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!

I listened to Paul Stamets (a mycologist) on a podcast the other day, it’s got me all enthused about trying to grow some!

I totally fangirl over Stamets. He's so knowledgeable!

I wish I could grow them but my OH disagree as we have teenage kids at home. I can see his point.

I've tried so hard to find an ethical supplier (I.e., not a drug dealer) but I haven't been able to. I wish I could find someone who grows them locally and sells them, and doesn't also sell meth or whatever.

I've bought some truffles from Holland but by the time they got to me they weren't that fresh.

It's difficult to explain, but I feel a "call" to try them.

You could probably pick them yourself if you know of any spots where they grow. Usually damp wooded areas between August and November.

Hi @TR888 I use a really good ethical supplier who has them on his farm and supplies many people who microdose but I get the dried liberty caps for my sibling who has been mentally unwell. If you want their details please PM me.

@KayT1 do you mind if I drop you a pm too? I've been on the hunt for libs x

@BodyKeepingScore Yes please do x

Yes, please!

I want to do this but have never tried mushrooms in any form. Where do I start??

@BodyKeepingScore when you grow your own which variety do you go for?
I’ve been looking at grow kits and building up to buying one, but I’m bamboozled at all the choice.
Golden Teacher seems to be a popular one, but I wondered if you had any advice?

Jedi mind fuck have been by far the most prolific bakery I have tried. Very resistant to contamination and quick producers.

@WitchyBits I alternate between Golden Teacher and McKennaii and I've found they work well for me so far. I only alternate because that's the way harvesting works out for me.

I was swaying towards McKennaii but then read they can be too much for a beginner, does that apply to microdosing too?
Which in your opinion is easiest to grow?

Can micro dosing help insomnia?

@TroutRunner to be honest, they're both very easy, quite resistant to contamination and both fruit pretty quickly IME

What would happen if you stopped taking them for a few days? Are there withdrawal side effects? Could you get to a point of not needing them? I suppose there is also the issue of going on holiday. You wouldn't be able to take through customs. So if you had a week or 2 without them would your mood plunge?

@Worriedpanda50 for me there are no withdrawals, I don't take them every day, very few microdosing schedules I've come across advise taking them every day although it's at such a minuscule dose you'd likely not notice if you did.

@Worriedpanda50 my mood does plunge if I hadn't had them for a couple of weeks, my base line tends to be "depression" so I do notice a couple of weeks without microdosing

How long have you been taking them before and have you ever relapsed since taking them? If you were unmedicated how often would you have a manic episode? Sorry if that isn't the right term. I'm just wondering if you have been taking them long enough to know they defo work.

I am not bipolar but I do have C-PTSD. Although after reliving therapy I am loads better. I'm prone to anxiety but not really depression. Have been on meds for years. I'd love to come off and try this but would be worried about things like holidays etc.

Oh and OCD but have that more under control atm. It flares up during periods of stress and uncertainty.

Hi @Worriedpanda50 , I've had only about 6 full manic episodes in my life, I'm much more prone to depressive episodes so I've no real way of knowing yet whether they'd prevent a manic episode, but I do know that microdosing has lifted me out of a depressive episode that almost cost me my life. I had been quite seriously depressed for well over a year, three months of which I was sectioned for as I was so unwell. The difference since I've started microdosing is like night and day. The world feels like it has colour again for what is truly the first time in my adult life that I can recall.

I went on a retreat in The Netherlands last year and I am going again in a month. Broadly speaking I was stuck with no pathway to therapy in the UK for cPTSD and had become suicidal due to the despair I was feeling - I had run out of road. My partner looked into this and we maxed a credit card to enable me to go. I have been able to process some very, very deep trauma and reframe my life. I can’t recommend it highly enough. Going again this year to “mop up” some other stuff hopefully and I am very keen to look at setting myself up for microdosing. Life is still real, not a bed of roses by any means, but the difference has been astounding.

What retreat was this?

look up “inwardbound”