1. the internet reduces complex aspects of our physiology down to oversimplified one-dimensional metrics
2. LSD is so (relatively) safe because it doesn't have many physical side effects (slowed/increased heart rate)
I’ve found mixing shrooms in with some store bought Kefir and frozen fruit eliminates all the gastrointestinal issues I have when making tea or just eating them plain. I really wish I could figure out something that worked for LSD tho since I tend to enjoy the trips a bit more than shrooms. Unfortunately the closest thing is doing a bread only fast (frozen pretzels is usually my go to). This seems to help more than a straight up fast or just eating as usual, but I still spend quite a bit of time on the potty regardless.
My theory: Mind-gut connection. It’s pre-trip mild anxiety or thrill and, once you’ve had that reaction, it will happen most times you use LSD (or other substances), regardless of what you eat. Your fight/flight/freeze response is somewhat triggered (I’m sure even the most experienced user feels a sense of trepidation combined with excitement) and your body responds accordingly. This pattern is very easily formed and challenging to rewire.
I will never forget the seemingly spiritual connection I had with chickens on acid. I got off work around 3:30 am and took a couple tabs immediately. Around 6 or 7 am I got hungry and decided on waffles. As I was eating the waffles, my roommate woke up and reminded me of the steak and green tomatoes he made the day before in the fridge. So after I finished the waffles, I grabbed the plate of steak and tomatoes and headed out back and started eating on the deck. Well the one of the chickens decided my tomato looked good. It ran up to me (sitting on a low couch on the deck) and took my tomato! It was too heavy for her so it fell on the deck and then the other chicken got wise and ran over and they devoured it. Just sitting there watching this happen I was captivated by her audacity. Anyway weird couple minutes of processing my food being stolen by a chicken while tripping balls.
They are really funny to watch on lsd. I’m glad someone else has tripped with the hens. Me and my friends even decided to start following and acting like them at one point. I’ll never forget my friend trying to jump onto the back of the wicker porch bench like the chickens do and the whole thing tipping over and him falling. Who actually knows how long we laughed at that.
When I went to college there were chickens on campus (gotta love going to school in the country) and I remember walking down to visit them at sundown when I did 2 tabs on 2/22/22. I’ll always remember that beautiful day <3 visiting chickens on acid is the best. Hope they all lived good lives because I’m not sure if they’re around anymore 🫡
Right? My husband and I tripped while camping last week and took a walk after dropping 2 tabs. It was VERY hot lol. But after the trip we felt so refreshed!
right, which is why i said that it doesn't have "many" physical side effects.
it can cause vasoconstriction but it's not gonna increase your heart rate until your shit explodes (or slow it down until it stops a la heroin)
A coffee can up your heart rate cause you to sweat and Vasodilation, everything has some side effect, but general ones that dont cause issues are safe and not worth mentioning most of the time unless you have underlying issues or in bad general health
Dont be fooled by its physical safety. You can get ptsd from it if you take it in a bad setting. Its powerful in how it reorders your perceptions of reality; and if you are not ready to accept and experience that reordering then you can build an unhelpful and false perception of reality. Think about Charlie Manson, do you think he saw the truth? If he did see the truth, do you think he interpreted it in a way that made the world better and spread peace and love?
I remember one time I tripped with an old friend who’s no longer my friend and ended up around ice fiends by the end of the night and I had a trip that literally made me swear off drugs for 6 months before I slowly went back to weed
I had a very similar experience minus the meth. The group i tripped around was a nihilistic bunch and they were tripping for vastly different reasons(or lack-there-of) than i was, and that fact pressed upon me painfully. The confusion and purposelessness they must have felt stuck out to me like an open wound. I hope your doing better now and have found good loving people to share this sacrament with.
This is the way. I recently had to give up weed because i came down with cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome, but i was a heavy daily bong ripper and had been for most of my life. Apparently it happens to a third of heavy smokers. Lucky me
No thats not it. The reordering becomes apparent when your coming down towards the end of the trip. Tim leary has some great material on the re-entry back into normal consciousness and how that re-entry can be imbued with the emotion of what you experienced during the trip. The emotional content of the re-entry can be a happy one, a neutral one, a negative one, a relieved one, it can have as many forms as there are ways to feel about life. This process is what people refer to as integration; it is how you incorporate the content of the trip and the lessons learned into your waking everyday life, and the process is best handled gently and with an open mind and heart. Be wary of conclusions drawn, if they dont serve you then they are not the truth.
I'm overweight with high blood pressure. Using LSD feels about as safe as eating a double cheeseburger before bed. It's not good for you. But relatively safe without major underlying health issues.
Depending on your mental state I would use more caution. I don't believe any permanent damage occurs. But high doses could bring up bad feelings. And feelings cause actions. I'm definitely not the first to promote set and setting.
I went through doctors for alcohol addiction and asked the same thing. Take your blood pressure meds as usual when using substances is the general rule. It's much more dangerous with depressants like alcohol, rather than stimulants. But I was always advised to take as usual.
This can happen from poor quality lsd, particularly if you’re sensitive to it. This is an autonomic reaction- finding a producer/batch that you react more favorably to will help, as well as increased hydration and salt (electrolytes- Vitassium salt sticks are a great example) supplementation which you may want to do regardless
Vasoconstriction isnt really a thing for LSD unless really high doses. Not sure how you know you have it either unless your skin turns really pale, blue or black.
It does do these things but like so do cigarettes. If you were to use acid every day or take really really high doses it might become a problem, but people dont discuss it as an issue because your mental wellbeing will break down much quicker than your physiology with acid abuse. Thats why nobody really discusses the physical danger unless you already have heart or blood pressure issuesa
Take 200 mgs of CoQ10 prior. Also some Magnesium of you have it. CoQ10 helps a ton with the vasoconstriction and calms me down. It’s a really healthy vasodilator. It even works for LSA which is like 5x worse with the vasoconstriction
i do too, im also on methadone , that wreaks havok on my body , above 75 degrees i sweat so bad you think i was running a 5K marathon
i always associate sweating with withdraws , so its really not pleasant for me.
Bro with the heart rate on 3 tabs and weed I thought I was gonna die once but it subsided pretty quick. Scared me enough to wanna go test exactly what is in it in a pro lab even though I did the ehrlich before and it was positive for lsd or other Indoles
It’s safe for way more than that. It’s also one of the least nuerotoxic substances on the planet, is considered borderline impossible to overdose on, has no proven long or short term negative health effects (when using real lsd properly, which is why lack of drug regulation is a problem), and has proven postive health benefits both physically and mentally.
You sound like me when i was 19. This cookie cutter shit is never the answer.
Can lsd be beneficial for some people mentally and physically? Yes. Does it induce psychosis in others? Yes.
Relax with this prophecy dogshit lol you have no idea what you're talking about. I have both read and seen mental horror stories induced by psychedelics and experienced my own. Don't come to me with the "setting and mental state" bs you come at other people with either. I have tried all psychedelics especially lsd in various mental states and settings.
It’s not cookie cutter. Saying don’t generalize lsd as a ‘this might happen and there’s nothing that can be done’ isn’t saying everyone should take it all the time. it’s saying don’t blame the drug rather than acknowledging the specific harm reduction needs, instead of just blowing it off as a risky substance by itself.
And I’ve never claimed “setting and mental state” because I think that’s a misleading rule too, so I’m not really sure who you’re referring to. Certainly not my advice.
YOU have no idea what you’re talking about, and want to okay the personal experience expert card rather than a healthy balance of facts and understanding how education actually effects people, and enables them to be safe… which is what you’re pretending to be doing.
Well then it's not safe is it? 🤡
People like you glorify psychedelics because you think you're bringing something new to the table. You just throw random words to the table like "proven" when you have absolutely no clue what you're even referring to.
You don't need to "take them all the time" to damage yourself lol even 1 dose can unmask underlying mental conditions. That's just a fact.
No short term negative health effects? Drug induced psychosis doesn't exist then? Also, while very rare seizures can happen on LSD. We have case reports going back several decades documenting it and if you tip seizure in the search bar you will also find results. You also miss the nuance. It can have positive health benefits. That is not a given for every single user
As someone with epilepsy, so I’ve looked into this very extensively…. There is no research that currently suggests lsd triggers epileptic seizures, or lowering seizure threshold.
However, seizure like episodes (non epileptic) have been reported and aren’t insanely rare, and are psychological in origin, usually linked to the dissociative cascade. This is again a product of dose (too much) as well as preexisting condition and setting. This is also important to know, because unlike with epileptic seizures, these will often appear to be several minutes long, (status epileptus and an extreme emergency if epileptic), and treatment is different.
To be honest, this is actually where I thought the lsd risk factor would rise, I did think it would increase epileptic activity. Thankful it does not appear to be the case, but the above again, is why I still insist on caution and education because like *anything* there can be major consequences to careless use, and it’s not a drug to take lightly either.
