Few Westerners have partaken in the sapo ritual, but there is one consistency in their reports. Within moments of administration, one falls wretchedly ill; nausea; vomiting; facial flush; rapid heart rate; stomach ache; loss of bladder and bowel control; sweating; and lachrymation. This generally lasts 15 minutes or so, but once this adverse reaction resolves the user feels invigorated, and sapo’s therapeutic effects are said to last several days.
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After burning me, E then applied saliva to the sapo stick, and using a knife scraped up the sapo into gum-like clumps. He then daubed the sapo onto the burned area of skin with the knife.
The onset of sapo was inordinately rapid--within 1 minute of application. I’m still quite impressed by its fast onset. I initially felt a mild throbbing sensation on my thigh, followed by a noticeable increase in heart rate and faintness. My vision started to go a bit blurry, as though not enough oxygen was getting to my brain. This feeling was more odd than unpleasant, but increased in severity quite rapidly.
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Over the next 15 minutes, I was confronted with a host of ailments. My throat, mouth, tongue and lips became inflamed, with the same numbness I imagine getting punched in the mouth or having a bad allergic reaction would feel. My mouth was extremely dry. My heart was racing and I was sweating. And for some reason my eyes wept profusely. I could hardly speak. I mumbled to T to get me some water. Unable to muster the strength to sit upright, I lay sprawled out on the floor and drank the water sideways.
The burn on my thigh was killing me and I was overwhelmed with anxiety. When the fuck is this going to end? I had the persistent feeling that I was going to barf without a moment’s warning. I also experienced bowel distension. I got the impression that if my bowels weren’t empty then I’d have likely soiled myself as a matter of course.
The remainder of this period is a blur, but I recall that in this state I had a frank and extensive inner-monologue as to why I like to subject myself to these sorts of things. I kept thinking to myself that the after-effects of sapo had better be worth it, because this physical feeling simply pointed to sapo being more like a poison than a medicine.