Long time no see.

I haven't posted because I haven't been tripping... 2011 was the worst year of my life and my body has yet to fully recover. Namely, my adrenals need to recover. They are fux0red.

I've been working on a life-wide assessment of how to get myself back up to par. I've been seeing a naturopath, experimenting with different foods and herbs. I've had some major improvements so far (no more panic attacks!), but still have some hormonal and circadian rhythm issues that are going to take some time to fix. Some of them can't really be fixed without negatively effecting my income (e.g., dumping awful work shifts that I have to work to keep my job because I have no seniority), which is critical... and... stressful... so how to stay out of this fanged loop of self-destruction...

But, anyway, I am working very actively on all of that. ^^

ONE important thing that crossed my mind, however, is what about tryptamine psychedelics and the adrenals? I'd LOVE to eat some mushrooms (since the man has been growing lots of them), and Ayahuasca is a central part of my life. It's been five weeks since I've tripped at all. I'm wondering if I should just take, say, three months off?

It's not just getting high, it is my spirituality and my way of affirming and connecting to all life in the universe. It's my sacred-me-soul-time (even working too much so there's no time to do that, in and of itself is a big problem).

I'm basically reassessing everything in my life and seeing if it needs to change, or if it's helping me heal. Does anyone have some nice, shiny, science-y information about tryptamines and adrenal function that would help me make a better decision about how to manage my chemical spirituality while rebalancing my life?

Thanks so much! <3

Hope you're all having lots of fun, soaring through the cosmos! I have to start with getting my face off the ground...

Sorry to hear that 2011s been a bummer for you.

What makes you think your adrenals are buggered?

Man I feel you, I havent dared to trip in 5 years from having a worn out brain. Just starting to get back in shape for real!

What has helped me is:
omega 3
lithium orotate
magnesium
calsium

Just started with lithum orotate, do I ever wish I had heard about it a few years back!
Oh well, been on it for a week and the results are astounding! Like my body was craving that mineral for it´s wellbeing.

Good luck

I know that some MAOI´s also elevate levels of noradrenalin, beside dopamine levels. St johns worth works this way, for instance. It should not be taken in the evening, because you won´t be able to sleep very well. St johns worth raises your energy level significantly. Body builders use it to be able to train harder, for instance. It could maybe be effective, but ofcourse you have to be carefull not to combine it with other MAOI´s or substances that increase the amount of dopamine in your blood. I also think that you should be carefull not to combine it with psychedelic´s, but you could just quit taking it, a view days prior to plunging into hyperspace.

In relation to pressure at work..there´s something that may help a bit. I like to compare it with meditation: in vipassana meditation you try to clear your mind from all thoughts and distractions. You try to let the mind become completely silent. The way to do this is to bring your attention back to the hear and now, everytime you become aware of the fact that your mind has drifted away with whatever distraction there may have been, and when you repeat this proces often, the periods of silence become longer and longer.

I think that in relation to life itself, a simmilar principle may apply: Everytime you find yourself caught in a fucked-up mood (wich just may happen every now and then), simply remind yourself of how lucky a human being you actually are and how gratefull you are for being alive. I think that when you constistently keep doing this, as with meditation, the moments of grattitude will last longer and longer, and the moments of , , or will become more rare.

Everybody needs a break once in a while. That may include a break from psychedelic´s. Look at it like a prolonged period of integration. You are the best person to judge whether or not taking shrooms or aya is good for you at the moment.

I have also suffered with adrenal fatigue, documented through bloodwork, and have worked hard to eliminate a lot of the draining, stressful things that I have/had chosen to have in my life. However the chemical makeup seems to be a bit slow to heal.

I don't have any info specific to tryptamines, but have been reading a lot about thyroid disorders and iodine deficiency in the general population. There is a Dr in Troy, MI, Dr. Brownstein, who proposes iodine supplementation as it seems that it is a precursor to many of our adrenal hormones and processes. I might have a newsletter that would at least give you some more something to read- more info is better than not enough.

I've had some periods of adrenal exhaustion (related to overuse of kratom plus a stressful living environment, I won't go into it here). There's a few tricks I've learned to help get over it:

1) Avoid or severely limit the use of stimulants (this includes caffeine and chocolate), especially if you find yourself relying on a stimulant to get you through the day

2) Do whatever you can to allow yourself time to rest and recuperate. The body knows how to heal itself, but when I kept pushing hard it only made things worse.

3) Herbs I have found particularly helpful are Rhodiola rosea (a teaspoon stirred into warm water and drunk daily. It helped me feel more alert and awake, but actually supports the adrenals rather than taxing them), Reishi tea is great support for the adrenals and kidneys. Licorice tea is also good to support the adrenals, although it is mildly estrogenic and can raise blood pressure if used for prolonged periods of time. It works great for a week or two, but then you should take a break.

4) Salt is actually very important for the adrenals. Try eating a pinch of sea salt daily to maintain energy levels. A diet low in salt, or high in refined table salt, can worsen adrenal exhaustion.

5) I never had to resort to it, but a friend who abused kratom very hard ended up taking a supplement derived from bovine adrenal glands. If your adrenals are really that pooched, this helps provide some necessary precursors for adrenal output. I probably wouldn't use it long term, it can help in the short term though.

If considering the use of psychedelics, try dosing earlier in the day, so that you don't disrupt your sleep cycles.

Not sure I have much to add to all this good advice, but, if you're still following this thread I was wondering if you have any thoughts on caapi microdosing and also your kundalini awakening experience in the light of your current energy depletion.

I'm thinking of the incredible journey you describe here:

https://www.dmt-nexus.me...aspx?g=posts&t=16176

It's a bit of a shame to hear that your energy is now out of whack, as I've been cultivating kundalini energy for a few years now, in the expectation of increasing rather than depleting working energy levels.

Best of luck with it.

Just stumbled across this, figured I'd share since it's relevant to this thread.

honestly, if anyone has adrenal issues and is reading this, the first thing you want to be doing is eating meat, preferably animal organs every few days or once a week, never skip meals or cut carbs and eat enough salt and make sure you sleep.

What minx did not mention here is that this happened to her after many years on a hardcore vegan diet, and totally raw for at least 5 of those years..and eating meat, eggs, butter and raw cheese had her starting to feeling a lot better without panic attacks very quickly.

I was also diagnosed with adrenal insufficiency a number of years ago, so I know all about it. Kundalini yoga, fad diets that focus on only one food group etc, are not the cure.