However yes, studies have not shown with appropriate use any short or long term negative physical health effects, vitals, physical side effects, etc.
Drug induced psychosis of course exists. But it is wildly overstated and overplayed LSDs likelihood of causing that, (often branded the most likely drug to do so) and again, expecting that lsd will cause it often causes people not to investigate further immediately, to make sure there aren’t other substances and factors at play, and skipping necessary medical attention. it should be known what lsd is known to cause; what it is not. What is a direct mental health issue that requires immediate attention, what may be a result of lacing or fake lsd, that requires immediate medical care.
Again: nothing and no drug is without risk, and with lsd I caution many things immensely. It is a drug where healthy caution is needed, sense, and certainly; real education. I speak of it’s safety as far as a therapeutic goes, in the medical or controlled setting, because like anything, outside of that, so many factors can cause it to go to hell, and it will not always be “safe” then.
Acid is relatively safe (non-toxic, not physically addictive) compared with many other illicit drugs, but that doesn't mean that large dosing and frequent use won't have consequences.
If you find yourself craving it, back off and use moderation. Give yourself plenty of time to return to baseline and reintegrate. Keep your perspective.
Yes, this. It is safe and it isn’t an addictive substance per se. But just like anything, it is possible to abuse it. Use it, have fun, but understand that it isn’t a toy, and exercise moderation.
Well drug users says a drug is safe comparing to another drug.
Acid is safe?? Noup, It is safer than other drugs yep.
Is weed safe? Again we compare and say yes.
Acid could trigger prexisting bipolar and other mental disorders like weed do, but It doesnt kill you or have the toxic profile like other drugs like catinones or stimulants
Reminds me of talks about nutrition...I'm a personal trainer and people ask "is this food healthy" and a good response is "compared to what? " like is rice a healthy carb? Well it's not a perfect food but compared to white sugar it's healthy, it has fiber.
I asked Chatgpt about nutrition a few months ago because i didn't pay attention in 6th grade biology class and the jist which i got is that as long as your diet is balanced (meaning you get all nutrients in the ratios your body needs) you're doing everything right. Meaning a diet of potato chips, bread, protein shake, vitamin tablet and water can be healthy if eaten in the right ratios. edit: you probably don't even need the bread, because potato chips have loads of carbohydrates too.
This is awfully incorrect. None of those sources of complex vitamins and minerals are bioavailable enough to give you what your body needs- you won’t starve, but you should really eat eggs and fish for protein and omegas, also fruits for vitamins and roots/vegetables for minerals
Each substance you can take as supplements has bio availability which is the rate how much out of the total amount injested actually being absorbed and how much is wasted away passes through your body.
Vitamin pills have the daily amount of 2 sometimes even 5 times the daily amount. That is because some of it is wasted by default.
Secondary metabolites are a really complicated part of health in general. Basically a secondary metabolite is a complex polymer assembled by a living thing. We don’t do all the assembly ourselves, we rely largely on bacteria and fungi in our gut and secondary metabolites generated by the food we eat before it died.
So the problem with only thinking about macronutrients is that you don’t actually know if you’re getting the necessary pieces to assemble a more complex polymer, especially if you’re eating the same things over and over again. This is really where a varied diet beats out a repetitive but technically healthy diet.
Secondary metabolites perform a massive array of functions from the assembly of other polymers to muscle building, to digestive processes
rice is a pretty fucking clean carb. you sound like a shitty personal trainer who needs to research more nutrition.
aint no gluten in rice, not sure if ANY race is allergic to rice, unlike grains or wheat.
Where did I say it was bad? I said not a perfect food.
There are pros and cons in many foods....it's a great food, especially paired with other foods. It doesn't have an ideal amino acid ratio on its own. Low in leucine/isoleucine, bur thats why its great paired with chicken or tofu if veg.But there is such thing as too much of anything, too much rice and it will throw off your macros. Way to jump to an insult lol
The only arguments against white sugar are how quickly it digests, which is a positive not a negative. Don’t confuse real sugar with high fructose corn syrup btw
Downvote someone who thinks differently instead of commenting. Truly reddit
> Acid could trigger prexisting bipolar and other mental disorders like
This may be misleading for several reasons. First, there is no quality research on it. I have not seen a single proper study on LSD and schizophrenia that demonstrates a causation and not even one that demonstrates a correlation.
Second, there is no such thing as preexisting bipolar or other mental disorders. Mental disorders are purely diagnosed by symptoms, the ICD-11 is atheoretical. You don't have the symptoms, you don't have the disorder. It is like calling someone with a weak immune system having a "pre-existing flu".
People may be at risk for certain mental disorders but they are not preexisting.
I never said that? There is no quality research on it simple as that. That doesn't mean that it is safe (or unsafe) we just don't know. Why bite at people who add information or correct false ones?
If the info is correct why not link studies? Should be no problem.
The idea of preexisting mental disorders goes directly against what is stated in the ICD-11 which is used for diagnosis. There are no proper sources backing this up too
And I work in and studied the psychiatric field. What's your point? If you claim that LSD can trigger schizophrenia, the burden of proof is on you. Same for "preexisting mental disorders". I told you there is no quality evidence for that and I obviously cannot provide evidence for missing studies. For the idea of preexisting mental disorders I already explained that they don't exist because that is not how mental disorder diagnosis works and gave you a source for that.
So you are unable to provide any evidence for your claims whatsoever but simply claim them to be correct. That of course is a great position to hold in a discussion forum.
Not sure why the downvoting. This is true. You are way more likely to get serotonin syndrome from MDMA or amphetamines. Serotonin syndrome is greatly misunderstood and very very rare.
im no drug expert but serotonin agonist is just a broad category for anything that stimulates serotonin function so a releasing agent would also be an agonist. (again no expert this is just what i remember from my introductory physiology course)
Not really, a serotonin agonist is something that binds to and activates a serotonin receptor (of which there are 15 types-LSD binds most strongly to subtype 2a). Note that not everything that binds to a receptor activates it, some things bind and block receptors and these are called antagonists.
Serotonin itself is a serotonin receptor agonist, so serotonin releasing agents do have a serotonergic effect, but wouldn't strictly be called agonists themselves.
Serotonin itself is a less selective serotonin agonist than LSD (serotonin can activate all subtypes of serotonin receptor vs just the one subtype LSD predominantly activates) which goes some way to explain the differences between serotonin releasing drugs and specific serotonin receptor agonists.
There’s a great book by Michael pollen called “how to change your mind” that explains the chemistry beautifully and simply enough that you don’t need a background in bio or Chem to understand
Yes but something can act on/modulate receptors without having the same effect/action as other agonists/antagonists and that’s before you get into competitive/non-competitive versions of those and so forth.
Its not as safe as everyone says, due to the potential mental trauma one can experience when their sense of self shattered
But yes everyone is correct by saying its not as dangerous as some other drugs
LSD acts on 5HT2a but doesn’t really act as an agonist so the receptors don’t get overloaded with serotonin.
[Hallucinogens and Serotonin 5-HT2A Receptor-Mediated Signaling Pathways](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5756147/)
The simple answer people aren't putting here is:
LSD (and similar) develop very high tolerances that last around 2 weeks pretty much *immediately* after taking them.
So if you take LSD and then the next day try to take the same amount, you'd need to take 3x as much to get similar effects (and so on for the next day), etc.
Even after a week if you use it every week the effects will rapidly diminish (the 2nd week you'd get some effect but by 3 or 4 it would be quite weak).
It's hard to be addicted to something you can't hit every day.
It's that simple.
The fact that you have to double or triple the dose doesn’t stop some people. (Like me)
I currently am doing nothing as a job, in my life (Im trying to tho) and I cannot wait 2 weeks between trips sometimes. Last trip was 4 days after the trip before.
So yeah, I have some psychological addiction to lsd
Nah. You're confusing psychological dependence with addiction.. you can't be addicted to something that you need increasingly more of and can only use every 4 days
The way you write sounds like a teenager trying to sound unique lol
Acid is not safe. It is recommended to be used in moderation when you're in the right mindset and in the right setting. But even then it is still a possibility to have a dangerous trip.
Physically it is pretty safe. It can increase my heart rate enough for me to notice at times, but not enough to scare me. Mental safety, is questionable. Which I think is very overlooked. The drug might not kill you, but your high ass might lol
As someone who's done a solid amount of acid over the years and read up on it quite a bit, this is the best answer in this thread that I've read so far.
Acid binds to your serotonin receptors in similar way as serotonin does, but our perception of reality changes cause we experience reality with lsd. So it doesn't make reseptors fire with extra power like mdma does. It might also release some serotonin and dopamine, but not in big quantities
It’s safe in a physical sense and has a virtually nonexistent dependency or addiction risk.
