The fruits of my buddies labors have come in, and he's been gracious enough to share the experience with me of his first grow, as well as-again-the fruits. (And no, I'm not SWIMing, this is really...nevermind). He grew out some golden teacher strain cebensis using the PF tek, and was pretty successful.

I came over when he picked the first flush and to bioassay we each ate two fairly decent sized fresh stems and one cap. Dried, I'd guess by what we experienced to be maybe .75-1 gram, although these are hard to tell that way. We did not weigh what we ate that day.

I did not feel very much head change beyond what the pot I was smoking would do on it's own, but was almost overwhelmed with waves of body load that if I was standing would cause my knees to fail and buckle. I was even kind of gritting my jaw, which is strange for psilocybin, that's more of an acid thing for me. My "n"s were long and drawn out when I spoke.

I don't have much experience eating wet cubes, or this strain. I understand that GTs are known to be less "trippy" and more powerful in the body. Does anyone feel that they are more so when wet?

Both of us came back together a few days later and mutually reported a feeling of sadness that was akin to dopamine depletion with a stimulant. The dose we took was not strong enough to be psychedelic but was far more than a microdose. When I microdose this strain, with .25 gm, I feel great through the day and for a period of time after. This "psuedo-dose" was pretty uncomfortable while we were on it, and proved to perhaps be counter-productive.

The next weekend, we each dosed a psychedelic dose of 4.5 dry grams of the same strain, and both had a decent experience for a good ten hours. Neither felt the sadness the next day.

Could this be some mechanism of psilocybin? I stand by the efficacy of it for battling depression and anxiety, and for that of macro-dosing for the psychedelic benefit, but it seems that just taking a threshold dose is not the thing to do and could do more harm than good.

I'm also curious if anyone feels the same way about the GT strain? I am not a hard head, and usually 4.5 grams would have me overwhelmingly high and hallucinating for at least a little while at some point, but I really wasn't unless I focused on it.

hi
working with cubensis (and shroomhuasca) last 2 years, i've noticed the hangover isn't actually from the alkaloids, rather conditions that arise with the consumption of them
first of all, the mushroom flesh DOES NOT need to be in your stomach, that is to say, dreamor's shroom tek (shrooms sitting in lime + grape fruit + orange juice for 15 minutes and strained) is the way to go (conversion of psilocybin to psilocin in the acidic conditions makes for less work in the body and easier absorbtion since its dissolved in acidic water solution), then you have 1 slice of a red apple to start digestion and munch on ginger / drink ginger tea on top (this can also provide the body with less digestive stress and more water content)
an empty stomach helps, i think thats a known thing
then you have the oxygen decrease when tryptamines are in your system, so this means lowering center of breath into the belly rather than the lungs (this also helps parasympatic nerves around the belly relieve mental / physical pressure) and increase oxygen flow to the blood, keep in mind this sort of breathing should be maintained throughout the trip, so its far better if you generally breathe this way (like a fat buddha)
and then you have relieving tension from the muscles, you'd be surprised what repeated negative feed back in a open psychedelic state can do to your mood, this is why a bit before taking the dose, i find starting simple yoga stretches until the comeup is very much helpful (and walking after the peak to help circulation)
anyway, i find with fresh cubensis and harmalas, when i do all this, not only do i have no hangover, i feel lifted afterwards
hope it helps

Great advice Espurr

Null24, I'm not really sure each different strain of cubensis has such pronounced differences. Some say a cube is a cube. I personally think each grow can give different properties to the fruits. I've had cubes from the same batch with very different potency and bodyload between fruits. I think a cube probably is a cube, but they can be quite random amongst themselves for a lot of different reasons. Totally normal IMO.

I grok some of your advice, espurr but don't agree 100%.

