Taking Psychedelics safely

[Joscha]

Hi!

Its been almost a year since my last trip on LSD where I attempted suicide. I was not suicidal before, it was just on this trip. It was the worst day of my life. Since then I’ve mostly stayed away from psychedelics. I’ve only ever done LSD and magic truffles and I always valued the insights they gave me. It makes me quite sad that I can’t use psychedelics as a tool anymore because of my fear. 
 

Is there a way to take psychedelics and at the same time make it absolutely safe? By safe, I mean physically safe, as in, the body as an organism is unharmed. By this I mean safe in the sense that you won’t hurt yourself physically. I’ve researched a little bit but I wanted to also get the opinion and experience of people on this forum. Maybe someone else had a similarly scary experience but has found a way to use psychedelics anyway? 

Lsd is too scary for me but I was thinking maybe a drug with a shorter duration like DMT for example is less risky when it comes to freaking out and starting to hurt yourself? Also, would taking Xanax, for psychedelics in general, before a trip minimize the risk?
I’ve even played with the thought of constraining myself physically before administering the drug. But then I saw the possibility that I still hurt myself by biting off my tongue for example. The irrational mind states I’ve experienced on lsd would definitely make that possible. I know it sounds kind of ridiculous to think about such drastic measures. Maybe I should just leave it alone. But it’s also just that I don’t want to have this fear of psychedelics anymore and I don’t know how to do that without facing it.
It’s very strange to have had both the most beautiful experiences and most horrible experiences of my life on LSD lol.

Cheers! 

[Leo Gura]

23 minutes ago, Joscha said:

make it absolutely safe?

Nothing in life is absolutely safe.

You could choke on a fish bone tomorrow.

Psychedelics carry inherent dangers and risks that you cannot eliminate.

[Preety_India]

2 minutes ago, Leo Gura said:

Nothing in life is absolutely safe.

You could choke on a fish bone tomorrow.

Psychedelics carry inherent dangers and risks that you cannot eliminate.

When should you stop taking psychedelics?

 

[Joscha]

@Leo Gura  

Hmm yea I guess you’re right. Nothing can be done without risk. 

I was just hoping there were ways to reduce the risk dramatically. To an extent that you are pretty sure you won’t physically die from it, or hurt anyone. 
Maybe that’s a pipe dream.

[Grateful Dead]

I remember your trip report back then and I think you took like 600ug of LSD right?

So if you reduce your dosage it will also reduce the risk you take but there will always be some risk involved when taking psychedelics.

Taking xanax before a trip seems like a bad idea to me, you don't want to numb yourself. But it's good to have some benzos just in case.

38 minutes ago, Joscha said:

But it’s also just that I don’t want to have this fear of psychedelics anymore and I don’t know how to do that without facing it.

I've been in a similar situation.

Start with low doses like 25-50ug. Take it with a friend you trust deeply and spend time in nature on the trip.

Set your intention to face this fear and ask the psychedelics for help. Set and Setting is really the key here.

What solved it for me was a deep conversation I had with a friend when the fear came up again. We talked about it and the fact that it didn't scare the shit out of her made me realize it's all good.

[Hulia]

I also wonder, if psychedelics may have an impact on our physical body, health? LCD, DMT include some chemical stuff, who knows if our organs like it.. I mean, one or 2 times might be ok to get a glimpse, but taking psychedelics on a regular basis.. I don´t know

[Joscha]

@acidgoofy nice how you remember that! I also tried talking to friends about this, but it is somewhat difficult because they don’t have much experience. Also I feel like most people don’t understand why I would still have positive associations with LSD despite everything and even would want to take it again. 

I also have this fear that it won’t matter even if I would take 10ug. That my mind has locked inside this association with terrible fear that it needs to escape, which it thinks it can only do by killing itself. I know this doesn’t really make sense, it’s just this irrational fear that I have that I easily get into this state, no matter how much I take. 

Have you been able to up the dosage since your bad experience? 

[erik8lrl]

Go to a good ayahuasca retreat. They usually have doctors and shamans on-site and a lot of sitters to keep you safe throughout the trip. 

[Leo Gura]

The best way to stay safe is to measure your doses carefully and keep them low to moderate. Do not do high doses.

Risk increases exponentially with dose. 2x the dose, 4x the risk. 4x the dose, 16x the risk.

[Preety_India]

2 minutes ago, Leo Gura said:

The best way to stay safe is to measure your doses carefully and keep them low to moderate. Do not do high doses.

Risk increases exponentially with dose. 2x the dose, 4x the risk. 4x the dose, 16x the risk.

Can you continue with small doses for a really long period of time, or does that count as well, the time that you've been taking these doses?

[Nahm]

Lay a solid foundation first. 

[Joscha]

@Leo Gura  I see. Good point, I probably just went too far back then.

 

@Nahm

What is a solid foundation? How do I recognise that I am there?

[mandyjw]

It might help to understand why it happened, even if you don't go back to taking psychedelics. The mind separates things. It's sort of like Edward Scissorhands, it's an awkwardly designed sort of thing that separates things. When it begins to wake up to its own power, potential and realizes that it has been misusing it all this time, the first solution that comes up to it (of course!) is to separate itself off from life. Its real power and potential is to create. 

