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First time 2C-I Psychosis and Bad First Trip. Try again or stay away?

Sapphires

Greenlighter
Joined
Apr 30, 2011
Messages
37
Location
Baltimore, USA
I'll preface this thread by stating I weigh 180 lbs and do not have experience with ANY other psychedelic drugs besides Salvia.

It's a long read, be warned!

About a week ago, after researching the chemical thoroughly, I took roughly 18-20mg of 2C-I alone at 1AM with no obligations for the next few days and a pleasant environment. The trip started out great, music was wonderful and there was an immense euphoria and eyes open fractal visuals that went along with the music. About two hours into the trip I became struck with the fear that I was actually in my bed grinding my teeth to the extent that they were cracking and falling out. I could taste blood and I had to keep feeling my teeth with my fingers to make sure they were there. Additionally, I would keep spitting to make sure that there was no blood (there never was.) I had no idea what I was feeling with my fingers, because I didn't recognize my teeth and at one point they felt like baby teeth that were lose and falling out. I understood that this was likely just the jaw clenching (my jaw was moving like shivering on a cold day) but I couldn't remove the fear that I was going to wake up the next day in the hospital with no teeth.

I turned off my laptop, turned off the music, and turned off the TV and tried to go to sleep but all I could see when I closed my eyes was millions of moving gears and I had the immense feeling that I had broken a carefully pieced together reality that took someone an infinite amount of time to make. I kept getting more and more scared that I'd never get back into reality and I'd never be able to sleep again, and at that point I had a strange closed-eye hallucination of a rainbow flipbook and each time a page turned, I'd feel every single emotion (happy/anxious/terrified/sad) and an infinite amount of pages would go on and on and on. This made me extremely depressed because I imagined that it was some sort of creation of parallel universes and I was creating a rift in them that would cause lots of problems for someone or the universe.

I opened up my eyes realizing that I was not going to fall asleep, and looking at the clock, I still have another 3-4 hours of the trip left. I turned on the TV but the shows were so bizarre and I had no idea what was going on, everything scared me.. I kept trying to change the channels but there were only 2 shows and an infomercial that kept repeating over and over and over again. By the time I realized that every channel was a loop of the same thing and that the menus weren't actually there (they were just empty black spaces where the channel guides were supposed to go) I tried to do something else. The first thing I did was pick up my phone to call someone, but when I had it in my hand I had no idea what it was and none of the menus worked. At this point, I tried to take some Benadryl to knock myself out to sleep. It took me what seemed like an eternity to open the bottle because I was honestly under the impression that the triangle safety point was no longer there. I took either 100-200mg worth of pills.

This is where the extreme schizophrenic effects started. I managed to turn my laptop back on and I remember searching for "How long does a 2C-I trip last." I did this before I took the dose and remembered the results that were there, but they were all gone. All of the results on the first page of Google were 100% clear and easily read but all of the information was different and hyperinflated. Instead of 6-8 hours, the results were saying "12-20 weeks" and some results were saying "I've been tripping on 2C-I for a month" and "Help I've been trapped here for years." This HORRIFIED me and I immediately shut off my laptop and went back to bed to watch the same loop of television over and over again.

Then I started hearing things. There was evil laughter outside my window and I started hearing voices through the noise my air conditioner was making. Someone kept saying "It took me forever to get all of this chaos into order and you've gone and fucked it all up." I thought that what was outside was going to come inside at any moment and drag me into some bizarro world, but I knew I still had some grasp on reality because the clock I kept checking was going up and up. I had an immense fear that at any moment, my last hope of being sane (the clock) would do something strange, as every other electronic device or hold on reality was completely gone. Lights flickered, evil laughs continued, and fear continued for another two hours. I thought I was trapped in some time skip and I'd have to carry out a years worth of life in this alternate world for an infinite amount of times just to get back to where I was.

