Psychedelic Harm Reduction Guide For LSD, Shrooms and so on.

1: Buy a test kit. Only ~$2 per test. http://www.amazon.com/NIK-Drug-Test-Kit-LSD/dp/B002ATUECS/

Getting the right source is the #1 issue with LSD.

2: Tell at least one friend that you appreciate them, and you would feel very comforted if they read/follow the instructions in the trip sitter preparation section on tripsafe. Ask them if they'd be happy to tripsit. Especially important if you're inexperienced or trying a new dosage level for the first time (1.5 tabs is not the same as 1 tab!).

3: Be aware of dosage. Also, different sources for LSD can have very different strengths! Especially take note if you're used to getting street LSD and then you switch to dark net market LSD. The dark net tabs tend to be much higher quality.

"I've had ~10 psychedelic experiences. My last three were more anxious/less positive than the rest (2 acid trips, 1 DMT).

I'd like to get back into it.

What's the best way to get back into it after the recent more anxious experience? I'm nervous because it's been so long. Options:

2cb

2cb + mdma (nexus flip)

Shrooms only (have only had very positive shrooms experiences)

Hippy flip

LSD only

Candy flip

Microdose of LSD/shrooms

Any opinions or advice?

I will also be doing some meditation both the day before and the morning of the day I re-embark."

Should I smoke weed while tripping?

If you need to ask this question, probably not -- it can make it much more intense.

At least, try and wait until the tail end of the trip, rather than smoking during the peak.

Shrooms

If possible, try and identify what variety of shrooms you are taking.

Different mushrooms have different potencies.

As a general rule:

• Threshold: .25 g; 1/100oz

• Light: .25 - 1 g; 1/100-1/28oz

• Common: 1 - 2.5 g; 1/28-1/10oz

• Strong: 2.5 - 5 g; 1/10-1/6oz

• Heavy: 5 + g; 1/6oz+

PSYCHEDELIC DOSAGE IS NOT WEIGHT DEPENDENT.

Don't use 5g on your first time because you weigh more than your friends. Seriously.

MY FRIEND IS HAVING A ROUGH TRIP??

The purpose of sitting with someone in crisis is not to reduce effects, but to create and maintain a safe place where the individual can play out the process without coming into contact with themselves or others.

Everything is Fine with Me: Make it clear that the whole world may be falling apart for them, but everything is OK with you.

Also, if you're having a bad trip, no you won't die! Things can seem much worse during the trip. Afterwards, they will realize, of course I/they weren't going to die, but during the trip some aspects of reality can disappear, so remember to be reassuring.

Though if they didn't ask if they are going to die, don't go saying, "don't worry, you're not going to die"... That won't be very helpful! Instead, remember, make it clear that no matter what is going on with them, everything is OK with you, you aren't scared for them, etc. If you're really scared for them and show it, they will likely get unnecessarily worried.

If someone seems to be having a hard time, gently ask them if they would like someone to sit with them. If it seems disturbing to them to have someone sitting with them, have someone nearby keep an eye on them unobtrusively.

Relate to them in the space they are in. Oftentimes, the thing which isolates people and creates a sense of paranoia or loss is that they are so far out of normal awareness that people are trying hard to ground them. Start off instead by trying to just be there for them. Try to see the world through their eyes.

What different ways can you change setting (noise level, temperature, outside vs. inside, etc.)? A party/rave/concert setting can aggravate a person's state of mind. Consider finding the quietest place if it seems like it will help (taking cues from the experiencer), and ask people to not crowd around. Reassure them the situation is under control, noting those who offer help in case help is needed later. Another example of changing the setting may be turning the lights on/off.

How can you minimize risk of emotional or physical harm? Remember your concern for how the person is feeling, not concern for the situation (as in "oh my gawd, we've got to do something.")

Paranoia: If the person doesn't want anyone near them, hang back, turn so you aren't staring at them, but keep an eye on them as discretely as possible. Think about what it would feel like to be in a paranoid state, having some stranger (whether you are or not) follow you around and watch you.

What objects/activities/distractions might help the person get through a difficult space (toys, animals, music, etc.)?

