I microdose magic mushrooms for my mental health AMA

[BodyKeepingScore]

I have a diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder and CPTSD (diagnosed approx 18 years ago). Following an especially bad depressive episode last year for which I was hospitalised involuntarily I struggled with recovery at home and after many years of being compliant with conventional medications and therapy I decided to try microdosing psilocybin in an effort to try and improve my mental health. I am not a medical professional but have been interested in mycology and psychedelic therapies for years and spent a long (desperate!) time researching before I decided to proceed. AMA!

Yes, unfortunately the pharmaceutical companies do love their money.

Well done on being so thorough in your research and finding a solution that works for you.

I've gone on proper trips a few times in my life and, bar the odd bad trip, I've found the mental clarity and calmness following them to have a really positive impact on my mental health. I feel refreshed, calm, capable, able to appreciate the madness and beauty of life etc. So I can very well see how this would be beneficial.

My absolute favourite was DMT, which I've only tried once but it was the experience of a lifetime. Have you ever tried it or considered trying it as a micro dose?

Not really sure this is the place to be giving growing tips 😀

@EatCrow your best bet is to sign up to "The Shroomery" online for information on how to get started. Really knowledgeable people there and a list of verified vendors for supplies. I don't think I'd be allowed to be any more specific on here 🤣

Fascinating thread, OP. Years ago I was seeing a man who was very keen on microdosing psilocybin for depression. He was utterly convinced of the science behind it (was also a chemistry PhD so not just a stoner 😁). My mum, at the time, was chronically depressed and had OCD etc, and he suggested it could help her, but she refused (as was her absolute right, of course). Sadly she died as a result of her mental illness a few years later. I always wish she had given it a go.

I've also listened to a really interesting talk from Dr David Nutt on the use of psychedelics for depression. It's a really engrossing topic.

Nowhere near as much as they love our money.

BodyKeepingScore, thank you!

Prior to starting microdosing I had considered going on an ayahuasca retreat, it's still something I wouldn't rule out. I'd prefer something like that to just trying synthetic DMT or similar.

I've also listened to a really interesting talk from Dr David Nutt on the use of psychedelics for depression. It's a really engrossing topic.

I've never quite got the Nutt love, since he started plugging "alcosynth"

Are you not worried about long term damage? I get people taking things for anything when they’re sick to the point of being terminal, but this is something you’ll be having for a long time surely (glad it works though x)

Are you not worried about long term damage?

Psychedelics have millennia of history of use. Compare that with any drug licensed last year ....

I don't know what that is, and I don't have any 'love' for him.

It's truly fascinating and something which I feel is gaining a lot more traction as people are becoming more disillusioned with anti depressants etc. Over the years I've been on a list of medications as long as my arm, and for the most part they were ok. But just okay. After my last serious episode of depression nothing I tried really helped bring me back from it. I was no longer suicidal but I had zero quality of life, I was a shit and disengaged parent and was just going through the motions of being alive. I don't feel that way any longer since I began microdosing. I feel like a better version of myself and fulfilled in a way that I never did on conventional medications. A lot of very intelligent people whom I respect very much also microdose, and whilst I appreciate that it isn't for everyone, there's enough science behind it that I wholeheartedly believe I've made the right choice for me at present. When it no longer serves me, I'll no longer do it. And I'm not opposed to going back on conventional medications should I ever need them again.

I'm less worried about the long term effects of microdosing than I was about the long term use of heavy doses of anti psychotics and mood stabilisers. The known side effects of the medications I was on are significantly more damaging. There's no long term physical harm known to be associated with microdosing psilocybin

There was a cheer throughout certain demographics when it seem that Prof Nutt was speaking truth to power.

However it then transpired he had his own hobby horse of synthetic alcohol to talk up.

This was when Whacky Jacqui Smith basically completely upended the UKs drug legislation of 30 plus years with her faux ignorance. Certainly something which will hamper any attempts to advance research in the UK.

Did the people with CFS note any difference to symptoms?

Agree; I firmly believe that it was the medication that eventually killed my mother. The side effects were worse than the illness itself. Years of heavy-duty antipsychotics destroyed her.

I'm really pleased to hear you've found such relief 😊

I have the same diagnoses as you and am now on various treatment including Lithium. Been taking it for 7 years, have put on masses of weight and have lack of optimism along with constant low level anxiety & agorophobia. No mania though. So fed up with it all and being in the machine of psychiatric treatment. I'd love to micro dose but due to traumatic mushroom trip in teens I'm scared it would push me back to that place. Do you have any psycotropic sensations and can you do it while on Lithium.

I've read some studies that show promising effects on ADHD symptoms - something that interests me as I'm finding it hard to get my medication at the moment. Problem is, the ADHD makes it next to impossible for me to grow my own. The instructions I've seen online seem incredibly complex and involve lots of equipment, even though people have said that it's really simple and easy!

BodyKeepingScore
Thats fair enough but just some food for thought that medical professionals keep an eye on what’s happening and what’s working and what’s not and up and lower doses/ change medication accordingly (my dad was in a different place in that he had a brain tumour for two years but it took a lot of changing things to figure out what worked but it’s more that it was regulated and watched whereas you don’t have someone doing that? but just food for thought- I get that while that’s working for you it’s working!

Were you still on conventional antidepressants or other medications when you started? If you were, how long did it take you to come off them and were there any side effects?

No, there are no psychotropic sensations because the doses are so minuscule. I don't know whether it can be taken with lithium, I know that most anti depressants diminish the effects of psilocybin though.

I tapered off my mood stabilisers and anti psychotics for a month under the watchful eye of my psychiatrist and GP before starting. I did have some withdrawals which were pretty unpleasant but to be expected. Truthfully the withdrawals were as intolerable as the side effects of the medications anyway so it was a price I was willing to pay. I've had absolutely zero side effects from the microdosing itself.

The person monitoring the doseage in this instance is myself. And I have to say that so far that's felt really empowering and given me an opportunity to be really mindful and aware of my physical and mental state, almost as though it's forced me to be more attuned to my own body. The other side effect of that is that I've been making much better choices about my diet and cut back on caffeine. I don't know whether the two are linked but I've had absolutely zero interest in having a glass of wine since I started too.

You can buy complete grow kits online. Literally everything you need already made up in a small tub and all you have to do is mist them with water. I was previously taking Lions Mane mushroom supplements on their own as i suspect I also have undiagnosed ADHD and it was a game changer for me. My ability to concentrate really improved.