About an hour after the peak effects (and 5-6 hours into the trip) I managed to maintain some composure by naming things around my room and saying things I knew. That's a pillow, that's a cell phone, that's the carpet, that's popcorn. I stood up, went to the bathroom, and when I came back I knew who I was and what had happened. Despite the initial composure, every so often I'd go back into trip mode and become terrified again. If the clock wouldn't change, I'd think all hell was about to break loose (but only on a grander scale because obviously the hallucinations are much more powerful if I'm walking around and trying to be sane.) I tried to call people and no one answered, the TV remote stopped working properly for a period of time, and the TV channels kept repeating themselves.

About an hour after THAT I tried to change the TV channel again and since it was now morning I turned on the local news. There were newscasters but their faces were like aliens and I had NO IDEA what they were saying. It's like I lost all concept of english (which is apparently called word salad for schizophrenia sufferers) During this new phase where schizophrenia was really strong, I kept feeling wetness on areas of my body (like something dripped on me) like my neck. I'd go to feel where the wet spot was, and my finger would get wet but then when I looked at my finger or the area, it was completely dry. Colors were all in metallic shades, and I kept seeing something under my desk (but it was amusing and not as scary as the thing in my backyard earlier) I kept hearing the evil laughs, but they were fading out and eventually I must have passed out from all the benadryl.

When I woke up the next day I was extremely paranoid and I've been slightly paranoid for a week since that I'm going to end up back in the trip, however I can't help but think I learned a lot (though I haven't figured out what) from the witnessing of what appeared to be time and dimensions (when I do something, there are infinite alternate versions of what I did so I should try to do only good things). Even though the trip was what I would call TERRIBLE I think it was my fault for trying to end it 4 hours early and expecting it to ACTUALLY end 4 hours early. I should've enjoyed it for what it was worth, kept the music on, and chilled the fuck out. Taking too much diphenhydramine (a delerient) probably compounded the effects of being trapped out of reality, but then what stops the fear of breaking my teeth?

I don't want to rule out 2C-I or other psychedelics because they definitely have a lot to teach when used correctly and respected, obviously 20mg (an intermediate but slightly higher than usual dose) was too much, but would 1-5mg still cause such terrible effects?

Is this type of bad trip normal for a first trip and will the effects subside when trying again? I've read countless experiences of 2C-I but none really share any similarities with mine, which is why I made this thread.

I'd like to know what other people would do in my situation. Never use psychedelics again because the first experience was bad, or try it again with the knowledge you've gained?
 
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Welcome to the board! Hope to see more posts.

Funny, the first "true" psychedelic i ever took was also 2c-i... and it was god-awful. The first time you trip is always the worst/best.

One thing with your teeth that happened is you became hyper-aware. I noticed, for me, 2c-i is incredibly susceptible and suggestive to imaginative thinking. Becoming hyper-aware of organ functions, your teeth, etc. is something that happened to me on 2c-i as well. It is also a somewhat common occurrence for LSD trips.

Don't get me wrong i'm certainly not knocking you for being reckless (first time i took 2c-i it was 50mg eyeballed) but if you had done your homework you would of remembered, within range, how long the trip would last.

There are a few tips i'd like to give you SPECIFICALLY if you'd read them:
a.) Always keep a few benzodiazepines (Xanax, Ativan, Valium, etc) handy (in your pocket, and somewhere in your room). I'd also recommend having an anti-psychotic available if possible if/when things get too crazy.

b.) For your next trip, if wish to do so, have someone be your trip sitter or at least trip with someone else.

c.) As hippie-ish as it sounds Nature is often a huge aid in curbing bad trips!

d.) Psychedelics aren't like taking opiates or other recreational substances. You need an outlet; find an activity to do while you trip.

e.) Try not messing with such an introspective substance as 2c-i for your next time. I found substances with less push on your body and mind with mostly visuals tend to be a great starter. For me, i got over my fear of psychedelics with 4-HO-MET (est. 8-15mg). PEA's tend to have a strong bodyload, i found 2c-i especially energetic. Tryptamines (when chosen wisely) can be much less stressful, but to each his own.


