What to Do When It’s Not a Microdose
If microdosing psychedelics isn't mainstream yet, it's very close. While it is still a niche practice, more people try it daily. One of the flow-on effects is that more people will experience taking what they think is a microdose and getting more than they bargained for. I'm going to talk about many different things in this post, but I'd like to clarify two points right now.
Almost everyone who has microdosed in any remotely sustained way has experienced this. So, don't feel bad if it happens to you; you are in good company.
One of the key reasons this even happens is the illegality of psychedelics.
This post is a quick guide for understanding the difference between a microdose and higher doses, what to do if you find yourself tripping much harder than expected, and what you can do afterwards if you have an experience requiring support or integration. Considering the contested nature of the scientific evidence regarding microdosing, I'm not making therapeutic claims about it. The science of psychedelic therapy is new enough, but it’s more advanced than it is for microdosing. Rather, these are just some ideas to help people new to microdosing do it more safely.
If you are considering getting into microdosing shrooms or other psychedelics, this post is for you.
What is Microdosing?
Microdosing refers to consuming small, “sub-perceptual” doses of psychedelic substances, such as LSD or psilocybin mushrooms, typically one-tenth to one-twentieth of a regular "macro" dose. Unlike a full dose that elicits pronounced psychedelic effects, a microdose is intended to produce subtle changes in perception, mood, and cognition. People I have spoken with are experimenting with an ever-growing range of substances, but LSD and psilocybin microdosing remain the most common choices.
The concept of microdosing has gained popularity in recent years, especially in the realms of personal development, mental health, and creativity enhancement. Advocates of microdosing claim a range of potential benefits, including increased focus, enhanced creativity, improved mood, and a greater sense of well-being. It’s important to note that the science of microdosing has yet to come to a consensus on whether these benefits occur for most microdosers.
By taking a fraction of a standard dose and following a microdosing protocol, individuals aim to harness the therapeutic potential of psychedelics without undergoing a full-blown psychedelic experience. In theory, this allows for integration into daily routines, work environments, and social interactions while minimizing the risk of overwhelming effects or impairing functionality.
But it doesn’t always work out that way.
The Fine Line: How You Could Mistake a Larger Dose for a Microdose
As discussed below, the amounts of psychedelic substances required to produce a full psychedelic effect, sometimes known as a "macrodose", can be small. The amounts needed for microdose effects are even smaller. Without the right approach and correct equipment, getting a dose wrong is very easy. Even experienced psychonauts can get a surprise when they try to "eyeball" a dose (estimate it by sight rather than properly weigh or measure it.)
Another factor is the variability of how potent or concentrated a substance is. This occurs across both naturally occurring and synthetic psychedelics. In natural sources, such as psilocybin mushrooms, the amount of psilocybin or psilocin can vary considerably, even within mushrooms from the same grow. Some strain and species of mushrooms are much more potent than others. E.g., P. cubensis Penis Envy mushrooms can be up to twice as strong as the average magic mushroom, and wood-loving species such as Psilocybe azurescens or P. subaeruginaosa can be much (much) stronger than P. cubensis.
For synthetic psychedelics such as LSD, the amount of drug on a blotter can vary wildly or not be evenly distributed. In such a case, cutting a tab into ten pieces could mean some fragments have almost no LSD while others might have much more. While dosing and consistency issues with pre-measured microdosing products (such as shroom chocolates or psilocybin gummies) are rare, they can occur when the products are not manufactured to a high standard.
How individuals react to psychedelics can vary. This occurs due to individual biology, metabolism, mindset, expectations, and underlying mental health complications (especially schizophrenia). What is a mild dose for one person can be more robust for another. While it is unlikely that an accurate microdose would give someone a full-blown psychedelic experience, I would hesitate to say that it’s impossible.
The Difference Between a Microdose and a Regular Dose: Understanding the Distinction
What is a microdose, and what are its effects?
A microdose of a psychedelic or psychoactive drug is typically one where the effects are, at most, quite subtle. There are various ways to calculate the exact dose, but the typical rule of thumb for a starting point is to take a standard dose for a full psychedelic experience and divide it by ten. For example, a dried Psilocybe cubensis mushroom microdose is generally between 0.1 and 0.3 grams of dried mushroom, though people with more experience in shroom microdosing may take more or less than this. For LSD, most people would typically take between 10 and 20 micrograms of LSD.
Microdosers report a range of effects, mostly positive but sometimes negative. Positive effects people report include increased energy and increases in perceived creativity, increased mindfulness, relief from depression and anxiety, and better awareness of their emotions. Conversely, people sometimes report increased anxiety, depression, and physical (usually digestive) discomfort. Most people can function normally on a microdose of their chosen psychedelics. E.g., on a properly calibrated shroom microdose, you would not expect even to feel stoned or particularly impaired, though colors might be a little brighter and flow states may be easier to access.
