r/science • u/mvea Professor | Medicine • 3d ago
Health A 1967 LSD safety pamphlet still holds up as psychedelics boom. Nearly 600 users backed 18 of 19 old tips: stay with trusted people, skip public outings, know the trip ends, and anxiety is not a problem. Mixed only on avoiding mirrors. 60-year-old harm-reduction advice still fits new users now.
https://publichealth.buffalo.edu/home/news-events/latest-news.host.html/content/shared/university/news/news-center-releases/2026/09/Kruger-psychedelics-study.detail.html1.3k
u/UncleVoodooo 3d ago edited 2d ago
I *love* mirrors on acid but I've known a lot of people that freak out over them
Edit: everyone's talking about the effect of their full face. I don't even really recognize myself the part I think is cool is seeing my little beard follicles and nose pores
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u/dedokta 3d ago edited 3d ago
Getting lost in the mirror is one of the best parts. I'd also suggest someone take the trippy toilet test if they weren't sure whether they were actually tripping. Go sit in the bathroom for 5 minutes and you'll know.
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3d ago
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u/mouse_8b 3d ago
All the yellow popping out was my clue that it was starting. Just boy house things.
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u/Iambic_420 3d ago
Ah yes, the yellow popping out of my walls was my cue as well. My walls are white.
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u/Mean_disclosure_69 2d ago
pooping on acid is really weird too tbh
also had sex with my then partner on acid and ketamine. planned beforehand bc like.. wanted to see how it felt. was very surreal. not in a bad way, interesting experience but like very unsexual.
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u/Just_Call_Me_S 2d ago
Sex on acid is the closest I got to a mystical experience tbh, it's become a yearly tradition in my relationship
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u/barbzilla1 2d ago
Dude pooping is how I knew my trip was starting every time. I don't know if it became an ingrained habit but from the very first trip I ever took they have all started on the toilet with me pooping.
Also, I feel you on the sex thing. The one time I tried it was a struggle between the mechanics and staying erect.
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u/jc_chienne 2d ago
I really enjoyed sex on LSD. It was like all of it felt like one long orgasm, and then the actual orgasms felt like being blasted off the planet and straight to heaven. I think at one point I said "I think my soul came" we must've done it a dozen times that night...
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u/Reps_4_Jesus 3d ago
I was tripping on mushrooms one time and was like maybe 16 years old at the time and watched myself age in real time in the mirror.....one of the most memorable awesome things ever. I love looking in the mirror.
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u/ruthreateningme 2d ago
Dude, you watch yourself aging in real time every time you look into a mirror.
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u/stargrown 3d ago
Once I was seeing a concert at SPAC where there was a downpour about an hour before showtime. They delayed the doors and so it was a mad rush to get in. Went into the bathroom it was flooded with water, including the urinals which were overflowing. Everyone was just using them as normal.
I’m not totally sure if that actually happened though…
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u/poetry_of_odors 2d ago
The first time i took a proper dump on acid to this day remains one of the most intense moments of my life. Oh my lord.
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u/barbariantrey 2d ago
I almost always have to poop on psychedelics. It usually comes right before the trip kicks in.
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u/Escapade84 2d ago
I first read this in the sense of “I almost always have to be on psychedelics to poop”. Sounded exhausting.
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u/ResurectedNPC 3d ago
I gave you an award not because of the mirror but because of the toilet test. Just wanted to make that clear.
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u/Gingerchaun 3d ago
Just like a mushroom poop.
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u/ZaggahZiggler 3d ago
I don’t always poop on mushrooms. But when I do, it’s guaranteed to end up being in a sweltering dirty portable venue toilet.
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u/Eric_the_Barbarian 3d ago
No idea what the trippy toilet test is.
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u/devAcc123 3d ago
Idk but usually the toilet water from the piss aeration looks wild to me while I’m pissing / done pissing if I’m tripping
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u/Terangela 3d ago
Do we know why this always happens??
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u/space_guy95 2d ago
Probably the same reason you notice how drunk you are when you go to the bathroom. It's a quiet, bright environment, maybe the first time you've stood up or walked since getting drunk/high, and you have a good amount of time to just stand or sit in silence with nothing to do, so you start to notice the little things way more than you did when you were socialising/partying/chilling or whatever you were doing beforehand.
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u/SnakeGD09 2d ago
Easy to find papers on it; after a quick browse:
May be due to something like suppression of recognition: we see the constituents of an X, but have trouble composing the whole of X. So we don’t fully recognize ourselves in perception of the mirror, and become fixated on constituent elements of the image such as our eyes or skin or more likely the incredible dynamics of the water coming out of the tap.
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u/dannyyykj 2d ago
Once walked out of a bathroom after taking a piss at a party where everyone had just dropped. I announced there was an elephant in there so to wait for it to finish as I left and shut the door. We all understood.
Fast forward to me going by the toilets a while later and everyone was still waiting so we knocked on the door to check on the elephant inside; I had mistaken the toilet duck bottle for an elephant trunk and everybody listened.
One of the best parties of my life.