That's all i an think of for now. Really i hope you take some of what i say to heart. I foolishly tried to hop back on the 2c-i horse a week after my initial bad trip and it went even worse... It's just too much of an introspective substance for my tastes (and i'm an introvert...).

And PS: I also thought i went completely insane all 3 times i've done 2c-i.


EDIT: Also forgot to answer your basic question. Do 2c-i if you feel confident that you can handle it (or be handled by it). Make sure all the factors in making a good trip are overall decent... and if you do choose to do so don't fight what happens; for 2c-i it's often overwhelmingly powerful and hard to let go of control but it's something you have to be prepared to do in order to get over that hurdle of a bad trip to make things more enjoyable!
 
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This reminds me so much of my first (2c-i and also in general) trip.

I took 12mg. First, I felt uncomfortable, then, as if I were underwater. My vision decomposed into morphing fields of color
(orange and blue, predominantly) and I found it nearly impossible to use my cellphone.
I went through a series of scent and sound based flashbacks of childhood, some enjoyable, some not, but overall a bit disorienting. I managed to get the TV to the discovery channel, and a show about LSD was playing (I assumed it was a hallucination at the time, which freaked me the FUCK out, and sent me into a fit where i thought I would be tripping forever; I'd broken my brain; I'm actually flopping around on the floor seizing, etc.) But I eventually realized since I already dosed myself, if those horrible things are actually happening, and I'm flatlining on the floor in a pool of my own vomit, as least I've got this amazing light show to go out on.

At that moment, my anxiety ceased, as I had no longer had reason to be anxious. For the next 4 hours, I was in utter bliss, embracing the psychadelic experience until I eventually came down watching the sunrise.

2C-I is serious business. It will throw you into the thick of whatever thoughts you let flow through your mind.

Let it, and learn from it. Be confident in yourself and stare deeply into the mirror. :D Thank me later ;)

P.S. Next time, skip the benedryl. That shit is a deleriant, and in and of itself can give you a nice little dysphoric schizophrenic state. Your negative effects were likely magnified by this, and your trip ruined.
 
I would be cautious about tripping again, certainly lower your dose next time and maybe try a different chemical as you 2C-I might not be for you. If you do plan to trip again, I would make sure you have a few Valium or a couple of mg of Xanax in case things go wrong and you can abort the trip. I also recommend a sitter or trip partner, I honestly think because this was your first 'real' trip (I wouldn't consider salvia your first trip, as I doubt you barely even remember what happened like most people) and you were alone it got the better of you, when things are getting bad having someone to talk to can take your mind off things and make you see the positive effects.
 
wow. i'm sorry you had such a hellish experience, but this definitely highlights the setting aspect. tripping should never be done in a location where one might feel 'trapped', and 2C-I is such a powerful ally that i would definitely suggest getting yourself some tripping buddies at least. solo trips can be totally different from group ones.
 
I would say the "so much diphenhydramine" is likely to blame for the dysphoric effects... 2ci is normally pretty non-headfuck, and your dose was reasonable, perhaps a tad high for a first time test. A small amount of DPH is advised for 2C-E to lessen its weird bodyload, but is unneccessary and apparently BAD for use with 2C-I. Sorry your first trip was not very nice.
 
I would say the "so much diphenhydramine" is likely to blame for the dysphoric effects... 2ci is normally pretty non-headfuck, and your dose was reasonable, perhaps a tad high for a first time test. A small amount of DPH is advised for 2C-E to lessen its weird bodyload, but is unneccessary and apparently BAD for use with 2C-I. Sorry your first trip was not very nice.
yes. i thought that was the most relevant part of your trip. DPH is a deleriant. its not surprising you had a bad time tbh...at least you didnt take a bunch of ambien lol!
even with xanax or valium you prob wouldn't have been able to go to sleep that early in the trip.
in any case i've always thought mushrooms made the most sense for a first time trip. 2c-i was my second trip and it was both similar and markedly different from mushrooms.
 
Ive went straight psychotic off of 2ci!!!