No Pressure: Just be with them. Unless there is risk of bodily injury, just make it clear you are there for them if they need anything. Touch. Touch can be very powerful, but it can also be quite violating. In general, don't touch them unless they say its OK or they touch you first. If it seems like they might need a hug, ask them. If they are beyond verbal communication, try to be very sensitive to any negative reaction to touch. Try to avoid getting pulled into any sexual contact. Often, holding hands is a very effective and non-threatening way to let someone know you are there if they need you.

Intensity can come in cycles or waves. It also can work as a system -- a movement through transpersonal spaces which can have a beginning, a middle, and an end. Don't try to push too hard to move it.

Not Forever: If they are connected enough to worry about their sanity, assure them that the state is due to a psychoactive and they will return to their 'home' state of mind in time.

Normal Drug-Induced: Tell them they are experiencing the acute effects of a psychoactive (if you know what, tell them) and tell them that it is normal (although uncommon) to go through spiritual crises and they (like thousands before them) will be fine if they relax and let the substance run its course.

Breathing: breathe with them. If they are connected enough to be present for assistance, get them to join you in deep, long, full breaths. If they're amenable to it, or really far out and freaking, putting a hand on their belly and saying, "breath from down here", "just keep breathing, you 'got it", can help.

Relaxing: It can be very very hard to relax in the middle of dying or being pulled apart by demons, but tell them that you are there to make sure nothing happens to their physical body. One of the most important things during really difficult internal processes is to learn to be OK with them happening, to 'relax' one's attempt to stop the experience and just let it happen.

Getting Meditative: Gently suggesting they try to close their eyes and focus inward can sometimes change the course of their experience. Barefeet on the ground: One of the most centering and grounding thing to do is to take off shoes and socks and get your feet directly on the hard ground. Be careful of doing this in toe-dangerous surroundings. Eye contact: If the person is not acting paranoid and fearful of you, make sure to include a lot of eye contact. Everything is Fine with Me: Make it clear that the whole world may be falling apart for them, but everything is OK with you. Healthy process: Crises are a normal part of the human psychological process and one way to engage them is as a process of healing, not a 'problem' to be fixed.

If you have a blanket: 'the most comforting thing that some people reported helped them during the most acute experiences is having a blanked wrapped around them.'

Other tips:

Just go with it! Make it clear to the tripper beforehand that if they want you to switch out of "sitter" mode and into playful/friend mode, you're happy to at any point.

If the person plans to think, get writing utensils available to them in any position they are in. While peaking, it will tend to require far too much energy for the tripper to ask for a pen and paper. Seriously -- if you ask them "need anything?" they'll probably respond with "nope" because they're trying to work out how to get the energy to tel you that they want paper and pen. At best they might be able to wave their hand around to indicate a pen. It can be hard to understate how difficult it can be for the tripper to communicate to the sitter during the peak period :)

Sitter needs to have tons of patience - full day free, no phone calls needed etc

Have a watch to check the time so that you don't need to check your phone Isolate the tripper from unnecessary problems -- like phone calls (turn off vibrate) or knocks at the door, but don't be weird or secretive about it. Trippers are pretty good at sensing small details so if you try and hide something they might worry :)

Reassure the tripper before you start that you will take full care of yourself -- and that you are happy to wait the entire time (say 16-24 hrs at most with LSD, likely 12-14 depending on dosage) with them. This is important so that they don't worry that you're dissatisfied or uncomfortable -- remember, they likely won't be able to communicate and ask you "are you comfortable" so they'll just think about it in their head During their peak, try and sit mostly in one place, so have water/sunscreen/a book with you Reading a book should be fine

If it's a place with windows where others can see in, you (the sitter) sitting outside or by the windows can be nice, a tripper would likely think "It's nice that they are by the window so that noone outside sees me doing crazy things inside and thinks I'm a crazy person and wants to call the police"

Don't dismiss anything they say. This applies just on the come up -- e.g. if they make a suggestion and you respond with an abrupt "nah" they may well take the negativity more than normal, and also after the peak while they are trying to communicate things to you -- just feel them and understand them, even if they things they are saying are scary to you or them, and know that you'll be in a better spot to discuss it all tomorrow.


Comments


[25 Points] cheapassbulkshrooms:

I been growing shrooms for over ten years now and I consider myself as much as an expert as one can be. But the fact is as with everything in this world, no one knows everything and there is alwyas something new to learn. With that I'd like to address Ops comments with what I've learned over the last ten years. With these answers I'm going to be talking cubensis only.