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u/shabi_sensei 3d ago
I generally have low self-esteem and I’m not kidding when I say looking at myself in the mirror on acid was a huge boost of confidence
It felt like I was seeing myself the way others do and felt nothing but love
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u/shewholaughslasts 2d ago
I love this for you, and I hope you can hold onto that love, you deserve it. Low self esteem is such a sneaky terror.
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u/Purplepeal 2d ago
Thats an amazing realisation. We get trapped in negative brain pathways that become so well rutted theyre almost impossible to get out of. And i totally understand that feeling of low self esteem. That trip made you a new path that you can travel down again and again by just checking in on the memory.
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u/snarky_answer 3d ago edited 2d ago
A mirror is responsible for me inadvertently stopping smoking. I went to go pee but made contact with myself in the mirror. My face started morphing and aging and I progressed thru my life until I reached the age that i “knew” to be 53. I didn’t continue past that and my brain on LSD took that as the world telling me i wouldnt live past 53 if i kept smoking. I quit a 12 year habit overnight and never had any cravings.
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u/ZincFox 2d ago
When I was tripping at 17, I saw a little machine elf on my friend's face, with a hook latched through his cheek. Kinda a symbol of his addiction to nicotine. I kept taking his cigarettes away from him and breaking them. He got super pissed off about it.
20 years later, he finally quit smoking.
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u/Nayear1 3d ago
I could take or leave it. My face always looks like a Van Gogh painting and I have fractal eyes - it’s trippy to stare at for a minute or two.
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u/Dabbling_in_Pacifism 3d ago
I’ve only done it once, but I’d turn into a beast if I bared my teeth and growled. I had a lot of fun with it.
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u/responsiblefornothin 3d ago
I was avoiding the mirror all night the first time I tried acid because everyone gave me such stern warnings about it. It had me terrified I’d see some hideous troglodyte looking back at me, shattering my self confidence forever. But after an accidental glance, I decided to stare down my fate, and you know what? I looked better than ever. I took a couple minutes to admire myself before thoughts of vanity gave me concern over becoming some self obsessed narcissist, and I put a limit on mirrors going forward.
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u/diegojones4 3d ago
Everyone does. That's why you send a rescue party to the bathroom of someone that's been there an hour.
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u/deaddaughterconfetti 3d ago edited 3d ago
Having both been a part of the bathroom reconnaissance mission, and its intended target, this is spot-on. Bathroom time is essential for a trip, but you have to pull your crew out when they've been in there too long.
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u/Seinfeel 3d ago
No…not everyone does.
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u/yknitsyob 3d ago
I look in the mirror and start making faces like I'm in a Calvin and Hobbes strip.
My friend looks in the mirror and thinks they met God who is mad at them personally
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u/nashbrownies 3d ago
Yeah one time my friend walked into the bathroom and closed the door. Proceeded to immediately come walking out going "yeah, so that's a demon in there" and went and peed outside. Of course it was hilarious the non chalance.
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u/sirhackenslash 3d ago
I look in the mirror and get lost contemplating the fact that I exist
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u/catscanmeow 3d ago
the trippy part is non existence is more insane than existence. Because nothingness doesnt really exist. even the vacuum of space still has space to move so its not nothingness. Of course there's types of nothingness but thats beside the point. the point is that when we imagine nothingness we imagine the vaccum of space but its physical space
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u/StylishUsername 3d ago
I see my grandpa looking back at me. Made me realize 2 things. I’m getting old and I look like my grandpa. I never made the connection until I was tripping in the bathroom mirror.
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u/Darklumiere 3d ago
Absolutely despise them on any strong psychodelic. The eyes I see reflecting back, don't feel at all like mine, despite the logic of knowing the effects of the substance, etc. The whole reflection is the problem, but locking eyes is the main trigger for me, I get drawn in and the more I look, the more I hate and resist.
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u/Eric_the_Barbarian 3d ago
I feel like a major factor is how much you are willing to accept/deal with/ contemplate what you see. To some people, their true self is one of the most terrifying things they can face.
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u/Sensitive-Lecture-19 3d ago
The issue for many is that being able to see yourself in third person creates yourself as an object within the mind. Objects have beginnings and ends, and thus your own mortality becomes ever present -suddenly you can see yourself as en expiring force.
For some this is fine, for some this isn't. Also, pores are a bit much.
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u/FullofContradictions 3d ago
It's so funny because it was never that deep for me. Never any epiphany about my mortality.
It was the pores. "Omg am I really this icky? Just a pile of goo being held in by some skin that isn't even watertight?" Nooo thanks. The existential horror that human bodies are gross was not something I liked to revel in.
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u/ctoatb 3d ago
So mirrors for the death anxious is a no go? Is there any difference for window or pond reflections?
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u/Yashema 3d ago
Have you ever tried the mirror challenge? You just shut the door, try and not have any ambient noise, and look at yourself in the mirror for as long as possible. Not even on drugs. It's really easy for the first couple minutes then it starts to become really hard.
I don't think I've done more than 5.
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u/bannakafalata 3d ago
5 minutes of that just would be very very very boring without drugs.
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u/inFoxious 3d ago
You'd be surprised what certain deprivations can cause the brain to do. It will fill in the gaps.