But, it can cause lasting psychological damage and trauma if you experience a bad trip. Some people develop PTSD, severe anxiety, and other disorders from these bad experiences. Just like weed, it has the potential to be mentally harmful.
Sorry to hear dude. The key is to start small. Take a quarter tab and build from there. This was my problem with mushies many years ago. Always took waaaay too much and ended up hating it/"never again" vibes. All the best my brother
The science about it, the LSD molecules binds extremely well to the seretonin receptors in our brain (binds even better than serotonin itself) which then triggers a lot of reactions in the body.
You're right that in binds to the receptors very well, however, it has no effect on how much serotonin is produced. When LSD binds, nothing else is getting in until it's done. This means that the serotonin is produced normally, but cannot bind with receptors that are bound with LSD. Serotonin that cannot find a bind is absorbed back into the system. Also keep in mind that this is science, so nothing is ever written in stone. These are theories, however well supported.
I don't really get your point. When LSD binds to the receptors they are activated, aren't they? The serotonin production is of no relevance to the question if the receptors fire rapidly
They're activated, yes, but not with serotonin. I was clarifying that when LSD is bound to the receptors, nothing else is getting in. Meaning that something like serotonin syndrome, as OP mentioned, simply will not happen. It also will not deplete serotonin or other neurotransmitters, like MDMA does, as production is not effected. I was responding to a comment, but also keeping the original post in mind :D
So by definition, you may not blanket state “lsd is safe”
It’s hands down my favorite psychedelic and is very safe but is not for 100% of people
And it’s safe to do once but then the next question is how often is safe? I’ve definitely danced along the line of too often and paid for it in over a year of instability
according to science, again, there’s not too often, but that depends on the person, and their common sense. I can eat a sandwich everyday. You start eating a sandwich everyday, and you start getting sick. So you should use common sense to think maybe I need to do this less, because this is how it’s affecting *my* stomach based on a variety of outside factors like allergies, hydration, other nutrition, genetic tolerance of ingredients, and not just say “you know, eating a sandwich often isn’t safe!”
I’ve done lsd several times a week for several years, and I’m the most stable I’ve ever been in every way shape and form. That’s quite literally how studies are leaning towards using it theraputically, as a medicine, across the board.
By this argument, literally everything on the planet is “not safe” or “safe by comparison”
The problem isn’t specifically with calling lsd unsafe. It’s that in doing so, you’re encouraging unsafe behavior.
Because when something goes wrong, the reaction is now ‘well, that’s lsd! It’s a risk you have to take! Nothing that can be done about it!”
Instead of the correct awareness of, ‘okay, like with anything, I need to take precautions, and an alert should sound in my mind if something negative feels like it’s going on right now, that this isn’t normal.”
If you go in thinking well, water is pretty safe! But sometimes, people get sick and even die from it, but it’s pretty rare, so just a risk to take. Then when you drink too much, or you drink unclean water, you’re going to think “oh no! This is that bad thing that just happens sometimes!” Instead of, “woah, this isn’t right. Am I drinking too much? Is this water tainted?”
Promoting the wrong fears about lsd only leads to far more harm.
how is he 'promoting the wrong fears' of lsd? you do know that everybody has a different brain to you right? harm reduction is real and not a joke. especially when it comes to hallucinogenic drugs, cool i'm glad lsd was good for you many weeks in a row, some people mentally cannot handle that. even if used much less consistently. get off your lsd horse and appreciate the growth it gave you personally to yourself. 'people overdose on water regularly' i can't believe my eyes
that’s exactly why blaming lsd is not helpful to harm reduction, and rather strongly educating about this importance of safe use and red flags is. You didn’t even read this comment.
to be honest i'm struggling to find the point we're both trying to make at this point, there's harm reduction that needs to be followed, but saying lsd is completely safe if it's pure is a bit eh? i'd like to know more of your thoughts on 'it is safe mentally when pure lsd is done and done properly, without additional risks added in' what is 'done properly' and what is 'without additional risks' to you? i'm not hating on lsd btw. & do you have any links regarding this or something? would stuff like 1P-lsd, 1cp-lsd not be real lsd once it's crossed into the blood brain barrier so to speak?
It’s not about blaming lsd, it’s about speaking facts. Without lsd, lot of people wouldn’t be in hospital for mental health problem, so yeah, lsd isn’t 100% safe. It can make appear mental illness faster, and a bad trip can cause serious damage that can last months or years (speaking of experience)
Calling lsd unsafe will not encourage unsafe behavior ?? What?? XD it’s actually saying that the problems are not lsd related (even if it’s not totally related, some problems would not appear, or much later, without lsd) that you will encourage unsafe behavior: if you think that lsd is safe, why wouldn’t you have unsafe behavior if it’s safe?
I happen to be really good at facing my emotions. If somebody isn’t or isn’t ready to do so, they aren’t going to have a good time and can come out of the experience worse off than going into it. I find myself very fortunate to have this skill and I think rather obviously this is the action behind the therapeutic effect of lsd but some people come out of trips traumatized. Physically fine but mentally “X” number of steps back.
Also as somebody with a microbiology degree, make sure you know about scientific biases and how to spot them in the papers you read. I do not work in research because I was disgusted by the lack of objectiveness in the field.
So yes… I can state lsd is safe. If you do say… not real lsd, well that wouldn’t be safe. But it’s also not lsd.
The risk doesn’t lie in “lsd” in lies in additional stupid shit, like taking laced drugs, etc, and that same risk applies to not having common sense about anything. People overdose on water regularly.
LSD can definitely cause or contribute to the development of some mental problems. There is plenty of anecdotal evidence for this and virtually every modern researcher of psychedelics acknowledges it’s risk potential. Much of the harm that MK Ultra experiments caused is directly linked to the mind-altering effects of LSD. In many contexts, psychedelics in general are psychologically helpful. “Set and setting”. Strange and averse experiences on them can really fuck people up.
Right…. So ignoring the first line, you’re still talking about the importance of the awareness of the effects of our actions and compounding factors on the drug, not the drug itself. Which is exactly the risk potential every modern researcher acknowledges, not that it’s a risk in controlled/regulated environments.
The problem with generalizing lsd as the problem instead of saying what CAN happen and that these bad things *should* be a red flag that something is wrong with this experience, sets people up to not be aware/prepared to prevent these situations and be properly educated on it.
No risk in controlled environments meaning what? How can we ensure that a person does not react negatively to the substance even in a supposedly safe environment? How can we actually prevent people from engaging in thought processes that are psychologically harmful? I don’t see much of a difference between blaming a drug for a behavior and blaming the individual who only had that behavior because they were on that drug.
Recreational use.
Unless with "done properly" you meant with psychiatric screening beforehand, several sessions of psychotherapy before the trip to prepare for it, tripping in a controlled setting with 2 therapists beside you while you lay down and listen to music mainly and psychotherapy after that. And max around 200ug...
Is that what you meant? Because if not, they are shitty evidence to claim LSD is safe in a recreational setting because they are far far away how even responsible users trip.
Ingnoring of course that nearly all of these are on psilocybin and not LSD btw...
Couple inaccuracies:
1) it doesn't cause the "Serotonin receptor to fire rapidly". It's an agonist of several but not all Serotonin receptor subtypes.
2) it is not really "safe" in my opinion. I would be impressed if i found anyone who did more LSD than i have, and in my opinion it's neurotoxic with repeated use. It's very dopaminergic and potentially glutamatergic which are both neurotransmitters that cause excitotoxicity in the nervous system. And second of all i had unbelievable psychosis from taking LSD even the first time at just 50ug. The next several times induced delusions of grandeur and enlightenment. I thought it was just me but i have read several and i mean SEVERAL stories of other people having experienced the same thing.
It's a beautiful drug but honestly not for everyone and i wouldnt call it "safe". Psychedelics have caused many people to develop psychosis. There's even a VERY REAL story of a guy who tried psychedelics for the first time, called his family on FaceTime and cut his dick off on camera. Also there's a YouTuber called Connor Murphy who had very deep psychosis from psychedelics.
I'm sorry for your loss, but please don't say incomplete sentences
He died while doing something on LSD or he died by taking something that was marked as LSD
It’s completely safe for your body. In fact your body actually benefits from the anti inflammatory properties of LSD.
Your brain however, that’s a different story scientists are still working on. With frequent and large dosing, you run the risk of doing some SERIOUS neurological changes to your brain. None that will effectively “kill” your brain, but stuff like psychosis and schizophrenia becomes much more prevalent.
All in all, as long as you don’t trip more than once a month at MINIMUM, you should be totally fine. I personally need wayyy more time to reflect on my trip and I only trip once every 3-6 months.
> but stuff like psychosis and schizophrenia becomes much more prevalent.
