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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 22 of 22. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by PhoenixGirl on December 5, 2004, at 12:37:53
If you tried one of them, what effects did it have, positive or negative? Do you think that your mental illness or medications affected the substance's effects?
Posted by octopusprime on December 5, 2004, at 12:37:54
In reply to Anyone tried absinthe, peyote or mushrooms?, posted by PhoenixGirl on December 4, 2004, at 22:30:10
phoenixgirl:
i did mushrooms a lot for a while. let's say 2-3 times a week for a 4 month period five years ago. let's see what i can remember from this:
i was depressed at the time, brutally depressed. i reduced my course load that term and spent a lot of time in my room crying, playing hoyle's board games and card games, and listening to the cure.
but doing mushrooms was fun! lots of fun. an escape. a way to open up. a way to explore. a way to see the colours in the world again. a way to kick out the blues and tear out the pages with all the bad news. i was euphoric on mushrooms, they agreed with me, and i only had the following two problems:
* i would puke if i was drinking and doing mushrooms
* one time i thought i saw a giant lizard crawling out of the ceilingmany of my friends freaked out worse than i did on mushrooms.
but anyway, right around the end of the 4 month period when i finished taking mushrooms frequently was when i was first diagnosed with depression and when i first started taking an SSRI (prozac).
also keep in mind that this period of use coincided with my first big breakup with my boyfriend of 3.5 years (i was 20 at the time so it was a huge deal)
so it's not a clean sample by any stretch. i probably also smoked a lot of pot. it's hard to really remember the details because a lot of that period has disappeared into a drug-fogged haze of memory that's all jumbled together after the passage of time. i am convinced that my drug use had a kindling effect on my cyclothymia and i would not be struggling so much with these issues if i had stayed away from drugs. maybe i'm just guilting myself for self-medicating with what was available to me?
take the anecdote for what it's worth ($0.02 canadian)
Posted by linkadge on December 5, 2004, at 12:37:55
In reply to Re: Anyone tried absinthe, peyote or mushrooms?, posted by octopusprime on December 5, 2004, at 0:33:30
Mushrooms, more subtle halucinagenics than LSD, might actually possess intrinsic antidepressant properties. Being agonists at the 5-ht2a/2c receptors, they rapidly downregulate the upregulated (depressed state) of the receptors.
Linkage
Posted by lostforwards on December 5, 2004, at 12:37:55
In reply to Re: Anyone tried absinthe, peyote or mushrooms?, posted by linkadge on December 5, 2004, at 11:03:52
you know the funny thing about mushrooms is, if that's how they work, everything felt 1000 times more intense. Like when two of my friends walked ahead of me, I felt an instense anxiety ( rejection sensitivity ) that I hadn't felt since I was a kid.
Posted by lostforwards on December 5, 2004, at 12:37:55
In reply to Anyone tried absinthe, peyote or mushrooms?, posted by PhoenixGirl on December 4, 2004, at 22:30:10
Mushrooms were a great experience. No hallucinations at the amount I took. I never felt so intense in my life. It would've been nicer if I could've somehow kept up with the speed of the thoughts.
Posted by Dan Perkins on December 5, 2004, at 12:37:56
In reply to Re: Anyone tried absinthe, peyote or mushrooms?, posted by lostforwards on December 5, 2004, at 11:26:29
had probably the worst night of my life when I tried mushrooms. I ate the 'shrooms then watched a movie with friends. I didn't think the mushrooms were working at all. Then about halfway through the film I realized that I wasn't sure if I was watching the movie, in the movie or directing the movie. Things went downhill from there. I ended up curled into a ball on the bathroom floor sobbing my eyes out. Not fun.
I would think that if you were depressed and had ever contemplated suicide that taking mushrooms could put you over the edge.
Posted by kea on December 5, 2004, at 18:07:09
In reply to Re: Anyone tried absinthe, peyote or mushrooms?, posted by Dan Perkins on December 5, 2004, at 12:25:07
i think with most hullicinogenics, your "trip" all depends on your frame of mind when ingesting them...if you have any apprehensions about taking them or how you may react, it can open your mind to have a bad trip...IMHO.
Absinthe....my sister went to Prague and brought me and my husband some absinthe....I am beyond the age that those things are much fun...after some serious problems related to my use and abuse of substances....i learned those lessons..
anyway, absinthe...w/the sugar and the fire...it is pretty, but did not do much for my husband.
