post-chemo use of psychedelics

[Southern Star]

This is pretty complicated and involves MDA, psilocybin, LSD, and medical complications. Unsure where to post as a result, but knew I had to try to find the answer on Bluelight. Sorry in advance for the length.

The background: My partner is a cancer survivor and had both radiation and chemo, now years past. No current meds, but hormones and vitamins. We had a very unpleasant experience on some well-souced MDA awhile back that has led us to wonder if we need to be (much) more concerned about less common negative effects. A very unusual roll through and through. First, a massive delay in onset - on the order of 8 hours - and long after we'd given up expecting anything, off she goes. A nice roll by all accounts, and it was a pleasure to sit/guide for her. Then the comedown, and...tremors. Full body tremors, for an hour or longer. I just held her and kept her warm, and hydrated. No regrets, she says, but her last experience with Molly, we think. Scary stuff.

Now: she would like to try both psilocybin (shrooms or 4aco-DMT) and LSD (in turn) but of course we're now concerned about her possibly nonstandard neurochemistry due to chemo. Maybe I'm imagining things, but I was sure that Erowid's MDA effects page used to list tremors/seizures as an uncommon negative effect but it no longer does.

The question: what kind of risk would we be taking if we were to try a low dose first trip on one of these psychs? She's most keen to try shrooms, but should the lesson from the MDA experience be that she should stay away from anything with serotonin-linked effects?

Thank you so much for any advice on this.

 

[herbavore]

I wish I could answer your question better but it's definitely above my skill level and anyone on this site for that matter. I cannot really imagine that her chemo would be such a factor after all these years but since I am saying that out of total medical ignorance it's just an opinion. What would concern me is that because she now has this thought (when in fact it may have been something sketchy in the mdma) she will go into any new experience with a certain amount of fear.

I do think your instincts to go with very low doses--for anyone trying something for the first time and not just with the chemo complication, are very good.

Someday, when this is all legal we won't have to ask each other these questions when it is a medical issue--we'll be able to openly ask our doctors. Wouldn't that be nice?

 

[Southern Star]

Meant to check in sooner and say thanks, herbavore, for the reply. Agreed on the possible fear.

 

[kittyinthedark]

I tried MDA once and only once due to a similarly severe comedown, and I was young and quite healthy at the time. Do note that there is a difference between MDA and MDMA (which is the compound typically called "molly"), so that could make a difference as well, but with pretty much any stimulant substance, people can have rather unpleasant reactions just because they're unlucky rather than because of a particular medical complication. I'm not qualified to rule out a contraindication here, but I'd wager that the reaction was not terribly likely to be directly related to the chemo this long after the fact. I'll second herbavore's advice to keep the doses very low; good advice for anyone!

 

[N0 W4RN1NG]

OP, Which horomones, and which vitamins? Sounds like she might be taking a supplement that affects the cytochromeP450 group of liver enzymes (Cayenne, grapefruit, some horomones) - if true, that's an easy fix - cut that out before rolling on MDA or MDMA again.

If I don't see any problem with her current vitamin\hormone regimen, then CNS damage from the chemotherapy is a likely culprit, and she should be avoiding all stimulants, psychedelics, and opioids - there is a seizure risk.

...(Your question is) definitely above my skill level and anyone on this site for that matter...

Speak for yourself - you would be surprised to find out who some of BL are in real life.

 

[endotropic]

Even someone qualified to assess such an interaction wouldn't (shouldn't) make medical assessments over the internet without evaluating the individual face to face.