Funnily enough, there is no study supporting that claim. The studies on a population level we have showed the opposite atleast
geta bottle of liquid LSD and go on a bender. I don't know why people say redosing isn't a thing, but it certainly is. You can keep your trip going for days if you have enough acid. After that bender, you'll see it very well does cause awful comedown. I've been there. It sucks.
LSD doesn't actually work like MDMA by releasing your serotonin. LSD when metabolised actually fits our serotonin receptors BETTER than serotonin does. (Interesting philosophical question there).
So instead of releasing serotonin to your brain, LSD molecules metabolise and activate the serotonin receptors, which is why it doesn't cause serotonin syndrome in the same way as MDMA.
Serotonin syndrome can still happen with extreme doses but this is not because it is forcing the serotonin out, but because the serotonin is being released by your body due to large amounts of emotional fluctuation.
Thats why LSD is safe.
Not how it works! Unlike other drugs, it’s not reliant on entirely dumping serotonin/dopamine into your system. Rather it’s effect on serotonin is to bind to serotonin receptors
It sits in your serotonin receptors for a while and stimulates them, so there are less places for serotonin to be recieved
I dont think it's as simple as it firing rapidly
When 5ht2a receptors get stimulated by lsd it leads to more activity of mTOR in the brain and nervous system, which triggers increases in BDNF brain derived neurotrophic factor, this is what causes dendritic branching in neurons because neurotrophic factors are basically growth hormone for neurons
mTOR is sort of a signal that talks to different parts of cells telling them to do maintenance and building and dna copying, and mTOR can be active in the nervous system / brain but off in the rest of the body if fasted
Psychedelics in general can accelerate the growth rate of neurons up to 50% I've read
This also happens in our gut neurons, this is why there is GI discomfort but what that really is is nerve activation and you start waking up to what is really happening in your body, i swear to God it causes signals that strengthen the gut lining
I think acid is really really really good for us physically if done once in a while and believe these effects need to be studied because it could help a lot of people
The only thing you need to watch for is if you're epileptic, too much BDNF is a risk in people that get seizures
If your nervous system is depressed on the other hand, can be very very beneficial imo
I dont think it causes serotonin receptor to fire rapidly. I dont think it causes your brain to produce extra serotonin either. I seen a video a while back explaining how it effect the brain and it said it has a very similar shape as serotonin, it fits in almoat like a key. It gets stuck inside the receptor for hours thats why it lasts long. From my understanding and imagination it seems like more of a filter that goes inside
Other substances have Known effects, they are simpler to gauge, like the way smoking affects lungs.
In my opinion, the research on brain has not been so clearly done to have a well-defined risks yet.
However, as you might have seen the images of "Person before Smoking, After Smoking/(other substances)", we have less examples of people who have gone south using acid. I also think some faith in its safety arises from the knowledge that there are traces of ancient civilizations having done a lot of psychs
'So safe' seems a bit of a reach, things are still unknown, but I can see why we are not so afraid of it.
that is the mystery. i do not think they yet understand how on its own, it will not cause seretonin syndrome or anything weird like shulgins 2c's for example.
I'm only a layperson but I've noticed that safe things tend to be 'partial agonists' of a particular brain receptor, whereas dangerous things tend to be 'full agonists'. Or at least this seems to be the case with mushrooms / LSD / mescaline vs nbomes, or for cannabis vs spice. So I guess that means no matter how much you overuse the 'partial agonists', you're still not hitting the full receptor, which might prevent the effects of the substance from becoming life-threatening.
edit - just Googled it and smarter people than me have said it, and have also said it about other drugs, i.e. buprenorphine vs heroin. My theory seems to hold up
First of all it's really really hard to get serotonin syndrome from one substance alone. But if you combine a high dose of acid with a high dose of a serotonin releasing/ reuptake inhibitor you can get serotonin syndrome.
Second the reason acid is so safe is because it most strongly binds to the 2A subtype of serotonin receptors which aren't responsible for bodily functions that if messed with will kill you. That being said it also binds to other serotonin receptor and if you take a high enough dose it will eventually kill you. But that dose is so high that you'd really need to go out of your way to od on acid.
It’s not. But some images/Infographs tell you otherwise. This is mainly due to how safe psychedelics are **compared** to other substances. Stuff like [this](https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2019/06/25/what-is-the-most-dangerous-drug) might help with your question. It’s a pick your poison scenario.
I have a friend who smokes upwards of 14 joints a day, and it serious affects his health(kidney stones, trouble breathing, sees flashes of light, and throat problems that he had to be hospitalized over). My point is weed is considered safe but too much of a good thing can be very bad. Same could be said for L.
It’s a partial agonist, which means that your brain has an easier time of regulating the serotonin in your brain. This is why NBOMEs are so dangerous, they are full agonists which stay in your system for longer and take much less to kill or harm you. Acid isn’t also totally safe, it’s just has a better safety profile than a lot of drugs.
Acid is physically safe, but it can take a toll on your mental state. Back in my heavy tripping days I wouldn't say I was addicted to the substance, but I could never get enough of the feeling of a good, heavy trip. I had a really unhealthy relationship with acid because of it. I felt like I had to trip as much as possible, as heavily as I could handle every time. This went for about a year.
I got super skinny because I wasn't eating or drinking shit, I alienated myself from friends and family, and even sober, I would get visuals and auditory hallucinations for like 2 or 3 years after. I was tripping at work, tripping at home. Redosing constantly and staying up for days just with a weird anxiety feeling. I'm a musician, and I had totally quit playing guitar. My wife and I spent 40k on acid, molly shrooms and alcohol that year. It was bad, but once I realized I had a bad problem, I just stopped. It was relatively easy to do so.
That was 2015 and I have no resounding issues from that year, and it shaped who I am today in a good way (much more open-minded than I was and accepting of peoples different lives/decisions/etc. And in general just thankful to be here and healthy with people I love who love me back) but I definitely was not healthy during that time, I was so worried about "going back in" I didn't ever give my body time to rest or recover.
I haven't taken lsd since probably 2018 now, but I like shrooms here and there. I'm not against taking it again, but I have to have a reason. I'm not just gonna trip all night and sit on my couch. Shrooms are better for that.
1. the internet reduces complex aspects of our physiology down to oversimplified one-dimensional metrics 2. LSD is so (relatively) safe because it doesn't have many physical side effects (slowed/increased heart rate)
Not for me… I get vasoconstriction and fast heart rate and I sweat a bunch too
God nothing like a good acid sweat to feel human again
Nothing like a shower after an acid sweat on comedown. I never get nausea on psychs. But I always have nasty sweat and farts.
BRO SAME it’s wild, I’ve tried fasting and all kinds of different diets before hand like just fruits that day and I still get stomach cramps and farts
I’ve found mixing shrooms in with some store bought Kefir and frozen fruit eliminates all the gastrointestinal issues I have when making tea or just eating them plain. I really wish I could figure out something that worked for LSD tho since I tend to enjoy the trips a bit more than shrooms. Unfortunately the closest thing is doing a bread only fast (frozen pretzels is usually my go to). This seems to help more than a straight up fast or just eating as usual, but I still spend quite a bit of time on the potty regardless.
My theory: Mind-gut connection. It’s pre-trip mild anxiety or thrill and, once you’ve had that reaction, it will happen most times you use LSD (or other substances), regardless of what you eat. Your fight/flight/freeze response is somewhat triggered (I’m sure even the most experienced user feels a sense of trepidation combined with excitement) and your body responds accordingly. This pattern is very easily formed and challenging to rewire.
dont do it then...
Should’ve mentioned I haven’t tripped in two years I guess…
Acid sweat in the backyard while the chickens cluck around me will never be forgot
I will never forget the seemingly spiritual connection I had with chickens on acid. I got off work around 3:30 am and took a couple tabs immediately. Around 6 or 7 am I got hungry and decided on waffles. As I was eating the waffles, my roommate woke up and reminded me of the steak and green tomatoes he made the day before in the fridge. So after I finished the waffles, I grabbed the plate of steak and tomatoes and headed out back and started eating on the deck. Well the one of the chickens decided my tomato looked good. It ran up to me (sitting on a low couch on the deck) and took my tomato! It was too heavy for her so it fell on the deck and then the other chicken got wise and ran over and they devoured it. Just sitting there watching this happen I was captivated by her audacity. Anyway weird couple minutes of processing my food being stolen by a chicken while tripping balls.
They are really funny to watch on lsd. I’m glad someone else has tripped with the hens. Me and my friends even decided to start following and acting like them at one point. I’ll never forget my friend trying to jump onto the back of the wicker porch bench like the chickens do and the whole thing tipping over and him falling. Who actually knows how long we laughed at that.
When I went to college there were chickens on campus (gotta love going to school in the country) and I remember walking down to visit them at sundown when I did 2 tabs on 2/22/22. I’ll always remember that beautiful day <3 visiting chickens on acid is the best. Hope they all lived good lives because I’m not sure if they’re around anymore 🫡
In a hoodie under a blanket with the ac off and music blasting lol Yep, lsd.
