I tried pharmahuasca for the second time last night. I increased my dose slightly from last time, from 225mg caapi alkaloids plus about 50mg DMT in two doses (30mg, then 20mg) to 250mg caapi-extracted alkaloids, followed by 60mg DMT about 15 minutes later. I started early (6:00pm), just in case the experience turned out to be long again (it was). I also didn’t fast – I had a light dinner about one hour before dosing, and this caused some problems later.

The experience this time was less visual than the last time – there were constant visuals present, but they were darker and often less defined. This experience seemed to be much more physical and emotional than the last one. I had some moderate nausea for about 2 hours and felt physically ill in a general sort of way during stretches of the experience.

Once again, the experience wasn’t especially deep (like a sub-breakthrough when vaporizing), but it was so long and unrelentingly strong. I really didn’t feel any effects (other than nausea) for about an hour, and then it slowly built to a peak at about the 4 hour mark. I was still feeling some effects at 1:00am (7 hours from start) and I didn’t sleep much at all. Is insomnia common with aya/pharma?

As far as the content of the experience goes, it was a grueling emotional roller-coaster. I saw/experienced parts of myself that I don’t get to see very often. It made me realize how my deepest insecurities and vulnerabilities are covered by layer upon layer of protective insulation. It was hard and unrelenting, and I often wanted it to end, but I think that ultimately it was a healing experience. A 7+ hour long session of DMT psychotherapy.

I also thought about how we are “trapped in the eternal now” – we always and forever experience only “now”. Even when we are remembering the past or thinking about the future, we are doing these things “now”. Subjectively, it has always been and will always be “now”.

So why are my pharma experiences so long? I’m thinking it might be because I haven’t fasted beforehand – stomach contents absorb and then slowly release DMT? Next time I’ll skip dinner and see if that changes anything.

Another observation – it seems that the visuals were more intense last time, when I took the DMT in 2 doses separated by about an hour. This time I took it all at once. I think I’ll try dividing the DMT dose again next time.

I find it interesting that you refer to this as "entrapment". For others, the realization of this (there is only now) seems to be the gateway to liberation.

I find that the more mentally challenging and introspective a trip is the longer the experience is. It's possible there is some kind of placebo effect going on here for me, whereas you may actually be experiencing lingering effects from the chemicals. For instance, if I've thought about how bad I've been treating certain persons, not understanding their perspective, or maybe gained a third person perspective of myself that I hadn't had before, I take A LOT of time really scrutinizing the information I've come up with to see if it's worthy of holding onto. You could call it my reintegration time if you like.
During this time, I keep going over and over the information I've "learned" and I find that my mind stays in a speedy state which feels like the effects of the drug. In reality I think it's merely placebo at a certain point and my mind is being suggestive and allowing certain neurotransmitters to keep being released.

As for visuals, you will never find a solid answer. This varies so wildly with people, mental state, neurochemical makeup, etc. My acquaintance and I can take the same exact dose to the .001 mg and have different visual effects. My mind doesn't have an affinity for visuals until I'm practically overdosing but my SO does.

I referred to it as “entrapment”, but I didn’t (and still don’t) have any specific emotional response to this notion. It was an observation of the way things are – an acknowledgement of a particular aspect of our subjective experience of things.

Having acknowledged this aspect of our subjective experience, I don’t feel trapped. But I also don’t feel liberated. How do you see this realization leading to liberation?

Stupid question, but is it a time release capsule?

No – freebase caapi alkaloids dissolved in OJ, freebase DMT dissolved in OJ.

Hey Gibran2, thanks for sharing this. Regarding the insomnia, it always hits SWIM when she has more than an extremely mild caapi dose. Other people fall asleep quiet easily after, I infer from some of fractal's posts.

What has happened to SWIM is that he falls asleep (rather drifts there) at the end of his Caapi experiences but only sleeps for a little while to wake up and not be tired at all and can't fall back asleep. All times it has been when he started in the early evening and the effects wore off around a normal sleep time.

I was going to post something about that asking if it was common, but the sample size has been too small to really draw any conclusions yet.