Good words on breath though, I do try to do just what you suggest, and not just when I'm tripping. When I was in active addiction, my breath was hardly there, almost always when I brought attention to it, it was as if I was actually holding my breath in suspense. I find it's much better now, but still need to refocus much of the time. I find that when I'm stressed at all, I stop breathing from my belly and only partially fill my lungs. I'm sure that's not a problem of just mine alone.

I don't consume psychs or any drug on an empty stomach. From past experience, I like to eat something right before or with mushrooms, or I seem to risk either not feeling anything at all or having to wait two plus hours for an effect, and then it is severely truncated when it does arrive- which is often after I finally eat (?). I'm also hypoglycemic and do not like to experience low blood sugar on psychs.

I ate a toasted bagel with cream cheese, a yogurt, a banana and a fruit smootie in the hour prior to ingestion, and we soaked the chopped shroomies in squeezed lemon juice, mixed with water and honey, although I did eat the fruits as well anyway, but chewed them all exceptionally well. Often , I'll feel a need to fart that can't be expelled for a long time when I do consume them, but I did not experience the usual gastric disturbance that often is associated with eating lots of mushroom bodies this time.

The "hangover" I spoke of was not so much physical, so I don't think the advice you gave really applies here. Im sorry if I wasn't clear on that. It felt more like the kind of dopamine depletion that occurs with the use of stimulants or MDMA, but much lighter.

As a user of psilo in a microdose regimen I'm wondering about the dose-dependence of the depression alleviating effects of psilocybin. I am super-sensitive to serotonin changes and dopamine fluctuations, being the non-environmental or situational cause of depression for me, I believe. I do not tolerate SSRI meds and that is one of the main reasons I began experimenting again with psychs after a 20 year hiatus.

And Orion, I tend to agree. I am a total newb as far as growing the little things, so I have lots of questions. It is already incredibly fulfilling to begin developing a relationship with the myc beyond just the superficial.

microdose can cause receptor downregulation so , after a heavy serotonin flood the body needs time to make moar, and with less than normal count of receptors you may feel a lack of something
i'd stop microdose like a week before tripping and see what happens

Hmmm, okay, but I had not dosed for a very long time before the first smaller dose that (seemed to) make us feel down. It could all just be in our heads, or due to diet, or many other things, I know.

I appreciate that advice though, this is good to know. Where did you get that information?

The mushroom tends to give what is needed, IME. I've been working with GT for a few years now, and each experience is completely different. My typical dose, to get where i want to go, is at least 7g dried with this species. At this dose, in ceremonial setting, true healing is induced; sometimes the effect of the mushrooms has a more visual effect, others more of a body load, but usually a combination of the two.

Interestingly, the last time we communed, I had just finished a flush and wanted to try them fresh. I munched one 88 gram fresh mushroom (~8.8 g dry?) and had almost no visual effects, and a very light body load. The trip was one of the most mellow i've ever experienced.

I'd be curious to see what others have experienced when eating them fresh.

This is how I've felt over the years with the mushrooms - regarding being in that threshhold state - aroused, unsettled, buildup, some increasing bodyload, tactility, then I sort've just become suspended in that state, it's usually around the 1.75-2-2.25g mark (at times this number can vary slightly depending on internal weather that day) . Although I've had several very overwhelming experiences on 2.2-2.5g before, alot of the time though I eat around 3.6-3.8g.






GT's were the first strain I'd ever grown [along with a few thai strains] and eaten. For me the experiences brought on were always highly visual, bodyload right there with it too.



**I also agree with smoothmonkey regarding the bodyload and the visuals/visions, for me they've always been completely inseparable for the most part, as one comes on - the other isn't too far behind and vice versa.


** Also liked Espurrrs words on breathing. A real vital piece of the puzzle when it comes to building up a threshold state [ime], plus during - oxygenating the blood, brain, bringing that extra oomph of life into the already-present processes [alot like with singing, icaros, etc]. I've had experiences teetering on 'one foot in/out', and shortly after focusing on my breath, getting long and deeeeeep with the breaths, would bring it forth more times than not, and fairly quickly.

<3