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  • Trip Reports Moderator: Cheshire_Kat

2C-I -- experienced -- Putting a Psychedelic to the Test

bluedolphin

Bluelight Crew
Joined
Feb 19, 2003
Messages
6,062
Purpose

My previous experiences with 2C-I, at doses ranging from 3mg to 21mg, had left me with the impression that the chemical had very little to offer besides some very nice visuals and a capacity for some introspection. It always seemed that during a 2C-I trip, I could simply let my mind go idle and enjoy the show.

What I've found with tryptamines such as psiloc(yb)in and LSD is that they make my mind work a whole lot harder, and I felt like these drugs had much more depth to the experience than any phenethylamine could offer, including mescaline (which I've only tried once).

This trip report is about the time that I directly challenged 2C-I to impress me. I was seeking confusion, revelation, a difficult trip... anything besides idle-minded eye candy.

Preparation

My friend T (who I ate LSD with a few weeks ago) wanted to eat some 2C-I... so I took an 18mg dose and a 12mg dose and evened out the difference by eye... giving us both doses of approximately 15mg. I know from experience that a dose between 14-17mg is adequate to get "full effects" from 2C-I, while keeping the adverse physical symptoms to a minimum.

At about 9:15pm we swallowed our gel caps and went to finish watching the Red Sox vs. Yankees playoff game.

I kept with me a water bottle, and took a nice gulp every 20-30 minutes. I've found this is the best way to keep stomach pain away and other digestive side effects to a minimum. Of course this means I have to piss frequently (especially since 2C-I seems to dehydrate me), but its the only way.

The Trip

Just before eating the gel cap I had smoked a couple of bowls with two friends, so while I was watching the game I noticed my weed high diminish and slowly get replaced by a more psychedelic "warmth". By 10:00pm I was already noticing the lamp post next to me wiggling a little bit, and the carpet was shifting just a little.

The game ended around 11:00pm, and the Sox won so I was happy. "T" is a Yankees fan so that didn't really put him in a good mood. By this time the carpet was patterning and shifting in the geometric/Aztec-looking ways that I am used to seeing on phenethylamines.

Some time, not long after the game, I figured I had peaked/plateaued and I went to use the toilet. The tile floor beneath my feet was in constant motion, swirling around and rising up. The best part was whereever I stepped, Aztec-looking patterns would grow out of my feet. Likewise the walls were constantly changing hue/color and there were patterns suspended in the air and I could easily make stop-motion tracers by waving my hand about.

Nice eye candy, I thought, but my thought process was only altered 1/5th as much as it would be on an equally visual dose of any tryptamine. It was at this point, standing in the bathroom, that I taunted the drug: "Show me your power! Mess with my mind! Challenge me!"

I then went back out to watch Wayne's World with "T", who was just beginning to feel the effects of the 2C-I at this point, and appeared to be coming up fast. We watched about half of Wayne's World, all the while analysing the subtle layers of halarity in the movie. At a point we both became too distracted by the walls, tapestries, carpet, etc and we decided that watching a movie would be a waste.

We went upstairs and I picked up my guitar and played some really trippy music. Sometimes when I'm tripping I can play way beyond my normal ability, sometimes I can't play at all. Well, I played really well, jamming on the clean channel nonstop for about 20 minutes, and that made me happy. "T" looked at the Erowid art gallery meanwhile. I realized that I had not actually peaked an hour earlier, and I was more likely peaking now.

Around midnight we smoked a couple bowls of beasters and put some tunes on the computer. That kicked us both up a notch. I looked at the art gallery and saw patterns resembling the artwork flowing out of my monitor. The images were in constant motion and I thought it looked really cool, although it lacked the depth and meaning that was in the art last time I looked at it on LSD. I focused on my trip and tried to strengthen it, remembering how before I had earlier asked 2C-I to really impress me.

Then all of a sudden my trip took a turn for the weird. I could barely talk, and whatever I did say didn't make any sense. So I just sat there for a while, but my body started to feel kind of weird. Static-like, I guess. I started to think deeply, and nearly got caught in a paranoid negative thought loop that I was being poisoned by the drug I had taken. My heart was beating fast, but not so fast that it couldn't be attributed to the pot I had just smoked. I narrowly escaped panic.

Admittedly, I was surprised that 2C-I was able to almost send me into a bad trip. I felt like 2C-I had lived up to the challenge that I had posed to it. But it wasn't over.

Right after that I started to feel physically weak, so I chugged some water and tried to focus. My visuals kicked up a notch all of a sudden, like the colors of everything were constantly changing and the patterns were becoming pronounced. The morphing seemed to pick up in speed as did the changing colors, and I felt like my environment was suddenly becoming very chaotic. I might have enjoyed this, except remember my body was starting to feel weak...

I was listening to "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" by Harrison and right away the pitch, volume, and tempo of the sound starting going completely out of whack. It sounded like someone was fucking around with the pitch, tempo, and volume knobs. This sounded REALLY weird and it made the music sound spooky. I tried to make it stop by focusing really hard, but there was nothing I could do. In addition to this, my vision seemed to be coming apart like static all around me. Whenever the pitch of the music would swoop low, my vision would also "slow down". I felt like I was becoming detached from my senses. On a dissociative, or a tryptamine I might have enjoyed this, but on 2C-I I felt like these were symptoms relating to my physical well-being rather than my mind.

