Two things I want to do: 1. start taking a milk thistle supplement regularly (very soon). And, 2. have my first mushroom experience (very soon). Any reason why I should hesitate to take psilocybin while milk thistle is in my system? Interested in milk thistle because a musician named Dar Williams talked about its effect on depression, "For me, milk thistle is the difference between saying, 'Uh oh, there's a curve up ahead; that's [a] bad thing', and 'There's a curve up ahead, we'll see what happens.'"

Mini bio: My drug experience consists of one marijuana candy this year (2016), and a few frightened, uneventful puffs when I was a kid. I am 52. I'll post that candy trip report soon. This is my second post to dmt-nexus; I am new here.

Welcome to the Nexus!

I can't see any reason why the actives in milk thistle would be contraindicated when taken with psilocybin. This is the first I've heard of milk thistle being taken for depression, I thought it was more a liver supporting plant. Psilocybin itself may have anti-depressant properties...research looking at this is on-going at Imperial College and underway at Johns Hopkins.

Have you looked into other herbal anti-depressants? I think there is a lot more scientific evidence for the efficacy of turmeric over milk thistle, and for the treatment of a variety of other ills, depression aside. Its main active compounds curcumin and aromatic-turmerone have also been implicated in increasing neurogenesis, low levels of which are increasingly thought to play a role in depression and other cognitive disorders.

Some studies worth checking out:

Lopresti, A.L., Maes, M., Maker, G.L., Hood, S.D. & Drummond, P.D. (2014) Curcumin for the treatment of major depression: a randomised, double-blind, placebo controlled study. Journal of Affective Disorders, 167, 368-375.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25046624

Sanmukhani, J., Satodia, V., Trivedi, J., Patel, T., Tiwari, D,, Panchal, B., Goel, A. & Tripathi, C.B. (2014). Efficacy and safety of curcumin in major depressive disorder: a randomized controlled trial. Phytotherapy Research, 28,(4), 579-85.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23832433

RJS, interesting question. The active ingredient, silymarin, is a potent anti-oxidant/anti-inflammatory. It is purported to to be an effective liver tonic, among other benefits. It seems UNLIKELY that significant, adverse interactions 'twixt MT and P. containing shrooms could be an issue. As always, check with your physician.

Remember, set and setting and give yourself the time and undisturbed space to be enveloped by the experience. This is particularly true if you plan on medium/high dose journey. Safe travels and welcome to the tribe!

Peace

[quote=Bancopuma]Have you looked into other herbal anti-depressants? I think there is a lot more scientific evidence for the efficacy of turmeric over milk thistle, and for the treatment of a variety of other ills, depression aside. [...]

Thanks for all responses. I have not explored turmeric for depression. Have been interested in it for general health, now will explore further; thanks for all the info.

Milk thistle is very safe. There are some interactions known, but not with either cannabis or psilocybin. I use it a lot and have never noticed anything 'bad' about it. It's all good, it tastes good, detoxifies and seems to alleviate depression as well. It's also easy to produce a tincture yourself: vodka and grinded seeds. They cost almost nothing and you can choose to grow them yourself.

The tincture can be taken in large amounts. Like tablespoons if you want but note that in the end the alcohol will have a profound effect despite the milk thistle. It combines very well with vitamin C btw.

Hey, I've been taking milk thistle for a long time for the liver boost. There's no issue with combining it with psilocybin.
I have to ask, though, why milk thistle for depression? There are a lot of other good options out there like St. Johns Wort, or SAMe or just all around good health. Anyway I think milk thistle is a safe supplement and I haven't had a problem. Good luck .

Just that quote from a podcast (see my original post), it was very specific and very intriguing - and how she raved about it. She was on You Made It Weird, the Pete Holmes podcast.