I've seen conflicting opinions about consuming straight cactus powder so I thought I'd ask for everyone's experiences here. Other than having to consume a large amount of material either directly, in liquid, or in capsules what are the main drawbacks to taking the powderized material as is?

Problems getting dosage right? Are there any strong digestion problems? Longer come on compared to more purified forms? Any other issues?

hello, its definetley not the tastiest thing to eat,
and when powdered it really really sticks to your teeth, and as i said its not the
tastiest thing to eat.

but some times a man/woman gotta do what a man/woman gotta do

peace

It would be easier to eat whole pieces. Eating powdered plant matter is way beyond the borders of disgusting.

yep awsome control of the gag reflex is needed.

i would recomend just not doing it really. i almost gag at the thought of my
few experiences eating powder, and i never ate more than 25 grams. never again.

peace

What about in capsules then? I know that it could take a shit ton of capsules depending on how much you take but I would think that would be more desirable than eating it straight.

Any reason why you don't want to do at least do a simple acid cook?

I once capped and ate about 25g of dried san pedro flesh... I think my stomach handled cactus tea better.

No taste but it worked out as an absolute butload of capsules which left me feeling bloated, gassy and horrible.

Also the gelatine in many capsules (mine were vege luckily) will leave you constipated if you eat too many at once.

The biggest problem with eating plant matter raw is taste, with a disgusting purge being a close second. When you puke, you'll have to deal with all that grainy material in your throat and mouth again, this time with the advent of bile.


Dosage: Assuming you have a well-mixed powder, you can figure out the dosage of that particular pile by trying it out. You won't be able to accurately compare it with reports of pure extracts as every plant varies in content.

Digestion: Some bacteria may be present on the cactus or powder (which could be mostly killed off by a boil) and give you some gas or lengthy toilet visits. If you don't make the material into a powder and eat raw cactus pieces, the waxy skin will feel odd and uncomfortable passing through you. It is not unmanageable, but chew very very well.

Come up: If it is fine powder and you eat it all very fast (as fast as some other method), I wouldn't see a reason for the effects to take much longer. Your stomach is very good at extracting alkaloids from plants and I have not heard of any chemical in cacti aiding or inhibiting digestion rates.

Other issues: Sometimes, it's just nice to know what it's like.

swims find that dry cacti is a little bit rougher on the stomach, swim likes his brew and it very effective always had more intense visions when swim consumed the brew

If you are going to use powder and have a couple days to spare. Take your powder and mix it with just enough water to make a very thick paste. Now roll the paste into little balls and dry them out. This is much faster than gel capping and you can control the dose by the number of these little "beads" you consume. Eat them slowly with a small amount of liquid. Do not eat a large amount in a short pereoid of time and consume a bunch of liquid they will swell up in you stomach all at once and most likely you will vomit so take it slow consume them over a couple hours is the best way.

Peace
MV

You've pretty much covered the main drawbacks. Dose is probably the biggest problem - SWIM found his dried San Pedro powder gave a very nice mild-moderate trip at about 35-40 g in capsules. It took about 40 capsules - if you choose capsules, be sure to have something you like to chase them with! SWIM did not notice any nausea, but he drank a panax ginsing extract beforehand.

As for digestion problems, SWIM said the 35-40 g he took felt like a pound of lead moving through his digestive track. It never hurt though, just a little bothersome.

The come on time was very long. If I recall correctly, it took at least 2 hours. SWIM also says he didn't notice any effects until he ate a grapefruit (perhaps the acidity helped break down the cactus matter? Just speculating...). He knew it was working though when he started to see flashing lights in his peripheral vision, as though someone had put a fan in front of a light (similar to what happens with LSD, I believe).

One other drawback is that you can't purify out the non-mescaline alkaloids, as well. If you have P. Torch this might not be such a problem. But particularly if you have San Pedro you may feel the effects of the other alkaloids.

Overall SWIM greatly enjoyed his cactus powder trip. If you have someone you can hang out with, have some good music to listen to, and can use it in a responsible manner in a safe environment you'll probably have a blast.

Addit: definately go with capsules. IIRC SWIM used size 00.

Thanks for all of the good insights everyone. SWIM may go ahead and try the straight powder by starting at a lower dose to gauge potency and any digestive discomfort issues.

Otherwise, a simple extract may be attempted instead. What's the best simple extraction process? SWIM has read 69ron's extraction and was really impressed but really didn't want to get all of the materials and equipment to do it. He just wants to experience mescaline in all of it's wonderfull glory.

Any suggestions for a good simple extraction?

Resin. It didn't highlight? Just search resin , You'll find it!

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The best success I have had was eating/drinking snot tea over about 50 minutes.

Because cactus becomes snot when water is added, I think consuming it slowly allowed my stomach to 'get at' the material, wheras if taken all at once, if the material is not efficiently broken down in the stomach because its one big lump of impenetrable snot, lots of goodies get missed by either purge or pass.

This is purely speculation on my part, but my best experiences have been with slow consumption. Snot or otherwise.


Check the resin tek, though. I've not tried it but people seem to really be pleased...


Namaste,

E

SWIM didn't read all the posts, though he's gonna put in his 2 cents.

-SWIM ate 21g peruvian torch via 4 large tissue parachutes chased with water and had about 7-8/10 on nausea (10 being no choice but to puke)

-SWIM has tried 30g pedro and got about 5-6/10 when it was brewed.

-But now making jello out of it (thanks phlux), he had 35g worth of torch of jello. Nausea never got past 2-3. aka: barely noticeable.
SWIM recommends adding enough jello to make it firm so you can cut it up and swallow them like jello shots. (no chewing needed)


Also note that with the exception of the dry stuff maybe being slightly slightly stronger (but not worth the nausea) brew or jello was the same potency, duration and rate of come-up.