Preparing yourself for psychedelics after bad experiences

[Morninggloryseed]

I've taken flood doses of iboga extract 3 times but it was just for the sake of seeing what it would do, afterwards i continued my regular drug use. iboga was profound but not in the sense that it gave me a realization that i should stop using drugs.

This is one huge misconception about Iboga. It will cure physical addiction, but it doesn't 'give' realizations' It does allow one to reexperience past and current events fresh, so as to allow the mind to form new behaviors around them...but iboga isn't going to make someone who wants to do anything, suddenly not do it with any reliability. That part is called the 'work' and the 'follow up work.'

I just have to ask, what kind of 'drugs' was iboga supposed to cause realizations to stop? Why do you need iboga to want to stop? I am asking you to think, but it is to help you, and to help clear up misconceptions about iboga so I appreciate you playing.

PS, If etizolam works for you....I am here to say it must work for you....marijuana works for me, others drink a beer. My main objection was the statements, 'benzos are good for long journey, mescaline, etc....knowing it's there helps with anxiety, etc' Those statements I strongly object to because perception is everything and psychedelic drugs are perfect as is, no need for sedatives because any anxiety that arises needs to be worked through.

 

[RobotRipping]

i wasn't using iboga to stop any drug use but many people talk about how they see visions of their life, mistakes they have made and changes they want to make especially regarding drug use. I think that's probably because such people are taking iboga for the purpose of quitting drugs, whereas i was just curious as to what the experience was like and the possibility of resetting my tolerance.

I know physiologically it's not going to change your desire to get high if you still want to get high, but the spiritual aspect of the drug can bring someone insights into such things. Even with regular psychs i'll start to think, 'i should cut back on my stim use, should stop smoking cigarettes, should work harder on tapering my etizolam, should be healthier and a better person', that's the kind of thing i'm referring to. Iboga just blasted me into 2 dimensions at once and was a very surreal experience.

I know that it is a common misconception about iboga/ibogaine, that'll it'll cure addiction, and i see people say that and think, well it won't actually cure addiction itself, it does indeed take work. It's similar to taking ayahuasca and seeing visions about things you need or want to change subconsciously and then realizing it afterwards and making those changes, it doesn't happen magically, it still takes all the same work to overcome addiction.

i didn't mean to make an absolute statement about benzos and psychedelics. My contention is that some anxiolytics may help some people therapeutically when used with psychedelics, as it has helped me. I think we're pretty much on the same page here but perhaps i have poorly communicated my thoughts on the matter.

as well the kind of anxiety i'm referring to is not so much fear/excitement but the fight or flight response being triggered by the release of NE. If i were to give you 500mg of amphetamine, i'm sure you'd feel anxious (given you don't have a massive tolerance), there's really nothing to work through that anxiety as it's just a physical reaction to the release of a huge amount of NE and DA. That's the kind of anxiety i get from say proscaline or 2c-p, they are in particular very stimmy and long lasting psychedelics, i wouldn't take them without etizolam or benzos on hand. Am i deluding myself and not facing my true anxiety? perhaps but i'm working on that.

 

[webbykevin]

I got over confident with mushrooms a few years ago and pushed the dose pedal to the floor, I paid dearly for that mistake not only by having a horrendous trip physically and psychologically but the after effects were also hard.

What was far worse than the experience itself though was the fact that I had destroyed something that was once beautiful, Never again would I be able to take mushrooms under the comforting belief/illusion that there was no danger involved, if fact I scared myself so silly that night on 8 grams that I was reluctant to ever do mushrooms again.

This was distressing as the progress I had been making had been going so well and I really was enjoying the fact after years of trying different psychedelics that mushrooms seemed to be the perfect path for me and I was really happy to have found them and was pretty ecstatic about having them in my life.

Now that was all hanging in tatters, along with my ego, my pride and my self confidence and a truly unexpected and out of the blue existential crisis was pulling me apart, somehow, I had to get back on the horse, and I was terrified.

The way I did it was through a half a dozen very low dose experiences, I started with like 1/2 a gram, did that about 3 times over a 2 week period, then had a break for a couple of months before ramping the dose up slowly through another 4 or 5 experiences over a year, I did a couple of 2 gram trips and then went back to maybe 1 gram a week after each of those 2 gram trips just to find a safe space to do some reflecting and pondering in, nothing over the top.

Each time the confidence returned a little, the luv grew a little and the dialog with the other was becoming approachable again, but this time with a new sense of respect and humility.

I left it for a year, chose a perfect weekend, got the set and setting as good as humanly possible and took 5 grams in silent darkness again, and it was wonderful, blissful, completely mind shatteringly complex and beautiful, the voice was strong but reassuring, understanding, respectful of my abilities and limitations and pushed me just far enough over the rim of the hyper-spacial abyss to give me a thrill but not a terror ride of overwhelm-ment. (new word ?).

So all in all, after the big bad trip where I fell off the psychedelic mountain and almost handed back my membership badge to the psychedelic explorers club it took almost 3 years for me to stabilize the situation and get back to base camp 1.