I asked "T" a few times to turn off the music, and he finally heard me and obliged. I took a few minutes to chill out, and fortunately things did calm down a notch for me. After chilling out I told "T" I needed a change of scenery. By now it was around 2:00am, and I went downstairs and crawled into bed with my girlfriend. I felt a lot better once I was around her, told her what had happened, etc. Bonus points for her for so well accomidating the tripping boyfriend =)

At this point I started to come down... around 3:00am I fell asleep, no problem. 2C-I's stimulation always leaves me with the option to feel sedated and sleepy or energetic.

It Passed the Test

2C-I kicked my ass in a way that I hadn't expected. Full audio hallucinations, paranoid thought loops, inability to effectively communicate with others...

Proof that mindset plays a major role in the outcome of a trip.
Also proof that heroic doses of 2C-I are completely unnescessary. In fact I tripped harder from this 15mg dose than my largest dose of 21mg.

This trip renewed my interest in phenethylamines, but I no longer look at them as a more "recreational" alternative to tryptamines.

peace
 
Great report. That's exactly how my trip was the first 4 hours of my experience. It was very enjoyable and fun. But after that, it all turned for the worst. When people would talk about how gentle 2C-I is, it through me off a bit because if you do challenge it, it can turn your experience into a total hellish nightmare
 
You discovered what I did...that smaller doses of 2C-I are where the magic is at and any more than 16 mg (or so, depending on individual tolerance) is unnessessary and does not *usually* lead to better experiences. Nice report. :)
 
Thanks =)

That 2C-I trip rekindled my respect and fascination with phenethylamines at a point where I was close to dismissing them. Turns out a swift kick in the butt was exactly what I needed.

Now I'm psyched to try some 2C-B =D
 
I don't want to color your future experiences with 2C-B, but if you are anything like me you might be a bit let down by it, at least at first. While I do enjoy the stuff very much, I think 2C-B lacks some of 2C-I's introspective power. Well, I'll say it is there with 2C-B but much harder to access than it is with 2C-I.

But while 2C-B lacks that easy-to-access introspection, it makes up for it with really cool visuals (more so than with 2C-I) and it feels great. And it doesn't last too long. There is an incredible euphoria, and lot's of empathy for others if you take it in a group setting.

But since you appear to be looking for something deeper in PEAs than that, you might be a bit let down with 2C-B. Again, at least at first. Then again, we all react differently (or read chemicals differently anyway) so 2C-B may be your cup of meat. I don't know.

For me it took a few tries to really appreciate 2C-B. I still find 2C-I and 2C-T-7 much deeper, and 2C-E even more so. But I like 2C-B for what it is...a gentle, warm, easy-on-the-body psychedelic which is quite enjoyable to take. Nothing too deep, just a great sparkle. I'll dose anywhere between 16 and 35 mg with 2C-B, depending sparkley I want things to get.
 
fabulous report

great idea to go into the trip with the intention of challenging 2c-i and seeing what results. Particularly because it has a reputation as one of the lighter 2c-Is that is good for an introduction to PEAs.
 
trippingspirals:
Thanks mate... I would never have eaten a tryptamine and directly challeneged it like that, out of the respect that I have for these drugs and their power. But between 2C-I and mescaline I always felt like PEA's were a shallower experience. I still believe nothing touches the power and depth of LSD (that I've tried), but at least now I'm willing to get PEA's the respect they deserve.

morninggloryseed:
No worries about coloring my experience. Actually now that 2C-I has impressed me with its power to "trip me out", so to speak, I'm looking forward to being able to take a PEA and spending the experience in a happy state of cool visuals. 2C-I never really had a very strong positive mood push for me, and there were times on this drug where I found myself bored with the whole experience and thinking I might as well be sober. If I wanted to delve deeper into the realms of phenethylamine madness I could chop down a couple feet of the San Pedro cactus sitting right next to me, but honestly after a medium/mild first mescaline experience I am afraid that the body load could force a bad 14-hour trip for me on a larger dose. My biggest complaint with mescaline and 2C-I is that they don't feel as "healthy" as the tryptamines I've tried. From what I've heard about 2C-B it is the easiest on the body, and I look forward to eating a phenethylamine without having to pay attention to how my body feels (unless we're talking warm rushes or something... =)

Plus I have the opportunity to try 2C-B soon, so it fits nicely into my agenda ;)
 
bluedolphin said:

From what I've heard about 2C-B it is the easiest on the body, and I look forward to eating a phenethylamine without having to pay attention to how my body feels (unless we're talking warm rushes or something... =)

Plus I have the opportunity to try 2C-B soon, so it fits nicely into my agenda ;)

Your mileage may very. 3 trippers that I was with on my 1st 2C-B experience all vomited at some stage during their trips, but after that they felt much better. I like to pride myself on having a fairly robust gastrointestinal system, expecially while on psychedelics. ;)

Oh, and a great trip report btw, sounds like 2ci gave you the insight you were looking for! =D
 
Excellent report man :)
I've always wondered which phenethylamines could offer something close to the tryptamine brain rape :)
 
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