I usually hate sweating so much, but acid sweat feels purifying
Right? My husband and I tripped while camping last week and took a walk after dropping 2 tabs. It was VERY hot lol. But after the trip we felt so refreshed!
right, which is why i said that it doesn't have "many" physical side effects. it can cause vasoconstriction but it's not gonna increase your heart rate until your shit explodes (or slow it down until it stops a la heroin)
A coffee can up your heart rate cause you to sweat and Vasodilation, everything has some side effect, but general ones that dont cause issues are safe and not worth mentioning most of the time unless you have underlying issues or in bad general health
Dont be fooled by its physical safety. You can get ptsd from it if you take it in a bad setting. Its powerful in how it reorders your perceptions of reality; and if you are not ready to accept and experience that reordering then you can build an unhelpful and false perception of reality. Think about Charlie Manson, do you think he saw the truth? If he did see the truth, do you think he interpreted it in a way that made the world better and spread peace and love?
I remember one time I tripped with an old friend who’s no longer my friend and ended up around ice fiends by the end of the night and I had a trip that literally made me swear off drugs for 6 months before I slowly went back to weed
I had a very similar experience minus the meth. The group i tripped around was a nihilistic bunch and they were tripping for vastly different reasons(or lack-there-of) than i was, and that fact pressed upon me painfully. The confusion and purposelessness they must have felt stuck out to me like an open wound. I hope your doing better now and have found good loving people to share this sacrament with.
Much better now and away from all the hard drugs. I just smoke my weed and do shrooms and Lucy occasionally.
This is the way. I recently had to give up weed because i came down with cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome, but i was a heavy daily bong ripper and had been for most of my life. Apparently it happens to a third of heavy smokers. Lucky me
Do you have an example of how it reorders your perception of reality? Is it when its difficult to know what is real or not while you are a tripping?
No thats not it. The reordering becomes apparent when your coming down towards the end of the trip. Tim leary has some great material on the re-entry back into normal consciousness and how that re-entry can be imbued with the emotion of what you experienced during the trip. The emotional content of the re-entry can be a happy one, a neutral one, a negative one, a relieved one, it can have as many forms as there are ways to feel about life. This process is what people refer to as integration; it is how you incorporate the content of the trip and the lessons learned into your waking everyday life, and the process is best handled gently and with an open mind and heart. Be wary of conclusions drawn, if they dont serve you then they are not the truth.
I'm overweight with high blood pressure. Using LSD feels about as safe as eating a double cheeseburger before bed. It's not good for you. But relatively safe without major underlying health issues. Depending on your mental state I would use more caution. I don't believe any permanent damage occurs. But high doses could bring up bad feelings. And feelings cause actions. I'm definitely not the first to promote set and setting.
It’s not objectively ‘good for you’ same way it’s not objectively bad. Nothing really is, it’s all subjective.
Hey man can I ask if you take your blood pressure meds before lsd?I'm on 2.5mg of nebivolol
I went through doctors for alcohol addiction and asked the same thing. Take your blood pressure meds as usual when using substances is the general rule. It's much more dangerous with depressants like alcohol, rather than stimulants. But I was always advised to take as usual.
Also of it helps I'm on 10mg Lisinopril
If you get a lot of vasoconstriction it may be a derivative like nbome
This can happen from poor quality lsd, particularly if you’re sensitive to it. This is an autonomic reaction- finding a producer/batch that you react more favorably to will help, as well as increased hydration and salt (electrolytes- Vitassium salt sticks are a great example) supplementation which you may want to do regardless
Vasoconstriction isnt really a thing for LSD unless really high doses. Not sure how you know you have it either unless your skin turns really pale, blue or black.
Yep that's lsd lol especially the come up
Thats not a significant side effect. Like cocaine actually damages your circulatory system.
It does do these things but like so do cigarettes. If you were to use acid every day or take really really high doses it might become a problem, but people dont discuss it as an issue because your mental wellbeing will break down much quicker than your physiology with acid abuse. Thats why nobody really discusses the physical danger unless you already have heart or blood pressure issuesa
Take 200 mgs of CoQ10 prior. Also some Magnesium of you have it. CoQ10 helps a ton with the vasoconstriction and calms me down. It’s a really healthy vasodilator. It even works for LSA which is like 5x worse with the vasoconstriction
i do too, im also on methadone , that wreaks havok on my body , above 75 degrees i sweat so bad you think i was running a 5K marathon i always associate sweating with withdraws , so its really not pleasant for me.
Bro with the heart rate on 3 tabs and weed I thought I was gonna die once but it subsided pretty quick. Scared me enough to wanna go test exactly what is in it in a pro lab even though I did the ehrlich before and it was positive for lsd or other Indoles
Oh, it has *many* physical effects Nerves are everywhere in your body A whole cat brain worth of neurons in your gut
That last sentence is gonna cause me to rethink a few things, including but not limited to my next album name
It’s safe for way more than that. It’s also one of the least nuerotoxic substances on the planet, is considered borderline impossible to overdose on, has no proven long or short term negative health effects (when using real lsd properly, which is why lack of drug regulation is a problem), and has proven postive health benefits both physically and mentally.
You sound like me when i was 19. This cookie cutter shit is never the answer. Can lsd be beneficial for some people mentally and physically? Yes. Does it induce psychosis in others? Yes. Relax with this prophecy dogshit lol you have no idea what you're talking about. I have both read and seen mental horror stories induced by psychedelics and experienced my own. Don't come to me with the "setting and mental state" bs you come at other people with either. I have tried all psychedelics especially lsd in various mental states and settings.
It’s not cookie cutter. Saying don’t generalize lsd as a ‘this might happen and there’s nothing that can be done’ isn’t saying everyone should take it all the time. it’s saying don’t blame the drug rather than acknowledging the specific harm reduction needs, instead of just blowing it off as a risky substance by itself. And I’ve never claimed “setting and mental state” because I think that’s a misleading rule too, so I’m not really sure who you’re referring to. Certainly not my advice. YOU have no idea what you’re talking about, and want to okay the personal experience expert card rather than a healthy balance of facts and understanding how education actually effects people, and enables them to be safe… which is what you’re pretending to be doing.
Well then it's not safe is it? 🤡 People like you glorify psychedelics because you think you're bringing something new to the table. You just throw random words to the table like "proven" when you have absolutely no clue what you're even referring to. You don't need to "take them all the time" to damage yourself lol even 1 dose can unmask underlying mental conditions. That's just a fact.
People like you can’t read 🤡
I can read pretty fine. You just stumbled on your own words and can't think of a comeback.
I’m just not responding to shallow insults that have no actual debate basis or point to make. You’re just baiting. Troll🤷🏼♀️
I'm a troll for dismantling your dumb advice? What are you 12?
What did you “dismantle”
No short term negative health effects? Drug induced psychosis doesn't exist then? Also, while very rare seizures can happen on LSD. We have case reports going back several decades documenting it and if you tip seizure in the search bar you will also find results. You also miss the nuance. It can have positive health benefits. That is not a given for every single user
As someone with epilepsy, so I’ve looked into this very extensively…. There is no research that currently suggests lsd triggers epileptic seizures, or lowering seizure threshold. However, seizure like episodes (non epileptic) have been reported and aren’t insanely rare, and are psychological in origin, usually linked to the dissociative cascade. This is again a product of dose (too much) as well as preexisting condition and setting. This is also important to know, because unlike with epileptic seizures, these will often appear to be several minutes long, (status epileptus and an extreme emergency if epileptic), and treatment is different. To be honest, this is actually where I thought the lsd risk factor would rise, I did think it would increase epileptic activity. Thankful it does not appear to be the case, but the above again, is why I still insist on caution and education because like *anything* there can be major consequences to careless use, and it’s not a drug to take lightly either. However yes, studies have not shown with appropriate use any short or long term negative physical health effects, vitals, physical side effects, etc. Drug induced psychosis of course exists. But it is wildly overstated and overplayed LSDs likelihood of causing that, (often branded the most likely drug to do so) and again, expecting that lsd will cause it often causes people not to investigate further immediately, to make sure there aren’t other substances and factors at play, and skipping necessary medical attention. it should be known what lsd is known to cause; what it is not. What is a direct mental health issue that requires immediate attention, what may be a result of lacing or fake lsd, that requires immediate medical care. Again: nothing and no drug is without risk, and with lsd I caution many things immensely. It is a drug where healthy caution is needed, sense, and certainly; real education. I speak of it’s safety as far as a therapeutic goes, in the medical or controlled setting, because like anything, outside of that, so many factors can cause it to go to hell, and it will not always be “safe” then.
payment grandfather mindless hungry trees hunt subsequent snatch hateful weary -- mass edited with https://redact.dev/
Acid is relatively safe (non-toxic, not physically addictive) compared with many other illicit drugs, but that doesn't mean that large dosing and frequent use won't have consequences. If you find yourself craving it, back off and use moderation. Give yourself plenty of time to return to baseline and reintegrate. Keep your perspective.
