far unconfirmed across the 2Cx family, dissociatives and deliriants.
States of unity and interconnectedness - In terms of how this state subjectively feels it can be generally described as a loss of perceived boundaries between the physical body and the external environment, giving the profound sensation that your central centre of self is no longer confined to the ego but attributed to everything within the external environment and ultimately the entire universe. It can be a temporary experience or it can be a permanent change in perception which lasts a life time after the trip. So far it has been confirmed to exist within LSD, psilocin and 4-aco-dmt but is almost certainly waiting to be documented within other substances.
Sexual arousal – Although any hallucinogen which includes the physical component of a positive enhancement of tactile sensation will directly increase the amount of pleasure derived from sexual contact if it is forcibly engaged in. Certain hallucinogens such as the 2C-X family will consistently cause people to look at everything around them in a powerfully sexual context regardless of social setting.

Time distortion,
This is an effect that occurs in two different forms and makes the passage of time difficult to keep track of and wildly distorted.
The first and most common of these effects is time deceleration and can be described as the feeling that time has completely slowed down. At its highest level this can increase until the passage of time stops completely.
The second form is known as time acceleration and can be described as the experience of time speeding up and passing much quicker than it generally should.

Visual effects:
In this section I am going to break down and organize each and every one of the differing variables between the various visual enhancements, effects and alterations which are experienced throughout every specific hallucinogen.

Enhancement of Vision,
This can be described as an overall increase in the level of visual input attributed to the external environment that a person experiences and is manifested in a couple of different ways.

Enhanced visual acuity - A sharp increase in visual acuity which can be described as a new found ability to comprehend the entire visual field at once, including the peripheral vision. This results in the level of visual detail attributed to external the environment heightening to the point where the edges of objects become extremely well defined.
Enhanced colour perception – This can be described as colours becoming indescribably bright and vivid. Reds will seem “Redder”, Greens will seem “Greener” and all colours will be become much more distinct, powerful and intense than they usually are.
Enhanced pattern recognition – This can be described as people suddenly noticing patterns and textures that they may have never previously appreciated or paid any attention to before. For example when looking at a carpet, a pavement or tree barks the complexity and beauty of the texture suddenly becomes obvious.

The above components are a universal experience on psychedelic substances but non existent with dissociatives and deliriants.

Suppression of vision,
This can be described as an overall increase in the level of visual input attributed to the external environment that a person experiences and is manifested in a total of 3 different ways.

Decreased visual acuity – This can be described as vision becoming partially or completely blurred and indistinct.
Double vision – This can be described as doubled vision that makes fine vision and reading essentially impossible unless the tripper closes one eye.
Suppression of pattern recognition – This can be described as the registering of objects and concepts becoming partially to completely suppressed. Resulting in the mental process of recognizing objects and sensory input for what they are becoming slowed down or halted completely.

The above components are confirmed to exist within both dissociatives and deliriants but non existent within psychedelics.

Visual distortions,
This subcomponent can be generally described as open eye alterations and changes in perception attributed to pre-existing stimuli such as the external environment appearing to breath, melt, flow and warp. They can also present themselves as alterations in depth perception, colour shifting and tracers. All these distortions come in a variety of different styles but each of these can be broken down into a few basic subcomponents and rules which are described below.

Visual drifting - This can be described as the experience of the objects and scenery appearing to become progressively warped and morphed across the visual field in a variety of complex ways. It’s important to note the exact level of visual drifting (1 – 4) which has occurred throughout the trip. Visual drifting may come in a huge variety of styles depending on the substance consumed. It has been confirmed as an almost universal experience throughout every psychedelic, but is unconfirmed with dissociatives and available in only mild forms on deliriants such as DPH. Each of these can be broken down into a few basic subcomponents and rules which are described below.
-Intricate vs. Simplistic – In terms of their complexity, distortions will either alter the external environment in a way that spreads out in many different directions and results in the original piece of sensory input becoming completely unrecognisable in appearance. If not, they will be simplistic in nature and stick to simple warping, wiggling and bending even at high dosages.
-Slow vs. Fast – Distortions can manifest themselves as something that progress in their visual alterations at a fast and sudden rate or gradually and slowly as a person stares into it.
-Smooth vs. Jittery – In terms of their motion, distortions can manifest themselves as a smooth and flawless transition or jittery with an extremely slow frame rate that moves in sudden and partial transitions.
- Static vs. Fleeting – In terms of their permanence, distortions will either maintain their position until the tripper double takes or will be extremely fleeting in their nature, meaning that they will reset almost as soon as a person tries to look directly at it.
-Realistic vs. Unrealistic – Distortions will either look convincing in their appearance or extremely cartoon like and unrealistic.
Depth perception distortions - This is where the depths and distances of the scenery in front of you are swapped and reordered. A classic example of this is when objects in the background come into the foreground and objects in the foreground get pushed into the background. This effect is common throughout most psychedelics but so far unconfirmed with both dissociatives and deliriants.
Shifting colours – This effect can be described as the colours of an object appearing to cycle through every possible colour in a looped animation. It is common throughout most psychedelics but particularly common on LSD and so far unconfirmed with dissociatives and deliriants.
Tracers – This effect can be described as the experience of trails being left behind moving objects. It is important to note the level of visual intensity (1 – 4) which these tracers are manifested at and their colour in comparison to the moving object itself. This effect is found almost universally on every psychedelic but is so far unconfirmed with both dissociatives and deliriants.
Texture repetition – This can be described as rough textures and patterns becoming mirrored repeatedly over its surface in an extremely intricate and symmetrical fashion that is consistent across itself. Certain hallucinogens such as LSD, Psilocin and many other psychedelics present this visual alteration as extremely complex in nature even at lower dosages where as other substances such as AMT or 2C-I will present it as simplistic and bland even at higher dosages. This effect is so far unconfirmed on both dissociatives and deliriants.
Perspective distortions – These can be described as felt changes in perspective attributed to the external environment which can alter the size in a way that makes it seem significantly smaller or larger than it actually is, or they can alter the distance between yourself and objects / scenery to make them seem further or closer away. They are common on dissociatives, rare on psychedelics and unconfirmed with deliriants.
Scenery slicing – This can be described as the external environment spontaneously being split and cut into sections with extremely clean edges.It differs from experience to experience in terms of how many sections the external environment is sliced into and the shape or complexity of their edges. For example a person’s field of vision could be split into 3 basic horizontal lines or a series of interwoven spirals. This visual is currently confirmed on psychedelics but rare and seemingly triggered at random. It is more common on dissociatives but still never consistently triggered and so far unconfirmed with deliriants.

Visual geometry,
This subcomponent is commonly referred to by the psychonautic community as “visuals”. They are broken into 6 distinct levels of intensity and can be described as the sensation of a person’s field of open and closed eye vision being partially or completely encompassed by fast-moving kaleidoscopic and indescribably complex geometric patterns, form constants, shapes, fractals, structures and colour. Visuals manifest themselves in a variety of different styles but each of these can be broken down into a few basic subcomponents and rules which are described below.

Intricate vs. Simplistic – Visuals will either present themselves as incomprehensibly intricate and complex in their appearance or simplistic and comprehensible even at higher dosages.
Algorithmic vs. Organic – In terms of their content, visuals will either appear to follow mathematical rules and logically consistent geometry, often resulting in high amounts of fractals and semi predictable shapes. This is most common on substances such as LSD and the 2C-X family.
In contrast to this, visuals can also be completely random in their geometry and appearance in a way that contains infinite amounts of completely unpredictable variety. This is most common on substances such as Psilocin and DMT.
Structured vs. Unstructured – Visuals will either present themselves across a flat veil of geometry or they will form into an infinite variety of 3-Dimensional mechanistic rotating and ever shifting structures that are comprised out of a material based on condensed visuals.
Colourful vs. Monotone – The colour scheme that visuals follow will range from extremely varied and multi coloured in style to consisting almost entirely of blues and greys regardless of how high the dosage may be. Below this visuals will consist of dark purples and blacks that are difficult to make out from their background.
Flat colours vs. Glossy colours – Separate from the variety of colour contained within visual geometry, colours will either be flat and bright or glossy with high lights and shading regardless of the dosage consumed.
Sharp edges vs. Soft edges – Visuals will either have sharp extremely well defined around their perimeter, sometimes with thick black outlines around their edges. In contrast to this, they can be soft and blurred around their edges, merging seamlessly into each other in a way that does not affect their intricacy.
Large vs. Small – In terms of their size, visuals can be extremely large and zoomed in or fine and zoomed out in a way that does not affect their level of intricacy.
Fast vs. Slow – Movement wise, visuals can shift and morph so fast into themselves that the amount of information presented to the tripper in extremely short periods of time becomes incomprehensible to process.
In contrast to this, they can move slowly and comprehensibly, swirling and shifting into themselves to present ever changing geometric forms that can be observed in a much higher level of detail.
Round corners vs. Angular corners – Visuals will either have mostly rounded and circular corners or mostly sharp corners with pointed and angular geometry.
Immersive vs. Unimmersive – Visuals can be manifested in front of your face on a field of vision that feels separate from you, as if it was beings presented on some sort of television screen or they can feel as if you are completely immersed in and surrounded by them.
Psychedelics usually generate unimmersive visuals but are capable of becoming immersive at appropriately high dosages. Dissociative visuals however seem to be strictly immersive even at mild to moderate levels of tripping.
Level 6A vs. Level 6B – At their sixth and highest level of experience visuals are capable of branching off into two different directions of equal intensity.
The first of these is level 6A – exposure to entirety of neurological structure and the second of these is level 6B – exposure to the inner mechanics of human consciousness. So far, level 6A visuals have been confirmed this state has been confirmed to manifest itself throughout most high dose Psilocin and Mescaline trips and at least occasionally on 2C-E.

Visual geometry is present throughout every class of hallucinogen in varying levels of intensity. It is a universal experience on psychedelic substances, a common experience with dissociative experiences and an occasional experience with deliriants.

Imagery, transformations and hallucinations,
Every single category of hallucinogen is capable of producing vivid hallucinatory states at appropriately high dosages at 3 distinct levels of intensity. The upper two levels of which can be defined as the manifestation of an infinite variety of internally stored concepts in a fashion that feels almost identical to dreams. They are capable of becoming completely realistic and fully 3-Dimensional in their detail and generally consist of imagery, imagined land scapes, concepts, scenarios and contact with autonomous entities. They are presented in a number of different styles depending on the class of hallucinogen or specific substance consumed but can be broken down into a few basic rules and subcomponents of description.

External vs. Internal – Hallucinations can be presented in two different ways. External hallucinations will manifest themselves seamlessly within the external environment as fully formed delusions. These are extremely common on deliriants but uncommon and rare on psychedelics and dissociatives.
In contrast, internal hallucinations only present themselves when the tripper has reached such a high level that they have broken through and are no longer within or aware of the external environment. This means that they have progressive levels of multiple all encompassing sensory effects, before reaching the level of concrete hallucination.
Lucid vs. Delirious - Hallucinatory states can maintain a consistent level of awareness throughout them regarding the fact that none of these event are really happening and that the current situation is simply a result of drug induced hallucination. In contrast to this, hallucinations can also become completely believable no matter how nonsensical they may be in exactly the same way that we do not have any problem accepting absurd and non linear plots within our dreams.
Interactive vs. Fixed – Hallucinatory states can either present themselves to you as completely separate in a manner that is similar to watching a video play out in your field of vision or they can be completely interactive. For example, conversing with autonomous entities or manually exploring landscapes in a fashion similar to a lucid dreaming is entirely possible.
New experiences vs. Memory replays – In terms of their subject matter, hallucinations can either be entirely new experiences that are completely impossible to compare to anything previously experienced through out sober living or they can follow themes of normal every day concepts and a replaying of specific of memories.
Controllable vs. Autonomous – Imagery and hallucinations are often partially to fully controllable, this can be described as the content of their appearance always seeming to follow and fit the general topic and subject matter of your current thought stream. This allows you to visually manifest any concept which you can possibly imagine in front of your field of vision.
In contrast, autonomous hallucinations are completely spontaneous in their subject matter and uncontrollable in every way.
Hallucinations which are controllable do not yet seem to be found within dissociatives or deliriants and can be found on occasion within any psychedelic but are more common with LSA, 2C-E, Harmine and Ayahuasca.
Embedded vs. Separate – Hallucinations can appear as completely separate and distinct from the experience visual geometry or they can be comprised of it and embedded within it.

Audible effects:
In this section I am going to break down and organize each and every one of the differing variables between the various sensory enhancements, effects and alterations of sound that are experienced throughout every class of hallucinogen.

Audial enhancement,
This can be described as the sensation of sound becoming vastly crisper and clearer than anything felt during normal sober living and the sudden feeling of being extremely aware of all of the sounds around you, with an enhanced ability to pinpoint the exact direction from which multiple layers of noise are coming from. This often results in a greatly enhanced appreciation for music and is an effect which seems to be consistently present throughout any psychedelic experience. It is occasionally present on dissociatives but unconfirmed with deliriants.

Audial suppression,
This can be described as the sensation of sound becoming partially to completely muffled and indistinct. It is essentially unheard of with psychedelics and deliriants but extremely common throughout the classical dissociatives such as DXM, MXE, Ketamine and PCP.

Audio distortions,
This can be described as alterations of pre-existing sound, commonly manifesting itself as the experience of an echo or murmur rising in the wake of each sound, accompanied by distorted changes of pitch. These increase proportionally with dosage up until the original sound is completely unrecognisable.

They are found throughout each class of hallucinogen but are more prevalent with certain substances such as Mescaline and DiPT than others.

Audio hallucinations,
Audio hallucinations are essentially the heard equivalent of imagery and open eye transformations. They can be described as spontaneous imaginary noises that are either triggered at complete random or manifested in the place of noises that are subconsciously expected to happen. The most common examples of these are usually experienced as clips of recorded sound such as imagined music or voices. At their lowest level, voices and music appear to be garbled but distinct, with the voices sounding devoid of meaning and the music difficult to make out. At their highest levels however, they eventually evolve into completely coherent hallucinations such as heard conversations with spirits and autonomous entities or fully formed and completely original, extremely detailed symphonies and songs with multiple perfectly played instruments that have never been heard before.
This particular component of hallucinogen induced audial effects is almost universal on deliriants, common on psychedelics and so far unconfirmed with dissociatives.

Audio effects,
This effect can be described as hearing an infinitely wide array of random and nonsensical sounds from within the brain. Sometimes fleeting and seemingly triggered at random but other times maintaining an internal consistency that follows and fits itself around the rhythm of a persons thought processes. Common examples of these include hearing noises such as; reverb, tones, and general sound effects. Including pitches and notes that increase in intensity the harder you concentrate. They can also be experienced in the form of sounds such as a soft purring or multiple tones and phasers, but they are essentially limitless in their possibilities in and completely rhythm-less in tune.
These are confirmed to exist on both psychedelics and dissociatives but unconfirmed with deliriants. They are most common on Nitrous Oxide, Harmine, DMT and 2C-E.

