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Psychedelic mushrooms, ayahuasca and other hallucinogens


BentBuddha

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On 10/9/2019 at 11:42 AM, goggins said:

I have flirted with the idea of trying out psilocybin to heal my emotional wounds.

However after an extensive research, I realized that my 10+ year use of SSRIs makes me a big time candidate for a psychotic breakdown.

I'm just starting my tapering journey, and it will take a long time before my CNI is stable enough so I can mess around with those powerful substances (if ever).

I'm grateful for finding resources such as this forum that help me make more informed decisions about my health. BE RESPONSIBLE PEOPLE!

 

I do recommend the Wim Hof Method though (with moderation).

It has a profound impact on the nervous system by activating the limbic system and the breathing sometimes will even create some altered consciousness states.

It is a great source of strength and confidence to get through withdrawal hell, and a wonderful way to connect with and heal the body

Wim Hof breathing gives me terrible anxiety. Like a physical anxiety I can feel throughout my body. Should I still do it anyways?

Started SSRIs and Adderall in 2003.

June 2019 - quit 15mg Adderall XR, no problems

August - October 2019 - tapered Prozac from 40mg to 0mg with no WD symptoms

January 2020 - WD started 

January 2020 reinstated 15mg Adderall XR, taken as needed, about 3 times a week

Early June 2020 - reinstated 5mg Prozac, increased to 20mg, decreased to 5mg. Increased Adderall XR to daily usage of 15mg, started 50mg Trazodone. 

Mid June 2020 - increased to 10mg Prozac

August 13, 2020 - decreased to 5mg Prozac

Sept 5, 2020  - decreased to 10mg Adderall

Sept 15, 2020 - decreased to 5mg Adderall

October 1, 2020 - decreased to 0 mg Adderall

May 15, 2023 - tapered Prozac by 10% per month, using oral solution, currently taking 0.1mg every other day. 50mg Trazodone. 10mg Adderall. 

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17 hours ago, Courtrose said:

Wim Hof breathing gives me terrible anxiety. Like a physical anxiety I can feel throughout my body. Should I still do it anyways?

 

I'm not sure what to tell you :( WHM can be a journey in and of itself. A lot of it is about conquering discomfort. So maybe pushing it a bit could help you break through barriers that you were not aware of.

But overall, I'd say be gentle, listen to the signs and respect your own limits.

🌬️Wim Hof Method practitioner ❄️

 

SSRI history:

Paroxetine: 2008 - 2010

Paroxetine: 2012 - 2015

Wellbutrin, Escitalopram: 2015 (briefly)

Paroxetine: 2015 - 2021 (bridged to Fluoxetine)

Fluoxetine: 2021 (18mg, gradually decreasing)

 

100% passionate about life, not willing to give up!

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  • 2 weeks later...
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On 6/11/2020 at 12:22 PM, Courtrose said:

Has anyone tried microdosing psilocybin mushrooms? Supposedly they help the brain regrow serotonin receptors. Not sure if it would be helpful for a withdrawal situation though. 

 

For people already familiar and comfortable with psychedelics, there might be occasions where microdosing could be useful.  But you would already want to know when, why and how.  Then consider you are dealing with a wd-sensitised nervous system, and would need to reduce the doses another 10-100x over "normal" (heh) microdosing.  While the 'reset' people love these experiences for may be valuable, it would tend to sensitise you even more.  You might need more time off, and to hold longer before resuming cuts etc. 

 

Then there is the consideration that if you have unresolved issues in your subconscious (like many here, and just in general) they are more likely to surface during a psychedelic experience, and if this is novel to you and you don't have the backup, you might be worse off than before, at least in the short to mid term. This is really risky, actually.

 

Maybe once you are fully recovered from your wds and have been stable for a few years it could be helpful.  But I would always advise guides you trust.  Better, thanks to MAPS and their ilk, soon you may be able to access fully accredited therapists who can augment your healing with these experiences in a legal and supported environment.

 

Otherwise it's akin to deciding you'd like to learn to drive, hotwiring a car and starting by getting onto the freeway.  Not advisable, and even less so at 40 than 18!

 

So not a firm no, but treat it like skydiving.  You will want to do your homework, and it mightn't be the best phase of your life to start.  I'd wait for 3 years off and stable before even thinking about it if I were you.

I am not a health professional - your actions are your own.  