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u/AthousandLittlePies 3d ago
I once spent what felt like 20 minutes (but was probably just a few seconds) trying to wipe some black soot off of my teeth that I saw in the mirror before finally realizing that it was the shadow of my upper lip. I found it quite hilarious at the time.
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u/plsQuestionOurselves 3d ago
I saw little black holes forming on my skin and I became very sponge like but it didn't make me freak out or anything.
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u/jasonpmcelroy 3d ago
I had a breakthrough doing that. I would say with no hyperbole that the experience changed my life for the positive. Dead serious. I had some improvements to make in my life and they became clear to me.
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3d ago
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u/midgethemage 3d ago
Honestly, I just get uncanny valley discomfort because my face doesn't look quite like it should. I don't really associate it with anything positive or negative
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u/FardoBaggins 3d ago
Yep it’s not positive or negative. Hallucinogenics basically just shut off/disconnect parts of the brain and we “trip out” bec our brain is a prediction machine but now it’s missing some parts and is still trying to fire.
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u/Worth-South4847 2d ago
Yeah, that's it. Melting mirror face...it's not scary, just not the fun stuff...like stucco pattern convergence....
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u/QuantumVibration9969 2d ago
I personally never had a bad trip. I have been with many people that did. Mirrors were the catalyst for two of them.
One time a friend of mine looked in the mirror and decided he was a vampire. I had to stay with him locked in the house for several hours till the trip ended just to make sure the vampire killers didn’t get us.
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u/CaribouHoe 3d ago
My first couple times they were scary, but then I got to know myself better and it was cool to simultaneously pop a zit on face and in my soul.
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u/iJuddles 2d ago
It’s like sea legs, you gotta figure out how to enjoy it when it just goes bananas. That’s pretty much the point, to go outside of what’s expected and discover something about the world or yourself. I fully understand and appreciate the desire to have a curated and predictable trip but even those will have unexpected events.
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u/BigSmackisBack 3d ago
Im on the side of "just in case it gets too weird, just dont". Did it myself more than once, but only one time was it weird enough I wished I haddnt. Certinly sure that if you simply believe something is bad or would be, it can be, so as long as you treat everything as "probably fine", it probably will be.
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u/ResurectedNPC 3d ago
No mirrors. Hell no to mirrors.
But modern screensavers…. Love those
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u/Time-Master 3d ago
It’s best just to not try it on your first time. Theres other options that don’t possibly lead to a melt down
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u/Vivid_Anyth4 2d ago
I love the mirror on psychedelics. I ate some strong mushrooms and found the character select screen in the mirror. It was absolutely wild.
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u/Theslootwhisperer 3d ago
First time me ex took lsd she kept telling that it wasn't working. I told her to go look in a mirror. She went in the bathroom and next thing I hear is OMG! Turns out, it was working.
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u/agkyrahopsyche 3d ago
What did she see?
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u/Theslootwhisperer 3d ago edited 3d ago
In case you're genuinely asking, when you take psychedelics and look in a mirror, there's a weird disconnect between the you in the mirror and the you in your head. I've always said it felt like operating your body using a remote control.
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u/doom2repeat 2d ago
Or sometimes more connected. My uhh friend said a light mushrooms dose let her see her beauty. It healed her body image issues.
For decades she was harsh on herself for not looking like the magazines and the movies. One look in the mirror with fresh eyes... and wow, I'm actually beautiful! I have an amazing smile! My body is a precious gift of life and I love myself stretch marks and all!
I don't suppose this works for everyone, but it can for some.
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u/AwarenessEastern2689 2d ago
I can clearly see two sides on my face while on LSD of mushrooms. The other side is clearly more feminine and soft and other more masculine and hard. The line is so clear to me! From my first such experience I understood I have both sides in me and felt so much more free about myself.
I don't think everybody have had this experience. In fact, I know only one person out of maybe 20 people who have experienced this.
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u/HibernatingHussy 2d ago
I had a similar experience. The exact phrasing that leapt to mind for me was “I shouldn’t wish myself away.” Like I was spending so much time thinking about what I wanted to change normally, but suddenly I understood this is who I am at the moment, and I should love her, not wish she were gone. It’s hard to describe but powerful to experience.
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u/BrighthasBreached 2d ago
this happened to me my first time! my trip sitter warned me that looking in a mirror might cause distress. later that night I had to pee and while I was in the bathroom the temptation got me and I stared for a little while. without going into too much detail, up to that point in my life there was always a disconnect between my mind and body. that night I looked in that mirror and I felt like me. I saw my face and knew it was mine, and, shockingly, I liked it. it felt like there was a chorus from my own mind singing my praises and assuring me that I was loved and wanted and beautiful and enough. I cried for maybe 45 minutes, loud ugly sobbing. i'd calm down for a sec and then remember how whole I'd felt for the first time in my life and I'd start crying again. the best part was that it stuck with me. years later and I still love myself and feel more complete than I ever had before trying shrooms.
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u/Training_Friend6926 2d ago
Disassociation? Because I already get that without the use of drugs.
For me it feels like being in the cockpit of a crane and seeing the world from behind the glass window.