Multi Sensory effects:
In this section I am going to break down and describe the effects which exclusively occurs across multiple senses at once.

Synaesthesia,
This is known as synaesthesia and is defined as a blending, merging or mixing of the senses. For example, alterations to sensory perception such as seeing music, tasting colors, hearing smells or any other possible combination of the senses are all possible. At its highest level, synaesthesia becomes so all encompassing that every one of senses becomes completely intertwined and experienced through all of the other senses. This is a complete blending of human perception and extremely profound when experienced.
It is triggered spontaneously on most of the classical psychedelics and unconfirmed with dissociatives and deliriants, seemingly more common on stimulating psychedelics such as LSD or the 2Cx family.

Dissociation and detachment,
Feelings of dissociation and detachment from the senses, the external environment and the mind are extremely common on dissociative hallucinogens. It can be broken down into 5 distinct levels of disconnection starting with feeling generally separate from the external world and eventually leading onto complete detachment and out of body experiences.
It is extremely important to note which of level of detachment (1 – 5) is present throughout the trip.
Feelings of detachment and dissociation are a universal experience throughout every dissociatives including ketamine, MXE, DXM, PCP and Nitrous as well as Salvia divinorum.
At level 3 and above, these feelings of detachment and out of body experiences are capable of triggering a specific component of the dissociative experience known as Hallucinatory structures. It is extremely important to note not just the level of visual intensity (1 – 4) which these structures are occurring at but also the methods of transition which are being used to switch between them. Hallucinatory structures usually manifest themselves in differing styles but are generally quite similar. Changing in their colour scheme, darkness, clarity and complexity depending on the substance consumed.
So far, these have been confirmed to be consistently found on dissociatives such as MXE, DXM, Ketamine and PCP as well as Salvia and potentially ibiogaine.

Conclusion:
The above descriptions can essentially be used as a check list for documenting the subjective effects of hallucinogens. This allows people to describe and discuss any hallucinatory experience with any specific substance on a level of detail that would not be possible without the use of preset terminologies, definitions and descriptions to ensure that peoples use of language remains formally consistent and understandable across itself.
I have tried to make this as comprehensive as I possibly can but know for a fact that it cannot possibly include every single effect that hallucinogens induce, it just documents the ones which I have personally encountered, named and described so far. This means that if you are documenting the effects of any specific hallucinogen, do not limit your questioning and writings to this article. Be ready to encounter and discover effects that have never before been documented in all of history.
As time goes on it is becoming more and more obvious that hallucinogens are quite literally, uncharted territory for the human race. We are with no exaggeration, on the brink of an unexplored dimension of historical significance and infinite proportions that has existed within human beings all along. In my opinion this is the next frontier for the human race and if our nations governments are too busy being wrapped up in cultural delusion to concentrate on something besides shooting people in the desert and arresting stoners then it is down to us, the people to try and come to an understanding of these states on our own.
Even from a scientific perspective, hallucinogens are only being studied in two different contexts. The first of these is the precise effect which hallucinogens have on the brain and our neurochemistry while the second is the study of the many potential uses which hallucinogens have in therapeutic contexts. Although these are worthwhile pursuits, there does not seem to be a single formalized attempt from any organization on the planet at coming to an empirical reason based analysis regarding the subjective experiential effects which hallucinogens induce, despite the fact that this is obviously and without a doubt the single most important defining feature which they possess.
Terrence Mckenna has been quoted as saying that we will not be able to discuss or come to an understanding of the psychedelic experience until we finally map it out. This is a statement that I completely agree with, it’s developing a formalized and rational approach to this that will be the first of many steps in the important mission of promoting psychonautics from a field of mysticism, to a legitimate field of science.

Mirtazapine, broken down and described

Sat, 16 Feb 2013 13:21:00 -0500

Dosage : 200mg +

Onset : 20 - 60 minutes
Duration : 2 - 5 hours
Normal After Effects : up to 12 hours

Mirtazapine is a very common prescription antidepressant which was first introduced by Organon International in the United States in 1990. It is classed as a Noradrenergic and specific serotonergic antidepressants (NaSSAs), acting by antagonizing the Alpha2-adrenergic receptor and certain serotonin receptors such as 5-HT2A and 5-HT2C. It has little to no history of human usage and is used primarily in the treatment of major depressive disorder and other mood disorders. It is also commonly used as a treatment for anxiety, insomnia, nausea and as an appetite stimulant. Structurally, mirtazapine is classified as a tetracyclic antidepressant (TeCA) due to its four distinctive rings.
When it is taken in large doses, it is capable of inducing bizarre experiences which are visually on par with and in the same distinct class as any of the classical psychedelics but almost completely devoid of mental insight or anything that could considered fun recreational potential.

Physical effects:
The body high or physical sensation of a mirtazapine experience is that of a soft tingling sensation across the body that is accompanied by strange but mild throbbing or aching sensation which is not capable of becoming anything but mildly euphoric even at high dosages. Alongside this, unique tactile hallucinations are commonly felt. These can be described as bizarrely structured vibrations and pulsations that spontaneously manifest themselves across the skin.
It is extremely sedating and often results in an overwhelmingly lethargic state. This causes trippers to suddenly feel as if they are extremely sleep deprived and have not slept for days, forcing you to sit down and generally feel as if you are constantly on the verge of passing out instead of engaging in physical activities. This sense of sleep deprivation increases proportional to dosage and eventually becomes powerful enough to force a person into keeping their eyes closed and then complete unconsciousness.
If physical activities such as walking are forcibly engaged in, a distinct but not completely incapacitating loss of motor control is noticed, as well as the consistent feeling that you are walking on top of a trampoline and not a normal solid floor.
These feelings are also accompanied by an intense appetite stimulation that is identical to “the munchies” that are experienced with marijuana.

Cognitive effects:
The mental processes, thought patterns and general head space experienced during a high dose mirtazapine trip is one that is completely devoid of insight. There is absolutely no introspection, personal problem solving or creative insight to be found with this substance whatsoever and it’s because of this that mirtazapine holds absolutely no therapeutic potential when used in this sort of context.
Instead, it simply suppresses thought and slows it down, making it extremely difficult to converse and resulting in a general suppression of short term memory.

Visual effects:
The visual effects of mirtazapine are completely on par with that of LSD or Psilocin (mushrooms) in terms of their intricacy and complexity.
The visuals themselves look extremely similar in appearance to those experienced during high dose spontaneous MDMA trips. Their specific style of geometry is fast moving, fine and zoomed out but extremely intricate in their detail. They give off a somehow ominous and synthetic vibe with a fairly consistent colour scheme of blues and greys.
The distortions do not seem to be present beyond tracers which make up for this in their ability to become all encompassing and smudging your entire visual field into a blur if you so much as move your eyes.
The hallucinations and imagery are also capable of becoming all encompassing; only presenting them selves when the trippers eyes are closed and capable of leading onto fully fledged 3D and completely random yet realistic scenarios, landscapes, people, and contact with autonomous entities. These hallucinations feel extremely hypnagogic and dream like, simply showing themselves as quick flashes of imagery at lower levels but become consistent and long lasting as dosage is increased. They manifest their contents as both completely spontaneous in subject matter and at other times, controlled and partially led by a persons current thought stream but consistently led by a persons current sensory input. This means that the sounds of people moving around you will be accompanied by hallucinations which serve to simulate visual replacements for the sensory gaps which are caused by a person being so sedated that they are forced keep their eyes closed and remain in darkness. Some examples of this from personal experience include simply seeing hallucinations of the people around me, the sounds of them talking and moving across the room, as well as browsing a readable version of the internet to the sounds of somebody typing on a keyboard and clicking a mouse while using a nearby computer.

Auditory effects:
The experience of audio hallucinations on mirtazapine is extremely common. They generally manifest themselves as extremely convincing sounds in the place of potential expected noises. The most common example of this seems to be hearing the voices of people in other rooms communicating with you in a level of detail that ranges from indistinct and garbled in vocabulary to completely coherent and understandable. These are capable of deliriously convincing people that they are real experiences immediately after they happen even when they are repeatedly reassured and convinced that they are just tripping on a level somewhat on par with deliriants.

Health effects, potential addiction and tolerance:
It is considered by the medical literature to be relatively safe in the event of an overdose. There are no significant cardiovascular adverse effects at 7 to 22 times the maximum recommended dose which is 45mg. The LD50 is 600-720mg/kg (oral, mice) and 320-490mg/kg (oral, rat) which extrapolates to something roughly between 2.9g - 3.6g for a 60kg human. This is 13 times or more the recreational dosage of roughly 210mg.
Mirtazapine is simply not enjoyable enough to become addictive and this only happens when it is taken daily as a prescription anti depressant over long periods of time. This results in dependence and intensely unpleasant withdrawal symptoms if a person decides to suddenly quit.
In terms of their tolerance, they do not seem to have one which lasts more than a few days when used for recreational purposes, but possesses a cross tolerance with other psychedelics such as LSD and mushrooms which lasts roughly one week.

Legal issues:
Mirtazapine is unscheduled in all countries but available for prescription usage only, meaning that it is not illegal to possess but illegal to sell or buy without a license.
If you want to try mirtazapine for yourself you will have to get or know somebody with a prescription who is willing to share their drugs with you.

Conclusion:
Mirtazapine is not a drug which will provide anybody with a “fun” experience but can provide extremely interesting experiences which are on par with any of the classical psychedelics despite the fact that the cognitive alterations are devoid of mental insight.
If you are planning on experimenting with this substance, be sure not to take it until 9pm at the earliest so that you do not drastically alter your sleeping pattern.

The Potential Negative Effects of MDMA and How to Counteract Them

Fri, 15 Feb 2013 17:52:00 -0500

I recently added a comprehensive health effects, potential addiction, and tolerance as well as a legal issues section to everyone of my specific substance guides. I wanted to add this article to specifically include with the MDMA health section; since there was so much information and preventative tips, it was necessary to make it an article on its own. This was so all the information was in one simple place, so people no longer have to trawl through random forum posts. Once again, this article is not written by me, but the same friend of mine who wrote the previous article on “An Explanation of the Effect of Hallucinogens upon the Nervous System”.

Negative Effects on Health
Serotonin syndrome occurs when there is an excess of serotonergic activity in the central nervous system (CNS). Serotonin syndrome can often be overcome by resting in a cooler environment. However, occasionally it will turn into a medical emergency, which can be fatal. If dangerously excessive amounts of MDMA are taken, serotonin syndrome may occur.

Autonomic

Excessive sweating, high body temperature, high blood pressure, increased heart beat, pupillary dilatation, nausea, diarrhoea, shivering.

Neuromotor

Twitching, restlessness, tremor, in-coordination rigidity, teeth chattering, reduced opening of jaw, seizures.

Cognitive-behavioural

Confusion, agitation, anxiety, persistent elevated/irritable mood, insomnia, hallucinations, headache.

Dehydration can occur when taking MDMA; this happens when not enough fluid is consumed to replenish that already lost. MDMA can cause excessive sweating, diarrhoea and hyperthermia on its own, which can exacerbate the dehydration. To prevent dehydration occurring, fluids should be drunk before thirst is felt. Thirst is the preliminary indicator of dehydration. As many ions/electrolytes (essential for many bodily functions) in the body are lost while on MDMA, the best fluids to drink are sports/energy drinks, or water with a tablespoon per litre of table salt added but normal water will always suffice regardless. This restores the electrolytes lost via sweating or diarrhoea.

It is also important to regulate the amount of fluid consumed. If too much is drunk, hyponatremia (water intoxication) can occur. This interferes with the sodium levels, making them lower than normal levels. Symptoms include include nausea and vomiting, headache, confusion, lethargy, fatigue, appetite loss, restlessness and irritability, muscle weakness, spasms, or cramps, seizures, and decreased consciousness or coma. To prevent this occurring, fluid must be drunk at the correct rate, ensuring you sip the water at a slow rate:
During active e.g. dancing: between 250ml and 500ml every hour.
When inactive: around 250ml every hour.

MDMA interferes with the body’s ability to regulate temperature. This is because it causes vasoconstriction, where the blood vessels closest to the skin constrict, preventing the body from ridding itself of excess heat. Hyperthermia can occur, which is where the body overheats. This can be controlled by staying hydrated and taking breaks from physical activity. If hyperthermia occurs, cease physical activity immediately, and apply cool (but not freezing cold) flannels to the forehead, chest and groin.

Improving the MDMA Experience
Taking supplements before/after taking MDMA is known as pre/post-loading. There are a number of supplements that can improve the MDMA experience and help with some of the negative effects and neurotoxicity.All these, apart from the SSRIs (prescription only) are cheap and freely available through Google, Amazon, and local health food stores.
5-HTP: This is the precursor to serotonin, and taking it after taking MDMA helps restore levels of serotonin in the body. Due to the depletion of serotonin after taking MDMA, a comedown is often felt the next day or upon ‘coming-down’. Symptoms are very similar to depression, and can include impaired attention, focus, and concentration, as well as drive and motivation, aches and pains, exhaustion, and feelings of sadness. Taking 5-HTP can help relieve these effects, by replenishing serotonin.
SSRIs: If you have access to SSRIs (specific serotonin reuptake inhibitors), these can be taken after a buzz to help restore serotonin levels also. However, taking them before an MDMA buzz appears to dull the buzz.
Magnesium: There is a nerve in the jaw called the trigeminal nerve, which is responsible for innervating the jaw. This nerve is especially sensitive to changing levels of (among other things) serotonin. This causes the jaw to clench and the teeth to grind, known as bruxism or “gurning”. Magnesium can be taken before MDMA, and acts as a muscle relaxant.
Vitamin C: Vitamin C has been proven to be effective when combating neurotoxicity of MDMA.

Pre/Post-Loading Recipe
One Hour Before
100mg of Magnesium
1000-2000mg of Vitamin C
After
200mg of 5-HTP

Another effect caused by MDMA is the release of anti-diuretic hormone (ADH). ADH is responsible for regulating urination. If more ADH is released, urination will become difficult. This, coupled with the vasoconstriction, makes urination almost impossible. If heat is applied to the genitals, especially when male, this helps reduce the vasoconstriction, and make urination easier.

MDMA can be taken safely without using any of these supplements, and most dangers generally come from overuse, over a long period of time, or unnecessary excessive doses. The information above can be used to seriously diminish the negative health effects and sometimes notoriously unavoidable comedown that is experienced for some in the days after taking MDMA.

