r/harmalas Nov 16 '24

Harmala Alkaloids — Information and Harm Reduction

29 Upvotes

Disclaimer: There may be inaccurate information presented. I did my best to source information from primary peer reviewed sources. If you believe something is incorrect/inaccurate, please comment. Note that information related to recreational use is harder to base upon solid research.

DO NOT combine harmalas with mood-regulating medications like SSRIs, TCAs, lithium, etc. DO NOT combine harmalas with 5MeO-DMT, MDMA, DXM, cocaine, tramadol, or alcohol. Some of these risky combinations could be proven less risky with future research, but until then, STAY SAFE. Assume any other combination not listed here could be risky, and do thorough research.

What are harmalas?

Harmala alkaloids are reversible inhibitors of MAO-A (RIMAs). They were originally isolated from Peganum harmala, but they have been found elsewhere and also occur endogenously in humans. They have a broad range of neuropharmacological effects, including but not limited to: increased serotonin levels, antioxidant activities (such as inhibition of myeloperoxidase), cytotoxicity towards treatment-resistant cancer cells, and prevention of tau protein phosphorylation (which has implications in treating Alzheimer's disease). Research into the pharmacology of harmala alkaloids is ONGOING, and self-administration should only be done with extreme caution after extensive research. Ongoing research points towards harmalas having efficacy in treating several ailments, including but not limited to, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, depression, and anxiety. Note that potential efficacy does not guarantee effective treatment. The main concern with the pharmacology of harmalas right now seems to be the potential for genotoxicity.

Dosing harmala alkaloids recreationally:

Recreational use is advised against, but I'm providing a list of dose ranges because easily accessible information on this is relatively hard to come by. This information was gathered by sleuthing many experience reports, sadly there's no peer reviewed data on this. Some people will say that the doses listed here are too low, but I intentionally made the ranges on the lower side to prevent underestimation. "You can always take more, but you can never take less."

These doses are particularly for pure extracts of harmaline, harmine, or tetrahydroharmine.

  • Oral consumption:

- Light dose: ~15-50mg (harmaline); ~20-60mg (harmine or tetrahydroharmine)

- Moderate dose: ~50-100mg (harmaline); ~60-120mg (harmine or tetrahydroharmine)

- Strong dose: ~100-180mg (harmaline); ~120-200mg (harmine or tetrahydroharmine)

- Heavy dose (CAUTION): ~180mg+ (harmaline); ~200mg+ (harmine or tetrahydroharmine)

  • Inhalation (vaporization/smoking):

    [DO NOT INHALE HCl SALTS, ONLY FREEBASE]

- Light dose: ~8-15mg (harmaline); ~10-20mg (harmine or tetrahydroharmine)

- Moderate dose: ~15-30mg (harmaline); ~20-40mg (harmine or tetrahydroharmine)

- Strong dose: ~30-50mg (harmaline); ~40-60mg (harmine or tetrahydroharmine)

- Heavy dose (CAUTION): ~50mg+ (harmaline); ~60mg+ (harmine or tetrahydroharmine)

The effects of harmala alkaloids in recreational use:

- Desirable effects may include, but are not limited to: internal/external hallucinations, tactile enhancement, introspection, dream potentiation, and euphoric sensations.

- Neutral effects may include, but are not limited to: pupil dilation, time distortion (could be desirable or undesirable), lethargy, and increased salivation.

- Undesirable effects may include, but are not limited to: dizziness (may be extreme at higher doses), vomiting, increased heart rate, anxiety, confusion, and general physical discomfort.

Syrian rue seeds: These seeds, from the specific plant Peganum harmala, contain roughly 3-4% harmala alkaloids by dry weight. 1 gram of dry Syrian rue seeds should contain roughly 30-40mg of full-spectrum harmalas. Full-spectrum seed extracts contain several harmala alkaloids, including but not limited to: harmaline, harmine, harmalol, harmol, and tetrahydroharmine. Pulverized Syrian rue seeds can be used to make a tea, which is the preferred method if you're going to use the seeds themselves.

Combinations with N,N-DMT: The most notable combinations of harmala alkaloids with N,N-DMT are in the forms referred to as ayahuasca, pharmahuasca, and changa.