What is a regular dose of psychedelics, and what are its effects?
In this article, I'm just using "regular dose" to stand in for something that can reliably produce unsubtle and robust psychedelic effects. For most people seeking a psychedelic experience, this involves varying degrees of visual phenomena: bright colours, seeing patterns when they close their eyes, and objects starting to slightly warp, move, or appear to breathe. Thoughts may start to follow different or no pattern at all due to being easily distracted. This is around what sites like the Shroomery refer to as “level 3.” How people react to psychedelics varies considerably, but roughly speaking, 2 grams of dried Psilocybe cubensis mushrooms, 1 gram of Psilocybe subaeruginosa mushrooms, or 100 micrograms of LSD will start to produce these effects. (The dose would need to be higher for some people, but I'd advise caution.)
At higher doses, the visual and mental aspects can become more all-encompassing, with intense hallucinations, profound time distortions and significant changes in self-perception all being possible (sometimes all at once.) Normal functioning can be challenging at this point, though this is highly variable between individuals. Also evident: in this state, you should not drive, operate heavy machinery, make important decisions, be near things you can fall into/off, etc.
Signs You've Gone Beyond a Microdose: Recognizing the Effects
This is unnecessary because you'll know when you stray from an expected microdose! But just in case it isn't, here are some signs that your microdose is heading into more trippy territory:
The walls are breathing
There are moving or flowing patterns on objects or people
You are having trouble keeping a linear train of thought
Time is slowing down or not behaving as expected
You experience deep upwelling of emotions or vivid recollections of events from long ago
Everything is hilarious
Some sounds may be distorted, but music sounds excellent.
If you take what you think is a microdose and these things start to happen, there could be many potential explanations. But, that it wasn’t a microdose is a likely cause.
When the Trip Takes Over: Navigating the Intensity of a Full Dose
Your exact first steps to navigate an unexpectedly intense psychedelic experience will depend on the situation you are in at the time. Regardless, your priority is the safety of yourself and those around you. If you are driving or undertaking an activity of similar riskiness that requires you to be sober, stop doing it as soon as possible. This might be deeply inconvenient. But a traffic or workplace accident could kill or injure you or others and isn’t worth the risk.
If you are experiencing serious physical or psychological difficulties, call emergency services or have a friend call them for you. It’s unlikely you’ll need to do this, but worth keeping in mind.
If you are physically safe, you can consider how to look after your well-being in other ways. When working from home, you should take a break until the intensity reduces. Depending on where you’re at and the complexity of the tasks you’re trying to complete, this break might take a few minutes or the rest of the workday.
When you’re in the office or workplace, and the intensity of an LSD or shroom microdose goes beyond expectations, how you deal with this will depend on your situation. If it's a relatively low-intensity experience, a break or walk might be enough to ground yourself. If you've miscalculated enough that you find yourself tripping hard, taking the rest of the day off sick is probably best. Don't drive home! Call a friend or get a rideshare. (Or use public transport, but only if it’s safe enough and you feel comfortable doing so.)
If you aren’t working the day your microdose over-performs, you’ll have an easier time implementing the coping strategies in the next section. But you may still need to change plans and call in favours, especially if you have caring responsibilities.
Whatever your day looks like and what you are supposed to be doing, the main thing is to look after your physical and psychological safety and those around you, especially those you are responsible for. Get somewhere safe and comfortable for as long as you need to. Whatever steps you take to feel safe, remember that your psychedelic dose may have altered your coordination, emotions, and judgement. So, don't make significant decisions during or after the experience. If you decide against taking time off, don't do anything irrevocable, and go back and check your work the next day.
Managing Unexpected Challenges: Coping Strategies for Non-Microdose Experiences
These non-microdose psychedelic experiences can be intense and overwhelming, potentially leading to unexpected challenges. Here are some coping strategies to help navigate such situations:
Mindfulness and Grounding Techniques: Engage in mindfulness practices, such as deep breathing, meditation, or grounding exercises. These techniques can help anchor you in the present moment, alleviating anxiety and providing stability.
Create a Safe and Familiar Environment: As previously discussed, retreat to a calm and familiar space where you feel safe and comfortable. Dim the lights, play soothing music, or surround yourself with objects that bring you a sense of tranquillity. Establishing a peaceful environment can help mitigate any feelings of unease.