An Explanation of the Effect of Hallucinogens upon the Nervous System at the level of the Neurone

Sat, 09 Feb 2013 16:53:00 -0500

This article is intended to be a detailed explanation of how hallucinogens affect the brain, via the inhibition and excitation of neurotransmitters in the nervous system. This article is not written by me, but an extremely close friend of mine who is significantly more knowledgeable when it comes to science, and specifically chemistry. She is also my editor and grammar-checker, as well as scientific advisor and participator in 100% of the field of research that has gone into the previous several specific substance guides which have been posted on this website.

A neurone is a cell that carries electrical impulses. Information is processed and transmitted by the nervous system in the form of electrical and chemical signals. The neurone primarily comprises of a cell body, an axon and dendrites. The axon is a nerve fibre that carries electrical signals away from the cell body, to the end of the neurone. The end of the neurone then connects to the dendrites on the cell body of the next neurone, via a synapse. Drugs cause their effects due to their action on the neurones in the nervous system.

A nerve impulse is a self-propagating wave of electrical disturbance that travels along the surface of the axon membrane. This electrical disturbance comprises of a temporary reversal of the electrical potential difference; not an electrical current. The axon is usually negatively charged compared to the outside of the axon, and this is known as the resting potential, the value of which is usually around -65mV. When a stimulus is received, a reversal in electrical potential difference is caused, and this is known as the action potential (normally around +40mV).

To begin, the inside of the axon is negatively charged, compared with the outside of the axon. The change in potential difference, that is needed to fire off an action potential, is controlled by the movement of sodium and potassium ions in and out of the axon. An ion is a positively or negatively charged molecule. This movement occurs via the action of ion pumps and channels. The ions cannot just diffuse in and out of the axon uncontrollably; this diffusion is prevented by a membrane around the axon. Periodically placed along the membrane are proteins that act as channels for ions to pass through. Sodium gated channels and potassium gated channels open and close to allow the ions to pass through only at specific times. Sodium-potassium pumps transport Na⁺and K⁺in and out of the axon.

The inside of the axon starts at around -65mV compared to the outside of the axon. An action potential is reached when the axon is at +40mV compared to the outside of the axon. This value of +40mV is reached by the movement of sodium and potassium ions in and out of the axon. Sodium-potassium pumps transport 2K⁺ into the axon for every 3Na⁺ transported out of the axon. Both sodium and potassium are in the forms of positive ions here. However, more sodium is removed from the axon compared to the potassium brought. This means the overall electro negativity is decreasing in the axon, and the axon is getting closer to reaching the potential difference of +40mV. Sodium ions then begin to diffuse back into the axon naturally, and potassium ions diffuse back out. At this stage however, potassium gated channels are open, whereas sodium gated channels are closed. This means the K⁺ can diffuse out faster than the Na⁺can diffuse back into the axon. This increases the potential difference further between the inside and the outside of the axon.
Once an action potential has been established, it “moves” along the axon in a neurone. The action potential doesn’t move in a physical sense of the word; the reversal of electrical charge is instead reproduced at different points along the axon, in a “Mexican wave” effect. One point in an axon will become depolarised (depolarisation is a change in a cell’s membrane potential, making it more positive, or less negative), and this depolarisation is a stimulus for the next region of the axon to depolarise. As the next region depolarises, the previous region returns to normal and repolarises.

Eventually, the action potential will reach the end of an axon, known as a synaptic knob. A synapse occurs at a point where the axon of one neurone meets the dendrite of another neurone.

When an action potential reaches the synaptic knob, the calcium ion channels open, and Ca²⁺ enters the synaptic knob. As the Ca²⁺ enters, the vesicles containing the neurotransmitters fuse with the membrane of the pre-synaptic neurone, and the neurotransmitters are released into the synapse. The neurotransmitter molecules attach to the receptors on the sodium ion channels, which allow Na⁺ ions to diffuse into the post-synaptic neurone. This influx of Na⁺ generates a new action potential in the post-synaptic neurone. An enzyme is then released into the synapse that breaks the neurotransmitters down into small, precursor molecules. These fragments are reabsorbed by receptors on the pre-synaptic neurone, and they are then used to remake the neurotransmitters. The neurotransmitters are then ready to release when a new action potential reaches the pre-synaptic neurone. This reabsorbing prevents the neurotransmitters from continuously binding with the sodium ion channels on the post-synaptic neurone, and firing off repeated new action potentials.

Neurotransmitters can have one of two effects. Excitatory neurotransmitters/receptors make it more likely that a new action potential will fire off. Inhibitory neurotransmitters/receptors make it less likely that a new action potential will fire off. Many drugs work by affecting the way neurotransmitters work. There’s a handy table listing the effects of different neurotransmitters right here. Drugs can stimulate the nervous system by creating more action potentials in the post-synaptic neurone. They can do this by mimicking a neurotransmitter, stimulating the release of more neurotransmitter, inhibiting the re-uptake receptor on the pre-synaptic neurone or by inhibiting the enzyme that breaks down the neurotransmitter. Agonists are chemicals that bind to a receptor and trigger a response, often by mimicking the neurotransmitter.

Drugs are also capable of inhibiting the nervous system by creating fewer action potentials in the post-synaptic neurone. This can be done by inhibiting the release of neurotransmitter, or blocking receptors on the sodium/potassium ion channels. This reduces the body’s response to impulses. Antagonists work by blocking or dampening signals of agonist drugs/neurotransmitters.

The Action of Different Drugs on the Nervous System
Psychedelics mostly act on serotonin receptors, and act as full or partial agonists. LSD, LSA, psilocin, DMT, mescaline and the 2Cx family all work as partial agonists. The table below shows a few of the commonly known psychedelics, and their action on receptors. The 5HT receptor system acts via the neurotransmitter of serotonin, D1 acts via dopamine, and the A-2 system acts via noradrenaline. The scale is from 0 to 4, with 4 being the highest affinity. The chart above is colour coded with a traffic light system. Green refers to an affinity of 3.5-4, representing a very high affinity. Yellow is 2-3.5, representing medium affinity. Orange is below 2. Any value that is orange/below 2 should be disregarded, as the affinity isn’t high enough to cause any great effect. Grey is 0, meaning no affinity at all to the receptor.

The current scientific consensus is that the 5HT-2A receptor is the one targeted by drugs responsible for psychedelic experiences. However, drugs like mescaline and MDMA are both capable of inducing psychedelic experiences on par with that of psilocin and LSD, but show no affinity to the 5HT-2A receptor.

LSD, for example, works by fitting into the receptors on the post-synaptic neurone. It has a higher affinity than serotonin itself for the serotonin receptors, specifically 5HT receptors, and therefore prevents serotonin binding to the receptors by competing with it.

The diagram above shows the structural similarities between the psychedelics. The three classes (phenethylamines, lysergamides and tryptamines) all contain the same chemical rings, which have been labelled. A represents the benzene ring, which all three classes contain. B represents the pyrrole ring, in both tryptamines and lysergamides. A and B together form the indole ring. C (cyclohexane) and D are only contained in the lysergamides, possibly contributing to its potency.

Dissociatives act as non-competitive NMDA receptor antagonists, meaning they inhibit glutamate molecules. Glutamate is the neurotransmitter responsible for telling the body when it’s “awake”, for building up memories and for regulating awareness, mood and movement. NMDA receptors allow for electrical signals to pass between neurones in the brain and spinal column; for the signals to pass, the receptor must be open. NMDA receptor antagonists close the NMDA receptors, by preventing the glutamate from binding to it. This disconnection of neurones leads to loss of feeling, difficulty moving,and eventually the k-hole. It is also this disconnection that causes the anaesthetic properties of dissociatives.

PCP, MXE and ketamine fall into the arylcyclohexylamine class of chemicals, which possess NMDA receptor antagonist properties. DXM/DXO fall into the morphinan class of chemicals. Nitrous oxide, however, is unique, due to being an inorganic molecule. Another inorganic dissociative is xenon, which is also an NMDA receptor antagonist. However, information on recreational use is limited.

Deliriants are antagonists towards the cholinergic receptors, blocking the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. Acetylcholine is the neurotransmitter responsible for regulating the sleep cycle, dreaming alertness, and for building memory. The prolonged suppression of cholinergic activity and REM sleep due to deprivation or amphetamine abuse creates psychotic episodes which may be defined as bursts of dream activity erupting spontaneously into waking states. Deliriants could therefore be considered to trigger a similar state by blocking acetylcholine and suppressing cholinergic system activity. Causing trippers to begin dreaming whilst maintaining full conscious awareness. Deliriants are known for causing people to have no memory of their experience, tying in with their anticholinergic effects. Anticholinergics are split into two class; anti-muscarinic (act on muscarinic acetylcholine receptors) and anti-nicotinic (act on nicotinic acetylcholine receptors). Anti-muscarinic drugs include DPH, scopolamine and atropine. They are all competitive antagonists, meaning they bind to the receptor, but do not activate it.

Atypical drugs don’t fit into the three basic hallucinogen categories, and act in a number of different ways. MDMA is an entactogenic drug that works as a re-uptake inhibitor targeting serotonin receptors. This leads to the prevention of the re-uptake of the serotonin. More serotonin in then in the synapse, so the receptors on the post-synaptic neurone continue to be fired off. Serotonin is known for its control of mood, often being referred to as “the happy chemical”, along with dopamine. Muscimol is a GABA agonist. Salvia is a k-opioid receptor agonist. The k-opioid receptor is responsible for altering the perception of pain, consciousness, gravity, fear, mood and motor control. This explains the sensations of intense gravity, painful tingling and paranoia during Salvia trips. Ibogaine is 5HT-2A agonist, an NMDA antagonist and the k-opioid receptor agonist. The tryptamine core of ibogaine causes the affinity to the 5HT system.

This section has described the chemistry and neuroscience at the basic level of the neurone. However, I intend to write a second part to this article, which describes in detail the effects of hallucinogens, and specifically psychedelics, on specific parts of the brain, and how this translates into the subjective components of the psychedelic experience.

psychedelicreplication: Collection of texture repetition and...

Fri, 08 Feb 2013 18:54:00 -0500

psychedelicreplication:

Collection of texture repetition and embedded pattern example images.

Symmetrical texture repetition is a distinct and obvious distortion which specifically manifests itself through rough textures such as grass, carpets, asphalt, tarmac, towels, bathroom rugs, gravel, general bracken, dense vegetation, fallen leaves, tree bark and more. It can be described as the texture becoming mirrored repeatedly over its surface in an extremely intricate and symmetrical fashion that is consistent across itself, no matter how closely you attempt to look at the distortion. Maintaining a constant level of extremely high detail and visual clarity within a persons direct line of visual focus and their peripheral vision.
As these repeating textures are generated they begin to give rise to a huge array of abstract forms, imagery, geometry and patterns that are embedded within and across the symmetry. Something that is universally interpreted as profoundly complex to perceive and just beyond normal geometry in an indescribable way.
Figuring out how to replicate this effect has taught us how the specific visual effect of texture repetition and embedded patterns must be generated. It seems as if it is simply a result of textures being mirrored onto themselves in a symmetrical fashion. The exact same method was used on each picture example and in my opinion, look very accurate.
I’d predict that this is done through a mechanism which fills in rough textures within the peripheral vision using some sort of neurological copy paste mechanism.

Apologies for the fact that some of these pictures are randomly in portrait mode. Tumblr has recently updated the way its content is formatted in such a way that I have lost a very large amount of control and can no longer even edit or add to my Psychedelic visuals part 1 guide without destroying the layout.
I am currently looking for a new host. If anyone has any advice then please message me.

2C-E, broken down and described

Wed, 30 Jan 2013 17:45:00 -0500

Onset : 20 - 90 minutes
Duration : 6 - 10 hours
Normal After Effects : 2 - 6 hours

Light : 5 - 10 mg
Common : 10 - 15 mg
Strong : 15 - 30 mg
Heavy : 30 - 40 mg +

2C-E (2,5-dimethoxy-4-ethylphenethylamine) is a psychedelic and phenethylamine of the 2C family. Its chemical synthesis was first published in 1991 within the book PiHKaL: A Chemical Love Story by Dr. Alexander Shulgin and Ann Shulgin. This was a groundbreaking book that included detailed synthesis instructions for over 200 psychedelic compounds (most of which Shulgin discovered himself), including bioassays, dosages, and other commentary. For those who are interested, 2C-E’s specific entry, synthesis and qualitative commentary can be found here.
The mechanism that produces the psychedelic effects of 2C-E is a direct result from its action as a 5-HT2A serotonin receptor agonist in the brain, a mechanism of action shared by all other hallucinogenic tryptamines and phenethylamines.
Many people have reported that the general effects of 2C-E are similar to those of the other psychedelic phenethylamines, but far more intense in terms of its physical body load and visual effects. The experience is often described as similar in appearance to LSD, and many reports indicate that the effects of this particular chemical may be overly intense for those who are not already experienced with psychedelics. The subjective effects of which I will now begin to break down and describe…

Physical effects:
The physical sensation of a 2C-E trip is a very unusual one. It is manifested as one of the most proportionally intense body highs in comparison to the trips accompanying visual alterations that I have found within any of the classical psychedelics. This is something which is only beaten in terms of its overwhelming forcefulness by high dose AMT and 5-meo-DMT experiences.
It can be described as an intensely pleasurable, energetic pins and needles sensation that constantly encompasses a person’s entire body. It is usually felt over every square inch of the skin but occasionally manifests itself in the form of a continuously shifting tingling sensation that travels up and down the body spontaneously in waves. This feeling is accompanied by an overall enhancement of the pleasure derived from tactile sensations. In comparison to LSD, it is much sharper and feels as if it is somehow considerably less natural and more synthetic. This everlasting droning is immensely pleasurable and is capable of leaving people completely incapacitated, writhing and trembling on the floor in ecstasy. However, it can also become overwhelmingly intense and a burden at higher levels, with many people reporting that they find it to be quite uncomfortable instead of euphoric.
It is sometimes characterized by urges to shift the position of ones body and prolonged tensing of unusual combinations of muscle groups.
It is extremely stimulating at levels which do not become overwhelming, resulting in a shakiness and unsteadiness of the hands but encouraging trippers to move around, run, dance, climb and generally engage in physical activities.
An extremely unique but commonly felt physical component of the 2C-E trip is the way in which it heightens and enhances sexual arousal in a way that I have not yet found within any other psychedelic. It’s worth noting that although all other psychedelics such as LSD or mushrooms do profoundly enhance the physical sensation of sexual pleasure if it is forcibly engaged in, they do not cause people to feel sexually aroused regardless of social context or setting in the same way that 2C-E does. When experienced, this sensation is not overwhelming or out of control in anyway but simply remains as something that the tripper is constantly aware of. If sexual activities of any kind are engaged in, they are found to be immensely more pleasurable beyond anything that could be possible sober, with orgasm becoming difficult to reach but completely possible to attain. If orgasm is reached, it is consistently accompanied by an incredibly intense and overpowering but hilariously irrelevant, visual explosion of completely non sexual imagery, hallucinations and geometric forms.
In terms of the physical discomfort experienced on this substance, mild to extreme nausea is commonly reported when consumed in moderate to high dosages and either passes instantly once the tripper has vomited or gradually fades by itself as the peak sets in.