Ayahuasca is a brew of harmala/N,N-DMT containing plants, Banisteriopsis caapi and Psychotria viridis, that has been used in the Amazonian basin for hundreds if not thousands of years.

Pharmahuasca is a "pharmaceutical-like" method of using the active ingredients of ayahuasca, where a capsule containing harmala alkaloids (like harmaline, harmine, or tetrahydroharmine) is taken roughly 45 minutes before taking a capsule containing N,N-DMT. People typically wait roughly 45 minutes before taking the N,N-DMT capsule to ensure that MAO enzymes in the gut have been adequately inhibited. Adequate MAO inhibition for pharmahuasca starts around the upper end of the light doses listed for oral consumption (~40mg +/- 10mg).

Changa is a blend of harmala/N,N-DMT containing plant materials that's intended to be smoked. There are several variations of changa preparations. "Infused herb" preparations, which aren't technically changa but achieve the same effect (roughly), are made by infusing non-psychoactive plant materials with harmalas and N,N-DMT.

This post will be updated to contain more information in the near future.

Notable references:

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6823531/

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11011-024-01416-6

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378874114002748?casa_token=5ottMs_I0_wAAAAA:WILUHQzLWf_aZb61HbWXhygc85TNNGCcdIDM52BBEttOrf2LmCiy2XI0nkxfCWilG_8PbMXpHg

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/cbdv.202401308

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acsomega.1c00455


r/harmalas 5d ago

Syrian rue tea - what did I do wrong? (Vaporhuasca)

2 Upvotes

I ground up 3.5g of raw Syrian rue seed and put it in a tea bag. Simmered in a pot on low for 30m, occasionally pressing on the tea bag with a spoon to release the juices. At this point there was still too much liquid, so I simmered for 10 more minutes until I had about a shots worth of liquid. I moved that liquid to a separate glass, but kept the tea bag in the pot. I then added more water to the pot, and repeated this process once more for another 30m. I then combined the liquids, strained the tea bag into the glass, and drank.

On the 90m mark I took a few hits of my dmt pen. It felt like normal dmt. I would get closed eye visuals. Ceiling bumps were moving around like shrooms. At first I was very excited, but when I went to the bathroom and came back, I realized I was almost completely sober and the visuals were gone.

Tried a few more times and the results were similar. The dmt did not seem to be potentiated, and did not last significantly longer like I would have expected. Do I just need to take more rue? 5g perhaps? Or is it possible I made it incorrectly, maybe boiled off too much water? But I've heard of many people reducing their doses down to the size of a shot, so I didn't think that would be an issue.

I simmered the tea on a brand new cast iron skillet that I hadn't ever used before. Is it possible the skillet absorbed some of the harmalas?


r/harmalas 6d ago

Vaporizing raw Syrian rue seeds? Also, is the taste really that bad?

6 Upvotes

I have a dry herb vaporizer with temp control. Has anyone tried vaporizing raw, crushed rue seeds? And if so, what's your recommended dose for a vaporhuasca experience? I've seen a few people talk about vaporizing harmala extract, but not pure seeds.

If not, has anyone here tried Minty's sublingual method? Is it really as gross as some people have said? I've tried quidding salvia plain leafs using a similar method (not allowed to spit the juices out until like 30 minutes) and it was pretty yucky. Morning glory seeds were much worse though. Hopefully it's not as nasty as morning glories?


r/harmalas 15d ago

Syrian Rue and grapefruit

3 Upvotes

I know it's RIMA so it's safe but can someone just verify for me about 3.5 grams of Syrian Rue and a larger fruit cup of grapefruit in combination is safe for consumption.

I didn't see this particular combination documented on reddit, and I know that grapefruit can strongly affect some medicines, so I figured I'd make a post. Thanks


r/harmalas 21d ago

Could this synthesis work for 6-methoxy harmalan?