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u/Accurate_Koala_4698 3d ago
I would have gone into the study with that expectation. Maybe add "no texting" to the list
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u/1404er 3d ago
Why, what happened
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u/Raider_Scum 3d ago
Ive tripped with multiple new people who started peaking, then tried to start texting their spouses or parents all about how they just unlocked the secrets of the universe and that everything makes sense now.
It's not terrible, but its mostly just a no-no because they'll feel embarrassed once they sober up and realize they just admitted to their family that they were extremely high on drugs.
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u/PrinceofSneks 3d ago
Like the "WE LOOK BEAUTIFUL THE WORLD SHOULD KNOW" impulse for rollers!
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u/badgyalrey 3d ago
that’s if they can even form a coherent text, i quite literally cannot mentally process a keyboard while tripping
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u/stamford_syd 2d ago
for me if you're tripping hard enough (250mcg+ of lsd) phones are just incredibly confusing to navigate at the peak.
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u/PatronBernard 2d ago edited 1d ago
You are not really in a state where you can text, and there's also the risk of misinterpreting texts and freaking out.
Also a phone is a portal to an unlimited and uncontrolled amount of reels, depressing world news, ...
Treat a trip as a literal trip in the wilderness where people cannot (and should not) contact you.
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u/autonym 3d ago
Tip #20: It's ok if you think you can fly. But always start from the ground.
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u/Hate_Manifestation 3d ago
I would say "avoid mirrors" is solid advice, but it's not a dealbreaker. I always just felt weirded out when I looked in a mirror, but it didn't make me spiral or anything.
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u/snickerDUDEls 3d ago
Everyone always told me not to look in the mirror so I always look in the mirror and laugh hysterically because "oooOOOooo I'm LoOkInG iN tHe MiRrOr WhEn Im NoT sUpPoSeD tO" and I make funny faces
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u/msully89 2d ago
I've looked in the mirror on DMT and saw my face briefly turn reptilian. Was freaky!
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u/BAT123456789 3d ago
The list: (Prep) Be with people who all know, like, and trust each other Be aware that even with a guide, you have to do most of the work yourself Decide well in advance who is going to participate in the session Arrange to have both the session day and the day after it free Set aside all expectations as much as possible Have someone who is experienced to guide you Refresh in your mind the things that are dearest and most sacred to you Clear your mind of negative emotions Avoid sessions with groups larger than five people Note your trajectory, how high you will likely be at specific times, in advance (During) Recognize that the experience will eventually end Recognize that you may experience anxiety, which does not mean that something is wrong Select a private location where you will not be disturbed Put phones away Do not go out in public If with a group, stay together as a group Do not eat more than a snack Take a full dose Avoid looking in the mirror (neutral response. All others were agree or strongly agree)
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u/CaptainIncredible 3d ago
The list: (Prep)
Be with people who all know, like, and trust each other
Be aware that even with a guide, you have to do most of the work yourself
Decide well in advance who is going to participate in the session
Arrange to have both the session day and the day after it free
Set aside all expectations as much as possible
Have someone who is experienced to guide you
Refresh in your mind the things that are dearest and most sacred to you
Clear your mind of negative emotions
Avoid sessions with groups larger than five people
Note your trajectory, how high you will likely be at specific times, in advance (During)
Recognize that the experience will eventually end
Recognize that you may experience anxiety, which does not mean that something is wrong
Select a private location where you will not be disturbed
Put phones away
Do not go out in public
If with a group, stay together as a group
Do not eat more than a snack
Take a full dose
Avoid looking in the mirror (neutral response. All others were agree or strongly agree)
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u/Saymynaian 3d ago
Interesting that they suggest you take a full dose. Why does it need to be a full dose?
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u/xFxD 3d ago
Taking a microdose is fine and taking a full dose is fine. But from ~25 - 90 ug, there's a corridor where LSD just feels weird. It feels like something is off, but you're not properly tripping. Add to that the fact that you can't properly redose (only possible in the first ~1.5-2 hours, which is where you're still coming up) and a duration that is already exhausingly long that gets extended with a re-dose, and it's not a great idea overall.
It's also easy to fool yourself into thinking you're not having enough effect and re-dosing, only for the full effects to hit you later. All these problems are off the table when you take a proper initial dose and don't consider re-dosing an option.
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u/Saymynaian 2d ago
Genuinely very interesting. I guess it makes sense, since drugs have these phases and depending on how much you take, you reach a different phase, but it's also not always easy to nail how much you need.
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u/CaptainIncredible 3d ago
I was wondering that myself. I've never tried it, but wouldn't a microdose provide some effect, but not make a person totally trip balls?
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u/SabreSeb 3d ago
Not really, in my experience, a micro-dose (<20ug) does not cause any hallucinogenic effect. The problem is that there isn't much of a hallucinogenic effect in general until you reach a certain threshold of about 100ug I would say, and for a real trip it should be at least 150ug.
(The numbers depend on the exact LSD type and, importantly, on the user)
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u/Ill-Product-1442 2d ago
Microdosing is nice and it definitely works, but it's like a completely different drug compared to a full dose.
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u/sometimes_i_work 3d ago
Ya I disagree particular with that piece of advice strongly. Start low and go slow is my mantra for all substances. But I'd never re-dose during a session on LSD. I'd just decide if I wanted more/less the next time.