Please do not seek tapering support via private message - "Any reason to hold is a good one"

My taper visualised as a graph   |   My intro thread

Backdrop:  2003 10mg olanzapine | 2004 2-3mg risperidone | end 2014 3wks aripiprazole

2015: olanzapine  10 -> 7½ -> 6⅔ -> 5mg  by crude pill cutter

2018:  Mar 5.00mg -> water titrated taper -> Aug2.5mg tablet and hold

Jan 2019 2.50mg water titration -> Jan 2020 1.214  -> Jan 2021 0.44 -> 2 Oct 0.205 ->3 Oct ZERO🥂

Jun 2023 💉150mg paliperidone "loading" depot shot, 100mg 1wk after Jul 100mg Aug-Dec 75mg/4wks

Jul 2023 2.50mg aripiprazole/day attempt to lower prolactin^

Jan-Feb 2024 cross taper off shots to 1mg risperidone

 

Ask not what you can do for your country, but what your country did to you"  -- KMFDM

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Thank you for the reply. I have done a lot of research. It's a scary thing because it worsens depression for many people but then others say it totally cured their depression which makes it really tempting to try! I was really hoping to hear about experiences of people going through withdrawal who tried psychedelics but there doesn't seem to be anyone. 

Started SSRIs and Adderall in 2003.

June 2019 - quit 15mg Adderall XR, no problems

August - October 2019 - tapered Prozac from 40mg to 0mg with no WD symptoms

January 2020 - WD started 

January 2020 reinstated 15mg Adderall XR, taken as needed, about 3 times a week

Early June 2020 - reinstated 5mg Prozac, increased to 20mg, decreased to 5mg. Increased Adderall XR to daily usage of 15mg, started 50mg Trazodone. 

Mid June 2020 - increased to 10mg Prozac

August 13, 2020 - decreased to 5mg Prozac

Sept 5, 2020  - decreased to 10mg Adderall

Sept 15, 2020 - decreased to 5mg Adderall

October 1, 2020 - decreased to 0 mg Adderall

May 15, 2023 - tapered Prozac by 10% per month, using oral solution, currently taking 0.1mg every other day. 50mg Trazodone. 10mg Adderall. 

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Yeah, not a wise time to roll the dice.  Wd is no party...I've pretty much thrown in the towel on weed, grog and even coffee.  Maybe not forever, but it's all outweighed by getting my life back!  When it comes to actual parties I'm having a much better time being nearly off the chemical restraints than 'compliant' but munted on the recreational shite.

 

Try yoga, it's most of the ups and about none of the lows 🙂

 

Cheers

I am not a health professional - your actions are your own.  

Please do not seek tapering support via private message - "Any reason to hold is a good one"

My taper visualised as a graph   |   My intro thread

Backdrop:  2003 10mg olanzapine | 2004 2-3mg risperidone | end 2014 3wks aripiprazole

2015: olanzapine  10 -> 7½ -> 6⅔ -> 5mg  by crude pill cutter

2018:  Mar 5.00mg -> water titrated taper -> Aug2.5mg tablet and hold

Jan 2019 2.50mg water titration -> Jan 2020 1.214  -> Jan 2021 0.44 -> 2 Oct 0.205 ->3 Oct ZERO🥂

Jun 2023 💉150mg paliperidone "loading" depot shot, 100mg 1wk after Jul 100mg Aug-Dec 75mg/4wks

Jul 2023 2.50mg aripiprazole/day attempt to lower prolactin^

Jan-Feb 2024 cross taper off shots to 1mg risperidone

 

Ask not what you can do for your country, but what your country did to you"  -- KMFDM

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  • 1 year later...
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Adding this podcast ep I caught the other day which discusses various aspects of taking psychedelics while using ADs

 

https://www.jameswjesso.com/combining-antidepressants-and-psychedelics-benjamin-malcolm-the-spirit-pharmacist-attmind-140/

I am not a health professional - your actions are your own.  

