What's a good trip killer (when a LSD trip goes horribly bad)?

[Federico del pueblo]

So I want to be optimistic that my acid trips will all go well. Also I'm fine with it if a trip becomes challenging, somewhat scary or negative.

But just in case a trip was ever to become a complete nightmare I was thinking about having something up my sleeve that could help to either end the trip or drastically reduce the fear.

They say that you can use Benzodiazepines like Alprazolam as a fast acting trip killer.

Has anyone here used them or other Benzos?

Did you ever have to stop a trip or were you in one that you wished you could stop?

Do you think one should never kill a trip and just endure it even if it becomes the most hellish nightmare, because it could still turn all good?

What other strategies do you suggest when the trip becomes more and more fearful etc.?

Thanks!

[vladorion]

Benzos are the best for that.

Just knowing you can kill the trip in case it becomes too much can give you that extra feeling of safety which can in turn lead to willingness to go deeper.

[integral]

I think exercise can help.

[Jodistrict]

When I was in the jungle, I was having intense visions on Ayahuasca and a Shaman gave me orange juice.  It worked.  He said to get back into the trip take a cold shower.  But, I also heard that taking a  cold shower can stop a trip.  I know another facilitator who uses Activated Charcoal pills.  He claims that it absorbs the medicine and stops the trip.

Edited November 24, 2022 by Jodistrict

[King Merk]

I think rather than looking for ways ways out… you should go in with the fullest attention of surrender.

Whatever arises accept that.

Embracing & understanding fear is part of the psychedelic experience.

[Bojan V]

A good therapy, before or after a trip, when you reimtegrate your repressed, unconsciouss shadow, is the best. A trip reveals what is already inside you. You better take  care of that soon.

Edited November 24, 2022 by Bojan V

[Breakingthewall]

Maybe a bit of MDMA could help. 

[LSD-Rumi]

I used to use antipsychotics when my trips go sideways. They eliminates the trip by 80%.

[Grateful Dead]

I think trip killers should only be used in an emergency situation where your physical health is at risk. But yeah it's good to have something up your sleeve and Alparazol is said to be a good one, I have it too but never had to use it.

A few times I wished the trip would stop, but in the end I was always glad I made it without medication.

There is a book called 'The Psychedelic Experience' by Timothy Leary and Ram Dass. It contains some helpful texts that you can read in such situations. That really saved my ass once...

Leo also shared some good advice in his bad trip video:

 

 

[Federico del pueblo]

Great answers. Thanks guys!

[Tristan12]

Are benzos okay for your system? Do they have any health side-effects?

[Brivido]

The best way to avoid a negative trip is to always start from a low dose, you might already know this, but don't get cocky with LSD.

Start low and everything will be fine.

With some substances, especially mushrooms, eating food with high sugar content help me to stop the trip, even more if I am already on the come down. Get yourself some dehydrated mangoes or your favourite fruit.

[Federico del pueblo]

40 minutes ago, Tristan12 said:

Are benzos okay for your system? Do they have any health side-effects?

They are definitely not something you'd want to ingest regularly.

They make you physically addicted after not a lot of time, so that they're typically only prescribed for acute problems to calm the patient down. But they often get abused due to their addiction potential.

I don't really know about the toxicity, but I'd assume that they're not that good for your health, like most pharmaceutical drugs.

And yeah, they can have a lot of side effects like almost all psychopharmacological drugs.

Edited November 24, 2022 by Federico del pueblo

[eggopm3]

From the research I've done I kinda feel like benzos are WAY over-recommended as trip killers. The potential downsides of benzos are larger than the upsides. Same goes for anti-psychotics which can also apparently kill trips but again i feel that isnt a good option either. Both of those options feel like they do more harm than just riding out the trip would do. (maybe the exception being some overdose situations where someone becomes a danger to themselves or others because they didnt know what they were doing).

Ketanserin seems like a potentially ideal trip killer (it's an antagonist of the 5ht2a receptor, blocking the receptor that psychedelics use) though i dont think it's widely available currently. Maybe more effective trip killer drugs will become available now that some states have legalized psychedelics and will probably need to use trip killers in some situations.

I think better than trip killers would be to purposefully put yourself in uncomfortable "bad trip" scenarios while on LOW doses, and then as you gradually increase the intensity of the trip you'll learn how to handle yourself.

[Federico del pueblo]

1 hour ago, eggopm3 said:

I think better than trip killers would be to purposefully put yourself in uncomfortable "bad trip" scenarios while on LOW doses

Ok. So how would you do that? 

Watch something scary or think about scary stuff?

[StarStruck]

How much are you going to pop? If you take huge dose it is a different story.

[Federico del pueblo]

17 minutes ago, StarStruck said:

How much are you going to pop? If you take huge dose it is a different story.

Nothing crazy because I want to gradually up the dose. So maybe I'll just do 100 mcg after already having done 80 and 60.

It's not like I'm crazy enough to just do 250 mcg without experience.

But even experienced and careful trippers have no guarantee to not get a bad trip.

And with my post I was only referring to the really bad ones, like when demons show up to torture your soul for eternity ? The traumatizing kind of stuff.

[eggopm3]

3 hours ago, Federico del pueblo said:

Ok. So how would you do that? 

Watch something scary or think about scary stuff?

Don't force negative experiences just for the sake of them (well, unless you really want to i guess). Really I just mean to practice being in that altered state of mind in a variety of contexts and situations (activities within reason for your dose level of course), and you'll gradually learn how your mind works in that headspace and be better equipped to handle more intense experiences.

[JuliusCaesar]

If you're within 2 hours of administration, activated carbon. It works on all substances, by absorbing it before you can metabolize the same.

 

If you're further than 2 hours after you did it. Then Benzodiazepines for LSD and it's analogues, as well as Psilocin and similar substances. 

 

If you did an anticholinergic such as Diphenhydramine (Benadryl, Unisom) or a plant containing them such as Datura or Belladonna (Scopolamine, Atropine, and Hyoscyamine). Then you'll want to do a cholinesterase inhibitor. Personally, I do Huperzine A, it's better in my experience than the alternatives.

[JuliusCaesar]

6 hours ago, Federico del pueblo said:

They make you physically addicted after not a lot of time, so that they're typically only prescribed for acute problems to calm the patient down. But they often get abused due to their addiction potential.

I assume you'd have sense enough not to repeat the same overdose of LSD after the first time. And also, LSD seems to be effective at curing chronic addiction.