The psychedelic waiting room

[Ganj]

Hi all
*sighs* so here I find myself again... about a month ago I did ~1mg of LSD over 12 hours, I had this idea in my head based on past experiences that once you have dosed continual dosing only prolongs a trip rather than intensifying it, although I found out that this is not so much the case if you stay ahead of the tolerance curve via constant dosing. The trip went fantastically and I had some fundamental revelations crystallised (We are all equal, the sources of some of my subconscious frustrations etc...) up until a point where I realised I was in way deeper water than I meant to and it became a bit too much although only for an hour or two and then was tolerable.

Up until this particular trip the slow descent of the plateau has been one of my favourite parts of tripping, although this one was much more like a classic 'comedown' and was not enjoyable and involved a lot of quite uncomfortable glossolalia I couldn't tune out very well. Once I finally got to sleep the next night everything was more or less fine, other than a somewhat expected completely new take on reality.

I am not concerned that I am still tripping or any of that nonsense, but a month later I am still in a rather uncomfortable headspace and cant really relax. Every thing feels very acidy,l I don't feel more anxious just very alert constantly, I feel like I am in some kind of psychedelic waiting room and that there is a very long queue. What wont have helped is up until this trip I was smoking a lot of weed which was making me a bit paranoid in general but I kept smoking anyway (Have stopped now).

I have had a 2cb trip since that went really well and I feel a bit better after that, which has made me come to the conclusion that depending on peoples opinions a sort of aimed acid trip on a low dose with a very experienced friend is probably the best way to go. I feel the issue came from having to navigate my way home (where I live has serious police activity and I have been convicted and stopped on the street before) with drugs in my bag in a bad mind state anyway feeling I've seriously jolted my mind...

On one level I understand some key parts of life and have never been quite so grateful for the abundance of things I didn't appreciate before, on another I have kind of fried my brain I'm only 17... Hasn't kicked in till I typed it quite how young I actually am...

I tick all the basic recovery boxes I am basically vegan, exercise and have consistently meditated for almost a year now and I'm not doing any other drugs.

Opinions are always seriously appreciated, thanks for reading!

 

[jmpw]

I have never felt exactly what you are going through, as the only real issue I've ever had with LSD and its analogues is unchecked mania.

Bear in mind though, it may be possible that you have uncovered some sort of deficiency in your own psyche, which could be either neurological or psychological in nature. While it is generally true that psychedelics cannot cause mental illness, it is commonly accepted that they can uncover a previously unknown or untreated condition. If you have health insurance, it may serve you well to investigate what kind of mental health coverage is offered to you. If you decide to go that route, I would suggest seeing a psychologist first, and based on their professional opinion, seeing a psychiatrist to discuss pharmaceutical options, if necessary.

 

[Ganj]

There is definitely a possibility that I have simply got to the bottom of something. I have had anxiety issues as long as I can remember, definitely picked up some demons growing up in a very tense household, I am likely to seek professional help if this persists, this is either just mild trauma recovery or a physical issue of just having frayed my already sensitive nerves (although these two are inter-twined). It is worth nothing that up until the very peak (I'm guessing ~400 ug accounting for tolerance) this was going swimmingly.

At multiple times I have seriously enjoyed this crazy hyper perception, at other times it has definitely felt like too much.

 

[Jabberwocky]

Yeah, sounds like it awoke a bit of a manic state from what I read. Can happen when you trip hard if you have a sensitivity in that regard. Wait it out is my suggestion, see if it goes away by itself. I've had it last a month or so precipitated by powerful experiences like that. It went away. A full 1mg dose of LSD can do that; that's a serious dose, you're young and your brain is developing. Relax on that front if you want my opinion. Don't aggravate it, especially with stims, keep up the healthy lifestyle, eat regularly and participate in life. I'd find myself laying in bed, body resting, mind awake a lot. Annoying but I got through it. As a vegan too, I found upping protein intake helps with calmness and sleep so I'll tentatively throw that out there. If your mental state takes over and starts affecting your behaviors too much, by all means, seek out medical help. Be very honest with yourself about this; you need to monitor yourself carefully.

