Psychological Effects of LSD Advice

[ToughSchist]

I have a specific question that I'm hoping I can gain some insight on; forgive me if I cannot articulate my query clearly.

Could ingesting a 100ug dose of LSD cause a user to psychologically recreate a traumatic past experience? Through means of visual or emotional perceptions?

A bit of background: I am a twenty year old male with minor experience in psychedelics. I use cannabis very frequently, and had a first time experience with LSD about a week ago. Beforehand I thoroughly researched the substance, it's effects, as well as how to take it safely and comfortably. I also tested it to confirm the contents of the blotter. I did this with my brother (his first time as well), and we each took one 100ug blotter tab. My vigorous research paid off, as we had an incredibly positive and beautiful experience, laughed till we cried, witnessed the magic of the visuals, and procured some spiritual insights. I plan on waiting a month or so to have another experience, and I want to spread the love and magic with my significant other.

My girlfriend of four years smokes cannabis as regularly as I do, and has never done LSD before, but she is considering it. Her hesitation lies in the fact that she is afraid that she will get brought into a bad trip and be overwhelmed by the emotions of a specific traumatic life experience that happened many years ago. One of her first times with cannabis, she "tripped out" and "relived the experience" very vividly. She is in a much better state of mind now and has reconciled with her past, and is a very positive, happy, and loving person. Since she has a recent history of marijuana use, which I believe to be a psychedelic, would she have the necessary mental experience to fight a bad trip on only 100ug? Especially if she can handle her pot pretty damn well? Personally, I find it hard to believe someone could have a horrible trip on only 100 micro grams, given that it produces a relatively mild LSD high compared to the ego death enducing 500ug+ doses.

I know what I'm asking is extremely subjective and based on many variables; I'm asking for anecdotal advice rather than scientific data, although any help is greatly appreciated. Hopefully any advice could quell her fears of this beautiful substance! I care for this person deeply, and I think an experience with her would be phenomenal and very spiritual. If possible, advice about tripping with your significant other would be appreciated as well.

Last thing: In no way am I trying to pressure her into doing something she doesn't want to, but I'd rather her make an informed choice rather than a choice based on the shit they teach you growing up about substance use.

 

[tokezu]

It is absolutely possible to have a difficult experience on 100 mcg or even less, however that risk can be greatly reduced by understanding the importance of set and setting. But regardless of experience with altered states, 'fighting a bad trip' does not work IME. Take a look at this, that's some pretty good advice on how to handle difficult experiences.

On a low dose and with proper set and setting, and also maybe abstaining from weed at least for the first time as that has been troublesome for her in the past, I think it's very likely that she will have a great experience just as you had. That is of course, if she feels confident in doing it. Being a little nervous before is totally normal, but if she just can't shake the thought that this is a bad idea, there might be something to it. People have a pretty good intuition about these things IMO.

Any psychedelic experience, even on a low dose, has the potential to turn rather serious. This is not necessarily 'bad' and often people can learn quite a bit from that, but obviously it can be a little overwhelming when you expected it all to be just fun and giggles.

 

[ToughSchist]

It is absolutely possible to have a difficult experience on 100 mcg or even less, however that risk can be greatly reduced by understanding the importance of set and setting. But regardless of experience with altered states, 'fighting a bad trip' does not work IME. Take a look at this, that's some pretty good advice on how to handle difficult experiences.

Ah so naive of me!

I paid much attention to set and setting during my first experience, and I can defiantly see now why it is so important.

Thank you for the link to the thread, working through a bad trip and turning it into something positive seems like a better approach than 'fighting' it.

On a low dose and with proper set and setting, and also maybe abstaining from weed at least for the first time as that has been troublesome for her in the past, I think it's very likely that she will have a great experience just as you had. That is of course, if she feels confident in doing it. Being a little nervous before is totally normal, but if she just can't shake the thought that this is a bad idea, there might be something to it. People have a pretty good intuition about these things IMO.

Would you say a ~50ug dose would be a better way to 'break the ice' with Lucy than 100ug in this case?

Interestingly, I actually (cautiously) experimented with smoking weed on the comedown of my trip, as I had heard mixed opinions on its effects. It made me feel quite anxious, and my thoughts and visuals turned someone negative, and my brother and I curiously studied each others faces 'melt' into strange figures. I think I will defiantly lay off the reefer for most of my future hallucinogenic endeavors, as well as spread the advice to others.

 

[Hodor]

Would you say a ~50ug dose would be a better way to 'break the ice' with Lucy than 100ug in this case?

Light doses of LSD (<50 µg) can be pretty uncomfortable experiences sometimes - there's stimulation, confusion and emotional unhingement, but very little of the things that make the psychedelic experience truly fascinating (like hallucinations, or becoming acutely aware of your thoughts and actions). If you can create a pleasant set and setting, 100 µg should be ok.

