SWIM tried a foots worth of T. bridgesii cactus tea for his first time and enjoyed it. However, after twelve hours, a headache arose. It was towards the front of the head and hurt mostly with movement. He killed it with ibuprofen and cannabis (he also used cannabis during the experience), but woke up this morning, 24 hours after the headache began, to a lessened but still present pain. Is this something he should worry about?

He fasted completely for five hours beforehand, and ate very little for four hours before that. He ate an apple less than three hours after drinking the tea and ate crackers and drank milk throughout the experience. Is this a hypoglycemia problem? An MAOI problem?

Thanks for reading, looking forward to hearing back from all of you.

The duration of a mesc related trip can be quite stressful. I just drink a lot of fluids and use ibuprofen at the first sign of any head pressure and that keeps things pretty good. If I wait to long before dealing with it, it becomes harder to shake.

Also I find smoking cannabis with mescaline seems to make the chance of headchaes much more likely, though I often get headaches with cannabis alone.

Thanks, good to hear that it doesn't seem like SWIM poisoned himself. Two more things I wanted to say:

The base of the cutting had rooting hormone (most are made for vegetable and fruit plants, so they're safe as long as they aren't consumed directly) on it but was washed and then cut off and disposed of. The rest of the cactus was washed and skinned completely.

Also, SWIM has another batch of tea in the fridge. He might not use it for a month. People seem to say you have to freeze it, but considering cacti are full of complex antibacterials, wouldn't the fridge be fine? I mean, you can store raw meat in the fridge, right?

dehydration maybe?

Fasting gives me a headache, so does cannabis. I drink yerba mate when taking cactus and the caffeine can give me a headache, if ive not ate then eat cactus and drink some yerba I can get really bad headaches. I also get bad headaches when drinking ayahuasca, before and the day after, I put it down to fasting, maybe sometimes dehydration like polytrip mentions

For me, alcohol in combination with any psychedelic=terrible headache...100% guaranteed. Some things just don't combine at all.

Cannabis gives me a headache when i smoke to much. Buds more than hash. Some strains more than others.

Coffee synergizes with mescaline and could help elevate a headache. Dunno about cactus tea and coffee.
Also not drinking coffee (when fasting or during the weekend) can cause a headache when you are used to drinking coffee daily.

Strange your headache lasts so long.
I would have handled the rooting hormone contam as you have done. I dont think that stuff is the cause.

Probably molds will grow on the tea when you keep it in the fridge.
Whats the problem with freezing? you are not going to make something disgusting even more disgusting when you freeze it...

I was also thinking it could have been hypoglycemia. SWIM felt like he needed to pee for hours, but every time he tried he found that he in fact didn't. On remembering this, he thought it should be mentioned. What could one do to prevent such issues in future experiences?

Don`t use the cactus then. Find some other psychedelic which is active in lower doses therefor not too harsh on the body. ILPT found spirals (amt) to be good replacement for mescaline in his case. Last time he had 80 % identic mescaline experience (only longer lasting) with 30-40 mg of alpha-MT.

As nice as that would be, not all of us have so many options.

Thanks for the replies everyone.

.
.
As strange as this sounds, I have often gotten headaches from lengthy psychedelic experiences from my eyes being so wide open in amazement hour after hour. My forehead wrinkled and taut as well.

Its kind of like coming out of a comedy club after laughing for two hours straight....my cheeks hurt.

ten and twelve hour trips take their toll in many ways. Water, sleep, healthy foods like bananas that can get your potassium levels up, and maybe a really unhealthy one like a big fat filled chocolate milkshake can all really help. the high fat content can increase serotonin levels and level off mood and decrease a headaches chances.

besides, food tastes incredible while on cactus.


in another post I list aminos I like to take after any psychedelic. Tryptophan, n-acetyl-l-tyrosine and GABA are all AMAZING at helping one get neurotransmitter levels high. I have used them for months and personally notice a huge difference. I cannot afford to throw money away on stuff that does not work but my friends and I all notice big improvements in mood.

good luck,

E
.
.

Someone finds caffeine to be great for headaches. Someone tends to take caffeine towards to end of most trips, to alleviate headaches and built-up tension. Yerba mate, coffee, or Excedrin