"" Different mushrooms have different potencies.""

This is the most important fact you should understand. When cultivating shrooms you can either grow from multi spore incolulated cultures, or you can isolate a genetically pure specimen.

You can tell multi spore shrooms by the characteristic major inconsistencies in size, shape, density, and most importantly potency of individual shrooms from the same bag (but, we'll get to potency more specifically shortly).

When growing from an isolated culture you will notice consistency in size, shape, and density. BUT not potency, which will be coming soon keep reading.

"" If possible, try and identify what variety of shrooms you are taking."" Different mushrooms have different potencies. Threshold: .25 g; 1/100oz • Light: .25 - 1 g; 1/100-1/28oz • Common: 1 - 2.5 g; 1/28-1/10oz • Strong: 2.5 - 5 g; 1/10-1/6oz • Heavy: 5 + g; 1/6oz+

This is complete hog wash. With the exception of a few strains ie Penis Envy and PF classic, the potency is going to be no different in consistency than any other variety ie golden teacher, cambos, equadors etc. For the most part these 'so called strains' only have different growth morphology and again I'm going to explain why there is no difference in potency among the common 'strains'. I'm getting to it just keep reading.

""PSYCHEDELIC DOSAGE IS NOT WEIGHT DEPENDENT.""

AS explained above this is completely true, with the exception of PE pf classic etc and I'm going to explain why soon I promise.

""Shrooms only (have only had very positive shrooms experiences)"

Yea this is almost always the case because unlike LSD if you start to feel a bad trip you don't have to just sit thru it. You can do something about like eating a shit load or chugging alcohol or gobbling benzos till your body is forced into slumber. With LSD, no matter what you do you are in it for the duration and felling a bad trip coming on at hour one will ruin your psyche and there is very little you can do to abort the trip. I have heard Seroquil will stop an LSD in its tracks but you can gobble benzos till the cows come home and you're not going to go to sleep until the trip is over. Benzos might ease the trip, but it's a waiting game no matter what. I have taken LSD as a younger man and it was enjoyable, but as the years went by I had nothing but bad trips over and over and over. LSD is a younger man's game.

"Should I smoke weed while tripping?

On LSD, pointless. I have smoked bowl after bowl and felt no weed effects whatsoever. Shrooms, sometimes causes me paranoia but some people like it so it's not really an issue with shrooms.

OK POTENCY!!! OK now lets talk about mushroom potency. Whether the shrooms were from a multi spore inncolated culture or from an isolate the pathology of shroom potency is the same. Potency comes from how fast they grow (PERIOD). Mushrooms grow in flushes, there will be a first flush that will pop up the fastest but will also be the weakest. The second flush will grow slightly slower and will be stronger than the first. The third flush will grow even slower and will be stronger than the second flush. And subsequent flushes will progressively grow slower and be progressively more potent.

This potency phenonmenon has to do with the nature of secondary metabolites. Psilocybin/psilocin are called secondary metabolites and they do nothing to contribute to mushroom metabolism or physiology. There is nothing that an be done to increase the biological synthesize of secondary metabolites in mushrooms except time.

Which is why Penis Envy, being pretty much the slowest growing mushrooms known are considered the most potent of all cubensis. They grow slow as hell and the potency is unreal sometimes. You can actually lay your thumb print on a growing PE shroom and come back hours later and see a very detailed blue fingerprint with well defined lines just like CSI shit.

So one last final word to those out there that like to take 'hero' doses. You have absolutely no clue what you're getting into. When a buyer asks me what I recommend to start with I always say start with one gram and see how it goes. You can always take more, but you can never take less. You never know if that shroom you grab out of your bag is from a first flush or a sixth flush. And the difference in potency can be of the order or two magnitudes.

Hope this wasnt too much of a read, but you all need to know this and I am really tired of explaining to customers why they ate 3 grams today and didn't feel like that 1 gram does they had last week.


[4 Points] jabberbox:

Great write up.. Thanks for taking the time.


[6 Points] 420jazz:

Amazing...you should totally post this in other subreddits..Thanks for the write up!