Cognitive effects:
The thought patterns and mental processes triggered by 2C-E consist of two different styles of head space that depend entirely on the setting. These manifest themselves as psychedelic introspection when taken alone and an entactogenic sociability when taken with others. Its entactogenic effects are a little weaker and less sharp than those found on substances such as MDMA but can be described as general feelings of,

Increased sociability and feelings of communication being easy or simple
Increased urge to communicate with others
Increased empathy and feelings of closeness or connection with others
Reduced insecurity, defensiveness, and fear of emotional injury

These effects may be weaker in comparison to classical entactogens such as MDMA, but are still strong enough to provide a specific set of positive and therapeutic changes in perception that can last from weeks to a lifetime after the experience. If substances such as Mushrooms and LSD are exclusively for solving personal problems, 2C-E can be just as useful for solving interpersonal problems as well.
This is done through inducing strong feelings of love, and empathy for the people around you, making it useful for mending pre-existing emotional disputes and reinventing the bonds between friendships and romantic partners. This allows people to truly express their emotions and understand the perspectives of other people whilst maintaining full control over their actions.
The introspective effects of 2C-E are present but not quite as profound or as sharp as similar states of personal problem solving found on LSD and Mushrooms. However, they are considerably more intense anything found with 2C-I. They generally manifest themselves only when the tripper is alone, as the urge to socialize with others seems to suppress and overwhelm it in the company of other people. This state can be described as distinct levels of accelerated thought that consistently direct themselves towards an unbiased analysis of the self and ones actions, leading people to therapeutic and mentally beneficial changes in their perspective on themselves and the world around them.
These two separate states are both accompanied by feelings of emotional euphoria and happiness. In positive settings, it consistently triggers involuntary smiling and an increased sense of humour but otherwise relatively normal thought processes, meaning that 2C-E doesn’t impair judgment as deeply as do many other psychedelics with otherwise-similar effects.
2C-E can also produce distortions in the user’s perception of the passage of time leading to an illusion of moderate to extreme time dilation. This feels as if it stems from the fact that during a 2C-E trip, such huge amounts of experience are packed into extremely short periods of time in comparison to normal sober living.

Visual effects:
The visuals attributed to 2C-E visuals follow a specific style which can be described as sharp, clean, angular and somehow digital, synthetic looking geometry, with bright and vivid colours. They are signifigantly more powerful when a person is by themselves and very comparable to LSD in terms of their stylistic appearance but slightly less intricate and come with a style of movement and structure that is more comparable to Mushrooms. The visuals are fast moving and change by means of flowing, swirling and morphing into themselves to create new and constantly changing geometric forms. These visuals are very high in structure, spontaneously morphing into comprehensible forms and hallucinatory objects or imagery made of a condensed closed eye visual based material. As the visuals increase proportional to dosage, they eventually give way to level 6A psychedelic visuals and feelings of experiencing everything within the entire universe all at once.
The distortions found within 2C-E are significantly smoother and more believable looking in comparison to 2C-I, with a level of generic psychedelic clarity that is completely on par with LSD or mushrooms but are much less likely to distort the environment beyond recognition even at higher doses.
The hallucinations and imagery can become extremely prevalent when a person is by themselves without external influence. They seem to fit and follow the rhythm of a person’s thought patterns, stemming from an initial ability to visualize concepts within the minds eye with a great sense of clarity. This eventually increases until a persons thought stream is manifested in front of them in a bizarre psychedelic fashion that the tripper has a great sense of partial control over. As dosage increases further, these are eventually capable of manifesting themselves as vivid hallucinatory scenarios such as contact with autonomous entities, imagined landscapes and scenarios.

Auditory effects:
2C-E’s distortion of sound is quite profound and produces more auditory enhancements, effects, distortions and hallucinations than any other psychedelic which I have come across. The auditory distortions include the flanging of sounds, echoing and pitch shifting. The auditory hallucinations can be described as the perceived synthesis of new sounds not derived from one’s immediate environment, such as phasers, scraping, drilling, and popping. Most of the more unusual distortions of sound are only experienced after the ingestion (or, rarely, insufflation) of high doses.

This is accompanied by a powerful enhancement of auditory perception. Resulting in noise suddenly becoming extremely loud, clear and crisp. Something which triggers levels of increased music appreciation that are once again completely on par with LSD. This is experienced in the form of music sounding “wider” and a profound ability to comprehend every single piece of noise throughout each separate layer of complex songs in a level of detail that is simply not possible sober. The profound sensation of being able to fully understand the emotional intent of the music being listened to is also present, resulting in states of ecstatic euphoria and mental involvement when this drug is combined with any enjoyable music of a tripper’s personal preference.

Health effects, potential addiction and tolerance:
The toxicity and long term health effects of recreational 2C-E use does not seem to have been studied in any scientific context and the exact toxic dosage is unknown. This is because 2C-E is a research chemical with very little history of human usage. Anecdotal evidence from people who have tried 2C-E within the psychedelic community suggests that there are no negative health effects attributed to simply trying this drug at low to moderate doses or using it very sparingly but nothing can be completely guaranteed.
The biggest danger with this substance seems to be confusing it with other more potent psychedelics such as Bromo-DragonFLY as 2CE which is active in the 200 - 800 micrograms range. This means that it is roughly as potent as LSD and extremely dangerous if taken in place of 2C-E, which has resulted in fatal overdoses on multiple separate occasions thanks to accidental mislabelling of bags from research chemical vendors. There are cases in the media of people ordering 2-CE, among other research chemicals, from online vendors, and receiving Bromo-DragonFLY instead.
2C-E does not seem to physically addictive but could potentially become habit-forming as there is no real tolerance attributed to this drug, meaning that it could potentially be used multiple days in a row if somebody chose to do so. This can be prevented by manually limiting your usage of the drug and is practically unheard of, with most users noting that the desire to use them can actually decrease with use thanks to its powerfully introspective and mentally therapeutic effects.

Legal issues:

As of July 9, 2012, in the United States 2C-E is a Schedule I substance under the Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act of 2012, making possession, distribution and manufacture illegal.
As of April 8, 2007 Denmark added 2C-E to the list of Schedule I controlled substances.
New Zealand has a catch-all Analogues section in Schedule 3 / Class C of their drug laws that makes 2C-E a Schedule 3 compound.
In Sweden, 2C-E has been controlled since Oct 1, 2004.
As of 2002, 2C-E is illegal in the United Kingdom and a Class A controlled substance under The Misuse of Drugs Act.

Else where in the world, it is completely legal. If you want to try 2C-E despite full knowledge of the legal risks it can be purchased online through various research chemical vendors of which I cannot legally mention the names of. This means that if you want to do this, you will have to find a source for yourself using the power of Google search.

Conclusion:
In conclusion, I was extremely impressed with 2C-E and it exceeded my expectations many times over. I was originally expecting a poor man’s LSD with psychedelic visuals but no true hallucinatory states. Instead I found myself with a substance that is more comparable to mushrooms and extremely useful for both psychonautical exploration and recreational activities such as raves, festivals and parties for those who are already experienced with the substance. It is even useful when taken at very low sub threshold dosages as a motivating background stimulant as I actually wrote this entire article on approximately 0.07mg and it genuinely helped me keep the words flowing and to maintain a strong sense of focus.
Alexander Shulgin has been quoted as saying
“Someday, the full character of 2C-E will be understood, but for the moment, let it rest as being a difficult and worth-while material. A very much worth-while material.”
This is a statement which I completely agree with and I genuinely hope that this article has contributed to increasing the psychedelic community’s understanding of this fascinating substance.
Over the upcoming months I will definitely be slowly working my through Shulgin’s magical half-dozen (which can be found here) and documenting each of their subjective effects in as much detail as human English will possibly allow me to.

Psychedelic exposure to the inner mechanics of human consciousness and its relationship to states of unity and interconnectedness

Mon, 14 Jan 2013 17:09:00 -0500

I am writing this article to formally categorize a previously undocumented component of the psychedelic experience and the information which it has revealed. Until recently, my own research had resulted in visuals being broken down into six basic levels, which are described in detail on this page here. Generally speaking, these levels start with fleeting motions, patterns and colours. These eventually lead onto indescribably complex and fast moving colourful geometric patterns, capable of becoming so all encompassing that they begin to block out the entirety of the external environment. The sixth and final level is a state in which every point across your brain feels like it has become interconnected with every other point. You suddenly find your self in an overwhelming state that can only be described as becoming and being able to feel every single thing within the entire universe all at once. This is manifested in the form of an infinite ocean of non-euclidean geometry that can be felt at every single point of detail across itself. Contained within it are innately understood geometric representations of every single concept and neurological structure within the subconscious mind.
Recent experiences with mushrooms and 4-AcO-DMT however have lead me to the conclusion that there is not one singular pinnacle of the psychedelic experience and that a state of equal intensity exists along side it. It seems that depending on subtle environmental factors and the psychedelic consumed, visuals are capable of forking off into two separate versions of their highest level. The deciding factor between the two options appears to be almost random, meaning that from this point forward, level 6 visuals will be separated into two distinct categories.
The first being level 6a - exposure to the entirety of your neurological structure, described above and commonly found on more stimulating psychedelics such as LSD and the 2Cx family.
The second being level 6b - exposure to the inner mechanics of human consciousness. A state which is commonly found on more sedating, hallucinatory psychedelics such as mushrooms or 4-AcO-DMT.
Once psychedelic visuals have reached their final stage, at level 6a or b, they begin to become structured and organized in a way that that presents genuine information to its tripper far beyond the preceding five levels. This is done through the experience of innately understood geometric representations that feel as though they depict specific concepts and neurological components that exist within the brain. This is done in such a way that the concepts can be seen embedded within your closed or open eye visual field whilst simultaneously felt through a physical sensation at every point of detail across itself.
It can be described as the profound feeling of becoming completely detached from the external environment and/or self and falling into a place that is universally interpreted by anybody who undergoes the experience as “the inner workings of the universe”. This is a place that feels as if you have literally entered the very source of existence, with the underlying programming of reality and the true nature of our consciousness presenting itself to you in the most incomprehensible manner. I have been aware of this state for a number of months but it has taken me a total of eight separate extremely high dose trips as well as the participation and input of others to even begin to formulate my words in a way that is logically consistent, comprehensive and understandable to both myself and other people. In order to do this, I will have to break this new component down into its two main sub categories and describe them separately in as much detail as human English will allow.

Becoming the organization and structure of the conscious mind,
At the lower end of level 6b visuals, the experience manifests itself as a new found and consistent ability to feel and see the organization and structure of your current thought stream. This is presented to trippers in the form of a fast moving and infinite web or network of visuals that branch off of each other in a level of organization and intricacy far beyond any possible arrangement that could be experienced within the external physical world.
The ever shifting network follows the pace and rhythm of your internal dialogue perfectly. This creates and manifests new connections in a way that is both physically felt through a powerful sensation and seen embedded within your visual field every time any piece of new insight or knowledge.
This vast network of visuals contains within it, an innately understood, thought stream relevant, geometric representations of specific and abstract concepts embedded into each and every one of the connecting points across itself. The experience of these innately readable geometric representations triggers the mind’s eye to envision the concept perfectly on an internal visual field which exists separately from this one.

Becoming the organization and structure of the subconscious mind,
At the higher end of level 6b visuals, the experience manifests itself as a new found and consistent ability to physically feel, see and become one with the architecture of the subconscious mind. This is presented to trippers in the form of extremely vast and complex, self transforming geometric mechanisms which are immediately interpreted by anybody who undergoes the experience as the inner workings of the universe or reality. This is a state that is capable of bestowing specific pieces of information onto trippers regarding the nature of reality and human consciousness through the simple experience of them. These specific pieces of information are always immediately felt and understood to be a profound unveiling of an undeniable truth at the time, but usually found to be ineffable afterwards; due to the limitations of human English, or nonsensical due to the disorientation of the accompanying ego death, memory loss and hallucinations.
Occasionally however, genuine lessons or coherent messages are innately interpreted through the experience of becoming and descending down into the subconscious faculties of the brain. It’s extremely important to note however that the scientific validity of these lessons is very uncertain and should never be accepted as fact. Every good skeptic knows that anecdotal evidence is next to worthless in terms of the physical data it provides simply, because it is impossible to distinguish between which details are fact and which are hearsay. However, this should never prevent us from acknowledging the importance that these things need to be discussed and explored on a much greater level than we as a society are currently pursuing. This makes these experiences a very good indicator of the direction that future legitimate scientific research and studies should be taking themselves into.
It’s here in this article that I am going to explain some of the specific insights regarding existence and consciousness that have been gained through myself, my girlfriend and a close friend journeying into these states and documenting the experience through means of written interviews and audio recordings in order to make sense of it.
I honestly do not understand any of this myself. They are always felt to be undeniable “truths” at the time but we should not lose sight of the fact that we are deliberately ingesting drugs which trigger imagined hallucinations. I do not claim any position of authority regarding the truth of anything that I am about to tell you. So please keep in mind that I possess no academic credentials whatsoever and have already told you on multiple occasions to disregard everything that I say. I am simply describing and documenting our personal experiences which may well be profound truths or could perhaps simply be the product of hallucinatory delusions undergone by a small group of teenagers on various psychedelic drugs, resulting in unusually elaborate stoner talk.

The first of these so called “truths” and the least important of them, was revealed in the form of being presented with and becoming the mechanisms behind an internal neurological drive which encourages a suspicion of or belief and reverence for a higher system of order than our day to day lives. This is something that was shown to have manifested itself throughout all of human history and culture in a huge variety of religions and superstitious beliefs, existing as an integral part of our psyche, simply because it is an evolutionary advantage in terms of motivation and survival for our lives to be put into this sort of context.

The second of these “truths” was being presented with or shown the true mechanisms behind the brain’s decision making process in any given situation. This clearly showed that the ego, and the internal thought stream which it generates, is an after product of our subconscious’s decision making processes and not in anyway the true director of it. Our current thought stream, emotions, perception of the world, sense of the present situation and what we are doing is being generated instantaneously on a subconscious level as a direct result of our current sensory input. With the ego simply being the experience of the thoughts and decisions after they have already been generated and not something which is capable of controlling itself or any other decision which we make.
The psychedelic and geometric unveiling of this “truth” resulted in the feeling that the human organism is just a complex and immediate chemical reaction to the sensory input fed into us through the external environment. Leading onto the feeling that objects within the external environment which you choose to interact with, pull you towards them as an instant reaction to their presence in a very powerful way, instead of your ego consciously deciding the actions that it is going to perform in advance.
This creates the sensation that we as human beings are comprised of multiple interdependent systems, which all direct themselves and each other as whole. Not a system which is governed by an intrinsically separate and central command centre which our egos have all been raised into thinking that they are.