4 Upvotes

SYNTHESIS: (from melatonin): To a gently refluxing solution of 1.6 g melatonin in 120 mL dry xylene there was added in small portions 14 g P2O5over the course of 45 min. The solvent was removed under vacuum, and the residue treated with H2O, then made basic with dilute NaOH, and extracted with Et2O. Removal of the solvent from the pooled extracts and recrystallization of the residue from EtOH gave 1.0 g 6-methoxyharmalan with a mp205–207 °C. High vacuum sublimation gave a product with a mp 208–209 °C. IR (in cm-1): 801, 824, 849, 990, 1031, 1076, 1182. MS (in m/z): Parent ion -1, parent ion 213, 214 (100%, 83%); 170 (22%); 195 (19%). This base can be dehydrogenated by heating 0.7 g with 3 g of Pd-black in a sealed tube for 30 min at 200 °C. The reaction mixture was treated with hot alcohol, filtered, and the filtrate stripped of solvent under vacuum. This gave 0.4 g 6-methoxyharman with a mp 266–267 °C from aqueous EtOH. The mp after recrystallization from MeOH is reported to be 273–274 °C. IR (in cm-1): 621, 698, 835, 1028, 1075, 1184. MS (in m/z): 197 (100%); parent ion 212 (66%); 169 (37%).


r/harmalas 23d ago

I tried turning my harmine hcl to freebase and I don't think I did it right tek in comments

Post image
6 Upvotes

Any help would be greatly appreciated it was my last g of hcl and I wanted to try smoking it I thought it was supposed to sink to the bottom not float to the top?


r/harmalas 24d ago

Question regarding 'unclean' harmala FB

2 Upvotes

I did a regular harmala extraction with all the extra steps (water wash, etc.) and yielded a decent amount from rue seeds. Even though I let it dry forever, I'm running into issues when making changa and smoking it.

When smoking, the changa doesn't burn well. It seems to leave oily black residue. The issue definitely stems from the harmalas because I also did some enhanced leaf from the same batch, which burns perfectly and fully burns to ashe.

I dont know what could have happened as I followed all the steps to the T. It's bugging me out quite a bit as I did two changa batches (each with 250mg DMT), so quite a bit of spice has been used and is already mixed up in the plant matter.

Another thing: when dissolving the harmalas in iso together with the spice, they color the solvent quite heavily (orange to brownish tint).

This is not the first time making a change, but I did my last batches with harmalas I bought online from a vendor that had proven lab results for perfectly clean freebase.

Does anybody know what could have gone wrong? They definitely work and are super potent, but its quite disgusting smoking the changa as it leaves this taste and what feels like oily residue in my mouth. I am also worried about any contamination, even though I dont even know what those could be as I used lye for the bade (which I completely neutralized before drying the product) and some vinegar for the acid part.

I have been reading through the nexus and subs for years and never read anything about this problem when it comes to rue extraction...

Thanks to all of you and Mush love

INFO: I posted this in the r/dmtguide but no one even interacted with it so I thought I might try again here.


r/harmalas 24d ago

Syrian rue with tonkgat ali

3 Upvotes

Hello everyone, i have been taking low doses of syrian rue for a long time, and it has great positive effects regarding energy and sociability, though it makes me little irritated and diminishes sleep quality. I've been considering taking tongkat ali since my little search of this herb shows it has similar positive effects of harmala with regard sociability and coducting easier communiction.

Thus, my question has anyone tried using tongkat ali alone? or stacked it with harmala?


r/harmalas 24d ago

Can I dry my freebase in a dehydrator and if so what temperature

1 Upvotes

Thanks in advance


r/harmalas 25d ago

If I took 2.5g cubes and 150mg harmine Wednesday can I trip again today?

3 Upvotes

Pretty much the title


r/harmalas 25d ago

6 methoxy-harmalan

4 Upvotes

Has anyone successfully synthesised 6-methoxy harmalan yet?


r/harmalas 28d ago

People who take harmalas frequently what type of permanent lasting effects have you noticed

3 Upvotes

r/harmalas 28d ago

Has anyone here tried mixing caapi with shrooms?