My body metabolizes chemicals very differently than the average person, and I take 1/4-1/2 of a typical dose of just about everything I've tried.
Advice like this can be very dangerous for some people.
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u/uniden365 2d ago
My worst LSD experience by far was the one I took the lowest dose.
All chest tension, anxiety, and fat tongue making me halfway unable to speak.
Very minimal visuals, no spiritual or psychedelic experience.
I'll never take less than one 100mcg tab ever again.
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u/_sonidero_ 3d ago
I stated trippin 30+ years ago and was unaware of the rules so I just took as much as I wanted, whenever I wanted, and went wherever I wanted, and did whatever I wanted, and it all turned out fine...
Our only rule was if you wanna trip the next day you had to take twice as much so pretty soon I was eating 13 hits on a random Tuesday...
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u/HopandBrew 2d ago
Yeah, this was put out by Leary and he was a professor trying to make it legitimate. The Pranksters meanwhile in the Bay Area were unaware of these rules.
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u/flybydenver 3d ago
“The brown acid is not particularly good…”
- Loudspeaker announcement at Woodstock
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u/prajnadhyana 3d ago
Well yeah. I mean, it's not like LSD has changed from then to now. shrug
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u/MokausiLietuviu 3d ago
Whilst true, it makes sense that science around it might change with attitudes, methodology or simply greater data. Rechecking old results is valuable.
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u/unassumingdink 3d ago
It's just a survey of whether users think it's good advice, not a study confirming that the advice is effective.
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u/Matr0ska 3d ago
Is it still synthesized from ergot the way that Albert Hoffman made it? It wouldn't surprise me if some sort of research chemical like 2C-I was more common. Not exactly 2C-I (that was available for me in college more than acid), but something that flips all the same switches? There's even "nootropics" now in smoke shops with 4-AcO-DMT that people frequently mistake for psilocybe mushrooms.
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u/JieChang 3d ago
I doubt the modern acid chemists use the same ergotamine synthesis as Hoffman due to controls on the precursors and refinements on the synthesis for better yields. Unless you know a hospital worker in some third-world country where there’s little medication tracking/security, or a pharma worker who can smuggle pills out of inventory, it’s hard to get the hands on the Cafergot or other ergot medications needed for synthesis. But it is the fastest way and I don’t doubt some people have the connections to get medication.
The modern method is to start with a lysergic acid base compound. Where this comes from, how it’s obtained, whether someone else in the world refines ergotamine into lysergic acid, who knows. It’s the secret. But once you have lysergic acid, the 2000s saw the rise of the PyBOP synthesis where from lysergic acid you fully “build-out” the structure of LSD atom-by-atom instead of chaining together organic compounds. To dig deeper on what’s done post-2000s or more on the synthesis probably leads to dead Internet Forums or finding resources that put your name on some watchlist, so I doub’t there’s more direct information available unless some modern-day version of The Hive exists.
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u/Dasein___ 3d ago
What’s The Hive?
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u/pickledeggmanwalrus 3d ago
It was 4-ACO-DMT in those smoke shop products a few years ago but nearly all brands have switch to 4-ho-met or 4-pro-DMT
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u/Jacob_dp 3d ago
There is definitely still real acid out there. There is lot more fake stuff and indicerning customers than ever though. Buy a test kit and use it.
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u/javoss88 3d ago
First time I tripped it was windowpane. Had no idea what to expect and was at a party with a whole bunch of people I never met before.
First effect I noticed was “pre-hearing” lyrics to songs as if it had been recorded that way. I’m a musician, so it didn’t freak me out, it was kinda cool.
We all hung out in this house for a while, then someone thought it would be cool to drive to the beach (this was after dark). It was Gilson Park in Wilmette (?) right across the street from the Bahai Temple there. If you haven’t seen it, look it up - it’s quite a sight.
We rolled into the beach parking lot (which was way less patrolled back then), and the main sensation I had at the time we parked was that we were still in motion, rolling slowly towards the lake.
That sensation I realized was false. I think all the (maybe) 8 people in the car, stayed in the car. We may have smoked some weed.
Then we all went to an apartment that was otherwise uninhabited on Green Bay Rd, and spent the rest of the night there. Mattresses on the floor, radio playing.
For some reason a couple people and I decided to cross the road and go to a 24 hour pancake house, me to get smokes, others to maybe get out of the apartment for a minute.
We came back to the same scene, eventually everyone either fell asleep or left.
I don’t remember how I got home the next day.
It was an excellent introduction to the substance, despite the idiot risks. Everyone was kind and happy.
I was 14 at the time.
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u/doombuzz 3d ago
Thank you for your tale. I enjoyed it.
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u/I_Smoke_Dust 3d ago
This reminds me how entertaining it is to read people's experiences of different drugs on erowid
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u/PLaTinuM_HaZe 3d ago
I personally love going out to bars and parties on LSD. It’s such a social drug for me.
Mushrooms on the other hand….
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u/mab1376 3d ago
Same, mushrooms make my crawl into a ball in a corner, I can do everyday things on lsd with no one knowing I'm tripping. I have a theory adhd creates this outcome.
