DOSE: T+ 0:00	5 hits	oral	LSD
T+ 7:00	2 bowls	smoked	Cannabis

BODY WEIGHT:

190 lb

This is a recollection of the first time a trip went bad for me. I had tripped before several times (once even taking 8 hits) and I had done fine. Acid visuals were always something that I could control and the trip never took me into places I didn't want to go. I took five hits at 5:00 P.M. and proceeded to have a very excellent trip. At midnight I got home from going out to eat with my friends, and I was looking for a quick way to get to sleep so I smoked two bowls. My intentions were to see what it was like smoking while on LSD, and then fall promptly to sleep. That was definitely not what happened.

The first time I lost reality I was gone before I even realized it. I had fallen down on my bed to go to sleep, and let the closed-eye visuals take me where they wanted. I opened my eyes to my dark room, and I couldn't make out what was in front of my face. The visuals had turned into a full-screen movie that played over and over as I tried to focus on my surroundings. I saw people from my past doing things that I had seen them do, random tasks, but they wouldn't stop and I began to get afraid. Not only was I seeing these movie images, but I had this out-of-body feeling like I was lying on them and looking down at them. I noticed that in the there was supposed to a pillow in the place my eyes were currently focused on, and I was filled with this feeling of horror at not being able to see it. At that point I could feel myself on the precipice between sanity and insanity, and falling fast. I began mumbling to myself 'Where's my pillow, it's supposed to be here, where is it?'.

All this was happening so fast that I thought I could lose myself before I had a chance to think. Thoughts were blurring through my head at speeds I had never known. For some reason saying the word 'pillow' had the effect of crystalizing the pillow, allowing me to see it without the movie-visuals taking me away again. This helped a lot, so I began repeating the words 'That's my pillow, I can see it, it's a pillow' over and over again. Then I saw my dresser, recognised it, and repeated it's name over and over. For some reason the repetition of the names of physical objects really anchored me to reality, so I began wandering through the house, speaking the names of things and thinking about that their uses were. For some reason when I was tripping and beginning to lose it, remembering trivial data from my life helped a lot. I ate 20 Oreos merely because I had thought about eating Oreos earlier, and 'earlier' at that time meant 'sane' to me.

Another thing I am grateful for is music. If I had not put a Led Zeppelin CD on repeat as soon as I realized I was having a bad trip, I don't know if I would have been able to contain myself. The music was very soothing, and the fact that I knew some of the songs had the effect of keeping me centered on what was real and what was not real. I spent most of two hours trying to control my trip and go to sleep.

A tip to those who are 'losing it' in an acid trip: I was very good to anchor myself to reality. For some reason recalling random facts about my life reminded me what sanity was like. For instance, mentioning the fact that my toothpaste is what I put on my toothbrush over and over can center me when I don't know where my thoughts are taking me. I think it's because it gives me a way to slow down myriad thoughts to normal speed so I can piece your mind together again. It really helped me concentrate, and I suggest trying it if you're ever having a bad trip.

Exp Year: 2001	ExpID: 5100
Gender: Male
Age at time of experience: Not Given
Published: Jan 11, 2002	Views: 12,245
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LSD (2), Cannabis (1) : Combinations (3), Difficult Experiences (5), Alone (16)