The third of these apparent “truths” which multiple people throughout my immediate social circle have undergone on several separate occasions has already been documented towards the end of this page here. It has been named as states of unity and interconnectedness, a universally experienced component that is not consistently triggered every time somebody undergoes an appropriately high dose trip. Instead, it occurs spontaneously within people who are currently undergoing states of psychedelic exposure to the inner mechanics of human consciousness and seemingly triggered by very subtle environmental factors of which I do not yet currently understand the relationship between.
In terms of how this state subjectively feels, it begins by stemming from what feels like an awakening or the lifting of a great illusion that is deeply embedded within the human psyche. An illusion that feels as if it is in place to keep human beings feeling as if they are intrinsically separate from and more significant or important than, the external environment. It feels as if it exists due to the strong evolutionary need to keep a person’s perspective on the world as one that prioritizes the needs of the self over the needs of the external, as a means of ensuring the motivation for survival.
The psychedelic disintegration of this apparent illusion is commonly described as a loss of perceived boundaries between the physical body and the external environment, giving the profound sensation that you can no longer understand where your physical body ends and the external environment begins. Our central centre of self with which we identify as “ourselves” is at this point, revealed to be illusory and not any single component of our being, such as the ego, the brain as a whole or even the body in its entirety. Instead, the central centre of self with which we identify with becomes no single component of existence but all of it in its entirety, creating the sudden undeniable perspective that you are literally the entire universe experiencing itself and performing actions onto itself through the very specific point of space and time which your ego happens to reside in. The ego or self as separate from external systems of behaviour is felt to be an elaborate fabrication, that the skin is not what separates us from the universe but what connects us to it. This is a feeling that when experienced is immediately and universally understood to be an undeniable truth by anybody who undergoes it.

I am honestly still trying to wrap my head around this specific mental component and do not feel that I have come close to understanding it or processing its consequences. My current level of experience only allows me to describe the feeling of it and not in anyway the logic behind it.
Similar notions of unity seem to be discussed heavily in Buddhism, Eastern mysticism, Gnosticism, Monism, Non-duality and Alan Watts lectures, as well as basic molecular biology and physics, not to mention various trip reports across the internet that all describe sensations of “becoming one with the universe”.
I somehow feel that this will one day become the default perspective through which humans beings look at the world. In my opinion, this is by far the most profound mental component of the psychedelic experience.
Once a tripper begins to sober up and come down the sensation is usually shown to be non permanent and reduced to something that is understood through logic, but not felt. On rare occasions however, it does seem to become a fully grounded and uncontrollable perspective that can last anywhere from weeks to a lifetime after the trip. This creates obvious and powerful changes in personality that result in a completely selfless perspective which values the well being of the external as on par with the importance of the ego.

Conclusion:
The above descriptions are based on very specific experiences and trips which me and my immediate social circle have undergone. As for the “truths” which were experienced, we have actually been through several but these are the only ones which could be adequately explained so far. I am certain that there are many more to experience and will repeatedly enter the inner mechanics of human consciousness over the upcoming months, increasing my dosage and pushing my brain to its very limits.
It’s important to note that currently, only one of these truths can be known for certain to be a universally experienced component, which is states of unity and interconnectedness. The profoundness and intensity of which is making it genuinely difficult not to get carried with mysticism and irrational beliefs. Even as a skeptical atheist, undergoing the experience of what feels like an internally embedded, chemically induced religion that has existed within human beings all along is extremely fascinating because it does not feel like an irrational perspective in any way. It consistently results in a general reverence and profound sense of awe for higher systems of order which transcends superstitious beliefs and has become so powerfully strong that I literally couldn’t ignore it if I tried. Despite the fact that it is still very difficult for me to pinpoint and explain in any adequate way to those who are not familiar with the experience.
When the importance of psychedelics is finally recognized and psychonautics becomes a legitimate field of science, I am certain that we will learn more about human consciousness and our place in the universe than many people ever suspected possible. This is getting to the point where we can begin to figure out the mechanics of human consciousness from the inside, instead of from above, which is currently the only scientific approach. The same difference between looking at a planet through a telescope and sending a manned mission to explore its surface.
If you have any personal experiences with this state or disagree with anything that I have said, there is now a section below each article which allows you to comment and provide your input, which I strongly encourage as I am extremely interested in hearing what others have to say for purposes of coming to a greater understanding of these ineffable states.

The DXM and DPH combination, broken down and described

Fri, 04 Jan 2013 13:36:00 -0500

Onset : 30 - 120 minutes
Duration : 4 - 8 hours

Dosage,
Low : 250mg / 250mg
Medium : 300mg / 300mg
Strong : 350mg / 350mg
Heavy : 400mg / 400mg

This article is going to serve as a complete breakdown and categorization for the consistent subjective effects that are induced across all people who undergo the DXM and DPH combination experience. This is something that I am writing because, although there are an infinite amount of possible drug combinations, almost all of them simply induce the effects of the two separate drugs on top of each other in a very predictable manner. However, these two substances do just the opposite of that, producing a very unique synergy when taken together, potentiating the positive aspects of the other substance whilst simultaneously suppressing its negative side effects; all with distinct visual and hallucinatory effects that are found on neither of these substances when taken on their own.
If you are not familiar with the effects or chemistry of either of these substances, you can learn in detail about DXM by clicking here, along with a similar analysis and breakdown of the DPH trip right here.

Physical effects:
The body high of this combination is that of a mild glow that encompasses the body, with a tingling sensation at the ends of the fingers and toes. It is a relaxing and a completely lethargic state felt alongside the sensation that gravity has increased itself in intensity many times over, resulting in an unnaturally heavy body and consistently causing trippers to want to lay down on a comfortable spot and avoid engaging in any physical activities.
Since this is accompanied by feelings of dehydration and dry mouth, it is important for trippers to try and remember to consistently take small sips of water throughout the duration of the experience.
As a user increases their dosage, physical detachment and dissociation begins to take its toll and the body high is slowly taken over by a decrease in tactile input, along with a feeling of numbness and disconnection, which is eventually capable of becoming completely anaesthetic-like in its effects. This can be described as starting out with sensations of being somehow physically removed from the body, physical autonomy and a proportional lack of motor control. In terms of mobility this combination results in more than a simple lack of motor control and spatial awareness, creating a hilariously strange and robotic style of movement in its users every single time they try to walk or perform basic movements. This is a style of movement known by the dissociative community as the “Robo Walk”.
The greatest thing about the physical effects of taking DXM and DPH in a combination is the way in which they both lessen the negative side effects of the other substance. For example, thanks to DPH’s nausea suppressing abilities, this combination is significantly less likely to make you feel like you desperately need to vomit than simply taking DXM by itself. In return, DXM’s dissociating and anesthetic like qualities have an extremely positive effect on the unbearably strong physical dysphoria which DPH is infamous for. This completely eliminates the muscle cramps, nausea, dizziness, drowsiness, restless leg syndrome, extreme dehydration and occasionally irregular heart beat experienced when DPH is tried simply by itself. This allows the unique delirium, hallucinations and visual effects of the DPH experience to become much more accessible to your average person.

Cognitive effects:
The thought patterns of a typical DPH + DXM trip are characterized by that of a general sense of detachment and dissociation, accompanied by delirium and a partial to complete loss of ability to reason or think rationally.
As a user increases their dosage, mental detachment begins to take its toll and any thoughts present within the brain are slowly taken over by bizarre mental states of dissociation. These can be described at lower levels as feelings of detachment from the external environment, making the world seem as if it were being watched through a TV, a dream or just intrinsically unreal in some way. This creates feelings of being mentally withdrawn from the environment, allowing people to look at their lives from an almost third person perspective.
Alongside this, an inability to process basic information becomes present, with trippers finding themselves in states of confusion, disorientation and mild paranoia. They are often unable to process basic things such as language or events that are happening around them, resulting in the unique effect of trippers speaking in nonsensical and meaningless statements with unusually sinister undertones or complete gibberish with no decipherable words of any sort.
As the detachment increases proportional to the dosage consumed, the mind becomes sedated and the ego becomes severely suppressed and inhibited, eventually resulting in ego death. This impairs cognitive functioning and suppresses the short term memory until it begins to struggle or become completely incapable of holding onto a normal thought for any length of time. This is an effect that is worsened by this combination. Large amounts of amnesia and memory loss are experienced, with trips often becoming forgotten completely or only remembered in short snippets, even immediately after they’re over. This happens in much the same way that our dreams are almost always forgotten and rarely remembered in their entirety.
In terms of the mentally dysphoric effects that are usually experienced when DPH is taken by itself, the universal experience of extreme paranoia, panic, depression, agitation, nervousness and feelings of impending doom seem to be completely suppressed when combined with DXM. This results in a trip that is almost completely devoid of overwhelmingly bad vibes whilst still maintaining a somehow sinister or other worldly and nightmarish theme to it.

Visual effects:
The visuals and distortions experienced during a DPH and DXM combination trip are surprisingly psychedelic in places, despite the fact that this trip is technically classed as a dissociating and delirious state, not a psychedelic one.
In terms of the specific style of visuals, they can be described as indescribably complex and intricate webs of ever shifting geometric forms which are very slow in their movements when compared to visuals experienced with traditional psychedelics such as LSD or Mushrooms. It has a colour scheme which is dark in its palette and somehow ominous or sinister in its appearance and style. They manifest themselves in a traditional psychedelic manner when the eyes are closed but appear as static, unmoving shapes and geometry which the external environment morphs into when the eyes are open and looking at any single point, always resetting once the person double takes. This is an unusual visual effect because both dissociative and psychedelic visuals do not do this, instead preferring to manifest themselves as a fast moving and flat translucent veil across the visual field which cannot be interacted with.
The distortions and alterations of open eye perception experienced on this combination are once again, surprisingly psychedelic in comparison to either of these substances when taken by themselves. The external environment begins to generally morph, melt, bend, flow and shift in an extremely fluid fashion. This has a distinctive indescribable style to it, with a large amount of blurriness, as well as significantly less detail and clarity when compared to the distortions found within LSD and Mushrooms.
Another distinct visual effect which I have not found on any substance besides this very specific combination is a distortion which exclusively effects textures. This causes textures to become 3-Dimensional, rising up out of the surface which they reside upon in a strangely intricate and static fashion that looks similar in appearance to condensed, mostly opaque and coloured smoke.
None of the above effects however, although many in number and intense experience wise are the focus of this trip when this combination is taken at anything above low doses. At moderate to high doses the trip becomes completely dominated by extremely detailed and vivid delirious hallucinatory states. These are unique in that they offer solid hallucinations which display themselves seamlessly into waking consciousness and the external environment like fully formed dreams or delusions. In contrast, classical psychedelics and dissociatives have progressive levels of multiple all-encompassing sensory effects, before reaching the level of concrete hallucination. It’s only with delirium that you can experience solid hallucinations of people, objects, forms, creatures, etc within and interacting with your external environment. As these increase in vividness and detail in a way that is proportional to dosage, they start with extremely detailed transformations of existing objects but eventually become all encompassing alternate realities and imagined landscapes of infinite possibility.
When experienced, these hallucinations are always believed to be real in much the same way that we happily accept the logic defying and nonsensical plots to our dreams. This is an unavoidable factor of delirium that can for obvious reason, go wrong if somebody perceives a negative or scary hallucination, which causes them to injure themselves or the people around them. This means that serious precautions have to be taken before anybody even considers undergoing a trip such as this.

Conclusion:
Although this is not an experience that I wish to repeat on any sort of regular basis, the DXM and DPH combination is an extremely fascinating one, making delirium accessible to me in a way that DPH on its own never could. This is something that is owed purely to its horribly dysphoric physical and mental effects. This combination should never be taken by beginners and is not for the faint hearted, due to its very sinister undertones in its hallucinations and general vibe of the trip. If you want to try this drug however, both substances are freely available and unscheduled throughout every country in the world and easily accessible through the power of google search. Keep in mind however that neither of these drugs are 100% physically safe, especially when taken repeatedly on a regular basis. You’ll need to do some independent research on both of these substances before you even consider trying an experience such as this.

r/drugs on reddit recently interviewed me with an Ask Me Anything

Sun, 23 Dec 2012 21:23:00 -0500

r/drugs on reddit recently interviewed me with an Ask Me Anything:

After receiving many comments and messages requesting that I take part in an AMA (ask me anything) interview on the r/drugs board over at reddit, I did exactly that. It went pretty well. If you are interested, you can read the large amounts of questioning by clicking the link below. http://www.reddit.com/r/Drugs/comments/15cisa/as_rdrugs_recently_requested_i_am_the_guy_who/

A direct comparison between Psychedelic and Dissociative ego death

Sat, 01 Dec 2012 10:39:00 -0500

Although certain pieces of information on this article have been written about before, this article is going to serve as a direct comparison for the two differing states of ego death found at the highest possible level of hallucination on both psychedelics and dissociatives. I am hoping that once this article has been written a formal distinction will truly be be drawn between the two.
To make things as clear as possible however, I should first define for people what exactly the ego is and what purpose it serves before I go into breaking down the base components that comprise these two states .
Put simply, the ego is a human being’s sense of self or “I” as intrinsically separate from and somehow more important than the external environment. It is essentially a person’s consciousness or ability to be self aware, as fueled by the constant internal dialogue that we call our thoughts.
Ego death is defined by the psychedelic community as any total suppression or loss of a person’s sense of self. It is something that occurs at both high dose dissociative and psychedelic experiences, as well as in every day life; since natural sleep, passing out drunk, general unconsciousness or death can all technically be classed as forms of ego death. However, the clear cut distinction between hallucinogen induced ego death and other more commonly experienced forms is that sensory input is not maintained through deep sleep or normal unconsciousness. Psychedelics and dissociatives on the other hand, both offer differing versions of the same experience that universally becomes triggered during these states and is perceived through all of the senses.
In terms of the thought patterns and general mental processes, dissociative and psychedelic ego death are very similar in a number of ways. Both capable of being broken down into 3 basic levels.

Ego suppression - Partial failure of a persons short term memory. Something that can be described as a general increase in distractibility, loss of focus and an increasing inability to process anything outside of the present moment.
Ego loss - Complete failure of a persons short term memory. Something that can be described as a person becoming being completely incapable of remembering any specific details regarding the present situation for more than a second or two. Resulting in disorientation, thought loops and confusion for the inexperienced. Long term memory however remains almost entirely intact, with people still being perfectly capable of recollecting their name, date of birth, childhood school, etc.
Ego death - Complete failure of a persons long term memory. Something that can be described as a person becoming completely incapable of remembering any basic fundamental human concept that is stored within the long term memory. Including your name, who you are, the fact that you are on drugs, what human beings are, what life is, what existence is or what anything is. Giving the profound experience that there is no longer an “I” experiencing the intensity of the trip anymore, there is just the trip as it is and by itself.

