Xorkoth
Bluelight Crew
It was beautiful, thanks. 
However the first/second days were rather harrowing. I was in a lot of pain on the car ride there, my kidneys itself was hurting. Turns out it was a second stone, but I was a bit worried I had a kidney infection after the first and I almost decided not to go but then realized how much I wanted to go and how much I'd be pissed if I had to miss it. So I went, figured it was a kidney stone, I'd deal with it and worst case scenario if I got a fever I'd go to the hospital. I brought a thermometer for that. The car ride was horrible, I had to pee a lot and it hurt so bad I couldn't really think about anything else or talk, and I couldn't drink a bunch of water and apple cider vinegar because I would have to pee every 10-15 minutes and the car ride is 3.5 hours. But we hit 2 huge traffic jams. The second one actually had traffic dead stopped for about an hour, turns out a giant highway construction dump truck had flipped over into this ditch and they had a massive crane lifting it back out.
Anyway by the time we got there I felt a lot better and had a really fun night. I knew it was in that in-between stage that doesn't seem to hurt, after it passes the vertical urinary tract and reaches the horizontal, before the bladder. I knew it would suck trying to get into the bladder though. Sure enough, the next morning (rather hung over, drank more than I should have that night), after about an hour I felt down there. It consists of constantly feeling the need to pee, and a burning abdomen pain. When I drink vinegar, it sticks to just those, but without it I start to feel the stone in this certain place and it fucking hurts and is such a weird feeling I can't help but be anxious about it. So that started happening. I just wanted to sit around basically, kinda didn't feel like talking. I had decided, when I still felt good, to take AMT that day so I did, and as I was coming up and starting to trip on it, I was experiencing this stuff. It made me start to feel regret for taking it. I basically wasn't having a very good time.
Then, I ran out of apple cider vinegar and forget to bring my second bottle. I started to panic a bit when the pain started returning more. I went searching for vinegar. Eventually I found a food vendor who said I could have pickle brine, it has vinegar in it. Without thinking I drank about a half of a water bottle (like a big wide one) full mixed with water. Not only do I hate pickle juice, but it turns out I consumed an overdose of sodium. Really bad idea. I realized it after about 15 minutes, as I started to feel kinda weird. At this point I started to feel intense regret and fear. Not like a freaking out, psychedelic kind of fear, just normal fear for my health. The AMT made it more unpleasant usually, though I had good moments, mostly with my friend's kids (they've been going to festivals since they were 1 and 3 years old, and they're 8 and 10 now).
Anyway I started to feel worse and worse, like ill, unwell. I was sweating, tired, nauseous and I just did not feel right. Knowing that salt is dealt with by the kidneys and that an overdose is really bad for you regardless of whether your kidney is already weakened, I was super worried, very preoccupied by it and beating myself up a little. Then some people I sort of knew from other years came by and asked me what was wrong so I told them. Turns out the lady is a kidney nurse (nurses for kidney patients exclusively). She offered to do some energy healing on me which was an interesting experience (don't know if it worked but things started clearing up after that, but she also gave me some ondansetron for nausea which really helped me to feel better). I got a lot of medical advice from her. She was really worried about the salt intake. Basically told me not to drink, definitely go to the doctor to make sure everything's okay, hydrate, etc.
After that and some balsamic vinegar someone gave me, I started feeling better and by the late evening I was dancing to Zach Deputy But then I started feeling weak and unwell again, and my kidney area started to hurt more which made me worried I'd get a third stone. I didn't though, I think it was just hurting from the experience in general and the salt processing. I checked my temperature and it was 99. I was like fuck, fuck, fuck, I have to go to the hospital. Tomorrow or tonight? But then I realized I had just been dancing and sweating and I should cool all the way down first. I did and I was at 98.8. I kept taking it and it kept being 98.8 and I started to enjoy myself a bit, drank shit tons of water, talked to a lot of people, saw a little music. I ended up staying up til 7am and it was great by the way, I couldn't really feel it in my bladder anymore and I figured I had dissolved it or passed a tiny grain.
I took some etizolam and went to bed so I could sleep long, and I did sleep 7 hours, and in the morning I felt perfectly fine. Better than I had in over a week. I was so happy, I decided I'd take some DOC that day and drink a little (but not excessively). That I did, and it was a wonderful, fantastic day. Stayed up til like 8am, feel asleep naturally. At one point in the day I was peeing and sudden;y the stream was interrupted for a split second and a little white rock shot out like a bullet, entirely painlessly, it really surprised me since I thought it was gone. It went down the portapotty hole but first it clacked on the back and rolled so I saw it, it was bigger than I expected.
Anyway the rest of it was awesome, just got back late last night.
Yes I wrote a report about it, it was a horrible experience: https://www.bluelight.org/xf/threads/sinicuichi-first-time-extreme-pain.329837/
It seems to me the reports of the entheogenic effects (golden vision, headspace) are from when people prepare it the traditional way which is as a sun tea that is fermented in the sun for days. Whereas the pain reports involve consuming it without the sun fermentation. In that case perhaps a process of during the fermentation and/or the exposure to sun modifies something in there that is poisonous or at least unpleasant into something else. But I'm not gonna try to find out, myself. The chance to experience that muscle pain again isn't worth it at all.