Please do not seek tapering support via private message - "Any reason to hold is a good one"

My taper visualised as a graph   |   My intro thread

Backdrop:  2003 10mg olanzapine | 2004 2-3mg risperidone | end 2014 3wks aripiprazole

2015: olanzapine  10 -> 7½ -> 6⅔ -> 5mg  by crude pill cutter

2018:  Mar 5.00mg -> water titrated taper -> Aug2.5mg tablet and hold

Jan 2019 2.50mg water titration -> Jan 2020 1.214  -> Jan 2021 0.44 -> 2 Oct 0.205 ->3 Oct ZERO🥂

Jun 2023 💉150mg paliperidone "loading" depot shot, 100mg 1wk after Jul 100mg Aug-Dec 75mg/4wks

Jul 2023 2.50mg aripiprazole/day attempt to lower prolactin^

Jan-Feb 2024 cross taper off shots to 1mg risperidone

 

Ask not what you can do for your country, but what your country did to you"  -- KMFDM

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  • 4 weeks later...
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Another relevant podcast https://maps.org/news/podcast-episodes/6844-episode-16-james-fadiman-ph-d-and-sophia-korb-ph-d-microdosing

 

Worth noting how he discusses extremely small doses.  Microdosing is commonly said to use around 1/10th the normal psychedelic dose.  He sheds light on people who have seen benefits from 1/100th.  He also covers ADs and such a bit, mental health in this context, and some important caveats anyone would do well to heed.

I am not a health professional - your actions are your own.  

Please do not seek tapering support via private message - "Any reason to hold is a good one"

My taper visualised as a graph   |   My intro thread

Backdrop:  2003 10mg olanzapine | 2004 2-3mg risperidone | end 2014 3wks aripiprazole

2015: olanzapine  10 -> 7½ -> 6⅔ -> 5mg  by crude pill cutter

2018:  Mar 5.00mg -> water titrated taper -> Aug2.5mg tablet and hold

Jan 2019 2.50mg water titration -> Jan 2020 1.214  -> Jan 2021 0.44 -> 2 Oct 0.205 ->3 Oct ZERO🥂

Jun 2023 💉150mg paliperidone "loading" depot shot, 100mg 1wk after Jul 100mg Aug-Dec 75mg/4wks

Jul 2023 2.50mg aripiprazole/day attempt to lower prolactin^

Jan-Feb 2024 cross taper off shots to 1mg risperidone

 

Ask not what you can do for your country, but what your country did to you"  -- KMFDM

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  • 1 month later...
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Thanks for the report @Tinnitus.  I get occasional tinnitus, lots of live music growing up.  Never found psychedelics particularly helped it, occasionally it does seem WD related.

 

It bears repeating that as withdrawal sensitises your nervous system, if you are going to play in this realm, you would want to know the ropes already, take even more care than you usually would setting up these excursions, and start with extremely small dosages. 

 

Overall it's not something we can sensibly advise during WDs, but it's worth collecting info and data if people are set on doing this.

 

Seems like you didn't have a lot of fun, but you sound basically ok afterwards.  What sort of dosage did you take?

I am not a health professional - your actions are your own.  

Please do not seek tapering support via private message - "Any reason to hold is a good one"

My taper visualised as a graph   |   My intro thread

Backdrop:  2003 10mg olanzapine | 2004 2-3mg risperidone | end 2014 3wks aripiprazole

2015: olanzapine  10 -> 7½ -> 6⅔ -> 5mg  by crude pill cutter

2018:  Mar 5.00mg -> water titrated taper -> Aug2.5mg tablet and hold

Jan 2019 2.50mg water titration -> Jan 2020 1.214  -> Jan 2021 0.44 -> 2 Oct 0.205 ->3 Oct ZERO🥂

Jun 2023 💉150mg paliperidone "loading" depot shot, 100mg 1wk after Jul 100mg Aug-Dec 75mg/4wks

Jul 2023 2.50mg aripiprazole/day attempt to lower prolactin^

Jan-Feb 2024 cross taper off shots to 1mg risperidone

 

Ask not what you can do for your country, but what your country did to you"  -- KMFDM

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Thanks @Tinnitus.  0.5g of what sort?  I think most people here find as close to straightedge as they can manage is the healthiest way to taper.  Even coffee.

 

The value of psychedelics in this sort of space has a lot to do with increasing access to the subconscious and working to heal previously unresolved things.  Psychedelics are only a catalyst in a therapeutic sense, perhaps allowing a deeper dive than meditation.  They don't really do any healing of this kind for you on their own, but they might show you what needs to be healed.

 

When you consider that many people here would have been put on these drugs in the first place because of unresolved issues and trauma surfacing unbidden then being poorly received, it's particularly risky to invite these upheavals during withdrawal, or at all really, without clinical supervision. 