[4 Points] noonehear:

What a wall of shit text.

Next time just use all caps and bolds and type "THINK WITH YOUR HEAD."

  1. The test you link to is a modified Erlich reagent test... all it will do is tell you "yes you have an indole / tryptamine NOW GUESS WHICH ONE!" or "no you do not have an indole / tryptamine.


[3 Points] Major_Tom42:

It's important to note that shrooms themselves do depend, to some extent, on metabolism, due to the digestion of plant material. Thus, a higher metabolism will contribute (but not guarantee) towards a shorter, more intense trip.

Pure chemicals like LSD, 4-Aco-DMT, etc. are not.


[2 Points] f_leaver:

Great read!

One caveat - shrooms can be very different from person to person. I for one have a lot of anxiety and negative thought loops on shrooms more often than not.

I've learned (the hard way...) that for me shrooms only go with MDMA (and boy is it glorious!). Never have a problem with other psychedelics, but shrooms can be funny.


[2 Points] dandydaniels:

My rule is, always make sure you have a couple Benzo's.. and if you don't have a test kit, find someone who does.
 
 

Other than that.. Have fun. Try to make it Spiritual, relax, close your eyes, Meditate... Let your ego leave you.. just live in your mind. You can learn some amazing things, and psychadelics can also help you overcome addictions, quit bad habits..etc.. A 2c-i trip once had me talking to another,smarter, very stern version of myself in a bathroom mirror. It told me if I ever used coke again, I would probably die eventually. I never touched it again. that was 10 years ago. I respect these drugs ENORMOUSLY. They are not ALL fun and games.. However.. an umphrey's mcgee show while candy flipping is possibly the best fuckin thing you are ever going to see.


[2 Points] Fuckyoubitchfacecock:

So you basically just stole all of this info from tripsafe.org? Nice job asswipe. And way to not give any credit.


[1 Points] neroiscariot:

It took me three times reading the title before I realized it was not "Psychedelic Ham Reduction Guide." I have no idea what that says about my brain.


[1 Points] killa31:

Anyone know where i can get the faster shipping than 5 days.. never really even thought about testing shit until i read this. i leave on friday so overnight shipping might be what i have to do.


[1 Points] harmoni-pet:

This is also just great advice for hanging out with/being there for a friend who's going through a tough emotion time. Excellent trip tips


[1 Points] westsan:

Does anyone know how to make sure I get a breakthrough experience?


[1 Points] SvampebobFirkant:

This was a great post, thanks for making it! However, I think it is more focused on tripsitting, rather than just tripping, which is great, because there aren't many tripsitter guides out there, the title was just a little misleading :P . I think you should try and post it on the psychadelics forum and see if you can get it pinned as a tripsitter guide


[1 Points] asshair:

I did maybe a half o, maybe a lot a quarter o, maybe just an 8th 2 years ago. I'm not sure.

I hallucinated like I never had before, it was like my trip was over I'm coming down all normal stuff I've experienced before, and then I start to hallucinate with mad geometrical closed eye visuals. Inside my head I hear this LOUD buzzing noise, constant, that would not go away. It felt like my brain was just trying to annoy me.

Ever since then I've had trouble with words, with eloquence, with expressing my ideas. I have like a word aphasia where I forget the word I'm looking for very often and have to googly synonyms until the word pop's up. Sometimes there's not a word for the exact idea I'm trying to express but I think there is. Usually there is though, and I just can't remember it. I still am very smart, and have very good thoughts and reactions, but I can no longer put those thoughts into words nearly as well, or if I do it somehow feels lacking or not "definite". This is kinda generalized to all my experiences. I get jumbled and confused when trying to understand things in my head more often and I really have to stop and think about them to get them. And even then things don't feel like they "impact me" or are "definite".

Music hasn't sounded as good since, and I don't read as much anymore because it's hard.

Yeah, idk if you can help but if not you then idk who. It sucks.


[1 Points] iamunlimited:

Thank you, I'm looking forward to buying shrooms soon so this will be a good guide for dosage wise. Thanks once again!


[1 Points] throwawayk5zq47j6wd3:

Common fucking sense


[-6 Points] None:

The dark net tabs tend to be much higher quality.

Hahahaha, no. Most of the DNM stuff is underdosed as fuck.