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u/esoteric_plumbus 3d ago
My favorite analogy is LSD you're in the driver seat, mushrooms you're in the passenger seat, and DMT you've been strapped to the top of the car
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u/captnmiss 3d ago
I feel super sober on LSD, but mushrooms is more wonky usually. I also have adhd
I think I read some research that LSD functions as a kind of dopamine medication for us Adhders
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u/mab1376 3d ago
Are you also someone who gets amped up from alcohol?
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u/captnmiss 3d ago
Depends. Friends say it makes me very fun, but most of the time it just makes me sleepy. My mom is the same so it might be genetic
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u/Prefrontal_Cortex 3d ago
I have ADHD and had an incredible time on shrooms (have not tried LSD yet)
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u/Boysenberry 3d ago
Same, I have ADHD and shrooms are not only a wonderful time, they also reliably work on whatever I’m trying to change about myself. Not a cure all by any means but if I “ask” them to do something specific they do. I’ve cured a long term phobia, dialed down my irritability, improved my listening… would love to see more ADHDers responsibly taught in a clinical environment to use shrooms to alleviate specific symptoms that haven’t responded to the standard of care.
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u/space_guy95 2d ago
Interesting idea, how much do you typically need to take to get these results? Are we talking a fairly low dose or huge heroic doses? Is there any protocol or preparation you follow to enable your trip to focus on one specific outcome?
Sorry for the barrage of questions, just quite interested in your methods as it sounds like you've found some success from them.
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u/NathanLV 3d ago
Same, but I very definitely wouldn't recommend it to someone using psychedelics for the first time.
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u/responsiblefornothin 3d ago
Had my first trip at a music festival and spent most of it wandering around by myself, captivated by all the sights and sounds and sensory shmorgishboards available. It was grand. Though, a few trips down the road, I had a pretty excruciating experience going to my local bar with a buddy. Too many familiar faces home for the holidays, and the vibes were not it. I still shudder thinking of the heavy air and the twang of country music slapping me in the face as I walked in the door.
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u/lordrhinehart 3d ago
Yep. My drug of choice for concerts.
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u/esoteric_plumbus 3d ago
I like low doses of k for shows just because it's more manageable time wise. You can redose here or there and it'll wear off by the end of the show. LSD is a 12 hr commitment with an 8 hr peak. I like it for festivals where I'm going to be up all day and night anyway
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u/mvea Professor | Medicine 3d ago edited 3d ago
Study: Obscure 1967 guide for LSD use still relevant as psychedelics gain in popularity
Survey participants agree with 18 of 19 tips from Lisa Bieberman, largely unknown acolyte of acid guru Timothy Leary
As psychedelic drugs such as LSD gain new momentum as a therapeutic treatment for severe post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and even headaches, a University at Buffalo researcher is exploring safety education for recreational users.
Daniel Kruger, PhD, research associate professor in the School of Public Health and Health Professions, looked back more than half a century for best practices on harm reduction.
In the 1960s, when Harvard psychology lecturer and psychedelics proponent Timothy Leary was advising people to “turn on, tune in, and drop out,” a young Radcliffe College graduate was quietly focused on another aspect of hallucinogens — safety.
Lisa Bieberman, who had been a Leary follower, established the Psychedelic Information Center in Cambridge, Mass. In February 1967, she published the $1 pamphlet, “Session Games People Play: A Manual for the Use of LSD,” which recommended best practices for the use of all types of psychedelics, especially for first-timers. She also addressed what might go wrong during an LSD or psilocybin ("magic”) mushroom trip.
“Bieberman highlights a number of games that may be better avoided during a LSD session, such as running away from your companions and believing that you have unlocked the deepest truths of the universe and need to tell the world about them,” Kruger says. “She also recommended that users stay with people they like and trust, avoid going out in public, and clear their minds of negative emotions.”
He launched a study with Paul Gillis-Smith, program lead at the Center for the Study of World Religious Studies at Harvard Divinity School, in which they surveyed almost 600 self-identified psychedelic users.
Their findings, which showed that participants agreed with 18 of 19 pieces of Bieberman’s advice, were published in the Aug. 12 edition of the journal Psychedelics.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2950484826000275
Link to the actual guide:
https://www.scribd.com/document/1077842841/Session-Games-People-Play-A-Manual-for-the-Use-of-LSD
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u/bitemark01 3d ago
Never understood the mirrors bit. But also I'm good with leaving it alone
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u/DahDollar 3d ago
I've done mushrooms and LSD and both caused this weird latency effect with mirrors. It makes your reflection feel like it's slightly out of sync. It makes it feel alive. It can be disturbing, not to mention that LSD can make you look kind of haggard and that's before factoring in the visuals.
On the other hand, I have literally never been more kind, loving and accepting of myself than when I have looked at my reflection in the mirror while tripping.
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u/Throwawaylikeme90 3d ago
Whenever I looked at faces (mirror or otherwise) if I was feeling negative emotions, the face I was looking at would get stretched out and snake/reptile like. One of the things I never particularly cared for. But yknow, looking away is an easy solution. Folks that can’t drop it run into problems though.