Interestingly, I actually (cautiously) experimented with smoking weed on the comedown of my trip, as I had heard mixed opinions on its effects. It made me feel quite anxious, and my thoughts and visuals turned someone negative, and my brother and I curiously studied each others faces 'melt' into strange figures. I think I will defiantly lay off the reefer for most of my future hallucinogenic endeavors, as well as spread the advice to others.

Yeah, smoking weed on psychs seems to work for *some* people, but in general it seems more like a method for getting a bit more intensity out of a trip when you're already coming down, as opposed to something that would help you calm down and relax - that's what benzos are for. While benzos significantly diminish the intensity of a psychedelic experience, they're still valuable tools for turning it down a notch (or several) when a trip is just thoroughly unpleasant, or when the psychedelic effects are basically gone and all that's left is uncomfortable stimulation. Note that you don't necessarily have to go all out and take a massive dose to abort the trip as quickly as possible: Used appropriately, minor amounts (say, 0.5 mg of Xanax) can be used to prevent a "challenging but valuable" experience from veering into "pleasemakeitstopI'mnevergonnadoAcidagainJUSTMAKEITSTOP"-territory...

 

[pupnik]

for sig other 50 mics max ever
and do not combine with other rec drugs

 

[tokezu]

Ah so naive of me!

I paid much attention to set and setting during my first experience, and I can defiantly see now why it is so important.

Thank you for the link to the thread, working through a bad trip and turning it into something positive seems like a better approach than 'fighting' it.

No worries . As you said, it's not exactly like we are taught in school about how to use drugs in a sensible way.

Would you say a ~50ug dose would be a better way to 'break the ice' with Lucy than 100ug in this case?

Small doses can have their own unique challenge of being neither here nor there, which can be a little uncomfortable. But the real question is would you rather risk being overwhelmed or underwhelmed? For me it is clearly the latter, so if you're not quite sure just take a little less. There will always be another time where you can go further if you should decide thats what you want. But start low again with every new batch, as it might be stronger than what you are used to.

Interestingly, I actually (cautiously) experimented with smoking weed on the comedown of my trip, as I had heard mixed opinions on its effects. It made me feel quite anxious, and my thoughts and visuals turned someone negative, and my brother and I curiously studied each others faces 'melt' into strange figures. I think I will defiantly lay off the reefer for most of my future hallucinogenic endeavors, as well as spread the advice to others.

Yeah... weed. People disagree about that a lot. For me it goes together with psychedelics like bread and butter, but I smoke it almost every day anyway so I have quite a tolerance and that might be a big part of it. Still it will considerably intensify the experience, so definitely don't go and start smoking it when your trip gets too intense, just because normally weed helps to relax and unwind you. That will seriously backfire.

 

[ToughSchist]

Light doses of LSD (<50 µg) can be pretty uncomfortable experiences sometimes - there's stimulation, confusion and emotional unhingement, but very little of the things that make the psychedelic experience truly fascinating (like hallucinations, or becoming acutely aware of your thoughts and actions). If you can create a pleasant set and setting, 100 µg should be ok.

Interesting... I could see how taking a light dose would be uncomfortable, all the feelings with none of the beauty. A little off topic, I've read about microdoses, but I'm guessing those are more in the range of 5-10ug and produce a non inebriating high? Not that that would be an appropriate dose for what is trying to be achieved, but I would personally like to test microdosing one day.

Yeah, smoking weed on psychs seems to work for *some* people, but in general it seems more like a method for getting a bit more intensity out of a trip when you're already coming down, as opposed to something that would help you calm down and relax - that's what benzos are for. While benzos significantly diminish the intensity of a psychedelic experience, they're still valuable tools for turning it down a notch (or several) when a trip is just thoroughly unpleasant, or when the psychedelic effects are basically gone and all that's left is uncomfortable stimulation. Note that you don't necessarily have to go all out and take a massive dose to abort the trip as quickly as possible: Used appropriately, minor amounts (say, 0.5 mg of Xanax) can be used to prevent a "challenging but valuable" experience from veering into "pleasemakeitstopI'mnevergonnadoAcidagainJUSTMAKEITSTOP"-territory...

I have heard of people using benzos to abort a trip, and it seems like a good safety net just in case she cant work through a potential bad experience. Ill try to get my hands on some. Hopefully we wont need them, and she might be able to persevere on her own accord, which I think could be positively constructive. I'm going to have one of our close friends trip sit for us so he can better determine if she is going through something difficult or downright terrifying and needs an anti-psychotic.

Thank you for the advice, very helpful.

 

[ToughSchist]

for sig other 50 mics max ever
and do not combine with other rec drugs

Do you have any experience with psychedelics with a SO? For what reasons would you advise 50ug as a good dose?

 

[pupnik]

all SO's are unique, sot my experience is not going to benefit you that way.
but her resistance to this already makes me think this is not a direction to push
and if you go that way with her go gently.