Seek Supportive Companionship: Reach out to a trusted friend, partner, or sitter who can provide emotional support and reassurance during the experience. Having someone understanding by your side can help minimize feelings of isolation and give a grounding presence. If you are in North America, contact the Fireside Project if you need to.
Shift Your Focus: Redirect your attention to positive and calming stimuli. Engage in activities that you find soothing, such as listening to calming music, watching a visually captivating film, or engaging in creative endeavors like drawing or journaling. Shifting your focus can help redirect your thoughts and emotions.
Practice Self-Compassion: Be kind and gentle with yourself throughout the experience. Remind yourself that the intensity will gradually subside and is a temporary state. Practice self-care by nurturing your physical and emotional needs. Staying hydrated, eating nourishing foods (fruit is a popular choice), and engaging in activities that bring you joy and comfort will help you feel better, especially towards the tail-end of the experience.
Everyone's experience with non-microdose situations may vary, and finding the coping strategies that work best for you is a personal journey. These techniques can serve as starting points, but listening to your intuition and adjusting is essential. (Unless your intuition tells you to get behind the wheel while under the influence of psychedelics. In this case, please don't listen to it!)
Integration and Reflection: Processing Profound Experiences Beyond Microdosing
Experiencing an unexpectedly intense psychedelic situation can sometimes lead to profound insights, emotions, and shifts in perspective. Integration and reflection are crucial in making the most of these experiences and incorporating them into your life. Here are some strategies for processing and integrating profound experiences:
Journaling and Self-Reflection: Take the time to write about your psychedelic experience in a journal. Reflect on the thoughts, emotions, and realizations that arose for you during the journey. Explore the themes, symbolism, and patterns that emerged, allowing yourself to delve deeper into the meaning behind the experience.
Seeking Professional Guidance: Consider working with a therapist or counselor with experience in psychedelic integration. They can provide a safe and supportive space to explore and process your non-microdose experiences. A trained professional can help you navigate challenging emotions and provide guidance on how to integrate these experiences into your everyday life.
Integration Practices: Engage in practices that facilitate integration, such as meditation, breathwork, yoga, or mindfulness. These practices can help you cultivate a sense of presence, inner calm, and self-awareness, which may be helpful after a psychedelic experience.
Group Sharing and Integration Circles: Joining a community of like-minded individuals with similar experiences can be beneficial. Participate in integration circles, support groups, or psychedelic integration events where you can share and discuss your psychedelic experiences with others. This can provide a sense of validation, support, and a platform for collective learning.
Creative Expression: Explore creative outlets, such as art, music, dance, or writing, to express and process the insights gained from your experiences. Creative expression allows for a deeper exploration of emotions, ideas, and imagery, providing a tangible way to externalize and integrate the profound aspects of your journey.
Remember that integration is an ongoing process, and it may take time to integrate the experiences and transformations from your non-microdose experiences fully. Be patient with yourself, practice self-compassion, and gradually allow the insights gained to guide your personal growth and decision-making.
It's also important to have realistic expectations about psychedelic experiences. Not all of them provide lessons or insights, even when you want them to. And even when it feels like the mushrooms are telling you something, that doesn't automatically make it accurate!
Even if your mushroom microdose (or whatever you are taking) doesn't cross over into full-blown psychedelic territory, or if you're not microdosing, reflective practices can benefit your personal and professional life.
Seeking Support: Finding Community and Guidance for Non-Microdose Adventures
If you follow the recommendation regarding integration circles, you'll already connect with others in the community with similar experiences. But even if those events don't appeal to you, finding community has many benefits.
Psychedelic Societies: Research and join local psychedelic societies in your area. These societies often organize events, workshops, and gatherings where individuals can discuss, learn, and share their microdose and higher-intensity psychedelic experiences. Engaging with a psychedelic society can provide a supportive network of individuals passionate about exploring the depths of psychedelics. If you are in Australia, visit the Australian Psychedelic Society for more information. See the Global Psychedelic Society page for a reasonably complete listing of similar groups worldwide.
Meetups and Events: Watch for meetups and events focused on psychedelic exploration. These gatherings can be found through online platforms, social media groups, or community bulletin boards. Attending these events allows you to connect with like-minded individuals, engage in discussions, and build relationships with those with similar interests.
Online Forums and Groups: Explore online forums and social media groups dedicated to psychedelic experiences. Many psychedelic societies maintain such groups, though well-known independent forums exist. These platforms provide a digital space to connect with individuals from around the world interested in psychedelics and plant and fungi medicine more broadly. Engaging in these communities allows you to share your experiences, seek advice, and learn from the insights of others. Being the internet, make sure you take advice from anonymous strangers with a grain of salt.