A doctor will put you on lithium most likely or some other mood stabilizer if they suspect this. I've gone that route but it's kinda overkill in my view if your only symptoms are an amped up jittery feeling that affects sleep precipitated by the kinds of doses of psychedelics you took. In my case it went away by itself when I stopped tripping. If it doesn't then that's a different story. Might want to find out first because treatment, should it become necessary, is a long term solution to what might be a short term problem. Treatment's fine too, I don't want to feed stigma in any way. You learn a lot about yourself too by how you respond to medications. I got worse with medication and I've seen other people get much worse with treatment too. It can be messy, expensive and confusing when the simple explanation very well could be you took too much LSD.

 

[jmpw]

A doctor will put you on lithium most likely or some other mood stabilizer if they suspect this. I've gone that route but it's kinda overkill in my view if your only symptoms are an amped up jittery feeling that affects sleep precipitated by the kinds of doses of psychedelics you took. In my case it went away by itself when I stopped tripping. If it doesn't then that's a different story. Might want to find out first because treatment, should it become necessary, is a long term solution to what might be a short term problem. Treatment's fine too, I don't want to feed stigma in any way. You learn a lot about yourself too by how you respond to medications. I got worse with medication and I've seen other people get much worse with treatment too. It can be messy, expensive and confusing when the simple explanation very well could be you took too much LSD.

I appreciate that you brought this up in a neutral manner, and as a flipside to your own experiences, I can verify that long-term treatment has worked for me.

Now Ganj, I am not trying to imply that you should take the same path, as I think your age, frequency, and dosage has more to do with your current mental state than anything. I just thought I'd put it out there that mood stabilizers and even anti-psychotics, especially modern atypicals, can work in some of the more extreme cases.

 

[Ganj]

I am very reluctant to consider medication to psychological issues especially anti-psychs. If this is peoples general opinion I will definitely not risk trying to fix this directly, In an odd way its spurred me to fix a lot of things in my life but they obviously don't help. This is survivable but I feel very detached and am never particularly happy. I have been in a similar state about a year ago (yeah I know...) After a high dose 5-meo-Dalt trip. Ever since RC's even classic drugs have gone wrong :/

It is helpful to think about medication as an option if this persists into the longterm.

 

[jmpw]

I hear you, and I hope you can work things out on your own. Like I said before, I think your age has a lot to do with it.

 

[Willydog155]

I'm also 17 and recently had my first trip which resulted in tripping for 20-24 hours. I felt as if it would never end and even got fired for not coming into work, in my case it eventually faded away but definitely left a mark on me. Imo opinion wait it out and try to not think about it as much as possible, I believe the mindset has ALOT to do with it. If it gets to overwhelming I would go get some treatment then..

Good luck man

 

[Ganj]

Yeah i think age is a big factor.
I agree Willydog the way you approach this type of thing completely changes how you get back to 0. There will only be lasting damage if you convince yourself there is.

 

[perpetualdawn]

Try upping your vitamin B12 uptake. It's really difficult to acquire that nutrient on a vegan diet, even plain vegetarians are often deficient. B12 deficiency can cause psychological changes/psychiatric illness, and could be making it more difficult for you to re-integrate after your trip. There's not really any harm in trying to up your B12, and because you mentioned your mostly-vegan diet, I recommend you check this out.

I've noticed many vegans have an edginess in their interactions, totally anecdotal guesswork, but I think it's often to do with B12 deficiency. I've been a mostly-vegetarian/pescatarian for most of my life, and I've notice myself get a bit funny when I've not been incorporating enough B12 foods in my diet. I feel that lack of B12 makes one a tiny bit airy, edgy, paranoid, tripped out.

 

[Ganj]

This is interesting.
I was actually warned about B12 when I went vegan it, it is supplemented in a lot of the alternative milks I drink, although this diet is new and I guess little things like change in diet can have small impacts after such massive changes in perception.