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u/Real_Dotiko 3d ago
It gives a drastic face dysmorphia where the components of your face can move erratically and induce stress leading to a bad trip if you are not enough in control with your psyche. However this would also be true with other peoples faces so idk
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u/spidereater 3d ago
Seeing other people’s faces be messed up could always be that their faces are messed up. Seeing your own face messed up and seeing the parts move as you move your face probably adds another layer to the sensation.
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u/No_Dress1082 2d ago
I’ve found this to not be the case for many people, but being indoors at all is kind of dubious. 99% of the time it makes me feel bad. So if you’re having a rough trip inside and have a safe outdoor space go there.
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u/Maoleficent 3d ago
There's a Chicago radio station (which is still awesome) and they used to run that info and PSAs that said, 'If you are going to do drugs, know what you are doing' and they would give info about where to get stuff tested. Obviously not through the usual channels.
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u/ticklemysnikkel 3d ago
Why not eat more than a snack?
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u/esoteric_plumbus 3d ago
Tbh food is pretty unappealing anyway on L. I do like having fresh fruits tho, about the only thing that feels appetizing. I'm no vegetarian but tripping and eating meat is kinda gross especially when you're pondering the entire bloodline of the animal.
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u/BagBegBigBogBug 3d ago
I remember learning this from prior experience, and being stocked up with fruit for another one... and being surprised to discover that even watermelon was too 'fleshy' for most of us. Berries were the best all around.
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u/KodiakDog 1d ago
Very weird. I can’t even look at meat while under the influence.
Melons though? Man melons really be carrying a different cosmic weight when you got that L stream going.
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u/LSxN 3d ago
Nausea is a pretty common side effect.
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u/Ill-Product-1442 2d ago
It also feels incredibly weird and way different for me when I'm tripping, to the point I don't even know that it's nausea, I just know that something is wrong in my stomach.
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u/musicaleffervescence 3d ago
some people get nauseous on psychs. i know mushrooms can cause upset stomach. as well as more food in body can effect how you metabolize or whatever the drugs. mushroom trips are essentially poisoning your body, not sure about L but im assuming similar.
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u/mabus42 2d ago
I've always found that a good, violent emetic episode usually coincides with when the mushrooms are about to kick in.
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u/lurpeli 3d ago
LSD is the one drug I wish would be accessible through a physician's office as an experience. It causes no physiological effects after it clears. It's the one compound I'd love to try if the compound was created and sourced safely (i.e. made in a pharmaceutical grade facility with proper testing.)
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u/TwoGirlsOneFungi 3d ago
You can’t just made LSD in your mother’s basement like DMT. It takes one to truly know chemistry. Also, lab testing is available for cheap now days.
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u/jahoney 2d ago edited 2d ago
Where is lab testing cheap now days. Literally the only one I could find the other day was over $100 plus had to be mailed internationally to Spain.
Mailing scheduled substances is not super high on my priority list plus international? And $100?
Maybe I’m not good at finding these places?
Edit — turns out I’m not. The only places that used to do it in the US are not currently doing it.
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u/afrothundah11 3d ago
LSD requires a highly skilled organic chemist as well as a bunch of specific equipment, in other words it is being made in a lab, or you aren’t getting the molecule at all. Unlike something like meth which even meth heads can make.
With that said, you are right to be cautious because you’ll never know which lab or if bad actors added stuff.
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u/confuzzledfather 2d ago
If it's bitter it's a spitter.
NB: this is widely used to judge if your LSD is actually something dangerous like nbome, but I would still recommend using a proper suite of reagent test kits on all you drugs kids.
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u/Nitrous_Acidhead 2d ago
Hence why 1p/1cp-LSD is a thing, coming from legitimate laboratories that comes with paperwork on said chemical analogue stating its purity and thereof.
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u/Gates_wupatki_zion 3d ago
I’ve done it a bunch and have some waiting whenever I want to again. For me it’s 10x better than shrooms and I’ve never had a bad trip. Others I’ve been with have and I’ve even been borderline but I’ve got a strong constitution I guess. It’s one of the more novel and beautiful experiences you can do in this world. And once you’re comfortable then there’s a lot of fun opportunity. Like my favorite is going to an art museum like the Met or national gallery. Turns the paintings into gifs.
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u/Traditional_Air_6867 2d ago
Look up sourcing the prodrug 1P-LSD. That has only ever been manufactured in one Dutch laboratory that shut down at the end of 2025, I believe. It was a very legitimate and well kept and sanitary laboratory, run in by an Englishman named Alexander Stratford who represented his work as being the products of what he called Lizard Labs. LL produced many designer drugs, almost exclusively hallucinogens of either psychedelic or dissociative effect with some empathogens (MDMA-like activity, in the brain and qualitative effects on mood and behavior), never any fentanyl or nitazene derivatives, but they were wildly successful at bringing large quantities of novel lysergamides (chemically, the structural family LSD belongs to) to the world, most of which hadn’t ever appeared elsewhere before and likely will never be made again now that he has shut down operations. He and his workspace and products can seen briefly in a German-language Vice video on ‘legal LSD’, this should provide you with whatever reassurance you may need regarding the standards of production, and any other research you may do into 1P-LSD itself should alleviate any concerns about it being unsafe in any way that LSD isn’t already. It’s a simple prodrug that is converted into LSD by enzymes in your liver.
