Hi,
Whenever I eat Peyote, I get a sharp pain in the back of my throat. It almost feels like a lesion or blister of some sort. Does anybody know what this is? It's quite worrisome, and prevents me from eating more.

~RS

Peyote is a cactus...does it have tiny hair spines?

Please... Lol, no, Peyote does not have spines, and if it did, I would be smart enough to know that I was being poked. It seems more like a biochemical reaction.

I think starway was suggesting that the peyote hairs can become more spine-like on sensitive tissue like the back of the throat. In a similar vein, needle-like calcium oxalate microcrystals are responsible for the throat-irritating effects of dumb cane (Dieffenbachia spp.) so I can see a parallel there. I don't know if calcium oxalate crystals are recorded for peyote. Was yours fresh or dried?

Fresh. The hairs are not the problem. They are silky, and I pluck them out anyway like you're supposed to. It really feels like a biochemical reaction, like I said. Almost like the sting of ginger but more intense.

Had a handfull of yote ceremonies lead by a Wixarika, it was (Wirikuta grow) dried and powered so I have no clue how or if it was stripped down or peeled just before the powdering.
The taste always gave me a 'metalic' impression by lack for lack of a better word, something not so much present with the SA long cacti (San Pedro, Peruvianus). And absolutely less bitter than the SA sorts.
But no real sharp pain in the back of the throat. I suppose you had that 'metalic' effect I spoke of to an excessive degree? That's my only guess. Some Native American with versed yote experiences might be of better assistance.