An Underappreciated Substance
Nutmeg
Citation: D.. "An Underappreciated Substance: An Experience with Nutmeg (exp15433)". Erowid.org. Nov 8, 2007. erowid.org/exp/15433
DOSE: |
5 nuts | oral | Nutmeg | (ground / crushed) |
BODY WEIGHT: | 140 lb |
I am seventeen years old, male, in good shape and health. The few people I have spoken to about nutmeg are always quite interested to hear that it can be taken as a drug, although many claim that taking it is ridiculous and even stupid because of its toxicity. Still, a few months ago, I decided to try it. Perhaps I am a special case but I must admit, in retrospect, nutmeg was one of the most fascinating experiences with drugs I have taken. Granted, the only other substances I use or plan to use are mushrooms and cannabis, and perhaps in comparison to these two ‘mild’ drugs, the massive effect I felt from nutmeg is merely comparatively especial. Still, my experience begs an account.
I used whole nutmegs, five of them, and ground them with an ordinary cheese grater to a coarse sawdust-like consistency. Yes, the taste is gods awful; yes, it is a most unpleasant substance to imbibe. The first four I mixed into crushed ice and added lemon juice, hoping to hide the flavor and texture, which didn’t work well at all. I gagged and drank the mixture as quickly as possible. The last, I took by spoonfuls, swallowing with a sip of water. This was done after eating lunch, in the early afternoon, about 3 pm.
I didn’t feel anything until much later that evening, about 9 or 10 pm. At first, all I felt was a heavy, sedated sensation, and intense laziness that came on slowly. As this feeling intensified, and a faint buzzing feeling started in the back of my head, I compared the experience to a harsh marijuana buzz. I was in a definite anti-social mood. I felt terrible cotton-mouth and a slight case of munchies. Time seemed to progress unnaturally slow.
Later that night, after midnight, the high started to change. It became less like marijuana and more unique. I couldn’t keep any single thought going for long, and I was extremely paranoid. I hallucinated; not visibly but auditorily. I remember turning on the microwave and hearing a loud choir, and thinking that I had accidently turned on a stereo somewhere that was playing this music very loudly and was going to wake my parents. It took me a minute to realize it was just the sound of the microwave. The house was dead quiet while I ate, but I heard buzzing and squeaking and ringing in my ears, forming some jumbly, random kind of white noise music. After this, I can’t remember much of the night. I went to bed about 3 or 4 pm.
I slept a long time, until about 4 or 5 in the afternoon, I think. It is difficult to remember because I actually woke up feeling the nutmeg more strongly than I had before going to bed! I remember waking up and lifting my head, saying ‘What?’, except the action had a sort of echo, so that it seemed like I was caught in a loop of lifting my head and saying what several times; the sound gradually degraded from a word into a series of eery violin screechings like in a cheesy horror movie, that slowly faded away. I looked in the mirror; my eyes were extremely red, as if I had been smoking a lot of marijuana, and I can’t remember ever feeling more listless and lethargic. I was called for dinner by my parents, and they commented that I looked very rough; I was extraordinarily paranoid throughout the meal, as can be understood, looking like shit and feeling insane and having the most peculiar feelings. I can’t remember any details about the rest of the day, to be honest; I do remember, however, that for the next few days the slowness of thought and laziness persisted.
I think a good way to describe the trip I felt is to cut a nutmeg in half and look at the pattern of the black lines in the seed. They are chaotic and electric-looking, a harsh crackling pattern that attacks the mind. I felt the main problem with nutmeg is that the trip simply lasts too long. I like the feeling that when I go to bed feeling the effects of a drug, I will wake up and be at least mostly lucid, as opposed to feeling less lucid than before falling asleep!
This is not a drug to take unless you have several days, perhaps a weekend would do, in which nothing is demanded of you, mentally or physically, and where there will be around you only a small number of close friends. A week at the cabin would be perfect. I know that the experience would have been much less menacing had I not been the only one taking it. My suggestion, if you want to experience this bizarre substance, is to get about two friends, take some time off at the lake, and make sure there is plenty of water about – the cottonmouth is simply awful.
I should note that I experienced no nausea, vomiting or headaches, which I notice seem to be commonly assumed symptoms in the other nutmeg accounts here. The side effects were the laziness, cottonmouth and paranoia.
Exp Year: 2002 | ExpID: 15433 |
Gender: Male | |
Age at time of experience: Not Given | |
Published: Nov 8, 2007 | Views: 7,974 |
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Nutmeg (41) : First Times (2), Hangover / Days After (46), General (1), Unknown Context (20) |
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