2 nights ago I took 2 capsules of 2ci, i've taken 2ci at least 10 times before. I took it at a rave, My trip started out okay but I started freaking out my friend had to hold me for 4 hours in the smoking section cause i kept restraining and freaking out and didnt think she was my friend the whole time i was in a totally diffrent world i thought something completely diffrent was going on then what was really happening. I had severe psychosis....I wouldnt talk to anybody for hours.....When we left the rave my friend fed me anti-psycotics cause hopeing to bring me trip down... i then peed on myself outside my friends doorstep.... and puked in her kitchen. she tried to put me in the shower, she had to undress me and put me in the shower i just stood there and shook violently so she took me out.... she had to dress me cause i couldnt dress myself. when she got me out i just sat in a chair for hours and my eyes would roll back into my head and id twitch...

2ci has a rep for giving people psychosis its happened to me and many of my friends!!! id stay away from it, its a designer drug and is not fda approved. im pretty sure 2ci has something in common with pcp like how pcp can effect your muscles.... every time after i do 2ci get severe muscle aches, and how pcp can also give people psychosis, like how people on pcp get completly dissascoiated with the world and have no recollection of whats actually going on... cause thats what happened to me on 2ci. anyways super sketch experience!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
2 nights ago I took 2 capsules of 2ci, i've taken 2ci at least 10 times before. I took it at a rave, My trip started out okay but I started freaking out my friend had to hold me for 4 hours in the smoking section cause i kept restraining and freaking out and didnt think she was my friend the whole time i was in a totally diffrent world i thought something completely diffrent was going on then what was really happening. I had severe psychosis....I wouldnt talk to anybody for hours.....When we left the rave my friend fed me anti-psycotics cause hopeing to bring me trip down... i then peed on myself outside my friends doorstep.... and puked in her kitchen. she tried to put me in the shower, she had to undress me and put me in the shower i just stood there and shook violently so she took me out.... she had to dress me cause i couldnt dress myself. when she got me out i just sat in a chair for hours and my eyes would roll back into my head and id twitch...

2ci has a rep for giving people psychosis its happened to me and many of my friends!!! id stay away from it, its a designer drug and is not fda approved. im pretty sure 2ci has something in common with pcp like how pcp can effect your muscles.... every time after i do 2ci get severe muscle aches, and how pcp can also give people psychosis, like how people on pcp get completly dissascoiated with the world and have no recollection of whats actually going on... cause thats what happened to me on 2ci. anyways super sketch experience!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

At first I want to say sorry for the OP for having a bad trip, and I want to say sorry to this poster having a horrible trip but in now way is 2ci like pcp. This poster just had a bad trip on 2ci, any psychedelic can cause you to go psychotic (not just 2ci), 2ci is a psychedelic while pcp is a dissociative, and no hallucinogenic drug is "FDA" approved, maybe some are more researched then others like LSD, but the "FDA" hasn't approved any of them. This poster was just twitching because of the amphetamine like attributes of 2c-i, and taking a hallucinogenic drug in a new and crowded environment is always risky. I am sorry but this post really contains no real information and sounds like nothing more then uneducated drivel.

Now I would say that maybe you should try an even less intense psy or maybe a lower dose of 2c-i. Maybe you should try 5-meo-DALT and I would also avoid taking DPH to go to sleep and maybe have some xanax handy.
 
I'd say you probably dosed too high. What did you use to measure your dose? Let me guess, a $20 0.001g scale? Those are +/- 6-10mg in my experience (compared weights measured on that vs ones on my 0.0001mg lab scale).

Also, for one's first time on 2C-I, I council aiming for a dose of 10mg, rather than the ~20mg that is generally considered a full trip.
 
The dose response curves of the 2C-X compounds are renowned for being particularly steep.

I don't know the particular parameters for 2C-I but its thought that even just increases of 2-5 mg above a certain level for 2C-B, 2C-E and 2C-P can lead to a doubling in the intensity of the trip.

2C-I appears to be one of the more forgiving of the 2C family, but would still expect the above to be true.

Just to add: I'd be cautious, but it is worth experimenting again at about 1/2 to 1/3 the dose, because you may find that the substance works well for you at this level. There is so much trial and error involved with this, and experimentation is the only way you will really know...
 
