30 Days Of Microdosing With Homegrown Psychedelic Mushrooms: Part II
[Reading time: just enough to make you forget about work for a minute ]
*depending on how much you like work I guess
Are there even any cons?
Time to put myself at ease and have the pros outweigh the cons. I set out to answer all my questions, invalidate my concerns and clarify my goals. Digging in showed me, I indeed had mostly assumptions based on no facts whatsoever. Now, that doesn’t this experiment can’t go sideways, or that Magic mushrooms are safe for everyone, however my ego is telling me this kool aid probably tastes like lemonade. Let’s get some concerns out of the way though..
Can I overdose on mushrooms?
What is actually in them?
What happens to your brain on the active substance psilocybin?
What happens on a bad trip? (and how long does it last, and can I stop it?)
Where can I get microdoses?
How do you know how much mushroom to take for a microdose?
Can you actually get into a psychosis from just one mushroom trip?
Is microdosing illegal?
Does one microdose actually have an effect?
Interest peaked? I’ll awnser most throughout, but I’ll try to stay on topic. After microdosing I ended up going on a full dose journey, more on that life-altering experience later.
So how does psilocybin work?
Let’s start with: No, you physically do not overdose on mushrooms, not the way you would with cocaine or other methamphetamines. If you are genetically disposed to psychosis, it might not be for you though.* Here’s a concise synopsis of how psilocybin works. **
Psilocybin is a tryptamine, closely resembling serotonin (which is naturally made in the brain and body). Serotonin is a neuromodulator (changes the activity of other neurons) that regulates behaviour. By modulating neuronal excitability and plasticity you produce a net effect of satiety, mood regulation, sense of pleasure, and many more functions that impact daily life.
Psilocybin mainly binds to the serotonin 2A receptor which allows for specific types of neural circuitry to take place and last even after exposure. Serotonin 2A receptors have a lot of expression in the neocortex, responsible for understanding context, behaviour, thoughts, speech patterns, perception and sensation. There’s also a very high amount of serotonin 2A receptors in the visual cortex (which is why psilocybin triggers hallucinations). When using psilocybin, there’s a shift from the brain being more segmented (closed minded & constructed by ego) to more extensive communication and integration (more fluid and less clouded by ego). Psilocybin acts by altering the activity and connectivity across DMN-associated brain regions: psilocybin increases and diversifies functional connectivity (=positively correlated neural activity) patterns throughout the brain.
If you want to go down the rabbit hole of psilocybin first, I suggest you start here. If you’re mostly interested in microdosing, I suggest you keep reading first and spiral later ;).
Mushrooms or Truffles?
Back to Silicon Valley: if the tech world is getting in, then why aren’t I? I asked around to see who in my close vicinity had dabbled in mushrooms. Most of my friends didn't seem that interested, others had some experience, but more so in a festive setting. Back to the internet.
I found some website where you could order microdoses of truffles, which are legal and contain the same active compound. So, what's the difference between psychedelic mushrooms and psychedelic truffles?
In terms of psychoactive compounds, they tend to generate similar amounts of psilocybin. Fresh mushrooms contain much higher amounts of water, meaning that fresh truffles contain more psilocybin per gram. A differential point within the effects is that the magic truffle tends to have the psilocybin distributed much more evenly throughout its entire structure, which makes it an easier option if you just want to start microdose with psilocybin.
On the other hand, once dried, hallucinogenic mushrooms can lose up to 90% of their total weight, while truffles will lose up to 30%. This will result in the need for far fewer mushrooms than truffles if both are dry. Also texture wise, truffles tend to have an incredibly earthy taste and a moist, hard, nutty texture, so eating more of them did not seem like a pleasant experience. Besides, I was ready to channel some of that ‘Walter White’ energy, so growing mushrooms seemed like a fun new project that would give me something to write about as well, so why not?
Grow a pair
I’m a little impulsive, mostly because I somehow never seem to find my 3rd or 4th gear and head into a full sprint or complete standstill. Plenty of blogs were praising mushroom cultivation and ‘the internet said’ it was relatively easy to grow these mushrooms. Initially I wanted to go all in, and create psychedelic mushrooms from scratch, or actually magic mushroom spores. However, somewhere down the rabbit hole I started reading up on the amount of equipment needed and the likelihood of contaminations and ruined harvests. Instinctually I figured there was a high probability I would fck it up somewhere close to the finish line, so maybe save the full ‘Walter White’ mode for later and start with a mushroom grow kit. With so many smart shops around, I closed my laptop, jumped on my bike and headed over to pick up a grow kit, so I could get this pony show on the road.