So it’s not the ego loss in itself that differs between psychedelics and dissociatives. What differs between them, are the consistent hallucinatory experiences that they are accompanied by, both of which share many common visual characteristics with each other whilst simultaneously being worlds apart, the base components of which I will now begin to break down and describe…

Psychedelic ego death:
The final and most profound stage of psychedelic visuals (level 6) is usually the very thing which triggers ego death during a psychedelic experience. This is most likely because of the sheer perceptual and sensory overload experienced during these states, something that occurs only once the trip has reached a level of intensity in which the environment has become completely replaced with visuals. As the visuals reach their highest possible level, the mind suddenly feels as if every point within the brain has become completely interconnected with every other point, leaving the tripper under the overwhelming sensation that they are experiencing or becoming everything within the universe all at once. This is something that can be described as an infinite sea of geometry, concepts and fractals that is always perceived to contain within it, all of existence, all that there ever was and all that there ever will be. A vast ocean of mind that is not just seen in front of the eyes but physically felt through each of the senses in an incomprehensible level of detail on every single point across itself. The experience is immediately perceived by everybody who undergoes it to be “the universe”, or at least “everything”.
At its lower levels, this effect is something that fluctuates wildly, pulling trippers in and out of the room in a fashion that many find extremely disorientating. Instead of remaining constant and static it is triggered by the experience of a concept. For example if somebody were to say the word “internet” to a person who is currently in this state, they would see the mind’s concept of the internet immediately manifested in a perfectly fitting geometric form. This is a form that quickly branches out from itself like some sort of ineffable spider diagram, enveloping the concepts which you associate with the internet and then branching out to include the concepts you associate with those. This spreads out exponentially and within 2 - 3 seconds, quickly grows in a sudden flash to include every single stored concept within the entire universe. The tripper is completely disconnected from their external environment before they are re-stacked back into the room, until something triggers the process again, usually immediately. Trippers are snapped in and out of the room repeatedly as the process is triggered continuously.
It can to a certain extent however, be held at bay through continuous physical movement, stopping the process from branching out into everything by not giving it the time it needs to lock onto a concept.
As dosage is increased however the process becomes easier and easier to trigger whilst extending in length and duration, eventually resulting in a stable state of complete disconnection from the external environment and a lasting sense of oneness with the universe.
In terms of a specific description of the thought patterns and mental processes found throughout this state, beyond the simple memory loss experienced during psychedelic ego death, the experience is capable of triggering a unique array of mental hallucinations, delusional scenarios and false memories throughout the duration of the trip that are in a completely different class from that of standard psychedelic hallucinations. These are not the familiar dream like states, imagined landscapes and contact with entirely imagined autonomous entities that play out in front of your eyes as they happen in a format similar to a dream or a film. These are extremely detailed yet false memories of the current situation or scenario that a person is already in and what has already happened to them. This varies wildly in its limitless number of different manifestations but generally follows two different routes depending on the trippers outlook and perspective on the world in day to day life.
For positive, well balanced people it results in scenarios with themes of transcendence and overwhelming religious or spiritual undertones that occur regardless of the trippers theistic beliefs. Feelings that your entire life has building up to the present moment, which is historically significant for all of humanity and that nothing is ever going to be the same are extremely common. People will also often believe that they have learned a reality shattering secret. A secret which once a person has sobered up is either realized to be untranslatable into human English or lost forever to the winds of short term memory loss.
On the other hand however, unprepared, negative or mentally unstable people who undergo states of extreme psychedelic ego loss tend to find themselves in delusional paranoid scenarios that have genuine potential to cause somebody to harm themselves or others. These scenarios could be literally anything but generally seem to share a few extremely common plot elements, such as:

Thinking you are going insane.
Thinking you are going to die.
Thinking the people around you are “out to get you”.
Thinking you have done something wrong.
Thinking you are somehow tripping wrong.
Being absolutely convinced that something is very very wrong with the situation but being unable to explain what your point is when asked because you never had one in the first place.

It’s worth noting however that with time and repeated exposure to states of ego death, as a person becomes familiar with the state and it is no longer confusing or disorientating for them, the false memories decrease in frequency and intensity until they are simply not present. Even ego death can eventually become familiar and normal to a person. So it’s my personal experience with these states that has led me to theorize that they stem directly from the person’s complete lack of short term memory and resulting inability to keep track of anything that is happening around them. It seems as if a person’s sense of the present situation, who they are, where they are, what they are doing, etc is generated instantaneously on a subconscious level as a result of our current sensory input with or without the ego. The ego seems to simply steer and direct the process with its reasoning abilities and a normally functioning short term memory, the loss of which results in the subconscious taking over, completely unconstrained and unable to reason, coming to wildly inaccurate conclusions through extremely distorted and incomplete data. Please keep in mind however, that I have no idea what I’m talking about and have nothing to cite besides my personal experience.

Dissociative ego death:
In terms of its thought patterns and mental processes, dissociative ego death is much more simplistic than those that are found on psychedelic ego death, stemming from their pharmacological ability to disconnect the brains neurons from each other, creating feelings of dissociation, detachment and disconnection from the external environment, then the body and eventually the self. It’s here at the highest level of dissociation (level 4) that ego death occurs and people find themselves without any sense of self. Constrained entirely to the present, due to ego deaths characteristic loss of short term memory but still maintaining awareness of the sensory input that their trip is producing to accompany it. Separated not only from their own sense of self, but their body and external environment as well, causing you to be pulled into a place outside of reality.
This is a place which can only be described as floating through a dark and infinite void, generally accompanied by a monolithic structure floating above, below or in front of you as it gradually zooms, rotates or pans into focus and is unveiled before your eyes at a slow pace. Structures can take any static and comprehensible shape possible but are commonly experienced as vast spires, pillars, blocks, teardrops, wheels and pyramids that are often fractal in nature and occasionally made from materials that look real such as stone or metal. They alternate between each other by morphing in a comprehensible, consistent way or by panning and rotating out of view until another structure takes its place.
As a tripper’s dosage increases, the level of detail in which these structures are seen and felt increases proportionally. This continues until the sensation of seeing the entire universe condensed into an infinitely vast and intricate self transforming machine form becomes present, accompanied by the sudden realization that you are the structure that you are staring down upon and that the structure is also you. In terms of its appearance, this state is even harder for me to describe than psychedelic ego death, despite the fact that it is definitely a less complex experience. The structure can take any form but usually appear to be consistently shaped machine-like structures or clouds that are infinite in size and felt at every point of detail across itself. This is immediately interpreted through some sort of innate instinct as “the universe” or at least, “everything” by everybody who undergoes the experience.
It’s worth noting however that, although this state is just as likely to cause a bad trip in the unprepared as a psychedelic experience, people who are undergoing a level 4 dissociative trip are by its very definition completely disconnected from their own body, making them significantly less likely to move around, bringing themselves or others around them to harm.

Conclusion:
So put extremely simply, psychedelic ego death will cause you to become the entire universe while dissociative ego death will cause you to fly over the entire universe, leading me to believe that both of these states have enormous historical significance that is still being severely overlooked by science and society in general.
Regardless of its visual effects which are not even necessarily present every single time somebody experiences these states. The sensation of ego death can be both disorienting or amazing. It is in my opinion the most intense experience a human being can possibly go through, leaving the unprepared and the unstable in states of panic, confusion and paranoia. These stem from the fact if you do not have a healthy subconscious, and you release it from the constraints of the rational ego, the true nature of a person’s mind becomes manifest. For those who are stable and prepared however, the experience of ego death can be extremely liberating, allowing people to experience the immediate sensation of being as an organism devoid of a constant internal commentary through their biased and cultured thought stream.
If you want to experience ego death for yourself but feel that you may not be ready, the only advice I can really give you is to learn to let go and give in. Never trip in a negative state of mind and do not under any circumstances try to fight, control or understand the experience, as to do so is to trigger a bad trip.

DXM, broken down and described

Tue, 27 Nov 2012 14:46:00 -0500

Light : 100 - 200 mg
Common : 200 - 400 mg
Strong : 300 - 600 mg
Heavy : 600 - 900 mg
Risk of Death : 900 - 20,000 mg
Duration : 4 - 8 hours

DXM or Dextromethorphan is an antitussive (cough suppressant) drug. It is one of the active ingredients in many over-the-counter cold and cough medicines, including Robitussin, Delsym, Benylin and others, including many generic labels. It is a dissociative hallucinogen of the Morphinan chemical class with multiple mechanisms of action. These include actions of a nonselective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, inhibiting the reabsorption of the neurotransmitter serotonin even after it has performed its function of transmitting a neural impulse, essentially allowing it to accumulate and be reused, causing physically euphoric effects. It is also a sigma-1 receptor agonist, allowing for its antitussive effects, and the action of its major metabolite dextrorphan as an NMDA receptor antagonist, essentially blocking the connections between neurons and creating for its dissociative effects. Instead of acting as a direct antagonist of the NMDA receptor itself, Dextromethorphan is rapidly absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract and converted into the active metabolite dextrorphan in the liver; a metabolite that is nearly 10 times more potent and the true mediator of this substance’s dissociative effects.
It was first patented and approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1954 and subsequently sold as an over-the-counter cough suppressant in 1958, with the first record of its recreational use dating back to 1962.
Although it is often considered to be a “kiddie drug” by many people within the online drug community, to me it is without doubt, visually on par with all of the other commonly used dissociatives such as Ketamine, MXE and PCP, and an extremely powerful substance. It takes its users to impossibly deep states of detachment and rich hallucinations, the base components of which I will begin to break down and describe now…

Physical effects:
The body high of DXM is that of a euphoric glow that encompasses the body and is accompanied by a tingling sensation at the ends of the fingers and toes. At higher doses the overall sensation increases proportionally and is capable of becoming physically euphoric. It is incredibly relaxing and results in a mostly lethargic state, consistently causing trippers to want to lay down on a comfortable spot and enjoy the trip, instead of engaging in physical activities.
As a user increases their dosage, physical detachment begins to take its toll and the body high is slowly taken over by a warm, mechanical numbness, which at higher doses is capable of becoming completely anesthetic-like in its effects. This can be described as starting out with sensations of being removed from the body, physical autonomy and a proportional lack of motor control. One of the famous characteristics of a low dose DXM trip is the way in which it causes people to move in way that the DXM community has named the “robo-walk”. This is more than a simple lack of motor control and spatial awareness but a hilariously strange and robotic style of movement that I have yet to find on any other substance.
As physical detachment continues to increase, it eventually ends with a complete disconnection from the physical senses and out of body experiences, leaving people in a conscious catatonic state.

Cognitive effects:
The thought patterns of a typical DXM trip are characterized by that of a child-like sense of glee, a vastly enhanced sense of music appreciation and a bizarrely profound drunkenness.
As a user increases their dosage, mental detachment begins to take its toll and any thoughts present within the brain are slowly taken over by bizarre mental states of dissociation. These can be described at lower levels as feelings of detachment from the external environment, making the world seem as if it were being watched through a TV, a dream or just intrinsically unreal in some way.
This creates a feeling of being mentally withdrawn from the environment, allowing people to look at their lives from an almost third person perspective and analyze it without bias, surprisingly resulting in an enjoyable state of deep introspection.
As the detachment increases, the ego becomes severely suppressed and inhibited, something that eventually results in ego death. This impairs cognitive functioning and suppressing the short term memory until it begins to struggle or become completely incapable of holding onto a normal thought for any length of time.

Perspective distortions:
The perspective distortions on DXM do not seem to feel particularly different from those found on other commonly used dissociatives such as MXE and Ketamine. These most commonly include Alice in Wonderland syndrome, the feeling of becoming impossibly giant or tiny in size. Changes in noise volume, sounds seeming either extremely loud or very quiet and muffled are often experienced, as well as distortions in distance, making specific objects or the entire external environment seem physically closer or further away.

Visual effects:
At lower levels of dissociation, the visual effects of DXM are extremely simplistic and shallow, generally manifesting themselves as blurred and double vision and only becoming deep once a person has been partially or completely disconnected from their body and sensations. This results in out of body experiences in which trippers fly through a distinct and unique hallucinatory world.
This starts at lower levels with the dissociative equivalent of visuals, which for DXM, can be described as morphing geometric patterns which are super imposed onto a dark background. This doesn’t feel as though they are on a flat two dimensional veil in front of your vision as with LSD or mushrooms but instead completely surrounding and encasing your visual field. In comparison to other dissociatives such as MXE, they are extremely colourful, complex and fast moving. They only present themselves when the eyes are closed and generally seem to consist of soft round edges with a pastel colour palette and flat simplistic imagery that is usually comprised of basic shapes such as bubbles, squares and triangles.
In comparison to the classical psychedelics they are not nearly as intricate but still extremely impressive. They do not seem to increase in complexity as a person reaches higher levels of dissociation, but are instead taken over by and replaced once complete and total disconnection of the body is reached, causing trippers to slip into what is refereed to as a dissociative hole. This can be described as the sensation of silently floating through a dark and infinite void. This void is often interpreted as traveling through space or the night sky. This is usually accompanied by monolithic, solid and physical structures of a vast scale that pan, zoom or rotate into and out of view as you float above, below or inside of them. This is a common characteristic among all of the dissociatives but can be described as particularly colorful in appearance with this substance, especially when compared to the likes of other dissociatives such as MXE.
These structures take a huge variety of forms but can be described as spires, towers, tear drops, columns, cubes and shapes of any kind that are huge in size and often thousands of miles wide. They alternate between each other by morphing in a comprehensible, consistent way or by panning out of view until another structure takes its place. As a tripper’s dosage increases, the level of detail in which these structures are seen and felt increases proportionally. This continues until the sensation of seeing the entire universe is condensed into an infinitely intricate form becomes present. This is accompanied by the sudden realization that you are the structure you are staring down upon, a feeling that is so overwhelming and vast it consistently triggers complete ego death.
At this level of dissociation, hallucinatory states not unlike those found within common psychedelics come into play, these are extremely diverse imagined scenarios in which contact with autonomous entities are completely possible. They look perfectly solid in appearance and are not constructed from an incomprehensible visual based material, as with psychedelic substances such as DMT and mushrooms. Reports of memory replays are extremely common and these often overlay themselves onto the external environment in the form of people you have recently seen becoming present in your field of vision.

After glow:
The afterglow is a feeling that is long lasting and as equally enjoyable as the trip itself to many people. It can be be described in terms of its physical sensation as one of euphoria, rejuvenation, relaxation and a light bounciness. In terms of its mental thought processes however, it can be described as a complete loss of anxiety, contentedness and an extremely high appreciation for music.

