EXTREMELY depressed after DMT???

[Solipsis]

While clinically DMT has no appreciable lasting effects on the brain, I think DMT and 5-MeO-DMT can both trigger chronic episodes. Most often they are caused by traumatic experiences, if there is unbearable terror it can cause panic that lasts for months or years if we can believe some reports (on Erowid among other places). But also these are still psychedelics which can facilitate and catalyze mental processes intensely. You basically having other reasons to be depressed about but having the depression precipitate right during and after the DMT trip are not mutually exclusive explanations. It seems to me that before the trip the issues were latently there but fixed in place while you were able to follow your life and habits.

Then you went through the supremacy that is DMT and maybe it loosened things up while possibly completely jumbling up your orientation in the universe. Being exposed to that is a privilege but it can be a heavy load to bear. For heaven's sake you can throw a bong around PD and skip it off 4 people who had a difficult time from psychedelics use. And being a psych major may keep you up to date on depression and what DSM-IV has to say about things (I don't mean to be belittling) but it doesn't necessarily make you better equipped to handle it all and integrate such experiences, being witness to such things can raise a lot of questions and make a person 100 times as self-aware about what they are doing with their lives and who they are. If you have reasons to be dissatisfied there may be psychological / spiritual reasons why this is all pouring out now.

However from the sounds of it you are finding the symptoms of your depression disproportionate to your issues, almost like strong dysthemia?

 

[Ziiirp]

Then..everything faded away..and I came to. I felt good, but disappointed. I kept thinking about what I saw and how much I wish I could have stayed and seen more.

Could it also be possible, that you simply underdosed ? I had bad experiences with threshold doses of tryptamines in general whereas full doses provided a typical psychedelic trip with ups and downs. Maybe at low doses some psychedelics can also have effects similar to 5-HT-antagonists ?

Also I stopped thinking of substances as spiritual sacraments (what did you expect to see ?), because I never had the privilege to be guided by an authentic teacher. If you consider them as toys, you won't be disappointed about an unfortunate experience. I rather practice sober. There are 8000 paths to the truth, smoking DMT could be one of them for some of us.

Anyways the best cure for post trip traumata is sweating it out through exercise. Your brain is not the centre of the universe. If you use it all the time, while neglecting the rest of your body, there will be developed an unbalance.

 

[Solipsis]

Could it also be possible, that you simply underdosed ? I had bad experiences with threshold doses of tryptamines in general whereas full doses provided a typical psychedelic trip with ups and downs. Maybe at low doses some psychedelics can also have effects similar to 5-HT-antagonists ?

I don't think that is how it works. Low-dosing a psychedelic doesn't lead to chronic depression, with DMT it can be more confusing and anxious being halfway there than going the full monty but DMT is not an antagonist - it would have to be on 5-HT1A I think - at any dose.

 

[gekkokkeg]

Hi all,

First off, I'm not an avid drug user at all. I've occasionally eaten marijuana, did shrooms once, long ago, and that's it. I grew up with an extremely drug-addicted sister who is now dying due to meth use so I think that was enough to steer me away from experimenting much. I read a bit about DMT in a book called DMT The Spirit Molecule. A friend had some pure DMT and I decided it was something I would like to try. I very much believe there is more beyond this limited world we live in and wanted to delve in and see what I could find. I was completely open to the experience, not nervous at all.

I have hardly smoked anything in my life, so smoking it was really, REALLY hard. It hurt so much. I think I also felt conflicted as we were using a meth pipe and it brought up thoughts of my sister even though I know DMT is a whole different thing.

I didn't get enough to blast off. Rather, my body fell away and I fell back on the bed and closed my eyes. I lost my body for a few seconds and briefly saw a bunch of eyes, much like Alex Grey's artwork- or Tool album art. The eyes then parted, like a gate opening, and a beautiful, goddess like woman stepped out. She was smiling and her arms were open. She said welcome, I'm glad you are here. I started to go towards her, I wanted so badly to be in her arms and taken with her..almost like a little kid needing their mother.

Then..everything faded away..and I came to. I felt good, but disappointed. I kept thinking about what I saw and how much I wish I could have stayed and seen more.