However the first/second days were rather harrowing. I was in a lot of pain on the car ride there, my kidneys itself was hurting. Turns out it was a second stone, but I was a bit worried I had a kidney infection after the first and I almost decided not to go but then realized how much I wanted to go and how much I'd be pissed if I had to miss it. So I went, figured it was a kidney stone, I'd deal with it and worst case scenario if I got a fever I'd go to the hospital. I brought a thermometer for that. The car ride was horrible, I had to pee a lot and it hurt so bad I couldn't really think about anything else or talk, and I couldn't drink a bunch of water and apple cider vinegar because I would have to pee every 10-15 minutes and the car ride is 3.5 hours. But we hit 2 huge traffic jams. The second one actually had traffic dead stopped for about an hour, turns out a giant highway construction dump truck had flipped over into this ditch and they had a massive crane lifting it back out.Anyway by the time we got there I felt a lot better and had a really fun night. I knew it was in that in-between stage that doesn't seem to hurt, after it passes the vertical urinary tract and reaches the horizontal, before the bladder. I knew it would suck trying to get into the bladder though. Sure enough, the next morning (rather hung over, drank more than I should have that night), after about an hour I felt down there. It consists of constantly feeling the need to pee, and a burning abdomen pain. When I drink vinegar, it sticks to just those, but without it I start to feel the stone in this certain place and it fucking hurts and is such a weird feeling I can't help but be anxious about it. So that started happening. I just wanted to sit around basically, kinda didn't feel like talking. I had decided, when I still felt good, to take AMT that day so I did, and as I was coming up and starting to trip on it, I was experiencing this stuff. It made me start to feel regret for taking it. I basically wasn't having a very good time.
Then, I ran out of apple cider vinegar and forget to bring my second bottle. I started to panic a bit when the pain started returning more. I went searching for vinegar. Eventually I found a food vendor who said I could have pickle brine, it has vinegar in it. Without thinking I drank about a half of a water bottle (like a big wide one) full mixed with water. Not only do I hate pickle juice, but it turns out I consumed an overdose of sodium. Really bad idea. I realized it after about 15 minutes, as I started to feel kinda weird. At this point I started to feel intense regret and fear. Not like a freaking out, psychedelic kind of fear, just normal fear for my health. The AMT made it more unpleasant usually, though I had good moments, mostly with my friend's kids (they've been going to festivals since they were 1 and 3 years old, and they're 8 and 10 now).
Anyway I started to feel worse and worse, like ill, unwell. I was sweating, tired, nauseous and I just did not feel right. Knowing that salt is dealt with by the kidneys and that an overdose is really bad for you regardless of whether your kidney is already weakened, I was super worried, very preoccupied by it and beating myself up a little. Then some people I sort of knew from other years came by and asked me what was wrong so I told them. Turns out the lady is a kidney nurse (nurses for kidney patients exclusively). She offered to do some energy healing on me which was an interesting experience (don't know if it worked but things started clearing up after that, but she also gave me some ondansetron for nausea which really helped me to feel better). I got a lot of medical advice from her. She was really worried about the salt intake. Basically told me not to drink, definitely go to the doctor to make sure everything's okay, hydrate, etc.
After that and some balsamic vinegar someone gave me, I started feeling better and by the late evening I was dancing to Zach Deputy But then I started feeling weak and unwell again, and my kidney area started to hurt more which made me worried I'd get a third stone. I didn't though, I think it was just hurting from the experience in general and the salt processing. I checked my temperature and it was 99. I was like fuck, fuck, fuck, I have to go to the hospital. Tomorrow or tonight? But then I realized I had just been dancing and sweating and I should cool all the way down first. I did and I was at 98.8. I kept taking it and it kept being 98.8 and I started to enjoy myself a bit, drank shit tons of water, talked to a lot of people, saw a little music. I ended up staying up til 7am and it was great by the way, I couldn't really feel it in my bladder anymore and I figured I had dissolved it or passed a tiny grain.
I took some etizolam and went to bed so I could sleep long, and I did sleep 7 hours, and in the morning I felt perfectly fine. Better than I had in over a week. I was so happy, I decided I'd take some DOC that day and drink a little (but not excessively). That I did, and it was a wonderful, fantastic day. Stayed up til like 8am, feel asleep naturally. At one point in the day I was peeing and sudden;y the stream was interrupted for a split second and a little white rock shot out like a bullet, entirely painlessly, it really surprised me since I thought it was gone. It went down the portapotty hole but first it clacked on the back and rolled so I saw it, it was bigger than I expected.
Anyway the rest of it was awesome, just got back late last night.
Yes I wrote a report about it, it was a horrible experience: https://www.bluelight.org/xf/threads/sinicuichi-first-time-extreme-pain.329837/
It seems to me the reports of the entheogenic effects (golden vision, headspace) are from when people prepare it the traditional way which is as a sun tea that is fermented in the sun for days. Whereas the pain reports involve consuming it without the sun fermentation. In that case perhaps a process of during the fermentation and/or the exposure to sun modifies something in there that is poisonous or at least unpleasant into something else. But I'm not gonna try to find out, myself. The chance to experience that muscle pain again isn't worth it at all.
Can you try moving somewhere else, somewhere cheaper? You've always talked about how you hate where you live anyway.
I can still hang with most people party-wise but I'm feeling the age... almost 36. If I had had kids I'd probably be tired as hell by now. As it stands, I keep mistaking college kids for being in high school and high schoolers for 14 year olds.