Grapefruit Potentiation:
It’s worth noting that grapefruit juice is extremely efficient for potentiating and enhancing the DXM trip if approximately 1 glass of white grapefruit juice or more is drunk every hour throughout the day before the trip. The effects will be considerably stronger and more intense. For people who are drinking store brought syrup, this is extremely useful as it means drinking less foul syrup.
The Grapefruit juice acts on DXM by inhibiting the activity of cytochrome P450 enzymes of the 3A and 1A groups. DXM is converted to DXO by this same enzyme, only with different groups. Therefore, with enough grapefruit juice, your overall trip should be more intense, as the DXM is converted into DXO at a faster rate.

Health effects, potential addiction and tolerance:
The biggest speculation regarding the long term health effects DXM abuse was that it may cause a form of brain damage know as Olney’s lesions or NMDA receptor antagonist neurotoxicity (NAN), due to similarities with Phencyclidine (PCP). Despite this however, studies show that in rats oral administration of dextromethorphan did not trigger Olney’s lesions in laboratory tests. Oral administration of dextromethorphan repeatedly during adolescence, however, has been shown to impair learning in those rats during adulthood.The occurrence of Olney’s lesions in humans, however, has not been proven or disproven. William E. White, author of the DXM FAQ which can be found here, has compiled informal research which can be found here from correspondence with dextromethorphan users suggesting that heavy abuse may result in various deficits corresponding to the brain areas affected by Olney’s lesions; these include loss of episodic memory, decline in ability to learn, abnormalities in some aspects of visual processing, and deficits of abstract language comprehension.
The biggest risk of DXM use is the potential accidental misuse of multi-symptom cold medications, rather than using a cough suppressant whose sole active ingredient is dextromethorphan, carries significant risk of fatality or serious illness. Multi-symptom cold medicines contain other active ingredients, such as paracetamol (acetaminophen), chlorpheniramine, and phenylephrine, any of which can cause permanent bodily damage such as kidney failure, or even death, if taken on the generally-accepted recreational dosing scale of dextromethorphan.
Combining dextromethorphan with other substances can compound risks. Stimulants such as amphetamine and cocaine can both cause a dangerous rise in blood pressure and heart rate. CNS depressants such as alcohol will have a combined depressant effect, which can cause a decreased respiratory rate. Combining dextromethorphan with other serotonergic drugs such as the 2Cx family, MDMA and AMT could possibly cause serotonin toxicity, a dangerous excess of serotonergic activity in the central nervous system and peripheral nervous system.
Dextromethorphan generally does not produce withdrawal symptoms characteristic of physically addictive substances such as alcohol or benzos, but there have been cases of psychological addiction. This is because in comparison to psychedelics such as LSD and mushrooms, DXM has no real tolerance and can be taken multiple days in a row if it is desired with tolerance only manifesting itself at different speeds within people and only through regular long term usage. This is something that can easily be prevented by manually limiting your usage of the drug.

Legal issues:
Antitussive preparations containing dextromethorphan are legal and uncrontrolled to purchase from pharmacies in most countries, with some exceptions being Sweden, Estonia and Latvia. As of January 1, 2012, dextromethorphan is also prohibited for sale to minors in the state of California, except with a doctor’s prescription.
No legal distinction currently exists in the any part of the world besides the state of illinois between medical and recreational use, sale, or purchase. The sale of dextromethorphan in its pure powder form has incured penalties towards people in the past, although no explicit law exists prohibiting its sale or possession.
If you want to try DXM, your easiest bet is visiting your local pharmacy, supermarket or buying it in pure form online. Pure powder is cheaper and signifigantly more efficient than syrup, it can be found with a quick google search for the term “DXM powder buy”, “pure dextromephorphan buy” or other similar phrases, usually being sufficient to find a supplier in the top 3 or 4 links.
In the UK specifically, Benilyn non-drowsy cough syrup is sold behind the counter in Boots, Morrisons, Sainsburys, Tesco’s and ASDA for under £5 with 225mg of DXM contained within every 150ml of liquid. You need to be atleast 16 years of age to purchase a bottle and they will not sell it to you if you look like an irresponsible teenager or have piercings / dyed hair.
The perfect script for casually purchasing DXM from any of these shops can be,
“so what is the difference between benilyn non-drowsy cough syrup and benilyn drowsy cough syrup?”
to which the person behind behind the counter consistently replies,
“well the drowsy cough syrup also contains diphenhydramine which will help you sleep and the non-drowsy cough syrup simply contains only one active ingredient.”
which can be replied with,
“ok great, I’ll take the non-drowsy cough syrup please.”
This simple script has worked for me and many others every single time.

Conclusion:
In conclusion, DXM is an extremely powerful drug, capable of taking people to incredibly rich induced mystical and transcendental states. This is despite the fact that it is nothing more than the active chemical in generic over the counter cough syrup and legal in every country across the world.

Using hallucinogens responsibly and avoiding bad trips

Mon, 26 Nov 2012 16:51:00 -0500

This article is technically a repost but the previous version of this article was extremely uninformative and in need of a complete overhaul. Not to mention that I have received emails from a few different people over the past week requesting and suggesting that I dedicate a section of this website to the art of tripping responsibly and avoiding bad trips. Something that is extremely easy providing the following factors are all taken into consideration before a trip…

Effects,
It is important to know the desired effects and the side effects of the substance or combination of substances that the person will be taking. There are too many to discuss here, however, there are many online resources to use for education and reference. Including whichever of my three detailed explanations of the effects attributed to psychedelics, dissociatives and deliriants that is most relevant to your trip. If I’ve written a dedicated guide for your specific hallucinogen of choice, be sure to find and read it here, because if you know the exact effects of the drug, then you will know what to expect. Something that prevents confusion throughout the experience completely and significantly reduces the chances of a negative experience by a huge margin.
For further research on the effects of any substance that people are considering, a combination of Erowid and Google for information on personal trip reports, duration, pharmacology and potential adverse effects should be used.

Dosage,
An extremely important rule when it comes to tripping responsibly is to avoid dosages which you are uncomfortable or unfamiliar with at all costs. An inexperienced tripper should always be starting at very low dosages with the goal of working their way up in small increments, as they feel comfortable doing so, trip by trip and never taking great leaps into the unknown. This method of dosage selection allows people to get a feel for the substance that they are tripping on before they dive in, minimizing the risk of an accidental negative experience enormously.
It’s also worth noting that many people naturally have tolerances to these substances so should not undershoot repeatedly or assume a substance “does not work for them” and give up if it fails to have an effect the first 2 – 3 times. A general rule to follow is that if it does not work the first time, take more next time! For information on the appropriate dosage for any hallucinogen further research should be done using a combination of both Erowid and Google.

Setting,
Choosing an appropriate and safe place for a person to trip is extremely important and plays a huge factor in determining the outcome of a trip. The best place to trip for an inexperienced user is a familiar, safe and indoors environment that is completely devoid and free of certain factors which can cause a direct negative influence.
For example, on the day of your trip you should also be certain that you have nothing that needs to be done, the simplest of tasks will become incredibly difficult and sometimes stressful during even mild trips. You should be lying down and listening to music, not performing chores. This includes driving and operating heavy machinery for obvious reasons.
It’s also important to remember that people who are irrelevant to your trip should not be present throughout the duration of the experience. This includes parents who are sleeping in the same house and close friends who are anything but extremely trust worthy and understanding. The mere presence of people can be downright annoying, with their consistent worrying and lack of understanding. Drunken people should also be avoided at all costs, as their primitive behavior is full of bad vibes. Another factor which should be avoided at all costs is any sort of potentially dangerous, loud, unfamiliar and public environments. This should be fairly obvious but is often overlooked, you should not be tripping in a town center, house party or bar as an inexperienced tripper under any circumstances. The people will be generally irritating at best and horribly distorted at worst.
The easiest avoidable factor that can contribute to a bad trip are general bad vibes of any sort. This may seem obvious but do not watch scary or unpleasant films and do not listen to unpleasant music. If bad vibes are encompassing your trip they can easily be escaped by quickly changing your environment, if you’re sitting down with the light off stand up and put it on. Change the music you’re listening to or move to a different area and any negative thoughts will immediately reset to base level.
Once a person has become familiar with their substance of choice and aware of their own limits. It becomes entirely down to them as an individual when it comes to whether or not they would be comfortable tripping in more recreational environment such as nature, social gatherings, parties, raves, etc. The inexperienced however, should always seek out a safe, comfortable room be it at home or a friends house. With privacy, relaxing music, comfortable seating and readily available food / water. Deliriants should never be taken outside at any dosage and dissociatives only with extreme caution. Psychedelics on the other hand are possible to take in low to high dosages in a great number of recreational situations, although this depends entirely on the experience and abilities of the tripper.

Mind state,
One of the most important factors to consider as an inexperienced tripper is your current state of mind. All hallucinogens enhance a persons currents mind state, emotions and general perspective on the world many times over which is a process that can go in either a positive and euphoric direction or a negative, terrifying and anxiety ridden direction. This is instead of simply inducing euphoria, which is the case with almost every other class of commonly used recreational substance. It’s because of this that psychedelics should not be used by the inexperienced during stressful or negative periods of a persons life and users should be fully aware of the ways in which hallucinogens, particularly psychedelics, consistently force a person to face and deal with the personal introspective problems that all human beings are plagued with. Something that would only become a problem should the person tripping be in denial or generally unwilling to face the true nature of their situation without complete openness. We are all complex people with our own tragic little back story, insecurities, depressive tendencies, regretted actions and past or present relationship problems. No human beings are completely stable and tripping tends to cause people to unavoidably dwell on these aspects of life, especially during a persons first few trips. However, this is assisted by an extremely powerful process of unbiased drug induced self analysis. Helping people solve personal problems, come to terms with problems in their life that they may not have previously realized were there and become a generally more open and positive person, but only if the tripper does not fight it.
Throughout the trip itself the person needs to let go and allow the trip to take charge. Taking the passenger seat and never trying to control any part of the trip. It is extremely important that people simply relax and take things as they come. Understanding that the act of tripping is often ineffable and incomprehensible at appropriate dosages, meaning that an acceptance of not being able to understand what is happening should be present at all times. Embracing the fact that their thought processes, although more insightful in places, will always be impaired along with motor control, conversational skills and general functioning. Something that the tripper should be sure to not feel self conscious about, as it should not be a problem in the first place, providing the tripper has made sure not to have any complex tasks to carry out throughout the duration of the trip.

Trip sitters,
A sober, responsible trip sitter is definitely recommended to be present during an inexperienced individuals or groups first two to three trips. It is this person’s responsibility to assist the individual or group by maintaining a rational and responsible frame of mind. This should be done by simply watching over the trippers and calmly reassuring them if they experience any anxiety or stress, whilst also preventing them from coming to any harm. There is an obvious correlation between the name trip sitter and babysitter; this is because at many times, trip sitting can be like babysitting. And it is definitely a responsibility that must be taken just as seriously.
A good trip sitter needs to be sure of a number of things throughout the experience. They should remain (mostly) sober and should be able to empathize with the group members’ situation through personal experiences with tripping or at least considerable amount of research on their effects. Understanding that when a person is tripping, they might not be able to communicate like they usually do. Also, their balance and spatial judgment may be off. The trip sitter should contribute to the conversation but also remember to leave them to explore the experience without too much external influence.
Once a person is familiar with the experience after at least two to three trips, it becomes down to them whether or not they feel comfortable enough to trip without a sitter.

Tolerance and over use,
If a person is to use hallucinogens responsibly, the frequency in which they use them should be monitored closely. Although many of the classical psychedelics such as LSD, Mushrooms, DMT, Ayahuasca are physically benign no matter how frequently they are used and come with a built in tolerance that prevents using them more than once a week. This is not the case with all hallucinogens, dissociatives, deliriants and certain psychedelics such as the 2Cx family and AMT all come with potential adverse health effects that need to be individually researched before use. Not to mention that every hallucinogen in existence can cause problems with a persons psychological health if over used. Keep in mind that drugs become an addiction once the downsides start to outweigh the positives but you continue to use them anyway.
However, I’ve been through this myself more than anybody else I know and have come to the conclusion that you must pay attention to more than just making sure that drugs do not get in the way of your responsibilities. It’s about understanding that life should not be comprised of any single interest. If your life becomes about any one thing including drugs or anything else, it starts to become meaningless. The goal is to remain interested in these substances but at the same time keep your hobbies and interests broadened across other areas as well such as personal, intellectual and creative pursuits. Drugs should be for helping you to learn to appreciate the things that already exist in life, not for replacing them.

Conclusion,
In conclusion, careful consideration should be taken before undergoing a trip with any class of hallucinogen. Following these simple instructions however should minimize the risks by a huge margin, allowing people to trip safely and responsibly with little danger or fear.

The miscellaneous components of a psychedelic experience

Thu, 22 Nov 2012 13:58:00 -0500

People have been asking me to include since I first started posting my articles. This is the fourth and final section of my guide on the psychedelic experience. It is also the least important, but still something that has needed to be written to ensure that my guide on the psychedelic experience is truly comprehensive. Right here is where I’m going to start categorizing the commonly experienced but forgotten components. All of which create alterations in perception outside of visual effects during your average psychedelic experience.

Spontaneous tactile sensations (body high):
This is commonly referred to as the “body high” within the psychedelic community and can be described as an overall increase in the activation of nerve endings across the body, occurring without any obvious or immediate physical trigger. The experience of this results in feelings of distinct random tactile noise and general tingling sensations. These cary greatly in their alternative styles of sensation depending on the psychedelic consumed but can be broken down into 4 basic levels of intensity,

Mild - The most basic form of body high can be described as light and fleeting tingling sensations across the body that do not impair physical motor control and can essentially be ignored if the tripper wishes to.
Distinct - At this level, the body high becomes impossible to ignore. It can be described as distinct tingling sensations which are intense enough to partially impair a person’s motor control and cause a significant portion of mental focus to be directed towards these sensations.
Overwhelming – The highest level of body high occurs at the point where the tingling sensations have increased enough to become their complete, uncontrollable focus of attention, fully overwhelming and impairing a persons motor control. This will consistently leave them either lying or sitting down, incapable of standing up and writhing in the all encompassing sensations.

Enhancement of pre-existing tactile sensations:
This physical component accompanies the psychedelic body high but should not be confused with it, as the two can be experienced separately from each other and are seemingly triggered through completely different neurological mechanisms. With this specific feeling appearing to stem from a partial to complete loss of sensory filtering, resulting in an overall enhancement of tactile sensations and the pleasure derived from them whilst also increasing a trippers overall awareness of the nerve endings across their body. Something that increases until the tripper can suddenly feel the exact location and current sensation of every single nerve ending across their skin all at once. As opposed to only maintaining awareness of those that are relevant, which is the case throughout normal sober living.
Along side this extremely heightened awareness of a persons physical perception an increase in a trippers control over their physical body also becomes present. Something that can only be described as the feeling of being able to accurately control every single muscle across the entire body with the tiniest of precise mental triggers. Leaving trippers feeling extremely active and nimble. It is often interpreted by people as a strangely profound or primal feeling of being put back in touch with animal body. Occurring on any of the classical psychedelics at random but consistently present on the physically stimulating psychedelics such as LSD, the 2Cx family and AMT.

