DOSE:	10 mg	oral	Pharms - Buspirone	(daily)
	60 mg	oral	Duloxetine	(daily)
		oral	Kratom	(daily)
	10 g	oral	Erythrina mulungu	(tea)
	5 g	oral	Lemon Balm	(tea)

BODY WEIGHT:

120 lb

I have been getting into Ethnobotanical herbs since the lockdown situation started in March 2020. I've been interested in pursuing this for quite some time, but didn't have as much time on my hands to do so. I'm experienced with the following herbs: Cannabis, Kratom, and Kava. In my past I've also tried acid and mushrooms, but nowadays I just smoke weed and take herbs. I haven't drank alcohol since last February roughly, as I don't like how it makes me act. I'm prescribed 2 medications I take once a day, 60 mg Cymbalta (duloxetine) for chronic pain and depression, and 10 mg Buspirone for anxiety. I did research to make sure my medications don't dangerously interact with any of the herbs I've tried. If I could try Kanna, you bet I would, but unfortunately that would be risky and could cause Serotonin syndrome.

Recently I have been experimenting with Mulungu. I absolutely love it as a tea on its own, and it works great as a sleep aid and sedative for me. One day I stumbled upon a recipe that called for 2 decoction washes (which means boiling the ingredients in water with lime juice or vinegar) for 30 minutes each.

Note that this was made and taken in the evening, after I had taken about 8 grams of Kratom throughout the day and the effects from that wore off. I am a daily user of Kratom since January 2020 and have taken a few breaks in between. I have chronic pain that also causes fatigue, and Kratom helps me immensely with those issues. In the past I have taken Mulungu with Kratom, as well as Lemon Balm with Kratom, with no negative effects.

Anyways, the recipe called for Mulungu, Passionflower, and Lemon Balm. I didn't have Passionflower on hand so I did the following with Mulungu and Lemon Balm:
1.) Put 10 grams of Mulungu and 5 grams of Lemon Balm in a muslin strainer bag. I've found this makes it easier to make tea so I don't have to hassle with straining the plant matter out of the liquid.
2.) Boiled the muslin bag in water with a few squirts of bottled lime juice. let boil on medium heat for 30 minutes.
3.) removed the muslin bag and poured the liquid in a container, set to the side.
4.) Put the muslin bag back in the pot and added fresh water and lime juice.
5.) Boiled that for 30 minutes and poured the resulting liquid in the same container as the previous liquid.

This made roughly 2 mug fulls of liquid. I put some ice in each mug I poured for myself, and I believe I took 15 minutes to consume all of the liquid. I sipped the liquid though, I didn't chug or gulp it down. I enjoyed the lemony flavor of the Lemon Balm which seemed to overpower the taste of Mulungu I've grown to love. It tasted very pleasant and it didn't need a sweetener.

When almost finished with the 2nd mug, I started to feel very warm and irritable. All of a sudden, things that normally wouldn't annoy me that bad were pissing me off. I was at home hanging out in the living room with my boyfriend during this experience.

He did 2 things as a joke that I normally would have laughed at or shrugged off. Instead, I got very upset and yelled at him and went in my room alone and cried. Suddenly, I was experiencing thoughts of low self esteem and guilt, feeling like I don't deserve anything that I have.

Once I calmed down, I was able to notice the body effects of the Mulungu. It makes my body feel very comfortable and numbs physical pain for me personally, but I didn't notice this much until I calmed down.

After this experience I decided I will not combine Mulungu and Lemon Balm again. I had actually done this a few days prior; combined Mulungu, Lemon Balm, and Egyptian Blue Water Lily. I made it as a tea without doing the 2 washes, and I remember also getting heated and irritable after consuming the liquid.

It's weird because I enjoy Mulungu tea on its own and it normally doesn't cause this type of reaction with me. I also enjoy Lemon Balm on its own when I'm experiencing anxiety. But combining the two has proven to cause a negative experience for me personally.

I recognize this also may have happened due to other factors. For example, being at home a lot of the time with the same person can sometimes be irritating.

I've never had a bad experience making Mulungu tea by itself, so I will stick to that from now on.

Exp Year: 2020	ExpID: 114543
Gender: Female
Age at time of experience: 25
Published: Jun 23, 2020	Views: 1,716
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Erythrina mulungu (426) : Retrospective / Summary (11), Preparation / Recipes (30), Combinations (3), Small Group (2-9) (17)