DOSE:

20 g

oral

Cacti - T. pachanoi

BODY WEIGHT:

180 lb

These observations cover approximately 20 uses total, across four different individuals in many different situations.

Background: Native Americans have been using Peyote (also mescaline-containing) for hundreds of years and studies have been done that show no adverse long-term effects. To my knowledge, few (if any) people have ever died from an overdose, either, which is a big plus in my book, and extreme physical adverse reactions seem to be very rare. However, that said, the experience is definitely not something to take lightly. Some 'rules' we came up with, learning from experience:

(1) Set aside 12 hours where you won't be around authority figures. Having to act 'normal' can be awkward and stressful.

(2) Don’t be with someone impatient who will bug you, fool with you, or interact with you excessively. The best situation is to be alone and free to do things, while still having someone 'around' if you feel like you need someone to talk to, etc. You may feel like lying down sometimes, and other times walking around or perhaps even going outside/etc.

(3) Especially important if you dose alone, is, imbed in your mind that you will not die from this, you will be back to normal (no matter how far 'out there' you feel). No matter how crappy your body feels at the beginning, you will not die. Some people have a mild panic attack and then freak out and call for help, when it is really not necessary. We just ride out the panic, and wait it out.

(4) Very, very few people have a 'bad' trip on this substance (based on experiences of the Native American Church, where they still use peyote once every few weeks in structured, all-night ceremonies). Some people describe the experience as nonstop bliss. However, in our experiences, there are still 'awkward' and 'uncomfortable' parts, that sometimes feel like they will never pass.

The (recommended, typical) experience we've had seems to go as follows (times are approximate, depending on how fast you metabolize the stuff):

T+0 minutes: After fasting (or eating only lightly) for at least 4-6 hours, and when in a GOOD MOOD and have nothing to do for a whole day, we take three quarters of the intended dose. The best results usually come from taking it in the morning (around 11am) an hour or two after a small breakfast.

Extract of San Pedro tastes like bitter, terrible vomit, so we wash out the taste with orange juice, etc. No alcohol; it will make the stomach feel (even more) queasy. First timers - no caffeine - it has made us feel more nervous than necessary. The first gulp is the easiest - if you sip, your body can develop a gag reflex to the stuff.

T+1 minute: We take a bunch of pepto bismol. If you get seasick easily, take one Dramamine, too. You're stomach (and all of you) may start feeling pretty icky.

T+45 minutes: Your stomach may hurt, and you may feel very overwhelmed by everything. Sometimes there are feelings of being 'trapped', or feelings like you will be suffering forever. You might just feel like you are going to die (usually between 1-1.5 hours). Just be okay with the pain and confusion, and trust that you will be fine. Time may slow down and point out to you every single pain in your body and your mind. Not too nice, but it WILL pass.

At this point, it’s very normal to feel like you have poisoned yourself. Don't act on anything, just learn. If you feel okay and ADVENTUROUS, or if you don't feel much, chug the last quarter of your full dose.

T+1.5 hours: Your stomach may still feel bad (none of us have ever puked, but some reports say that people can, and do). Hopefully, however, your mood and spirits should be rising. At this point we don't forget to drink liquids, especially sugary ones. We avoid drinking too much plain water - the body needs some sugar and salt. Drinks with a bit of salt in them (like Gatorade) are good too (to replenish electrolytes). Pulse and blood pressure will be slightly elevated - this is normal. (Average seems to be around +20 systolic, +15 diastolic, and +40-60 above resting pulse). You may have to pee a lot, too. Stay hydrated, but don’t force yourself to drink a lot if it continues to make you feel sick.

T+2-3 hours: You may feel pretty good. Okay, maybe REALLY good :) Your stomach icky-ness has probably passed, or at least settled down. You might start to feel a bit 'crazy', or thoughts might be flying through your head pretty quickly, but you will feel a bit more 'in-control' than you did when your body was not liking the stuff. If you are still struggling with the feelings, try to let go and figure out what's holding you back. Chances are you will feel really relaxed and euphoric. Or, if you drink a tiny bit of caffeine at this point, you might feel full of energy and like you want to have sex with anything that moves. Make sure there is an empty bathroom where you can disappear for 15-20 minutes if the feeling gets overwhelming :) (or a willing significant other is even better!) Your body will probably start to feel numb, and you may have some jaw tension. Feelings of getting hot and then chilled are very common, especially heat in the back of the neck, and extremely cold in your hands and feet. Consensus is that it feels very good to put your cold hands on your neck, and to keep your feet warm with socks/shoes/warm bath/etc.

T+3-4 hours: This time might seem like many, many hours, which is usually a great thing at this point. If you drank the other half-bottle too, time will probably be slowing down, and you might even have open-eye visuals -- things will arrange into patterns, or you may close your eyes and spontaneously see cool scenes, shapes, colors, etc. Only once was I was still having a 'difficult time' 3.5 hours into it, but it was because I had a cold (stuffy nose, clogged up lungs) and washed out the taste with a small bit of wine, which upset my stomach even more. For the others, the nausea often comes and goes but does not seem to drag the experience down too much.