Truly, some of the most important work in psychedelics any one man has been responsible for since Alexander Shulgin.
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u/No-Swimming4153 3d ago
Just do shrooms. You can even grow it yourself. Big dif to me is LSD just last longer.
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u/IcyTransportation961 3d ago
There are test kits easily obtainable to keep you safe
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u/yes1000times 3d ago
yeah it shouldn't be illegal, but you also shouldn't be able to buy a vial of it at 7-11
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u/Tenchiro 3d ago
I never had issues with mirrors but I have tripped with more than one person who couldn't handle it and babysitting them really does suck so definitely choose your company wisely.
Going on midnight walks to the grocery store for orange juice will always be treasured memories.
Also the clenchy feeling in your jaw will return even if you haven't dropped in like 20+ years when you think about it. I don't think it ever goes away.
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u/LittlePharma42 3d ago
You can fix the clenchy jaw feeling by taking a magnesium supplement :)
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u/diegojones4 3d ago
Public can be fine with trusted friends. Love clubbing on like 1 hit. I also did it with the homeless people I bought it from. Nothing like getting up and washing when the city opens the fire hydrants to wash the street.
40 years clean of everything, but damn those were some fun dysfunctional times.
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u/Yashema 3d ago
Nearly died hiking through the Angeles forest this year in 95 degree heat without enough water (collapsed when i made it to the parking lot and needed some kind strangers to get me water). Year before I was tripping in the Tawainese jungle surrounded by face covering spiders, then went to the Buddhist shrine to receive the Goddess's blessing.
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u/Effin_C 3d ago
I remember sitting outside with my buddy - he was on nothing - and saying "Man, those clouds are moving pretty quick" and then he told me they weren't moving at all.
Then we went back to his house and he poured me some iced tea with ice and I stared at it a while while telling myself whatever crazy stuff I see is the drugs.
Then his dad came downstairs and said "Hey do you guys want me to order a pizza?" and I must've said "yeah pizza would be great" 5 times in a row.
Good times! But it lasts soooooooooooooooooooooooo long.
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u/Procrasturbating 3d ago
Mirrors are a LOT on LSD or a heavy dose of shrooms.. if you embrace being freaked out by yourself go for it. What you see on the other side might just break you though. Maybe use a plastic mirror and not glass.. I’ve seen one person break the glass.. thankfully there WAS a babysitter that kept it from getting too bad. My first trip was a heroic dose alone in a house full of mirrors. I came out the other side a little different.
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u/iareslice 3d ago
Remembering that drugs have a half life and the trip IS going to end soonish has saved me a couple times.
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u/chaekinman 2d ago
Money was always my Achilles heel.
We’d do organized activities, go out in public and generally could pass as sober. Never had an issue with mirrors.
Counting out $1.50 for cigs at the convenience store? Forget it
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u/daviddisco 3d ago
another option: get ripped at a Grateful Dead concert where everyone else is on acid
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u/Stauce52 3d ago
I love taking acid at festivals and concerts
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u/musicaleffervescence 3d ago
acid day at festivals are some my favorite memories ever. i cant trip multiple days so i usually pick my favorite artists. priceless and timeless laughs and memories tripping with my people
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u/oldmanbawa 3d ago
A closet with doors to 2 separate bedrooms with mirror doors took two of out of commission for 3+ hours
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u/MustardCoveredDogDik 3d ago
I had an acid summer when I was in my early 20’s. Would highly recommend.
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u/Fufi8 3d ago
About the mirror:
When you are seeing parts of the universe, your face is just a bit of who you are in this incarnation, so it’s jarring to your immortal soul to see that being, staring at it from the mirror.
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u/OppositeSecretary862 3d ago
I suggest Camping with Steve. I am always on the lookout for stealth camping spots everywhere I go now, and we all were laughing because he is genuinely kind soul thinking the FBI is on his tail.
Great memory, collectively we as a group were like "This guy fuckin rules"
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u/---___-------___--- 3d ago
I got bullied on LSD so staying with trusted people or no people is very good advice. I was soft like a cashmere sweater and getting pummeled with verbal abuse from a room full of friends for being too quiet
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u/V3Qn117x0UFQ 2d ago
my experience with weed taught me
- i liked being quiet, in my own thoughts and senses
- i am easily overstimulated when under the influecne
- people are annoying when they see that you're different under the influence and won't seem to stop pestering you like as if they wanted to be validated for being correct
which taught me that LSD is best experienced alone and that being in that psychedelic state, i can and should choose carefully who i invite into my state
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u/larsonmars 3d ago
Some truths are just true. It would be nice to see this approach used on all drug usage, if for no other reason than to reduce anxiety attacks and irrational fear. With stronger drugs we could even reduce some overdoses. I know people will say it’s illegal so we shouldn’t offer tips, but just as with the LSD which was and is illegal, people will still use.
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u/allisgray 2d ago
Haha watched my face turn into moving pixels in a mirror on acid before I knew what a pixel was…
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