Perhaps I’m biased, being a former president of the Australian Psychedelic Society. Still, I think well-run psychedelic societies are among the best avenues to connect with the community and "find the others." If you are intent on experiencing psychedelic states of consciousness, community is of utmost importance. People who have been through these experiences can help you stay grounded, negotiate challenges, and avoid mistakes (often because they made those mistakes themselves.)
In the next section of this blog post, we'll explore practical tips for maintaining a safe and responsible approach to microdosing, followed by some general safety tips that should apply regardless of the dose.
Ensuring Accuracy: How to Verify and Maintain a True Microdose
Accurate dosing is crucial for microdosing, giving you the best chance of consistent and predictable effects. Here are some methods to verify and maintain a true microdose:
Precision Measurement: Use a high-quality scale that can measure small quantities precisely, such as a milligram scale. This allows you to measure the desired dosage accurately, ensuring consistency from one microdose to another. Refrain from relying on eyeballing or estimating doses, as this can lead to inaccuracies.
Dilution Method: If you have a substance challenging to measure in small doses, such as LSD tabs, consider using a dilution method. You can create a more manageable and measurable dose by dissolving a known amount of the substance in a solution. This method, sometimes known as volumetric dosing, allows for greater accuracy and control over the dosage.
Batch Homogenization: If you are microdosing mushrooms, grind them up in batches and mix them well before measuring individual microdoses. This averages out the psilocybin content that can vary between individual mushrooms, making the overall potency more predictable. This a good idea when microdosing other natural psychedelics, e.g., dried San Pedro cactus.
Laboratory Testing: For those who seek the utmost precision and assurance, consider utilizing a professional laboratory service to test the potency and purity of your substances. Lab testing can provide detailed information about the concentration of active compounds, ensuring you have a clear understanding of the strength of your microdose.
Reliable Sources: Obtain your psychedelic substances from reputable and trustworthy sources. This reduces the risk of receiving contaminated or impure substances, which can affect the accuracy of your microdoses. Research vendors, seek recommendations from trusted communities, and prioritize quality and safety when sourcing your substances. Do not be taken in by flashy packaging - this does not mean something has been manufactured to a high standard!
Consistency in Routine: Maintain a consistent microdosing schedule to ensure reliable results. This means taking your microdoses at the same time of day, on the same days of the week. Consistency allows you to track the effects better, observe patterns, and adjust as needed. Tracking effects is more important when you are new to shroom microdosing, but even experienced microdosers can benefit from taking the time to do this periodically.
As I mentioned in the introduction, the illegality of psychedelics in most places is a barrier to accurate dosing. If you aren’t clear on why this is the case, consider that points 4 and 5 are inaccessible or illegal in many countries. If psychedelics were legally available through a framework that included manufacturing standards and consumer protections, it would be much easier to safely source properly calibrated doses.
Staying Safer: Essential Considerations (no matter the dose)
In light of everything I've already discussed, some critical safety considerations apply, even if your microdose is perfectly measured and calibrated:
Don’t drive or operate heavy machinery: Even when you think a microdose hasn’t impacted your perceptions, reflexes, or judgment, it’s hard to know for sure. The safest option is not to operate a vehicle on microdosing days.
Substance safety: Always ensure your LSD or synthetic psychedelics have been tested and your mushrooms or other natural products correctly identified. Research chemicals like NBOMes are more toxic than LSD. Microdosing shrooms gathered in the wild that have been misidentified could pose a serious risk to your health.
Legality: While psychedelics are illegal in most jurisdictions, the legal landscape surrounding their use can vary significantly. Understanding the legal implications of psychedelic substances in your specific location is crucial to making informed decisions around using them. (Note: this is not legal advice!)
Potential health impacts: There are open questions about the long-term health impacts of microdosing psychedelics, particularly regarding heart health. While this hasn’t been established you should take this into account. If you suffer valvular heart disease, it’s probably safest that you don’t microdose.
Substance choice: While LSD and magic mushrooms are the most common choice for microdosing, people are experimenting with a wide range of other psychedelics such as San Pedro cactus (Trichocereus pachanoi) and Iboga (Tabernanthe iboga) with varying degrees of success. However, there is widespread community agreement that 5-MeODMT and MDMA are not good choices for microdosing, and should not be used in this way.
Final Thoughts
I know it’s a lot to take in, but if you keep all of this in mind, any microdosing you do will be safer and more predictable. Remember though, no matter what you do, your metabolism or neurochemistry can throw you a curveball, so it’s worth being prepared. Bottom line: if your microdose gives you more than you expected, look after your physical and psychological safety, get comfortable, and be kind & gentle with yourself during the experience and integration period.
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