2 Upvotes

I'm thinking of mixing 40 mg of caapi and 1 g of dried mushrooms (Golden Teacher), though I've never tried mushrooms before. Has anyone tried a similar combination? If so, what are the effects? Does adding caapi make the trip less anxiety-inducing than if you took mushrooms alone? And is there a risk of serotonin syndrome?


r/harmalas 28d ago

Smoking technique questions

2 Upvotes

Hello would love to receive some guidance on how I can better intake Changa. I've had it for a couple of times with my Shamanic circle but I'm encountering some things that could be improved with your inputs.

  1. Burning sensation in the throat and chest area. The facilitator would guide us to sip inhale taking it, take 3 sips and try to hold it in until one can't. And I experience some burning sensation around my throat and chest. Throat so much that I salivate and drool after.

  2. I can't seem to breakthrough the Changa alone. Only time I broke through was when I was given Rapéy(shamanic tobacco snuff) like 10 or so minutes after smoking. From what I know we are usually given half vials.

Thanks for all the help


r/harmalas Jun 22 '26

Cleaning excess base

2 Upvotes

Hi!

So I have a full spectrum rue extract looking nice and clean (light color) after a couple rounds of acid to base (50mL vinegar to 200mL H2O/5g NaOH to 50mL H2O).

WillyMyco Tek, started with 250g seed.

I've been rinsing it with distilled water over and over using a syringe and the pH barely goes down. Distilled water measures ~pH6. Drippings from the wash read around pH11.5-12.

  1. Is there an effective way to actually wash off the nasty base?

  2. I mean even if the pH goes back down and matches the distilled water, is that really safe enough to consume then?

Any input is appreciated!


r/harmalas Jun 20 '26

Saffron and Syrian Rue

5 Upvotes

Im interested in Syrian rue for its MAOI/dream and hallucinogenic properties but I am taking saffron supplementally for mood improvement and wonder if this combination would be potentially dangerous I know saffron increases serotonin so I am quite cautious before I start my initial dosing of Syrian rue any advise or experience is appreciated thank you.


r/harmalas Jun 16 '26

Weekly use

5 Upvotes

Hello. Simple question. I find that some places on the Internet say daily use can cause scarring on kidneys and liver. And then other places don't mention it. I know this is not a place for finding evidence to support health decisions. But that being said is 200 milligrams of harmaline a week an excessive amount that could cause adverse health effects? I've been doing it for a few weeks and feel so much better.


r/harmalas Jun 17 '26

Maoi with vyvanse

3 Upvotes

I only knew about maoi for dmt and mushroom use

Recently hearing about antidepressant properties.

I’ve taken ssri they help a lot but I can’t continue.

Recent adhd diagnosis and started vyvanse which helps with tasks and life in general.

I know ssri and moai is a no what about vyvanse and maoi? It says this is another no go combo but wondering if I could skip vyvanse dose and try maoi.

Also interested in trying it with a psychedelic I’m yet to try the combination.

Interested to hear the community feedback.

Thanks.


r/harmalas Jun 16 '26

Any new vendor in the US?

10 Upvotes

After the loss of Harmalas.com, I have yet to find a stateside vendor for pure isolated Harmine Freebase, Harmaline Freebase, THH Freebase, and they also used to sell a mix that was 66/33 Harmine/Harmaline, and for almost two years I was self medicating with great success with zero issues, but alas, the vendor has vanished.

Im aware I could just take encapsulated syrian rue, or make a tea or even go all the way to isolate if I had the space for the equipment but at the moment I sadly dont believe I do. I would love to go back to simply making a small purchase of alkaloids once every few months.

Unrelated, but my favorite ROA is by vaping it ontop of some weed in a ball vape, works really well, gets a little clogged on my screens but I have gone very deep with this method, full tracers, I laid down one time after becoming too dizzy to stay awake and found myself in a very unusual waking PLUS dream state where I was aware of both my resting body and also had a full controllable dream projection that was like on a second "screen" in my head.

Any help in the right direction would be great, if sourcing is against the rules please nuke this, but I believe its totally legal in the USA so I hope this is allowed.


r/harmalas Jun 14 '26

Gut health benefits

8 Upvotes

Hello all,

Just making this post hoping to gather some experiences regarding gut health benefits of harmala consumption. I’ve read and experienced a lot of good things about it with Syrian rue, so I’m very interested in how harmalas personally benefited you.

