Hi everyone!

This weekend I took about 150mics of LSD, and I only could enjoy it for a couple of hours because of annoying heart palpitations.
This is the second time I have this on LSD, and it happened once on 2cb and on mdma.
When I say heart palpitations I mean that my heart would skip a beat every now and than, and it made me panic slightly.
I am probably over exagerating, but I'm trying to make sense of it, because I like LSD and don't want this to ruin it because of some abstract fear of a heart failure or something.
I already made an appointement with a cardiologist to make an ECG, because I noticed palpitations after heavy exercise or stress (before my LSD trip).
I read that a lot of young people (I'm 29) have this, but most of them don't even notice it. I'm a very introvert person and very aware of my body, so I'm probably paying too much attention to my heart while on acid.
But still I would like to hear from you if this is a common side effect of LSD, and what your opinions are about this.
Thanks for reading!

Have never heard of this happening, though ergolines in general have an effect on your cardiovascular system. Definitly a good idea to get that checked out.

Yes, I read that LSD is a vasoconstrictor, so maybe that explains the palpitations.
And I have the impression that when the dose isn't that high, the side effects can be the most annoying. With a higher dose, lots of things are happening, and basically you forget about something so mundane like your heartbeat.
It's just that I'm good at finding excuses not to dose too high...
I'll definately get that checked, but it would be nice to hear if other members have experienced this.

FWIW, I've never experienced it. Sometimes there's a feeling that "there is not enough air in the room to breathe" (not the same as being unable to take a lungful of air) though.

I have definitely experienced something like heart palpitations on LSD. I believe that they are rooted in anxiety, which I experience even without drugs, so of course I experience bouts of anxiety during my trips. I have noticed that cannabis seems to exacerbate this effect at high doses (could just make the anxiety worse) but small doses of cannabis actually seem to help this a lot. Drinking water and/or going for a walk or something seems to help tremendously.
P.S. I don't doubt that what you had was LSD, but I think it is worth noting that these heart palpitations are WAY common with my various RC experiences. I believe this has to do with a large number of these RC's being amphetamine analogs.

Thanks for your replies.

Cannabis always makes me anxious. It seems to intensify several underlying fears, making it impossible for me to be in a social setting for instance. It makes me to a hyper introvert, analyzing the different negative emotions that pop up.

When I'm tripping the effect of cannabis isn't that strong, but it doesn't add to the experience in a positive way.

But I also think that the heart palpitations I experience are of a psychosomatic nature, although on the other hand it seems to me that it's the substance itself causing this.

Well I guess I could get used to them, I just need to know if their is any risk involved, that's why I'll have it examined.

Do you drink caffeine or ingest aspartame in any capacity?
Several years ago I was having heart palpitation issues. It would intensify when I took psychedelics and it would come and go in waves. Long story short I found out that I was allergic to aspartame. I had been eating these aspartame containing mints like crazy very often and once I stopped eating those my "heart trouble" completely ceased and it has not re-occurred at all....and I still take acid all the time nowadays,
-no problems.

No caffeine and no aspartame. I'm very sensitive to caffeine, it makes me nervous and after the initial energy boost it leaves me very drained. Aspartame I believe is unhealthy that's why I won't eat anything with that crap in it.

Last night I ate too much food and had palpitations again. My last LSD was consumed after eating plenty of grilled fish and potatoes. Next time I will make sure to fast at least 4 hours beforehand to see if this improves my general wellbeing.

So it could be a food interaction, thanks for pointing that out moniker.

great thread, may i ask, is psilocybin a vasoconstrictor?

I have experienced heart palpitations from LSD. The way it feels to me is that my heart is beating REALLY hard, but not any faster or slower than normal. It basically feels really....palpable. I also get this from getting really really cold (like every time I have been on a boat in strong wind, or hiking on a mountain in the wind) and then doing something physical, like walking while carrying something. I quit tobacco and abstain from excessive LSD use and mostly owing to the tobacco cessation, I haven't had any palpitations in several months.

Also, psilocybin is a vasoconstrictor, as are LSD, mescaline, DMT, and practically every psychedelic research chemical I have looked into about it. Psilocybin's vasoconstricting property is what makes it an effective treatment for migraines.

LSD enhances everything, vision, smell, touch n hearing etc. Maybe your enhanced senses are making you more aware of your heart? Going to the doctors for a check-up is a good idea and will put your mind at rest I'm sure.

During my first bad trip on LSD (well, at least part of it was bad) I sensed a swarm of mosquitos flying around me. I could tell that it was a hallucination because they appeared and disappeared, and because my girlfriend verified that there were no mosquitos in the room. They started landing on me and biting me, and while I could both see them on my skin and tell that they were not actually on my skin, mosquito bites started to form. It was quite an unpleasant experience.

The mind is quite powerful and the body, through the mind, can be manipulated by fear. I think the potential for this to occur is greatly increased while on psychedelics, when we are more impressionable and are more susceptible to paranoia. I don't know what it feels like for the heart to skip a beat, but I would guess that it doesn't feel much different from a small hiccup or any other sort of spasm that can occur in the chest area.