Any moment you stand staring in horror at your scissor hands (mind) is a moment you're not realizing its power as a tool to create with. 

You are, (like Edward Scissorhands), completely innocent, you are a creation, here to create. You realize your creative power and realize that you are not a separate part of it, but you're part of an already brilliant piece of artwork, and you're here just for the joy of creating with it, in it and improving upon what does not require improvement. 

Edited April 30, 2021 by mandyjw

[Nahm]

First create a dreamboard. Express outwardly and see what you want in front of you (vs swirling around in your head). Start to viscerally connect with feeling, and your ‘why’s’, or, what inspires you (rather than what you’re motivated to avoid). Start to shift what you’re focusing on from yourself, ‘your’ fear, avoidance & substances as solutions... to what you desire to experience in your life, and consciously co-creating it. 

A clean diet, fitness, twice daily meditation, first earliest in the morning prior to thought activity, screens, people, etc. If you’re new to meditation I’d start with this one. 

Let the catch all of ‘my fear’ go, and instead choose to inspect & understand the emotions you’re creating. Begin to do so consciously. Takes time for things to ‘click’ and fall into place. Meditation helps with clarity, patience, appreciation and expression, which are the underlying key to everything you want. 

Then when you take psychedelics you’re not tripping and trying to simultaneously address monkey mind and emotional discord, as it will already have been addressed. Your trips will begin to be smoother and far more productive so to speak in terms of well being and sifting through to deeper and deeper alignment in truth. 

Overall, you are like a flashlight... anything you put your attention on is illuminated, clarified, demystified and de-fear-afied for you. Perpetuating fear strictly requires avoidance. Without avoidance, there is no experience of fear. The dreamboard is a life changing experience in this regard, as you shift from focusing on avoiding what you don’t want, to inspiration and alignment of thought, feeling and source, in regard to what you do want, and reality becomes what you do want. This is not thinkable or believable, you must directly experience it, however, none of this requires any effort whatsoever.

This will culminate into dispelling the question of “how do I know when I’m there?”. 

[Joscha]

@Nahm  I'm so thankful.. that was a great response.

"Without avoidance, there is no experience of fear." - that hit home!

I'll work on those things. 

[allislove]

1 hour ago, Nahm said:

First create a dreamboard. Express outwardly and see what you want in front of you (vs swirling around in your head). Start to viscerally connect with feeling, and your ‘why’s’, or, what inspires you (rather than what you’re motivated to avoid). Start to shift what you’re focusing on from yourself, ‘your’ fear, avoidance & substances as solutions... to what you desire to experience in your life, and consciously co-creating it. 

A clean diet, fitness, twice daily meditation, first earliest in the morning prior to thought activity, screens, people, etc. If you’re new to meditation I’d start with this one. 

Let the catch all of ‘my fear’ go, and instead choose to inspect & understand the emotions you’re creating. Begin to do so consciously. Takes time for things to ‘click’ and fall into place. Meditation helps with clarity, patience, appreciation and expression, which are the underlying key to everything you want. 

Then when you take psychedelics you’re not tripping and trying to simultaneously address monkey mind and emotional discord, as it will already have been addressed. Your trips will begin to be smoother and far more productive so to speak in terms of well being and sifting through to deeper and deeper alignment in truth. 

Overall, you are like a flashlight... anything you put your attention on is illuminated, clarified, demystified and de-fear-afied for you. Perpetuating fear strictly requires avoidance. Without avoidance, there is no experience of fear. The dreamboard is a life changing experience in this regard, as you shift from focusing on avoiding what you don’t want, to inspiration and alignment of thought, feeling and source, in regard to what you do want, and reality becomes what you do want. This is not thinkable or believable, you must directly experience it, however, none of this requires any effort whatsoever.

This will culminate into dispelling the question of “how do I know when I’m there?”. 

?

[freejoy]

When I got high on marijuana the first time I thought everyone was high.

It wasn't true although at the time it seemed true.

How can one be sure a psychedelic trip is true?

I also have gotten paranoid on marijuana. It was also not true.

Edited April 30, 2021 by freejoy

[outlandish]

DMT won't be safer than LSD. Combining psychedelics with Xanax *definitley* won't be safer.

There's no obligation to consume psychedelics. They aren't for everyone. 

If you're dead-set on taking psychedelics again, keep your dose small like Leo mentioned. You could seek a supervised setting with a highly trusted psychedelic practitioner. This carries it's own risk, as entrusting another human with guiding you or supporting you on a trip carries a lot of responsibility and opens the door to misuse of trust. But there are legit guides etc out there who specialize in this, and who can help you.

[Girzo]

8 hours ago, Preety_India said:

Can you continue with small doses for a really long period of time, or does that count as well, the time that you've been taking these doses?

Taking psychedelics regularly in small doses long-term does not increase risk significantly. You are okay doing that.

Doing them daily in small doses, like smoking some DMT every day, could be harmful, because of damage to the lungs and potential effects on the heart, which is full of serotonin receptors, but it's still a small risk compared to drinking alcohol with the same intensity, for example.

[Girzo]

4 hours ago, freejoy said:

How can one be sure a psychedelic trip is true?

Do you ask from the perspective of a sober person reflecting on their trip or someone who is immersed in the experience and doesn't know how to make sense of their suspected delusions?