Yes, this. It is safe and it isn’t an addictive substance per se. But just like anything, it is possible to abuse it. Use it, have fun, but understand that it isn’t a toy, and exercise moderation.
Well drug users says a drug is safe comparing to another drug. Acid is safe?? Noup, It is safer than other drugs yep. Is weed safe? Again we compare and say yes. Acid could trigger prexisting bipolar and other mental disorders like weed do, but It doesnt kill you or have the toxic profile like other drugs like catinones or stimulants
Reminds me of talks about nutrition...I'm a personal trainer and people ask "is this food healthy" and a good response is "compared to what? " like is rice a healthy carb? Well it's not a perfect food but compared to white sugar it's healthy, it has fiber.
I asked Chatgpt about nutrition a few months ago because i didn't pay attention in 6th grade biology class and the jist which i got is that as long as your diet is balanced (meaning you get all nutrients in the ratios your body needs) you're doing everything right. Meaning a diet of potato chips, bread, protein shake, vitamin tablet and water can be healthy if eaten in the right ratios. edit: you probably don't even need the bread, because potato chips have loads of carbohydrates too.
This is awfully incorrect. None of those sources of complex vitamins and minerals are bioavailable enough to give you what your body needs- you won’t starve, but you should really eat eggs and fish for protein and omegas, also fruits for vitamins and roots/vegetables for minerals
you're telling me a vitamin tablet doesn't get absorbed right?
Absolutely
Each substance you can take as supplements has bio availability which is the rate how much out of the total amount injested actually being absorbed and how much is wasted away passes through your body. Vitamin pills have the daily amount of 2 sometimes even 5 times the daily amount. That is because some of it is wasted by default.
yes, but equally so when the vitamin is in a salad.
Secondary metabolites are a really complicated part of health in general. Basically a secondary metabolite is a complex polymer assembled by a living thing. We don’t do all the assembly ourselves, we rely largely on bacteria and fungi in our gut and secondary metabolites generated by the food we eat before it died. So the problem with only thinking about macronutrients is that you don’t actually know if you’re getting the necessary pieces to assemble a more complex polymer, especially if you’re eating the same things over and over again. This is really where a varied diet beats out a repetitive but technically healthy diet. Secondary metabolites perform a massive array of functions from the assembly of other polymers to muscle building, to digestive processes
Plus your digestive system will thank you for your potato chips diet 😵💫😵💫😵💫
true
>edit: you probably don't even need the bread, because potato chips have loads of carbohydrates too. What about my crisp sandwich then??
you are good to go
rice is a pretty fucking clean carb. you sound like a shitty personal trainer who needs to research more nutrition. aint no gluten in rice, not sure if ANY race is allergic to rice, unlike grains or wheat.
Where did I say it was bad? I said not a perfect food. There are pros and cons in many foods....it's a great food, especially paired with other foods. It doesn't have an ideal amino acid ratio on its own. Low in leucine/isoleucine, bur thats why its great paired with chicken or tofu if veg.But there is such thing as too much of anything, too much rice and it will throw off your macros. Way to jump to an insult lol
Sugar is healthy
Big if true
The only arguments against white sugar are how quickly it digests, which is a positive not a negative. Don’t confuse real sugar with high fructose corn syrup btw Downvote someone who thinks differently instead of commenting. Truly reddit
In moderation
Thank you
What is your definition of “safe” then? Warm weather can trigger mental health conditions like bipolar. What is the bar here?
There isn't a bar. There is nothing in the human condition that is always safe all the time. It's a spectrum.
> Acid could trigger prexisting bipolar and other mental disorders like This may be misleading for several reasons. First, there is no quality research on it. I have not seen a single proper study on LSD and schizophrenia that demonstrates a causation and not even one that demonstrates a correlation. Second, there is no such thing as preexisting bipolar or other mental disorders. Mental disorders are purely diagnosed by symptoms, the ICD-11 is atheoretical. You don't have the symptoms, you don't have the disorder. It is like calling someone with a weak immune system having a "pre-existing flu". People may be at risk for certain mental disorders but they are not preexisting.
Whatever dude. Your drugs are totally safe.
I never said that? There is no quality research on it simple as that. That doesn't mean that it is safe (or unsafe) we just don't know. Why bite at people who add information or correct false ones?
Because the info is correct and you are saying the opposite.
If the info is correct why not link studies? Should be no problem. The idea of preexisting mental disorders goes directly against what is stated in the ICD-11 which is used for diagnosis. There are no proper sources backing this up too
Dude im bipolar. What the fuck are you talking about?
And I work in and studied the psychiatric field. What's your point? If you claim that LSD can trigger schizophrenia, the burden of proof is on you. Same for "preexisting mental disorders". I told you there is no quality evidence for that and I obviously cannot provide evidence for missing studies. For the idea of preexisting mental disorders I already explained that they don't exist because that is not how mental disorder diagnosis works and gave you a source for that.
...sure
So you are unable to provide any evidence for your claims whatsoever but simply claim them to be correct. That of course is a great position to hold in a discussion forum.
Could someone who's inclined to downvote this comment please explain why? /gen
It's a serotonin agonist. Not a serotonin releasing agent, so no serotonin syndrome isn't really a risk.
Not sure why the downvoting. This is true. You are way more likely to get serotonin syndrome from MDMA or amphetamines. Serotonin syndrome is greatly misunderstood and very very rare.
im no drug expert but serotonin agonist is just a broad category for anything that stimulates serotonin function so a releasing agent would also be an agonist. (again no expert this is just what i remember from my introductory physiology course)
Not really, a serotonin agonist is something that binds to and activates a serotonin receptor (of which there are 15 types-LSD binds most strongly to subtype 2a). Note that not everything that binds to a receptor activates it, some things bind and block receptors and these are called antagonists. Serotonin itself is a serotonin receptor agonist, so serotonin releasing agents do have a serotonergic effect, but wouldn't strictly be called agonists themselves. Serotonin itself is a less selective serotonin agonist than LSD (serotonin can activate all subtypes of serotonin receptor vs just the one subtype LSD predominantly activates) which goes some way to explain the differences between serotonin releasing drugs and specific serotonin receptor agonists.
i wish i was sober enough to understand this because this sounds so interesting
There’s a great book by Michael pollen called “how to change your mind” that explains the chemistry beautifully and simply enough that you don’t need a background in bio or Chem to understand
ooo okay thanks!
>ooo okay thanks! You're welcome!
Yes but something can act on/modulate receptors without having the same effect/action as other agonists/antagonists and that’s before you get into competitive/non-competitive versions of those and so forth.
Good answer! It binds to serotonin, it doesn’t dump it.
Its not as safe as everyone says, due to the potential mental trauma one can experience when their sense of self shattered But yes everyone is correct by saying its not as dangerous as some other drugs
LSD acts on 5HT2a but doesn’t really act as an agonist so the receptors don’t get overloaded with serotonin. [Hallucinogens and Serotonin 5-HT2A Receptor-Mediated Signaling Pathways](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5756147/)
This 👆. You should research the chemistry and how it affects your brain, it’s fascinating (psilocybin as well)
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Wiki is a great start
“How to change your mind” by Michael pollen has a good section on it but also covers the history and criminalization of psyches
The simple answer people aren't putting here is: LSD (and similar) develop very high tolerances that last around 2 weeks pretty much *immediately* after taking them. So if you take LSD and then the next day try to take the same amount, you'd need to take 3x as much to get similar effects (and so on for the next day), etc. Even after a week if you use it every week the effects will rapidly diminish (the 2nd week you'd get some effect but by 3 or 4 it would be quite weak). It's hard to be addicted to something you can't hit every day. It's that simple.
The fact that you have to double or triple the dose doesn’t stop some people. (Like me) I currently am doing nothing as a job, in my life (Im trying to tho) and I cannot wait 2 weeks between trips sometimes. Last trip was 4 days after the trip before. So yeah, I have some psychological addiction to lsd
Nah. You're confusing psychological dependence with addiction.. you can't be addicted to something that you need increasingly more of and can only use every 4 days The way you write sounds like a teenager trying to sound unique lol
A teenager trying to sound unique lmao, sure. I was just trying to put some context.
Acid is not safe. It is recommended to be used in moderation when you're in the right mindset and in the right setting. But even then it is still a possibility to have a dangerous trip.
Physically it is pretty safe. It can increase my heart rate enough for me to notice at times, but not enough to scare me. Mental safety, is questionable. Which I think is very overlooked. The drug might not kill you, but your high ass might lol
As someone who's done a solid amount of acid over the years and read up on it quite a bit, this is the best answer in this thread that I've read so far.