Thanks for all the replies everyone, now that it's been over a week since the bad trip and I've had a lot of time to reflect on what happened I don't blame the drug for anything as all of the negative side effects were my own responsibility.

Wanting the trip to end early created anxiety which then fed the rest of the trip and taking diphenhydramine to end the trip early just compounded the effects of a delerium and caused even more anxiety. I was lucky that I managed to hold on to some sanity and didn't do something that I'd regret like calling in a visit to the hospital. I also believe that what caused such a bad experience was the fact that I was trapped in a thought loop which I had no previous knowledge about and thus created even more anxiety. I suggest that anyone who hasn't read up about thought loops and how to recognize and stop them does so, to make sure you never experience such a miserable feeling.

After realizing the effects and learning some methods to reduce anxiety and recognize triggers that could turn into a bad trip, I do plan on doing either 2C-I or 2C-E again under much much lower dose (not any time soon though). Instead of starting at a common/high dose and working down which I unintentionally did, I will start low and work up (3-5mg and then 10-12mg respectively) For anyone considering using 2C-I in the future, please keep that in mind.

For as bad as the trip was, I've taken away a lot from my short and unpleasant experience. I've been dwelling on the little things I saw and experienced during the trip ever since and I've definitely changed some of my life for the better. For those who say it's not an empathetic drug, I believe it certainly is. Like the experiences in Pihkal, some users reported that it's not a fun drug but it's something that they would definitely like to do again for learning.

I'd say you probably dosed too high. What did you use to measure your dose? Let me guess, a $20 0.001g scale? Those are +/- 6-10mg in my experience (compared weights measured on that vs ones on my 0.0001mg lab scale).

You're correct. I measured with a .001g scale after calibration with the included weights. I'll keep in mind that there is a 6-10mg tolerance level when using it again.
 
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2ci has a rep for giving people psychosis its happened to me and many of my friends!!! id stay away from it, its a designer drug and is not fda approved. im pretty sure 2ci has something in common with pcp like how pcp can effect your muscles.... every time after i do 2ci get severe muscle aches, and how pcp can also give people psychosis, like how people on pcp get completly dissascoiated with the world and have no recollection of whats actually going on... cause thats what happened to me on 2ci. anyways super sketch experience!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No, 2c-i does NOT have a reputation for giving people psychosis!

This remark and all the excessive propaganda verbiage makes me think you are tying to be some do-gooder and are pushing some anti-recreational drug agenda here on bluelight.

Virtually NONE of the symptoms you report are typical of 2c-i. In fact it has probably THE LOWEST potential for headfuck of almost any psychedelic. Some stimulation and some very generalized visual effects but nothing freaky.

If the batch of 2c-i you have access to has given you and "many of you friends" an experience of psychosis, then I suggest 3 possibilities:

1) you in fact do NOT have real 2c-i, it was sold as such because thats what you said you wanted by a disreputable dealer who just wanted your cash

2) you freaked out at the stimulant effects and this triggered a manic over-reaction

3) you simply dosed too high... why did you take 2 caps? did you not trust the suppliers provided dose? in general it is a BAD idea to buy pre-capped RCs from someone who says it is X amount of Y. It might be something else by accident (they grabbed the wrong caps) or by intent (they just want to sell off something else) or they might have eyeballed the doses not wanting to spend money on a proper scale, and thus by taking 2 you massively overdosed. NEXT TIME GET A SCALE AND WEIGH YOUR DOSE YOURSELF FROM BULK THAT YOU YOURSELF HAVE PROCURED FROM A REPUTABLE VENDOR. to NOT do so is massively dangerous and irresponsible. Hopefully you learned a lesson.
 
Interesting read in this thread.