Audio effects:
This effect is essentially the heard equivalent of psychedelic visuals, they are not a universal experience but can happen spontaneously on any psychedelic. It can be described as hearing an infinitely wide array of random and nonsensical sounds from within the brain. Sometimes fleeting and seemingly triggered at random but other times maintaining an internal consistency that follows and fits itself around the rhythm of a persons thought processes. Common examples of these include hearing noises such as; reverb, tones, and general sound effects. Including pitches and notes that increase in intensity the harder you concentrate or hearing the sounds of an all consuming tone during the initial come up of a substance such as DMT. They can also be experienced in the form of sounds such as a soft purring or multiple tones and phasers, but they are essentially limitless in their possibilities in and completely rhythm-less in tune. I find these sorts of audio effects to be extremely common on DMT and have seen multiple people under the influence of multiple psychedelics comment on the fact that they can hear a gentle humming of white noise in the background that follows their thoughts, as if you can hear the very mechanics of your brain at work.

Audio distortions:
Just as you would expect, distortions are not limited to a single sense but can be found with both a visual and an auditory equivalent. Audio distortions are not a universal experience but can happen spontaneously on any psychedelic. They are more common on some than others however, being particularly common on the 2Cx family, mescaline, MDMA and high doses of harmine. At lower doses they can be described as the experience of an echo or murmur rising in the wake of each sound, accompanied by distorted changes of pitch. These increase proportionally with dosage up until the point where music and sounds are consistently followed by a continuous reverb as sounds begin to bounce at great speeds across the walls of your brain continuously. Often leaving the original sound as completely unrecognizable but always resetting to base level and starting over if the noise is stopped or changed.

Audio hallucinations:
Audio hallucinations are essentially the heard equivalent of imagery and open eye transformations. They can be described as spontaneous imaginary noises that are either triggered at complete random or manifested in the place of noises that are subconsciously expected to happen. The most common examples of these are usually experienced as clips of recorded sound such as imagined music or voices and an infinite variety of sounds that are stored within the brain. At their lowest level, voices and music appear to be garbled but distinct, with the voices sounding devoid of meaning and the music difficult to make out. At their highest levels however, they eventually evolve into completely coherent hallucinations such as heard conversations with spirits and autonomous entities or fully formed and completely original, extremely detailed symphonies and songs with multiple perfectly played instruments that have never been heard before.
The most common audio hallucination that people experience are ones of heard memory replays from the previous several hours. Commonly manifesting themselves as spontaneous clips of the music that was played and garbled voices of the people that were spoken too. These are usually heard repeatedly over the course of several hours after certain psychedelic experiences. Heard at lower levels as not as coming from within the brain but as sounds embedded within real sounds across the external environment. For example, hearing music and voices from within the sound of the wind, rain, passing cars and general background noise is extremely common.

Loss of audio filtering:
An extremely consistent and universally felt effect during a psychedelic experience is the sensation of sound becoming vastly crisper and clearer than anything felt during normal sober living. This can be described as the sudden feeling of being extremely aware of all of the sounds around you, with an enhanced ability to pinpoint the exact direction from which multiple layers of noise are coming from. Something that results in a greatly enhanced appreciation of music, allowing people to listen to songs they’ve listened to their entire life on a whole new level of detail that is simply impossible sober. Every single layer of the music is brought forward and heard with perfect comprehension, to the point where many people feel that you have not fully listened to music until you have heard it under the influence of a psychedelic drug.

Synesthesia:
Synesthesia is a well known condition that effects a small percentage of people to varying degrees even outside of the psychedelic experience. It is defined as a blending, merging or mixing of the senses. For example, people who are currently undergoing the experience of Synesthesia regularly experience profound alterations to their sensory perception such as seeing music, tasting colors, hearing smells or any other possible combination of the senses. This effect is so vastly different from anything found in normal human perception that it is impossible to describe accurately. It is triggered spontaneously on most of the classical psychedelics, usually occurring higher doses and seemingly more common on stimulating psychedelics such as LSD or the 2Cx family.
At it’s highest level, Synesthesia becomes so all encompassing that every one of senses becomes completely intertwined and experienced through all of the other senses. This is a complete blending of human perception and extremely profound when experienced.

AMT, broken down and described

Wed, 14 Nov 2012 15:25:00 -0500

Threshold : 5 - 15 mg
Light : 15 - 25 mg
Common : 25 - 40 mg
Strong : 40 - 60 mg
Heavy : 60 - 80 mg
(oral ingestion)

Threshold : 2 mg
Light : 4 - 5 mg
Common : 6 - 10 mg
Strong : 10 - 20 mg
(smoked)

Onset : 30 - 120 minutes
Peak : 3 - 5 hours
Duration : 10 - 14 hours
Normal After Effects : 1 - 5 hours
(oral ingestion)

Onset : 10 seconds - 30 minutes
Duration : 8 - 12 hours
(smoked)

AMT (a-Methyltryptamine), is a psychedelic, stimulant, and entactogen drug of the tryptamine class. It was originally developed in Russia as an antidepressant in1963. Similar in mechanism to LSD and Mushrooms, AMT acts as a non-selective serotonin receptor agonist but also acts as relatively balanced releasing agent of serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine. Along side these, it been shown to be a very weak, non-selective and reversible inhibitor of the enzyme monoamine oxidase (MAOI), similar to harmine. MAOI is an enzyme that degrades amine neurotransmitters, such as dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin. AMT therefore increases the amount of these neurotransmitters in the brain.
The mechanism that produces the psychedelic effects of AMT is a direct result from its action as a 5-HT2A serotonin receptor agonist in the brain, a mechanism of action shared by all other hallucinogenic tryptamines and phenethylamines.
It is because of this that that AMT cannot be safely used in combination with antidepressants, painkillers, stimulants, SSRIs, MDMA, dextromethorphan and a number of other drugs as certain combinations can cause lethal reactions.
It produces effects that are half way between LSD and MDMA, the base components of which I will begin to describe and break down now…

Physical effects:
The body high of AMT is not necessarily the most euphoric of all the psychedelics but is definitely the most proportionally intense and overwhelming. It can only be described as an intensely pleasurable, energetic sensation that constantly encompasses every single nerve ending on your body throughout the entirety of the trip. In comparison to every other psychedelic body high I have encountered, this is the only one which does not manifest itself in the form of a continuously shifting tingling sensation that travels up and down the body spontaneously, instead being felt as an extended unchanging activation of every nerve ending on the body that lasts throughout the entire duration of the trip. This everlasting droning is immensely pleasurable but can become overwhelmingly intense and almost a burden at higher levels, leaving people completely incapacitated and writhing on the floor in ecstasy. It enhances the pleasure derived from tactile sensations immensely and is extremely stimulating at levels which do not become overwhelming, encouraging trippers to move around, run, dance, climb and generally engage in physical activities.
In terms of the physical discomfort experienced on this substance, nausea is commonly reported when consumed in moderate to high dosages but usually passes once the peak sets in. AMT seems to offer a special kind of nausea, not found within the other nauseating psychedelics such as Ayahuasca, Mescaline and Mushrooms. It can be described as an uncomfortable feeling of heaviness from within stomach and a tightness of the throat but is easily combated and completely diminished with the addition of Marijuana. Something that I personally consider essential and would not embark on a high dose AMT trip without.
As with all stimulants and some phenethylamines, a very mild clenching of the jaw is present throughout the trip so it is recommended that trippers make sure to have chewing gum on hand. A slight difficulty urinating is also occasionally present, this is completely harmless and temporary. Something that is triggered because stimulants almost universally cause an activation of the adrenergic receptor which leads to a tightening of the urinary sphincter. This can be easily combated by simply remaining patient and relaxed.

Cognitive effects:
The thought patterns, behavioral effects and mental processes triggered by AMT are those that consist of two different styles of head space that depend entirely on the setting. Manifesting itself as psychedelic introspection when taken alone and an entactogenic sociability when taken with others. It’s entactogenic effects are considerably weaker and less sharp than those found on substances such as MDMA and can be described as general feelings of,

Increased sociability and feelings of communication being easy or simple
Increased urge to communicate with others
Increased empathy and feelings of closeness or connection with others
Reduced insecurity, defensiveness, and fear of emotional injury

These effects may be weak in comparison to classical entactogens such as MDMA but are still strong enough to provide a specific set of positive and therapeutic changes in perception that can last from weeks to a lifetime after the experience. If substances such as Mushrooms and LSD are only used for solving personal problems, AMT can be just as useful for solving interpersonal problems as well.
Creating strong feelings of love, and empathy for the people around you, making it useful for mending preexisting emotional disputes and reinventing the bonds between friendships and romantic partners. Allowing people to truly express their emotions and understand the perspectives of other people whilst maintaining full control over their actions. It’s worth noting however that these feelings of increased sociability are also accompanied by a conflicting suppression of the ego and generally lowered vocabulary not found on MDMA. Causing people to have a strong desire to communicate but a difficulty forming sentences, often resulting in humorously stumbling over your own words.
The introspective effects of AMT are present but once again, not as profound or as sharp as similar states of personal problem solving found on LSD and Mushrooms. Generally manifesting itself only when the tripper is alone as the urge to socialize with others seems to suppress and overwhelm it in the company of other people. This state can be described as distinct levels of accelerated thought that consistently direct themselves towards an unbiased analysis of the self and ones actions. Usually leading to therapeutic and mentally beneficial changes in a persons perspective on themselves and the world around them.
These two separate states both consist of long lasting and intense feelings of emotional euphoria, feelings of extreme happiness and a sense of general well-being and contentedness. Consistently triggering involuntary smiling and an increased sense of humour that seems to find almost anything funny. Accompanied by levels of increased music appreciation that are on par with any of the classical psychedelics such as LSD or the 2Cx family. Experienced in the form of music sounding “wider” or surround sound and being able to comprehend every layer of complex songs. The profound sensation of being able to fully understand the emotional intent of the music being listened to is also present, resulting in states of ecstatic euphoria and mental involvement when this drug is combined with enjoyable music of a trippers personal preference.

Visual effects:
The visuals experienced with AMT in comparison to other psychedelics are described by most as simplistic but still impressively complex, fast moving, kaleidoscopic but somehow less intricate geometry. These visuals are lacking in structure and do not generally solidify and form into shapes of objects as with more hallucinogenic psychedelics such as Mushrooms. They are strongest in the dark and mostly based on fractals and complex geometry with bright and vivid colours. Imagery of things, people, objects and places seem to be extremely uncommon, rendering fully fledged 3D hallucinations as essentially unheard of even at higher doses. As the visuals increase they consistently take people straight to states of environmental detachment but never level 6 visuals and the feelings of universal oneness found consistently on high doses LSD.
The distortions found on AMT are extremely cartoony, unrealistic and less complex in comparison to the classical psychedelics. They make objects and scenery within the external environment appear to be wobbling, breathing, morphing and melting into themselves. They are extremely fleeting however, immediately resetting to normal levels with the slightest movement of the eye. Texture repetition is also commonly experienced on rough surfaces such as grass and carpets but is never quite as intricate as the same effect when experienced on LSD or Mushrooms.

Smoking vs oral ingestion:
One of the practical things about AMT is that there are two methods of consumption that result in two alternate trips which differ in terms of their duration, body high and visuals. If smoked, AMT has a quicker onset and a much shorter duration that is far less likely to keep trippers up all night and completely unable to sleep. It is also devoid of the nauseating effects found with oral ingestion but is less visually intense whilst more physically stimulating. If you are going to try and smoke AMT it is essential that it is purchased in freebase and not salt form.

Health effects, potential addiction and tolerance:
The toxicity and long term health effects of recreational AMT use does not seem to have been studied in any scientific context and the exact toxic dosage is unknown. Anecdotal evidence from people who have tried AMT within the psychedelic community suggests that there are no negative health effects attributed to simply trying this drug at low to moderate doses or using it very sparingly but nothing can be completely guaranteed.
In rats, the median lethal dose or dosage at which 50% of participants die (LD50) of AMT for mice when administered orally is 22 milligrams per kilogram (mg/kg) and in mice it is 38 milligrams per kilogram (mg/kg). This means that for a 60-kilogram (130 lb) person to reach the LD50 value of rats they would have to take 1320 mg or 2280 mg to reach the LD50 of mice. This is between 44 and 76 times the active dosage of 30 mg.
AMT is non-habit-forming and the desire to use it can actually decrease with use. They are most often self-regulating so addiction to this substance is essentially unheard of. It can be prevented by manually limiting your usage of the drug.
There is an immediate tolerance to AMT after ingestion, preventing you from experiencing their full effects more often then every 4-7 days, unless you increase your dose significantly. This also produces a cross tolerance between AMT, LSD, Psilocin and various other tryptamine psychedelics.
MAOIs have highly dangerous interactions when combined with almost any antidepressant (particularly SSRIs such as Prozac) or stimulants such as MDMA and amphetamines, common migraine medications, certain herbs such as St Johns Wort, or even most cold medicines (including decongestants, antihistamines, and cough syrup) as it can cause serotonin syndrome or hypertensive crisis. In short: do not mix this drug with anything other than the classic psychedelic tryptamines such as LSD and mushrooms unless you have done your research and are absolutely sure it isn’t going to kill you or cause serotonin syndrome.

Legal issues:

As of April 4, 2003 AMT is classed as a schedule I substance in the Controlled Substances Act of the United States.
It is legal in the United Kingdom however, and does not fall under the tryptamine clause, as its substituent is not on the nitrogen position. See “2001 Misuse of Drugs Act: Schedule 1, Regulation 3”
The 5-Methoxy cousin, 5-MeO-AMT is schedule 9 in Australia and AMT would be controlled as an analogue of this.
Similarly, Canada has no mention of this substance in the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.

If you want to try this substance it is extremely cheap and easy to obtain with a quick google search of the term “buy amt” resulting in the first page becoming full of links to legitimate vendors. For those who are lucky enough to have a local head shop in their town, many of us can simply buy this substance in the form of perfectly legal, prepackaged, over the counter pills and skip the delivery process all together.

Conclusion:
Although this drug may not be as visually intricate or transcendental as more commonly used psychedelics this is a substance that still holds its place in the drug world. Best used for recreational uses such as raves or as a starter psychedelic, the extended duration making it perfect for those who want to remain active all night. for those who are too nervous to take the plunge and jump straight into full on psychedelia.