 

And then there's simply the neurochemistry of loading up a tender CNS, that's trying to cope already, with another powerful substance like you're talking about.

 

I've been doing EMDR at stages during my taper to resolve various horrible things I've had to live through, and it's by far the most effective thing I've found to permanently help, or repair if you like. 

 

Psychedelics at various stages of my life have given me both the experience to cope with these terrible things, made it clear they needed attention, and shown me what life can really be like after healing, so I can't credit them enough for that.  But it's not the easy road, definitely unsuitable for many times and places, and maybe some people.

 

My thought is that outside of clinical supervision, most people tapering will be best served by waiting until they are stable and have regained homeostasis before looking to psychedelics for healing, if that is something they wish to explore.

I am not a health professional - your actions are your own.  

Please do not seek tapering support via private message - "Any reason to hold is a good one"

My taper visualised as a graph   |   My intro thread

Backdrop:  2003 10mg olanzapine | 2004 2-3mg risperidone | end 2014 3wks aripiprazole

2015: olanzapine  10 -> 7½ -> 6⅔ -> 5mg  by crude pill cutter

2018:  Mar 5.00mg -> water titrated taper -> Aug2.5mg tablet and hold

Jan 2019 2.50mg water titration -> Jan 2020 1.214  -> Jan 2021 0.44 -> 2 Oct 0.205 ->3 Oct ZERO🥂

Jun 2023 💉150mg paliperidone "loading" depot shot, 100mg 1wk after Jul 100mg Aug-Dec 75mg/4wks

Jul 2023 2.50mg aripiprazole/day attempt to lower prolactin^

Jan-Feb 2024 cross taper off shots to 1mg risperidone

 

Ask not what you can do for your country, but what your country did to you"  -- KMFDM

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  • 5 months later...

Is (psychological component) SSRI withdrawal a similar chemical process as that of a psilocybin trip???

 

Discuss!!!

 

Edited by ChessieCat
added intro topic title before merging with existing topic

2007-Prozac then off replaced with Zoloft 

2008- Off Zoloft replaced with Fluvoxamine 

2008-2009 50mg Fluvoxamine 

2009-2020 150mg Fluvoxamine 

2013-14 addition of Lexapro and Zyprexa

2015 back to only Fluvoxamine 

2019-2021 additional 150mg Wellbutrin 

2020-present taper off Fluvoxamine and Wellbutrin 

2022 - mid-February - last dose 25 mg Wellbutrin

July 2021 25 (12.5 twice a day) mg Fluvoxamine hold

switch to compounded XR 12.5 mg Fluvoxamine capsules twice a day mid July 2022

Magnesium, Fish Oil, microdose CBD 

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  • Mdawg changed the title to Is (psychological component) SSRI withdrawal a similar chemical process as that of a psilocybin trip???
  • Moderator
9 hours ago, Mdawg said:

Is (psychological component) SSRI withdrawal a similar chemical process as that of a psilocybin trip???

 

Discuss!!!

 

 

I can't think of any similarities off the top of my head, no.  Can you?

Edited by hayduke

I am not a health professional - your actions are your own.  

Please do not seek tapering support via private message - "Any reason to hold is a good one"

My taper visualised as a graph   |   My intro thread

Backdrop:  2003 10mg olanzapine | 2004 2-3mg risperidone | end 2014 3wks aripiprazole

2015: olanzapine  10 -> 7½ -> 6⅔ -> 5mg  by crude pill cutter

2018:  Mar 5.00mg -> water titrated taper -> Aug2.5mg tablet and hold

Jan 2019 2.50mg water titration -> Jan 2020 1.214  -> Jan 2021 0.44 -> 2 Oct 0.205 ->3 Oct ZERO🥂

Jun 2023 💉150mg paliperidone "loading" depot shot, 100mg 1wk after Jul 100mg Aug-Dec 75mg/4wks

Jul 2023 2.50mg aripiprazole/day attempt to lower prolactin^

Jan-Feb 2024 cross taper off shots to 1mg risperidone

 

Ask not what you can do for your country, but what your country did to you"  -- KMFDM

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  • 1 month later...

thats interesting

Zoloft 50 mg 1.12.2021-15.12.2021

Zoloft 100 mg 16.12.2021-18.3.2022

Zoloft 150 mg 19.3-6.4.21 (nyní)

Bupropion 150xl - 1.2.2022-6.4.2022 (nyní)

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