The Orphaned Crystals
Or: How I rescued the neglected, forgotten leftovers from a long ago re-x.

Until last night, it had been 1.5 years since I smoked dmt. Although I did an experiment with micro doses about a year ago. Does smoking 1-2mgs count? The micro dosing was done in an attempt to gauge its effects on my headache. I've had a classic tension headache for over one and a half years now. It ebbs and flows, but it's always there. I initially blamed it on dmt, and while dmt may have contributed, there were many other factors. Here are some things that happened in the lat 2 years:
My father was diagnosed with cancer and eventually died.

My mother developed full blown dementia during this time and was eventually put in a nursing home. She no longer knows who anyone is.

We had to deal with my parents estate and are still trying to get the bank to forclose on the house.

My brother died. We hadn't spoken in over a decade. We were just very different people. He was a pentecostal minister and I was an atheist (before dmt, now I'm firmly agnostic).

My wife lost her job.

The man who hired her and had become her close friend died.

An old friend of mine died.

I met my long lost sister after 42 years.

Lots of other stuff, I'm sure, including raising a child and running a business that's being effected by the u.s. financial crisis.

I've wanted to smoke dmt, but fearing that it might make my headaches worse and very infrequently having he proper mind set, I abstained. A lot has happened, and although I've handled things pretty well, it just hasn't been the right time. Then a couple of weeks ago, I started hearing the call. I still vaporize cannabis every night or take some tincture, but an 1/8th can last me 4 months. I've managed to keep a low tolerance... blah blah blah... I'll get to the point.

I finally vaporized a small amount of dmt. Not just any dmt. Forgotten, neglected dmt (perhaps n-oxide) that was stored in very inhospitable conditions. Over a year ago, I did a re-x. I somehow managed to leave a shot glass with brown gunk in the bottom, in the cabinet over my stove. It wasn't covered with anything. It was above my stove/oven, in a cabinet that surely gets very hot.
I've heard so much about dmt losing potency or oxidizing, and I've often wondered, what is the oldest documented spice ever consumed? Is the degradation of dmt largely conjecture and guesswork? Are there reports of people smoking old spice with drastically reduced effects, or full strength effects? I know I've read threads on the topic but can't remember if there were actual accounts.

Well, here's my story. I found the shot glass with the old brown crystals in it. I figured they were probably Oxide, fats an oils. I found them right before bed last night. I decided to take one more hit of cannabis from my gvg, when I thought of the raggedy old crystals. I took down the glass and put my finger into the pile of stuff. I pulled out a small amount. Several table salt sized grains. I imagine it was no more than 5 mgs. I'd never combined dmt with cannabis, but I was feeling profoundly mellow, so I gave it a go. I got it all in one hit, and held it in. I felt a warm and very comfortable body buzz kick in. No OEV's... but wait. suddenly the room hat taken on an ambient pink hue and time seemed to have stopped. Realizing that something more than expected was happening, I closed my eyes. Little gears of shiny metal, outlined in neon purple were doing their mysterious work. Gyrating in several dimensions. Managing to be machinery with a glowing playful personality. It seemed to be giving me a coy grin, implying sexual intent with its movements. That was replaced by some wonderful and complex tapestry that took up the entire field of my inner vision. The experience lasted about 15-20 minutes, after which I drifted off to sleep, contented and happy, with Yr by Steve Tibbets pouring into my ears.

I wasn't tripping hard, but it was more involved than any low dose experience I've ever had. It was very enjoyable and serene. Maybe it was the mixture with cannabis, I don't know. I got my feet wet though and soon I will be taking a full dose.

So, is it unusual for old leftovers from a re-x, kept in open air in a place that had drastic heat fluctuations to maintain its power? Or is this just a normal n-oxide experience? I've read that there are differences, but this was my first time, if oxides are what I vaporized.

Thanks for reading this long ass post. I really appreciate it. Any input?

Thanks for sharing!

Sorry about the troubles.

The FAQ has an entry on DMT shelf life. So far it seems DMT N-Oxide is the only degradation product and it is active. IIRC Shulgin thinks N-oxide is just as active as DMT, that it metabolizes into DMT. The problem is, very little people, if anybody, has ever really tried pure n-oxide. We are still lacking mass spec data to show if old darkened DMT = N-Oxide or if it can degrade into other things too. Preliminary data with trying to oxidize DMT with Hydrogen Peroxide has shown other reactions to occur appart from turning into N-Oxide.

So it maybe N-Oxide is equally active, it may be it has some differences, it may be DMT over time and with bad storage degrades to other things appart from N-Oxide, which may or may not affect psychoactivity. At this point we just dont know yet. Personally I once tried darkened DMT that has sat for many months in a drawer in a tropical place, and I could not tell appart effects from that and pure DMT, but that was a one or two-time launch, hard to take conclusions considering DMT effects themselves are already highly variable..

Im planning on doing some work on this later this year, and will let you know.

Anyways again, thanks for sharing

Thank you for the post, Mister Niles. Worth reading besides the topic.

I can say I have scraped and used, out of pure curiosity, brownish dry goo that had been left stuck in the bottom of a shot glass for over six months, after changa evaporation. Besides plant material traces, the goo was initially 1:1 harmalas-spice. The vaporized material brought effects definitely closer to pure spice.