Posted by StevenInLB on December 6, 2004, at 3:21:09
In reply to Anyone tried absinthe, peyote or mushrooms?, posted by PhoenixGirl on December 4, 2004, at 22:30:10
I find alcohol to be very unpredictable and potentially very depressive for me. But I'm a big fan of absinthe as it is only alcohol that has a consistently albeit light mood elevation effect. It can definitely put a smile on your face. It is also relaxing, pro-social, and conversely the more you drink the more sober you feel. Until of course the thujone wears off and then you are left intoxicated from the alcohol. I suggest a low alcohol absinthe: the popular and cheap Deva from Spain is a favorite of mine. Unfortunately I have found that SSRI's seem to block the *special* qualities of absinthe.
> If you tried one of them, what effects did it have, positive or negative? Do you think that your mental illness or medications affected the substance's effects?
Posted by kea on December 6, 2004, at 7:55:40
In reply to Redirect: absinthe, peyote or mushrooms, posted by Dr. Bob on December 5, 2004, at 12:39:15
FYI...peyote is not something to mess with...if you decide to try it...have a babysitter!!! I have had a number of friends that have tried it and EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM have had some crazy "out there" experience. be careful.
Posted by alexandra_k on December 9, 2004, at 0:32:33
In reply to Anyone tried absinthe, peyote or mushrooms?, posted by PhoenixGirl on December 4, 2004, at 22:30:10
I used to be a heavy mushie user. I found that there wasn't really anything that determined whether you were going to have a wonderful trip or a terrible trip. Just like there isn't much to determine whether you are going to dream wonderful dreams or whether you are going to have nightmares. I think that there is some truth in the saying that it can turn bad if you panic or fight the feeling though.
I would find that after a long trip (bout 30) when we would peak for about 12 hours that it would take me a day and a half to recover. The next day I would feel really low and depressed, kind of like coming of amphetamenes. I don't know if that is worse for people who struggle with depression anyway or not. Also shakey, can't write or sign my name.
I have BPD. Supposed to be emotionally unstable with depression and anxiety as my predominant affects. You would think that mushies would be a bad bad bad idea for me. I have had some terrible trips. I don't know whether this is what has kept me sane or not but I always repeat my mantra when things go bad:
this is just the effects of the drug, it will all stop in x amount of hours.
And it does. It is no worse than getting through a non-drug induced crisis for me.
Posted by simcha on December 9, 2004, at 2:57:54
In reply to Re: Anyone tried absinthe, peyote or mushrooms?, posted by alexandra_k on December 9, 2004, at 0:32:33
Really,
I've wanted to try the Fey Verte. But alas, it seems it is not legal to have here. They still make the real stuff in France. Can you import it legally like wine?
Simcha
Posted by verne on December 9, 2004, at 22:59:22
In reply to Re: How do you get real absynthe in the USA?, posted by simcha on December 9, 2004, at 2:57:54
I used to drink alot of absinthe during my hippie days in Spain in the early 70's. For an alcohol it is very stimulating. Even when I had too much, and the ceiling was spinning, I couldn't just pass out and sleep it off.
I discovered acid at about the same time but I rarely mixed the two. I was taking over 1,000 micrograms at a time, 2-3 times a week, and never had a bad trip. I don't recommend taking it on the overnight ferry from Barcelona to Ibiza during a storm though. Usually I smiled so much, my facial muscles hurt the next day.
Anyway, I felt like I was in more control on acid than when I drank absinthe. Sure I could barely function at times but I was never frightened or saw anything that wasn't there.
On the other hand, I had numerous strange encounters with imaginary beings when I drank absinthe. Typically, I would wake up in the middle of the night to find myself sitting on the edge of the bed talking to someone or thing that wasn't there when I became fully awake. I usually had the impression they weren't human but more like spirits or supernatural beings of some sort. I even started to sleepwalk and would wake up in the hallway or outside.
After I left Spain and quit drinking absinthe, I continued to experience these late-night "visitations" but to a lesser extent. In a few months they went away.
Mushrooms don't compare to acid or absinthe. I could never really get past the crappy way they made my body feel. I tried upping the dose or adding a good wine but the results were always a heavy body load. I also noticed a tightness in the back of my neck and jaw which I noticed when I took old or impure acid.
When I was in Europe I don't think absinthe was legal in any other European country besides Spain. I remember reading about how dangerous it was, reports of people going crazy in Switzerland, murder sprees, etc... I guess Greece has something similar - ouzo; but it doesn't have absinthe's reputation.
verne
Posted by alexandra_k on December 12, 2004, at 0:27:31
In reply to Acid, Absinthe, and Mushrooms, posted by verne on December 9, 2004, at 22:59:22
The trouble with mushies is that you don't want to EAT the darn things (that will make you chunder). Rather you want to boil them and mash them with a potato masher into the water. It'll turn all black / blue. Then pour the mixture onto coffee and plunge the whole mess. No chundering and a cleaner trip, I promise :-)
By the way - don't smell it. Lots of sugar and it doesn't taste to bad, but don't smell it.
Can you get PCP in the US?
I have never even heard of absinthe...