I would have tried again after the hour waiting period, but my friend had a negative experience and out of respect I didn't try again but instead helped them through the ensuing panic attack/anxiety they were experiencing.

I left for home (was visiting out of state) and so am not able to go back to try the DMT and have no other connections to get any.

Fast forward. I have been DEEPLY, DEEPLY depressed since doing the DMT. I've always struggled with depression to some degree, but never like this. I didn't know it could be this bad. I'm against pharmaceuticals but in the past have tried 5-htp, St. John's Wort, Passionflower and few other remedies that have somewhat helped. They aren't helping at all this time.

Of course, there are factors to consider other than the DMT, but really after doing DMT is when this all began and I can't help but to trust my intuition that the two are connected.

Maybe my brief glimpse left me wanting more...or maybe it showed me there is something else. I've always felt that I don't really belong on this planet. I am super sensitive, empathetic, compassionate, and all the greed and destruction hurts me so much. I can't stand the rat race, or living ruled by money and work. At the same time, I'm very spiritual and meditative, and understand that I am just passing through and that there is a lot of good and happiness in this world.

After the DMT though, I can hardly function. Nothing ignites inspiration in me. In all honesty, if there were an off button for life I would eagerly push it (assuming I could just disappear as though I never existed, I wouldn't want to hurt anyone or leave my kitties homeless!)

Has anyone else experienced extreme depression after DMT...the kind where you can't even think, open you mouth to speak, move, eat or do ANYTHING. I can barely function and have spent days in bed unable to get up which I have never done before...luckily I have these two weeks off work or I have no idea what I would do. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated..I'm worried I've kind of thrown off my already imbalanced brain chemistry with the DMT.

I realize this topic is from several years ago now and i hope no-one minds me reopening it briefly.

You mentioned smoking the DMT from the meth pipe. Perhaps your experience was trying to help you forgive your sister. Now hear me out here because firstly, I realize I am making a presumption that you hadn't forgiven your sister or that you were resenting her on some level.

Loss is difficult for us all and I wonder if on some level you were blaming her for her own demise. If only she had stopped smoking meth. I wonder if the DMT was visually showing you her experience of meth use, or perhaps her first experience of meth use so that you might understand what it was like and how she might have allowed herself to become so unwell. - The initial Euphoria and the warmth from the attractive god-like figure who you never quite reach, - what leads you to wanting to take more, in hope of reaching that again, and/or of getting closer to that.

It sounds like your experience of seeing you friend suffer, after inhalation of the DMT, may have on some level reflected your experience of observing your sister's meth use -your friend playing the role of your sister. Whereby, it looked horrendous from the outside and this prevented you from ever smoking meth, or in this case, taking a subsequent hit of DMT.

Obviously, I may be completely (or partially) wrong, and only you can really understand your own experience and what it meant for you. Nevertheless, I hope that my words might resonate on some level and can provide some form of understanding and healing for you, or perhaps at least for others who have had similar experiences who may be now reading this post.

I hope that from understanding what your sister has gone through in this way, it has made it easier to forgive her for her illness and helped you to let go. It is understandable that you would be depressed during such a time of loss and I can only hope that at this future date you have been able to heal sufficiently to re-emerge out of the depressive state you mentioned at the time of your initial post. I offer my condolences and I hope your sister is at peace at this time.

Furthermore, I hope you have now moved to a pleasant stage of your own life, that you are in a happy and beautiful place whereby you are able to enjoy your human experience during your time on Earth.

Sending you much love and many blessings

 

[the_ketaman]

I have never heard anything like this caused by DMT :-( . You hear of the odd person ending up in the psych ward due to excessive LSD use but DMT?

I don't really have any thoughts of a possible explanation, this is just something new to me and I hope to god that its not directly DMT related but I also wish you the best of luck in the future and that you begin to feel better.

Is it really all that rare for say mushrooms, salvia, ketamine or Mescaline/cacti to land someone in the psych ward to treat delusions of grandeur? Ive always been a hardhead when it comes to psychs and I usually try to take probably more than I need but I have been disappointed because of under-dosing so may times and its so frustrating. But I have sometimes worried that I could just snap and end up needing help after tripping but ive always been fine, taken huge psych combos and always known whats real or not(at least by the time everything settles a bit)