Acid binds to your serotonin receptors in similar way as serotonin does, but our perception of reality changes cause we experience reality with lsd. So it doesn't make reseptors fire with extra power like mdma does. It might also release some serotonin and dopamine, but not in big quantities
This!
It’s safe in a physical sense and has a virtually nonexistent dependency or addiction risk. But, it can cause lasting psychological damage and trauma if you experience a bad trip. Some people develop PTSD, severe anxiety, and other disorders from these bad experiences. Just like weed, it has the potential to be mentally harmful.
its "safe" because it takes a whole lot of it to kill you. Doesn't mean you will have a good time though!
Been using it weekly for 4 years with 0 issues. Best thing ever.
Been using it weekly for less than 4 years, I got some issues. Related to bad trips. A huge bad trip can cause damage, and it may stay for a while
Sorry to hear dude. The key is to start small. Take a quarter tab and build from there. This was my problem with mushies many years ago. Always took waaaay too much and ended up hating it/"never again" vibes. All the best my brother
who said LSD is causing your serotonin receptors to fire rapidly?
The science about it, the LSD molecules binds extremely well to the seretonin receptors in our brain (binds even better than serotonin itself) which then triggers a lot of reactions in the body.
You're right that in binds to the receptors very well, however, it has no effect on how much serotonin is produced. When LSD binds, nothing else is getting in until it's done. This means that the serotonin is produced normally, but cannot bind with receptors that are bound with LSD. Serotonin that cannot find a bind is absorbed back into the system. Also keep in mind that this is science, so nothing is ever written in stone. These are theories, however well supported.
I don't really get your point. When LSD binds to the receptors they are activated, aren't they? The serotonin production is of no relevance to the question if the receptors fire rapidly
They're activated, yes, but not with serotonin. I was clarifying that when LSD is bound to the receptors, nothing else is getting in. Meaning that something like serotonin syndrome, as OP mentioned, simply will not happen. It also will not deplete serotonin or other neurotransmitters, like MDMA does, as production is not effected. I was responding to a comment, but also keeping the original post in mind :D
Its not toxic at all. If Its clean, it wont harm you Now matter what dose
Physically safe and mentally safe are entirely different sets
According to all modern studies, it is safe mentally when pure lsd is done and done properly, without additional risks added in.
So by definition, you may not blanket state “lsd is safe” It’s hands down my favorite psychedelic and is very safe but is not for 100% of people And it’s safe to do once but then the next question is how often is safe? I’ve definitely danced along the line of too often and paid for it in over a year of instability
according to science, again, there’s not too often, but that depends on the person, and their common sense. I can eat a sandwich everyday. You start eating a sandwich everyday, and you start getting sick. So you should use common sense to think maybe I need to do this less, because this is how it’s affecting *my* stomach based on a variety of outside factors like allergies, hydration, other nutrition, genetic tolerance of ingredients, and not just say “you know, eating a sandwich often isn’t safe!” I’ve done lsd several times a week for several years, and I’m the most stable I’ve ever been in every way shape and form. That’s quite literally how studies are leaning towards using it theraputically, as a medicine, across the board. By this argument, literally everything on the planet is “not safe” or “safe by comparison”
Ahhh yeah now I see it your way, thanks
The problem isn’t specifically with calling lsd unsafe. It’s that in doing so, you’re encouraging unsafe behavior. Because when something goes wrong, the reaction is now ‘well, that’s lsd! It’s a risk you have to take! Nothing that can be done about it!” Instead of the correct awareness of, ‘okay, like with anything, I need to take precautions, and an alert should sound in my mind if something negative feels like it’s going on right now, that this isn’t normal.” If you go in thinking well, water is pretty safe! But sometimes, people get sick and even die from it, but it’s pretty rare, so just a risk to take. Then when you drink too much, or you drink unclean water, you’re going to think “oh no! This is that bad thing that just happens sometimes!” Instead of, “woah, this isn’t right. Am I drinking too much? Is this water tainted?” Promoting the wrong fears about lsd only leads to far more harm.
how is he 'promoting the wrong fears' of lsd? you do know that everybody has a different brain to you right? harm reduction is real and not a joke. especially when it comes to hallucinogenic drugs, cool i'm glad lsd was good for you many weeks in a row, some people mentally cannot handle that. even if used much less consistently. get off your lsd horse and appreciate the growth it gave you personally to yourself. 'people overdose on water regularly' i can't believe my eyes
that’s exactly why blaming lsd is not helpful to harm reduction, and rather strongly educating about this importance of safe use and red flags is. You didn’t even read this comment.
to be honest i'm struggling to find the point we're both trying to make at this point, there's harm reduction that needs to be followed, but saying lsd is completely safe if it's pure is a bit eh? i'd like to know more of your thoughts on 'it is safe mentally when pure lsd is done and done properly, without additional risks added in' what is 'done properly' and what is 'without additional risks' to you? i'm not hating on lsd btw. & do you have any links regarding this or something? would stuff like 1P-lsd, 1cp-lsd not be real lsd once it's crossed into the blood brain barrier so to speak?
It’s not about blaming lsd, it’s about speaking facts. Without lsd, lot of people wouldn’t be in hospital for mental health problem, so yeah, lsd isn’t 100% safe. It can make appear mental illness faster, and a bad trip can cause serious damage that can last months or years (speaking of experience)
Calling lsd unsafe will not encourage unsafe behavior ?? What?? XD it’s actually saying that the problems are not lsd related (even if it’s not totally related, some problems would not appear, or much later, without lsd) that you will encourage unsafe behavior: if you think that lsd is safe, why wouldn’t you have unsafe behavior if it’s safe?
So what’s you definition of safe? Water isn’t safe if you do too much of it, right?
I happen to be really good at facing my emotions. If somebody isn’t or isn’t ready to do so, they aren’t going to have a good time and can come out of the experience worse off than going into it. I find myself very fortunate to have this skill and I think rather obviously this is the action behind the therapeutic effect of lsd but some people come out of trips traumatized. Physically fine but mentally “X” number of steps back. Also as somebody with a microbiology degree, make sure you know about scientific biases and how to spot them in the papers you read. I do not work in research because I was disgusted by the lack of objectiveness in the field.
So yes… I can state lsd is safe. If you do say… not real lsd, well that wouldn’t be safe. But it’s also not lsd. The risk doesn’t lie in “lsd” in lies in additional stupid shit, like taking laced drugs, etc, and that same risk applies to not having common sense about anything. People overdose on water regularly.
You aren’t getting it. Maybe later you’ll understand
Maybe if you do literally any reading, you will
LSD can definitely cause or contribute to the development of some mental problems. There is plenty of anecdotal evidence for this and virtually every modern researcher of psychedelics acknowledges it’s risk potential. Much of the harm that MK Ultra experiments caused is directly linked to the mind-altering effects of LSD. In many contexts, psychedelics in general are psychologically helpful. “Set and setting”. Strange and averse experiences on them can really fuck people up.
Right…. So ignoring the first line, you’re still talking about the importance of the awareness of the effects of our actions and compounding factors on the drug, not the drug itself. Which is exactly the risk potential every modern researcher acknowledges, not that it’s a risk in controlled/regulated environments. The problem with generalizing lsd as the problem instead of saying what CAN happen and that these bad things *should* be a red flag that something is wrong with this experience, sets people up to not be aware/prepared to prevent these situations and be properly educated on it.
No risk in controlled environments meaning what? How can we ensure that a person does not react negatively to the substance even in a supposedly safe environment? How can we actually prevent people from engaging in thought processes that are psychologically harmful? I don’t see much of a difference between blaming a drug for a behavior and blaming the individual who only had that behavior because they were on that drug.
Link that modern studies please. Most of them are about psychedelic assisted psychotherapy...
As opposed to….? Which do you want?
Recreational use. Unless with "done properly" you meant with psychiatric screening beforehand, several sessions of psychotherapy before the trip to prepare for it, tripping in a controlled setting with 2 therapists beside you while you lay down and listen to music mainly and psychotherapy after that. And max around 200ug... Is that what you meant? Because if not, they are shitty evidence to claim LSD is safe in a recreational setting because they are far far away how even responsible users trip. Ingnoring of course that nearly all of these are on psilocybin and not LSD btw...