I wouldn't worry too much about what you experienced, but if you think it may legitimately be an issue, then you could see a doctor, though I would recommend waiting for it to happen again. I once experienced something that seemed like very sudden heart palpitations. They were so stong that I physically felt them; very fast and quick to appear and disappear. I became very conscious of my heart rate, and waited for months for it to happen again. It never happened again. Developing a chronic disorder is probably rare at my age, but a sudden malfunction that happens once and never again is quite likely on any given day. The body is funny that way, and I'm sure it only gets worse as we age, but I think we were all warned that our bodies would start falling apart eventually.

I experienced an event of atrial fibrillation after going on a strenuous hike during a 4aco-dmt event. It was rather distressing so I went to my doctor who did an EKG to confirm, then prescribed a beta-blocker and scheduled me for an echo-cardiogram. When I got home my heartbeat was back to normal so I didn't take the medication and when I got the EchoCG it showed no structural abnormality. About a month later I had eaten a small amount of psilocybe shrooms again during a hike. Later I had a couple stiff gin and tonics with some friends and again had a-fib. This time it didn't go away so I took the meds and eventually returned to normal.

I have decided that for me strenuous exercise and psychedelics don't mix. Also I have completely stopped using any alcohol except beer or wine, and those not with psychedelics.

I do vape DMT while hiking with no ill effects, in fact, only good effects. I always rest for a bit before vaping and let my heart rate drop <90. The psychegasmic shock treatment that DMT provides leaves me feeling very calm, delighted, and awe-struck all at once but I recommend extreme caution for anyone with any history of cardiac problems, both with The Molecule and with other psychedelics.

This node of the cosmic vibration is currently a 65 year old male of in good condition.

Just for the record: after a check up my heart seems to be perfectly fine.

I didn't dare to explain the doctor that I mostly have heart palpitations after taking drugs, but I don't think that would've changed the diagnose. He probably would've said something like: "well what do you expect young man? Drugs can have all sorts of side effects...and you shouldn't take them in the first place!"

In any case, my mind is at ease now and I thank you for all your replies.

Everyones different. Heart palipitations can be benign but they can also be indicators of more serious things. Personally I'd avoid stimulants such as MDMA, and depressants in general. LSD does increase heart rate and is a vascoconstrictor. Make sure you're getting healthy amounts of sleep and all that.

I'm curious as to the age range of the posters in this thread. Especially you,spanda. I'm 44 (this week, yay) and while I used to be very active and athletic, not so much anymore.
I never really liked strenuous activity on psychs, they make me lethargic for one, and I've always felt that the potential was there for whatwe are discussing.
Also, I have a friend asking to be turned on to some of my cyan harvest from last year, but he recently had a heart attack, and I don't want to give then to him. He had tried to convince me, stating the difference between trypts and phens being the latter having more heart distress potential.
But according to you, it is psilo that causes you problems..
I'll just hold on to em, but what do y'all think?

Pardon the delayed response. I think this discussion needs to be ongoing for the sake of those who search it up at this point in space-time. I was 65 at the time of the events described above. I have also had afib events unrelated to psychedelics so my speculation about the connection is just that. Just the same I am cautious these days about combining alkaloids and hiking especially at high altitudes. I don't worry about taking tryptamines as long as I'm in a relaxed state. I do a 20 minute meditation before any event now, even before vaping DMT. Moderation is the key for me. I want to continue exploring the signals available through the shamanic inebriants and still avoid ill effects. I respect your concern for your friend. I would also be cautious about supplying any psychoactive substance to anyone with cardiac health problems or who is taking any medication, psychiatric or otherwise, due to concerns about drug interaction. We want to believe that our molecular allies can do only good, but this is obviously just not the case.

Palps on LSD used to happen to me a lot. Panicking most definately added to it. Once when I was 19 I thought I was gonna die at this concert from a sugarcube and then outa nowhere some awesome girl i hadnt met yet grabbed me and said "dance with me" As soon as I started dancing I was perfectly fine mostly because she pulled me out of the panic. There have been certain batches that actually mellowed me and if MDMA is clean and uncut 75-100mg with no redose never has even elevated my heart to a level that makes me pay attention to it.

Pretty much anything that has agonist activity at serotonin receptors will act as a vasoconstrictor. That includes all the classical psychedelics as well as non-psychoactive 5-HTR agonists, some of which are marketed for that reason (sumatriptan [Imitrex], being the archetypal one).

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9776346

Blessings
~ND

Last week I (slightly) freaked out during the comedown of a san pedro journey.
My heart would skip a beat every 5 minutes or so, and although I know my heart is perfectly healthy (at leat that's what the doc said), I was still worried that it would just stop beating.
The san pedro tea also gave me a nasty bodyload, so the palpitations combined with the bodyload almost made me believe that I was going to die.
When I'm starting this negative thought pattern it's realy hard to stop from spiraling downward. My rational mind tells me everything will be fine and the palpitations are harmless. But the hypochondriac mind immediately starts freaking out after each skipped heartbeat.
So I guess I will have to work on just trusting my own body and heart. I'm 30 years old, and I'm in good shape, so why would the improbable happen to me. The classic psychedelics have shown to be physically harmless in healthy individuals.