DOSE:

oral

Amanitas - A. muscaria

(fresh)

BODY WEIGHT:

165 lb

I recently submitted a sanguine report about fresh A. muscaria consumption and closed with a vow to smoke dried A. muscaria skins and write a report. Having decided against smoking it (or any other dried plant for that matter) due to health concerns over inhaling heat-induced cyclic hydrocarbons, I did however follow up with the consumption of a larger dose of fresh A. muscaria than in my previous report, and with quite dramatic results.

Not knowing if the fruiting season was yet finished, and with only a solitary, and remarkable, A. muscaria specimen visible in the only place I know of where they occur locally, I decided to pluck this hefty fungus (which I erroneously referred to as a ‘plant’ in my last report) recently one afternoon and consume it. It was an immature mushroom of about 7 centimeters in diameter. Since the cap was unopened this diameter was the same vertically as well as horizontally, the cap being mostly spherical. This was a fairly large and heavy mushroom. After picking it I took it to my car parked on campus, cut off the dirty part of the stalk, and washed it with some bottled water. I thereby proceeded to cut up and eat the entire cap along with ½ of the stalk and headed off to class which began at 2:00 p.m. and ended at 3:30 p.m.; which was my last class of the day.

I sat through the lecture mindful that the last time I had tried A. muscaria the effects had been mellow and had taken a few hours to become noticeable. By the end of the lecture I was feeling a bit heavy and high and proceeded to drive the 20 miles home on the freeway from campus. [Erowid Note: Driving while intoxicated, tripping, or extremely sleep deprived is dangerous and irresponsible because it endangers other people. Don't do it!] By the time I got home I was getting pretty high. I began doing some household activities and noticed how looped I was becoming. My oldest son was due home from high school and I was hoping he’d call soon, as I would have to drive about a mile to the train station to pick him up, and was concerned about driving if I became anymore intoxicated, which I expected I would since it was only two hours or so since I had consumed the fungus. He called soon thereafter and I drove to the train station with extra alertness and caution. By the time we returned home I could tell I was in for a different kind of experience than I had had with the last small dose. The typical symptoms of excess salivation and nausea set in and I was getting cold rushes in my finger tips.

No one, my wife or son knew I was tripping so I played it straight and helped set the table, even though by 6:00 I was becoming uncoordinated and developing a twitch in my right wrist that caused my hand to jerk inward; my shoulder too was getting twitchy.

Let me tell you friends, while clearing away the dinner dishes and loading the dishwasher all hell broke loose. I was getting mega-zonked. While loading the dishwasher (it was 6:30 p.m., a full four and ½ hours after consuming the mushroom) I repeatedly dropped things. I tripped and nearly fell while retrieving a dish from the table. Fortunately I was alone as everyone had left the kitchen. I finished the dishes and was so overwhelmed I went to lie down. By then the nausea had gone but I was sweating a bit about the head and shoulders. The nervous twitches were getting pretty lively in my wrists and shoulders. It was as if the edges of the images I saw were somehow cracked. The feeling can only be described, and loosely I must emphasize, but similar to that of PCP. I was beginning to trip my brains out so figured I’d get up and do something innocuous to ride it out. I didn’t want to interact too much with my wife or teen son, so I fetched my four year old for his nightly bath. As I sat on the toilet watching him splash in the tub I had the most peculiar visual experience.

Toddlers my son’s age move quite a bit. As I watched him, say laying belly down, my mind captured this image so it remained in my perception, till another motion, say my son sitting upright, caught my attention, of which the new image would appear. The whole effect was sort of a still frame slide show, where an image would remain in perception till a new one burst from the center of the old one. At this point I knew I couldn’t hold it together, so after putting on my son’s pajamas and reading him a quick book, I put him to bed and retired to my office bed. I lay there with a determination to make it through the experience but mercifully fell asleep. It must have been around 8:00 p.m. by then; 6 hours after consumption. I awoke at about 2:45 a.m. and most of the effects had worn off. I felt pretty washed out and read for awhile before falling back asleep. The next day I had a headache and was quite tired.

Let the curious take note: the compounds in A. muscaria can be very disorienting and powerful with the consumption of only one mushroom. The high isn’t horrible, or I should say it wasn’t for me, but it could be for some. At this dosage I basically had a sense of loss of control, indeed, I lost physical control. I became disoriented and experience visual distortions. My body twitched uncontrollably and my reactions became rubbery. The symptoms of salivation, nausea, neck and shoulder twitching, and visual distortions suggest both cortical and brainstem activity. If I ever do A. muscaria again I will munch a small cap, settle in with nice glass of wine and enjoy the pleasant buzz. No more mega-tripping of that magnitude for this old psychonaut.

Exp Year: 2004	ExpID: 30701
Gender: Male
Age at time of experience: Not Given
Published: Dec 28, 2005	Views: 75,870
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Amanitas - A. muscaria (70) : Various (28), General (1)