My experience with 2ci (background: 50+ trips on a large variety of seratonergics, many more than that with nmda antagonists, recently back to using seratonergic psychedelics after a 10year break): having dosed 2C-I only 3 times at 4 mg each time, great at that dose! It just makes me real happy with a nice body buzz! I love it and unless there is a flat dose curve couldn't imagine taking more than 8-10mg of it, cause it would probably make me twitch too! :)

Moral of the story, start small, real small next time, and you might find you enjoy the experience with no negative side effects. Need a bump during the experience? Smoke some kush. Easy to dose 48 hours later a with very little tolerance noted if you wanted to go further. Patience with psychedelics can be extremely rewarding.
 
4 mg? If taken orally, this should be at most a threshold experience, mood lift and mild body high, few visuals. It is difficult to believe that someone can't take more than 8-10 mg of it.
You must be very sensitive to this drug, auto1:)
 
No, 2c-i does NOT have a reputation for giving people psychosis!

This remark and all the excessive propaganda verbiage makes me think you are tying to be some do-gooder and are pushing some anti-recreational drug agenda here on bluelight.

Virtually NONE of the symptoms you report are typical of 2c-i. In fact it has probably THE LOWEST potential for headfuck of almost any psychedelic. Some stimulation and some very generalized visual effects but nothing freaky.

If the batch of 2c-i you have access to has given you and "many of you friends" an experience of psychosis, then I suggest 3 possibilities:

1) you in fact do NOT have real 2c-i, it was sold as such because thats what you said you wanted by a disreputable dealer who just wanted your cash

2) you freaked out at the stimulant effects and this triggered a manic over-reaction

3) you simply dosed too high... why did you take 2 caps? did you not trust the suppliers provided dose? in general it is a BAD idea to buy pre-capped RCs from someone who says it is X amount of Y. It might be something else by accident (they grabbed the wrong caps) or by intent (they just want to sell off something else) or they might have eyeballed the doses not wanting to spend money on a proper scale, and thus by taking 2 you massively overdosed. NEXT TIME GET A SCALE AND WEIGH YOUR DOSE YOURSELF FROM BULK THAT YOU YOURSELF HAVE PROCURED FROM A REPUTABLE VENDOR. to NOT do so is massively dangerous and irresponsible. Hopefully you learned a lesson.

THank you dude for this intelligent post!!!!

I'll be trying 2c-i in a week or two, cang wait =D
 
First: I've know first hand that people have had horrible freak out trips on legit 2C-I - remember that every invidiual reacts differently.

No matter what psychedelic I'm on, I tend to go a lot deeper when tripping solo... and that's what I mostly prefer. To be on the safe side, like others suggested, get some one to sit or at least trip with you, and go for a rather low do se for some safe, well known drug (like shrooms) to get a taste.

Some one mentioned 4-HO-MET, and I'll 2nd that. My GF just took her first trip on this, and she loved it. Dosage was around 10-15mg + 10-15mg boost some 1,5 hours in... Veeeery smooth come up, low body load, crazy connection between us and some really great introspecion at such a low dose. <3
 
I never should have mixed 2c-1 with PV - I went into hell and I know what you mean by "infinite madness" and " chaos taking an infinite amount of time to work itself out" - I was later rewarded with this and was shown a glimpse of heaven. There is something going on - can you feel it?
 
I'd rather try it with a different psychedelic than just a lower dose of 2c-i.

IME 2c-i gets more enjoyable with higher dose (well the recreational character begins to recede again above the 35mg mark). Low dose 2c-i is just weird feelings of unspecific discomfort, scatterbrained stimulation and free floatoing anxiety and no psychedelic headspace whatsoever. With higher doses the psychedelic component comes to the fore and all that quirky side effects fade more and more into the background, ymmv though.

Try another chemical of the 2c series or get your hands on some decent acid (real easy on the body, that one) and ramp up doses slowly.

There are some people who will experience freak outs, depersonalization and anxiety inducing disorientation every time they do a psych, they should stay away at all costs in order to avoid a full blown psychotic episode instead of forcing their way into psychedelia.

Maybe you're one of them. The dph theory pointed out by dwaine hoover has it's merits (he has invented the 'dph cure' after all iirc), entirely possible that too much dph skullfucked you.
 
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