You might get 'pot-like' effects of losing short-term memory, of not remembering what you just said, etc. The key is to not be paranoid about what you just 'did', and just focus on the present. Most likely you will be having way too much fun to even care about what you're 'supposed' to be doing during this time.

T+4-5 hours: The overwhelming feeling might creep back in. This is the peak of the experience. You may feel infinitely tired, like you want to sleep and never wake up. Your mouth might feel numb, like you can't feel your teeth. Your body might feel a bit numb, too, and your jaw and face muscles might feel very tight. Colors might look just plain weird. Don't be surprised if you find yourself talking to other beings, or God, or whoever, especially if you are alone. It is also normal to feel like you are in another world, and then everything is normal, and it will 'wave' back and forth between the two. Think about whatever voices are saying, because good or bad, this is what is inside of you, and it wants to be acknowledged at the time. It is important to try to eat a little bit (or drink some Gatorade or something sugary/salty) at this point. You probably won't want to, but make yourself... you will feel better afterwards. I usually take a vitamin C or an antioxidant, just to be on the safe side, around this time, if I haven't already earlier.

T+5-6 hours: Everything slowly gets less intense from here on. You may feel extremely lethargic and introspective. Closing your eyes, you can disappear from your body and envision great spaces and scenes beyond your wildest dreams. Conversing with 'higher powers' may occur during this time. It's time to philosophize... :) what you envision in the 3-D space inside of your brain far exceeds what almost anybody can envision while sober. For me, it's not uncommon to envision abstract concepts in terms of 3-D models, seeing how things work and 'fit together' in ways you never realized before. Others have reported just enjoying being able to close their eyes and “completely disappear, becoming one with everything.” Visually, you may start to get 'tracers', where if you look at a light and then move your head, the light will 'streak' with your vision.

T+6-8 hours: You may feel like you just woke up from the most refreshing nap of your life - that lasted 10,000 years. If a headache is going to develop, it will begin during this time, so keep hydrated and munch on something if you can. A feeling of floppiness, wanting to stretch, and feeling totally at peace may be present. If you look in the mirror with lights dim, your face might morph slightly - eyes moving apart/together, or turning into an animal, an Italian person, etc. I find this extremely fun, but one other experimenter found it really disconcerting, so who knows...

T+8-10 hours: you may be ravenously hungry. Once you eat something, you might feel like you are tripping again slightly. You might feel emotionally exhausted and yet refreshed, but you probably won't be able to sleep yet. It's not worth trying.

T+10-12 hours: It's best to reflect on the experience during this time. Trying to sleep will probably just frustrate you. If you drink alcohol, you run the risk of getting a headache, but it sometimes is fun to go out with friends during this time, especially if it's in the evening. You may feel like you just came back from outer space, in a good way. You probably will have a strange urge to never take another hallucinogen again, like you went through hell and then heaven, and your work is complete. The only psychological woes usually are that you have “lost” the blissful place you were in and have returned to the normal world. However, nobody I know has been eager to repeat the experience immediately.

T+12-13 hours: Chances are you'll be able to sleep sometime during this time. Drinks lots of fluids! Take a vitamin C, a multi-vitamin, and/or an antioxidant. You may wake up the next morning, early, and feel great. The next night, you may feel a bit tired and you may sleep REALLY well. Fortunately, this substance is one where all the 'bad effects' usually happen right at the beginning. Staying hydrated and well-nutriented (and away from coffee and excess alcohol) is the key to avoiding a headache.

This substance is nice because I just FEEL like I am losing my sanity - I don't actually lose it, like with high doses of mushrooms, LSD, or other tryptamine-based hallucinogens. I've been out in public (with my girlfriend) during the peak, and it was stressful, but I was still able to pass as 'normal', even though I felt like I was totally 'out there'. The body feelings can be a lot like E, with touch feeling incredible, my body relaxing, and extreme euphoria. The 'empathy' factor is often there, too. It's tough to kill a spider or even feel hostility towards any other living creature while under the influence. At medium-high doses, there is an 'optional' ego-loss, where I can forget who I am when I close my eyes, but it's not like high-dose mushrooms where I forget who I am, what I'm doing in this life, and also cannot read, understand spoken language, or figure out what 'time' is. If I go into the experience with the expectation that I will learn something and think about the world in new ways, the potential to get something huge out of the trip is amazing.

Basically, I find this substances is like an introduction to E (minus most of the harmful serotonin-brain stuff), at the same time that it is an introduction to the psychedelic mind-space. Since all the 'bad' effects are at the beginning, there is rarely any hangover or anything like that, which is not the case with E, mushrooms, or almost any other drug. If I take a large dose, the negative effects might be slightly increased, but the euphoria and good effects will also be increased as well.

Exp Year: 2002	ExpID: 16624
Gender: Male
Age at time of experience: Not Given
Published: Nov 16, 2004	Views: 18,344
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Cacti - T. pachanoi (64) : Various (28), Retrospective / Summary (11)