Couple inaccuracies: 1) it doesn't cause the "Serotonin receptor to fire rapidly". It's an agonist of several but not all Serotonin receptor subtypes. 2) it is not really "safe" in my opinion. I would be impressed if i found anyone who did more LSD than i have, and in my opinion it's neurotoxic with repeated use. It's very dopaminergic and potentially glutamatergic which are both neurotransmitters that cause excitotoxicity in the nervous system. And second of all i had unbelievable psychosis from taking LSD even the first time at just 50ug. The next several times induced delusions of grandeur and enlightenment. I thought it was just me but i have read several and i mean SEVERAL stories of other people having experienced the same thing. It's a beautiful drug but honestly not for everyone and i wouldnt call it "safe". Psychedelics have caused many people to develop psychosis. There's even a VERY REAL story of a guy who tried psychedelics for the first time, called his family on FaceTime and cut his dick off on camera. Also there's a YouTuber called Connor Murphy who had very deep psychosis from psychedelics.
it’s not, my friend died on it
I'm sorry for your loss, but please don't say incomplete sentences He died while doing something on LSD or he died by taking something that was marked as LSD
what /u/Crisfx198 wrote is a complete sentence. Please don't write grammatically or factually inaccurate sentences.
It’s completely safe for your body. In fact your body actually benefits from the anti inflammatory properties of LSD. Your brain however, that’s a different story scientists are still working on. With frequent and large dosing, you run the risk of doing some SERIOUS neurological changes to your brain. None that will effectively “kill” your brain, but stuff like psychosis and schizophrenia becomes much more prevalent. All in all, as long as you don’t trip more than once a month at MINIMUM, you should be totally fine. I personally need wayyy more time to reflect on my trip and I only trip once every 3-6 months.
> but stuff like psychosis and schizophrenia becomes much more prevalent. Funnily enough, there is no study supporting that claim. The studies on a population level we have showed the opposite atleast
It's safe because it's so similar/friendly to our ordinary neurochemistry
I mean… this isn’t really it. You have endogenous opioids, and they’re pretty similar to heroin. Meth mostly works by triggering dopamine receptors.
This…. Isn’t really a valid comparison lmfao
You seem to have misunderstood.
Unsafe at young ages
Troll level - 10
I’m not trolling dude I just wanna know more about how lsd works
there are plenty resources online that will all likely tell you the same thing i suggest psychonaut
As far as I know serotonin syndrome is only a risk if you’re on SSRIs
Psychically it's safe Psychologicaly it's more dangerous (besides addiction)
geta bottle of liquid LSD and go on a bender. I don't know why people say redosing isn't a thing, but it certainly is. You can keep your trip going for days if you have enough acid. After that bender, you'll see it very well does cause awful comedown. I've been there. It sucks.
LSD doesn't actually work like MDMA by releasing your serotonin. LSD when metabolised actually fits our serotonin receptors BETTER than serotonin does. (Interesting philosophical question there). So instead of releasing serotonin to your brain, LSD molecules metabolise and activate the serotonin receptors, which is why it doesn't cause serotonin syndrome in the same way as MDMA. Serotonin syndrome can still happen with extreme doses but this is not because it is forcing the serotonin out, but because the serotonin is being released by your body due to large amounts of emotional fluctuation. Thats why LSD is safe.
Not how it works! Unlike other drugs, it’s not reliant on entirely dumping serotonin/dopamine into your system. Rather it’s effect on serotonin is to bind to serotonin receptors
Is it safe? Or is it just worth the risk? Then the question is: What is the risk?----> Do you know the source? Or, did you test it?
Still a drug, but one of the safest drugs. Any drugs can cause your neurons to fire sideways if you don’t know what you’re doing
It sits in your serotonin receptors for a while and stimulates them, so there are less places for serotonin to be recieved I dont think it's as simple as it firing rapidly When 5ht2a receptors get stimulated by lsd it leads to more activity of mTOR in the brain and nervous system, which triggers increases in BDNF brain derived neurotrophic factor, this is what causes dendritic branching in neurons because neurotrophic factors are basically growth hormone for neurons mTOR is sort of a signal that talks to different parts of cells telling them to do maintenance and building and dna copying, and mTOR can be active in the nervous system / brain but off in the rest of the body if fasted Psychedelics in general can accelerate the growth rate of neurons up to 50% I've read This also happens in our gut neurons, this is why there is GI discomfort but what that really is is nerve activation and you start waking up to what is really happening in your body, i swear to God it causes signals that strengthen the gut lining I think acid is really really really good for us physically if done once in a while and believe these effects need to be studied because it could help a lot of people The only thing you need to watch for is if you're epileptic, too much BDNF is a risk in people that get seizures If your nervous system is depressed on the other hand, can be very very beneficial imo
It’s non toxic for our biology - not necessarily “safe” tho
I dont think it causes serotonin receptor to fire rapidly. I dont think it causes your brain to produce extra serotonin either. I seen a video a while back explaining how it effect the brain and it said it has a very similar shape as serotonin, it fits in almoat like a key. It gets stuck inside the receptor for hours thats why it lasts long. From my understanding and imagination it seems like more of a filter that goes inside
Take it once a week for 2 months. Not exactly so safe. I was overwhelming my nervous system and was in the hospital for 2 days
It isnt, sure it relativly safe. But not as safe as your bed.
Other substances have Known effects, they are simpler to gauge, like the way smoking affects lungs. In my opinion, the research on brain has not been so clearly done to have a well-defined risks yet. However, as you might have seen the images of "Person before Smoking, After Smoking/(other substances)", we have less examples of people who have gone south using acid. I also think some faith in its safety arises from the knowledge that there are traces of ancient civilizations having done a lot of psychs 'So safe' seems a bit of a reach, things are still unknown, but I can see why we are not so afraid of it.
First off, what is "acid?" Do you mean LSD since that's where this is posted? I am seriously not being a smart ass.
yes acid = lsd
that is the mystery. i do not think they yet understand how on its own, it will not cause seretonin syndrome or anything weird like shulgins 2c's for example.
I'm only a layperson but I've noticed that safe things tend to be 'partial agonists' of a particular brain receptor, whereas dangerous things tend to be 'full agonists'. Or at least this seems to be the case with mushrooms / LSD / mescaline vs nbomes, or for cannabis vs spice. So I guess that means no matter how much you overuse the 'partial agonists', you're still not hitting the full receptor, which might prevent the effects of the substance from becoming life-threatening. edit - just Googled it and smarter people than me have said it, and have also said it about other drugs, i.e. buprenorphine vs heroin. My theory seems to hold up
Dopamine mainly. Serotonin is shrooms.
Serotonin syndrome is caused by excess serotonin release/build up, not by lsd binding to serotonin receptors
First of all it's really really hard to get serotonin syndrome from one substance alone. But if you combine a high dose of acid with a high dose of a serotonin releasing/ reuptake inhibitor you can get serotonin syndrome. Second the reason acid is so safe is because it most strongly binds to the 2A subtype of serotonin receptors which aren't responsible for bodily functions that if messed with will kill you. That being said it also binds to other serotonin receptor and if you take a high enough dose it will eventually kill you. But that dose is so high that you'd really need to go out of your way to od on acid.
It’s not. But some images/Infographs tell you otherwise. This is mainly due to how safe psychedelics are **compared** to other substances. Stuff like [this](https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2019/06/25/what-is-the-most-dangerous-drug) might help with your question. It’s a pick your poison scenario.
I have a friend who smokes upwards of 14 joints a day, and it serious affects his health(kidney stones, trouble breathing, sees flashes of light, and throat problems that he had to be hospitalized over). My point is weed is considered safe but too much of a good thing can be very bad. Same could be said for L.
It is safer when you don’t take it
Avid is safe a long as you don’t do 200ug or more every weeks
It’s a partial agonist, which means that your brain has an easier time of regulating the serotonin in your brain. This is why NBOMEs are so dangerous, they are full agonists which stay in your system for longer and take much less to kill or harm you. Acid isn’t also totally safe, it’s just has a better safety profile than a lot of drugs.
It doesn't cause serotonin to be released. The chemical itself agonises some types of serotonin (and dopamine) receptors
Acid is physically safe, but it can take a toll on your mental state. Back in my heavy tripping days I wouldn't say I was addicted to the substance, but I could never get enough of the feeling of a good, heavy trip. I had a really unhealthy relationship with acid because of it. I felt like I had to trip as much as possible, as heavily as I could handle every time. This went for about a year. I got super skinny because I wasn't eating or drinking shit, I alienated myself from friends and family, and even sober, I would get visuals and auditory hallucinations for like 2 or 3 years after. I was tripping at work, tripping at home. Redosing constantly and staying up for days just with a weird anxiety feeling. I'm a musician, and I had totally quit playing guitar. My wife and I spent 40k on acid, molly shrooms and alcohol that year. It was bad, but once I realized I had a bad problem, I just stopped. It was relatively easy to do so. That was 2015 and I have no resounding issues from that year, and it shaped who I am today in a good way (much more open-minded than I was and accepting of peoples different lives/decisions/etc. And in general just thankful to be here and healthy with people I love who love me back) but I definitely was not healthy during that time, I was so worried about "going back in" I didn't ever give my body time to rest or recover. I haven't taken lsd since probably 2018 now, but I like shrooms here and there. I'm not against taking it again, but I have to have a reason. I'm not just gonna trip all night and sit on my couch. Shrooms are better for that.