What about datura?
Posted by kea on December 12, 2004, at 1:49:30
In reply to Acid, Absinthe, and Mushrooms, posted by verne on December 9, 2004, at 22:59:22
Hey...FYI very little is legal in the USA without a prescription....and even then you still get in trouble if you do regular things like...uhmm, drive...and get in an accident or pulled over...you get in MAJOR trouble. DUI doesn't just apply to driving while intoxicated from alcohol, but ANYTHING else in your system.
I have never heard of taking shrooms that way. I am from Humboldt county and there are lots of mushrooms there and that come down from Oregon...we used to mix them with potato chips to kill the awful taste.
I preferred acid to shrooms....I like that quivery, shivery, "moldy orange" feeling you get from acid....I figured out ALL THE WORLDS PROBLEMS....
Anyway, I haven't tried Absynthe. My hubby did, I don't think it did much to him...My sister was living in the Czech republic recently, and she threw up every time she tried to party with absynthe. I am older now...34(and have3 kiddos (12 yo, 8 yo, and 15month old, as well as 2 step kiddos - 12 yo and an 11 yo).
Where was I going? Oh, has anyone tried REVIVERANT? It was available at fitness stores (Max Muscle). You only took about a TBSP or two...more than that and you might yak...but it was similar to Absynthe...I thought.
Posted by Larry Hoover on December 12, 2004, at 10:23:43
In reply to Re: Acid, Absinthe, and Mushrooms, posted by alexandra_k on December 12, 2004, at 0:27:31
> What about datura?
Please, do not even think about Datura stramonium (Devil's trumpet). It has some very powerful alkaloids, yes, but it is a most unpleasant and potentially fatal intoxication.
You can get mushroom kits on the 'net.
Lar
Posted by alexandra_k on December 12, 2004, at 12:54:06
In reply to Re: Datura » alexandra_k, posted by Larry Hoover on December 12, 2004, at 10:23:43
Been there, done that already :-)
I agree one should fear death by drowning
And falling from heights
One should sit still
Verrrrrrry still
But then mushies can do that to ya too
Posted by Dan Perkins on December 14, 2004, at 16:34:11
In reply to Re: Acid, Absinthe, and Mushrooms, posted by kea on December 12, 2004, at 1:49:30
I would have to say that mushrooms are the absolute worst things I have ever tasted. Tried to blunt the horror w/some blueberry pie. Lot of good that did.
Posted by Questionmark on December 26, 2004, at 2:19:32
In reply to Re: Acid, Absinthe, and Mushrooms, posted by Dan Perkins on December 14, 2004, at 16:34:11
i've drank absinthe a couple times-- only about a few shots each time. i'm not sure if it was just the high alcohol content hitting me fast since i had not drunk liquor in awhile before that (i think it was more than that), but man did i feel great on it. i love absinthe (if wasn't just the alcohol). i was so euphoric and prosocial and uninhibited. A number of friends and acquaintences said that they have never seen me that happy.
i wish i could get my hands on some more.
Oh, and i didn't hallucinate or have any unique mind-altering effects or anything, but you probably have to have more than a few shots for that to occur anyway. i just felt like i was super-drunk-- like all the positive effects of alcohol were magnified but the negative effects were no more and no less (than normal for that amount of alcohol).
Posted by Chairman_MAO on January 11, 2005, at 16:36:25
In reply to Absinthe, posted by Questionmark on December 26, 2004, at 2:19:32
The principal psychoactive in Absinthe, thujone, is a proven neurotoxin.
Posted by Chairman_MAO on January 11, 2005, at 16:38:14
In reply to Re: Acid, Absinthe, and Mushrooms, posted by Dan Perkins on December 14, 2004, at 16:34:11
Pulverize them and put them in capsules!
Posted by gromit on January 16, 2005, at 0:38:52
In reply to Re: How do you get real absynthe in the USA?, posted by simcha on December 9, 2004, at 2:57:54
> I've wanted to try the Fey Verte. But alas, it seems it is not legal to have here. They still make the real stuff in France. Can you import it legally like wine?
I don't know about importing it but there a ton of recipes and the active ingredients are apparently easy to cultivate. There is a guy near me that will sell you finished product, kits or starters of the plants. At least that is what his page says, along with 1000 simular ones. I've never tried it myself but it's supposed to be a no-brainer to make.
Rick
Posted by StevenInLB on January 20, 2005, at 2:28:15
In reply to Re: How do you get real absynthe in the USA?, posted by gromit on January 16, 2005, at 0:38:52
Please do not waste your time and money with those stupid absinthe kits. It is easy enough to buy it online and have it shipped to your doorstep. I have done it many times. Go to http://www.feeverte.net/ for reliable info on reputable sellers.
This is the end of the thread.
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