Thanks for responding. I am certain it was not a quality/quantity issue. I don’t know who reads what on this site. Is there someone you would recommend specifically asking this question of?
You didn't mention it, so I'll ask, what doses of mushrooms have you tried that you didn't trip on? Do you know what kind of mushrooms they were? (If not we will assume cubes since they are the most commonly cultivated for consumption)
Congratulations for resurrecting my anxiety. In all seriousness though, I'm pretty sure it's the benzos and only being off Seroquel, an anti-psychotic, for just three weeks. However, if you have psychotic tendencies, I am not going to just recommend going off that medicine. I imagine psychosis is not a fun place to be regardless how good psychedelics are.
You have nothing to worry about from a week of using nortriptyline. I promise. There is not a single antidepressant on the market that could cause the kind of permanent changes you are so unnecessarily worried about, and most especially not after just one week of use.
I like tricyclics. I think they are better antidepressants than SSRIs for sure. I was on imipramine for years (my favorite one, the original antidepressant "gold standard" by which the efficacy of all other antidepressants were compared). I've also taken doxepin, amitriptyline, nortriptyline, and clomipramine. (I've only ever been prescribed imipramine and doxepin).
I have tripped both while I was prescribed imipramine and since I discontinued it several years ago and psychedelics work just fine. Please don't even think about it. It's really just something in your mind and not something that is worth your time to obsess over.
Actually, if you have ever had obsessive thoughts like this about other topics you might want to ask your doctor if you can try clomipramine. That is what it's most commonly prescribed for. It's not bad for anxiety and sleep issues either.
Honestly I think nortriptyline is kind of stimulating to be used for anxiety. Typically the N-monomethyl TCAs usually increase brain norepinephrine far more than their N,N-dimethyl parent drugs (which are far more selective for serotonin) and can cause some people to feel more agitated.
If you ever get the itch to try TCAs again I would recommend imipramine, or if you are a constant worrier tell them that you are and say someone you know recommended clomipramine and it worked well for them. My friends brother in law was prescribed it and gave me a whole script once. I used it when I was stressed or when I needed to sleep.
Best of luck! Stop worrying!
Cheers!