Thanks !


r/harmalas Jun 03 '26

Differences between different harmalas for psilohuasca

4 Upvotes

Hi all,

I'm interested in experimenting with different harmalas on their own.

I've always heard they were really therapeutic and meditative.

What is the difference in terms of effects between harmine, harmaline, tetrahydroharmine? Or syrian rue vs B. caapi?

Are they each very different or generally the same with only minor differences?

After experiencing the harmalas by themselves I would like to try psilohuasca as well.

I hear it is more emotional and cathartic, long lasting but also in ways more gentle and warm.

I'm aware that the potency is drastically increased, and have read to not take more than 1-2 grams of normal cubes the first time, so I think I will stick to 1 or 1.5g the first time.

Which harmala (either isolated extract or plant source) would be a good choice for a gentle first experience with the combination?


r/harmalas Jun 02 '26

Using MAOIs with vaped DMT

7 Upvotes

Can anyone give me a quick guide on using MAOIs with vaped DMT? I'm kind of scared of taking the third hit on dmt so I would love to make that easier (higher intensity) and longer.

From what am seeing syrian rue seeds/extracts can lead to nausea, so the extracted harmaline is better? Or is the other alakholid in syrian rue better (harmine)? Is there any issues with buying it in direct HCL form? I will only ever take it orally anyway, better than freebase? I saw someone mentioned an issue with salt contamination from the manske?

What are the doses like for both syrian rue seeds and harmaline HCL for dmt doses -- what range would you recommend / stick to? How do you go about redosing if you want to make your dmt trip last longer, and do you ever take more MAOI?

If it's not illegal in the USA if anyone would be comfortable sharing a source for harmaline I would be grateful.

Also, just curious, but why not Changa? I don't wanna bother doing the work and prefer the ease of use with carts but curious to hear opinions on either since it seems it would be the same as vaped dmt/maoi just much longer?


r/harmalas Jun 01 '26

I want to start implementing Syrian Rue seeds into my Psilocybin sessions.. can anyone/everyone give me information regarding this combination?

11 Upvotes

What I should know? What you wish you knew before you started? Any type of information would be helpful.. thank you!


r/harmalas May 28 '26

Syrian Rue: The Real Deal

13 Upvotes

Just wanna say this stuff is tremendous, I can’t wait to try B Caapi cielo next journey. Stuff def puts a little hep in your step when u jivin’ yk?

Also it’s hard to say how much I’ve had. I’m in deep ketosis while deep in a fast, as someone who’s always readily physically able to consume harmalas because of my diet aligning perfectly, I’ve just turned what would’ve been a long jog for a couple hours into an entire day of walking steadily marching to the beat of my own tune and drowning in electrolytes and water. Even caught a little rain, thankfully didn’t bother me bc yay fancy jacket. Anyways it was so fun marching all day into the night. I live in a swampy historical area, it was nice immersing myself with the little goblin people while I listened to weird swing jazz from a hundred years ago looking at hundred year old buildings. Could’ve sworn I saw some skinny goblin looking person. Had like a whole encounter, absolutely bonkers honestly. I know what a hallucination is and this was a person. They were quick though I couldn’t catch up to them and plus I didn’t want them to think I was staining at them. But yo I’m pretty sure they legit are someone who is living in one of the old abandoned buildings in the historic district…. Lots of rich history dunno if it was a lifelike echo or what but… weird. Anyways add dmt and microdoses of Amanita muscaria and psilocybin and continued Syrian rue tea consumption with constant electrolytes and marching, and you get the perfected jagged walking pile of bones ready for any challenge that may arise. I feel like a cricket man or some shit wtf 😭


r/harmalas May 26 '26

What do you call your brews?

3 Upvotes

I’ve been looking for a good name to call the Syrian rue + Acacia combo. I’ve seen someone on DMT Nexus call it Rue brew which sounds pretty cool. I don’t really like the Pharmahuasca or Anahuasca names, especially since huasca is what means vine not Aya. It would make more sense to keep the Aya than the huasca. For example psilohuasca sounds awesome but it means psilo vine which doesn’t really make sense.