This past Winter I drunk rue about 30 times I'd say, usually between 1g and 2g ground. The majority of those experiences were beneficial. Near the end, they became a little arduous, but they at least yielded good results the next day.

But in the past few times, I got a negative vibe from it. Especially when I would take it within 4-5 days after taking ayahuasca, even just a little bit.

I took a break from Ayahuasca and the Rue, and then started calming everything down with peppermint, buccal Salvia, and other green things . This was really nice and grounding. Until...

Last night, I got a feeling in the back of my throat, a familiar feeling--like a bunch of potential energy, almost like an itchiness of the inner esophagus (not the throat). It was synonymous with a desire to put something "hard" or challenging down there. Rue, right?

Or, alcohol? I can imagine people who get this same feeling would address it by drinking. But, I'm not sure I'm that kind of person.

I am pretty sure Rue would have done the trick, but I didn't take it because of my recent past experiences with it. I'm afraid, but it's also possible I'm ready for it again.

I don't know what to do. Is there another astringent beverage or something else I can put down my throat that will relieve this sensation/tension? It's not like having a lump in your throat--I know what that feels like.

Sorry if this is a bit off-topic, but I think it is related to harmala use one way or another. If anyone has any insight, it'd be much appreciated. Sorry for the weird post. It may have more to do with health/other herbs than Rue/harmalas, I don't know.

Are we talking anxiety here?

No feeling in my throat has ever made me consider rue, but in times when my anxiety has flared up I've been known to booze it away. I generally feel anxiety in my left arm and my chest rather than the classic lump in the throat, but my best response when under anxiety is to reduce the complexity of the chemicals in my body rather than increase it.

True hunger is also felt in the throat, rather than the stomach so.... are you eating right?

Am I off the mark?

I think you are off the mark. The hunger I get in the back of my throat is usually actually a kind of psychosomatic tension that can be temporarily relieved by eating, but it isn't actual hunger. It's taken me a few years to get in touch with real physical hunger, which I do experience in the gut.

This is different, though. It's not really anxiety, it's just potential energy. I don't feel fearful, I just feel like I have an excess of energy that cannot forseeably be expressed in the immediate moment.

What I am experiencing now is more of an itchiness/desire for stimulation rather than a negative feeling. Like, if I were to stick a small towel down my throat and pull it back out, it would feel real nice. Sorry for the gross imagery. :L

Have you tried singing/chanting/throat singing?

Anywho, rue is very gentle on its own IME unless you take a super whopping dose

Some people say the lady from the jungle and the old man from the desert don't get along very good.
Not so in my experience, but too much of either Aya or Rue in a short span of time can make me very hypersensitive, which makes me see/feel more negativity, especially when i am around other people and in a loud stressful enviroment (city).