Hello guys.
Now, I have a friend. She wants to try ayahuasca. I never tried it before, but I am aware that taking ayahuasca can speed up the heart rate.
I am assuming that this effect gets stronger by taking large doses?

The problem is, she has a condition, called heart arrhytmia. She says that she doesn't have much problems now, she used to do though. Her heart occasionally skips a beat, but it's nothing major. She lives normally.
She says that since she's doing yoga, she never had an episode, and that she occasionally feels her heart skip a beat during the day, but she says it's nothing severe and that it passes quickly.

She isn't taking any medications or anything like that.

I was thinking, that maybe, ayahuasca could help her with her heart condition. What do you think? I read somewhere that (the spirit of) ayahuasca will focus on chronic diseases, trying to heal.
If I was ever going to give the medicine to her, I need to make sure everything will be okay. I would start with low doses of course, about 3g of mimosa and 2g of syrian rue. Maybe even less.

What are your experiences with heart rate? Were you able to control it throughout the experience? How did breathing impact your heart rate?

Also, I found a link, saying that MAOI can cause heart palpitations. Does anyone have more information on this? Is MAO the main cause of increased heart rate? Is the experience itself? Does DMT impact heart rate as well?

I personally have a slight heart arrhythmia and I have never had any problems with DMT or ayahuasca. Yes, there will be some increase in heart rate, but really nothing more than if you were to go on a roller coaster, have sex, or do some moderate exercise. If those things are ok for your friend then I doubt she would have any problems. The heart rate also is correlated to your frame of mind - if you have a fearful trip it might be higher than a zen trip. It would be a good idea to dose light to make sure she reacts ok before going deeper.

I have no idea if it could actually help her, probably not but you never know.

I will try and follow up on the sources of this info, but I few days a go I remember reading about this subject. A doctor from Germany did a study and found that the average peak of a persons heart rate during DMT is 160-170 BPM. To know what your maximum heart rate is..... 220 minus your age.

But if you're not feeling comfortable about your heart, I always error on the side of caution.
(Let's not forget how beautiful this realm is on our quest for the other)

Do you have a srouce for that study? That would mean anyone over 50 runs into the risk of dying while smoking DMT ?

No, it just means there is a lot of variability in heart rate.

I've done a lot of high intensity running since my late 20's, and by the old rule of thumb my max heart rate should be around 190 bpm. But I regularly see it over 200, and as high as 207 if I'm pushing for a personal record time. In the athletic world some people have high heart rates, and it means nothing. Other people have low heart rates, and it also means nothing. Some people are short, some people tall, etc, etc... It doesn't really mean anything.

Pathology means something, however. Definitely consider pathology.

Ah, i misunderstood. I thought "maximum heartrate" would refer to the absolute limit of your heart before it dies or something

I was a medic in the Navy for six years with deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. I should have been more clear. 220 minus your age is the "recommended" maximum heart rate you should allow yourself to get to. That being said... Their are 60yr old men that have better/stronger heart rates than a 20 yr old. We all know our bodies the best.

Really depends what you mean by heart arrhythmia…

Short term sinus tachycardia may be relatively asymptomatic (stable bp, lack of dizziness, etc) as long as you have ample filling pressures.

Ectopic arrhythmia (afib, flutter, junctional, v-arrythmias) would raise more red flags to me for someone taking psychedelics.


I would strongly recommend this person speak in person to a physician, and not take advice off the internet (not being snarky… this has the potential to be serious business). If they are hesitant to mention psychedelic use to a dr (they are not cops btw), then I would ask if they (the doc) believes I can tolerate something potentially stressful like skydiving or high intensity exercise. These would imo closely approximate the stress applied from psychs. '

Even these examples do not include the potential side effects of MAOI ingestion.

Be safe

Just to add this since it's relatively fresh on my mind, max heart rate comes from the work of Frank and Starling. It's not a recommendation, the age rule is a rough guideline for aging effects on the properties of the pumping heart. The reason it changes with age is because your soft tissues lose elasticity and compliance to force.

Link to wikipedia.


Think about your skin with wrinkles and healing as we age. Skin health is often a good indication of other soft tissue health.

Thank you all for your responses, especially arcologist and Amygdala.
I did think about consulting a doctor, and asking him/her about let's say high intensity exercise is a very good idea. I could ask the doctors myself about psychedelics if she would refuse to, but I doubt that any doctor here has a good knowledge of ayahuasca.

Of course I would start with small doses and I would also make sure to minimize the input of MAO.

From what arcologist says, I believe she would have no problems with ayahuasca. But I will definitely keep searching for information on this pathology. Like Warrior said, this absolutely does mean something. Also, thank you Warrior for the link and info on soft tissues!

Any more information, thoughts or opinions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!

I also have a slight heart arrythmia and I have used ayahuasca without problems.

Following the diet might be more important than usual though since tyramine rich food combined with MAOI can give a high pulse.

Thanks a lot!! I did not know that yet. I will keep it in mind.
Thanks again!