DOSE: T+ 0:00	1 capsl	oral	MAOIs
T+ 1:00	1 capsl	oral	MAOIs
T+ 0:00	1 capsl	oral	Mushrooms - P. semilanceata	(dried)
T+ 0:00	1 capsl	oral	Mushrooms - P. cubensis	(dried)

BODY WEIGHT:

60 kg

I have a story to share when it comes to combining MAOIs and hallucinogens. Sadly, my experience was very negative. Two days ago I decided to try out two capsules which I was given when buying Psilocybe mushrooms at a headshop (no longer in business). I was told that I should take one or both of them some hour or so before eating the mushrooms and that the capsules were going to boost the trip considerably. Since I’m pretty experienced when it comes to psychedelics, I asumed the capsules I was given contained some sort of MAOIs (Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors). I seem to remember seeing the name harmine or possibly harmaline written on the bowl where the capsules were kept, but I can’t say for sure what type of MAOIs I was given.

Prior to my trip, I made some research on what one can and cannot eat when taking MAOIs. I had heard it could be dangerous to drink coffee when taking the stuff, but I also found out that there are a lot of other food and drinks one should avoid. Since I’m very careful when it comes to ingesting substances that are new to me, I made sure to avoid all those things I was warned about. Still, it all went terribly wrong.

So what happened? Well, my intention was to obtain a full psychedelic experience – something to remember and learn from. I decided to take the mushrooms on an empty stomach. The mushrooms were quite old and I was thinking that maybe they wouldn’t be as potent as they once were. I’ve taken psychedelics and not eaten much at all before, but never done it on a completely empty stomach. Also, since I was dealing with a compound that was possibly dangerous in combination with certain food, I thought not eating anything before was the safest thing to do. So I took one capsule and waited for about an hour. Then I had about one gram of Psilocybe Semilanceata and one gram of Psilocybe Cubensis, ie. about two grams in total. I don’t normaly combine different sorts of mushrooms, but where I live they are sometimes hard to obtain, so I had to take these ”left-overs” that had been lying around for quite a while. I also took the second capsule at the same time as eating the mushrooms.

After about twenty minutes I started to feel the mushrooms/capsules coming on. The feeling was definitely different from how I usually experience psilocybin/psilocin. It didn’t take long before I started to feel sick. I was also becoming extremely warm and had to take off all my clothes. My skin was getting very hot and I had to start pouring water onto my arms, legs, chest and face. I was constantly thirsty and had to stop myself from drinking too much. The feeling was not unlike my prior experiences with Ecstasy and its side effects. Though, this time much more intense. The terrible heat I was feeling inside my body didn’t go away, and at one point I opened the freezer and sat down touching the icy steel inside. But I couldn’t feel any coolness coming out from it. My physical condition was in a pretty bad shape. I was feeling tired and dizzy and I realised that my idea of not eating anything before was maybe not that great after all.

So in a vain attempt to get some energy into my body I tried to eat an apple, but I vomited immediately. There was no way I could eat anything at this point. I was feeling poisoned, like I had been stung by some insect or something and I was considering calling a doctor. Though, I decided to wait and see if I could ”survive” without any medical assistance.

Luckily, I persevered and managed to get back to normal without going to any hospital. After about three hours I came down a little bit, but the trip went on for many hours after this. It took about nine hours to reach a state of feeling semi-normal. I did like some of the effects though. It was interesting to experience what was to me a ”new” psychedelic and I very much liked the Amazonian/rainforest vibe it generated. I cannot really explain this, but I was actually feeling like a native indian tripping in the depth of a rainforest. But needless to say, the negative side effects completely overshadowed any positive aspects of the combination of the mushrooms and the capsules.

I can now see that I made some mistakes: If I had eaten some food before the trip I would have had much more energy to fight back the negative side effects. Also, mixing two sorts of mushrooms is something I will never do again. It is spiritually wrong. I’ve experienced how P. Cubensis is talking to me (after ingesting four grams) and who knows, maybe the spiritual forces/beings in that paticular mushroom don’t get along well with those inherent in P. Semilanceata. In my mind, psychedelic mushrooms like P. Sem, P. Cubensis and the extremely potent (and mostly psilocin containing) Stropharia Cyanescens are very different from each other. I also let myself down by eating gelatine capsules. I believe in animal liberation and we certainly don’t have to murder beatuiful living beings to obtain psychedelic states. Though, the side effects I was experiencing were very nasty and what happened to me didn’t just have to do with my psychological state of mind at the time. Was I experiencing some sort of allergic reaction? I guess I will never find out what actually happened.

Finally, I must point out that I’m not saying that one shouldn’t go near this stuff. Just be careful though. MAOIs are obviously very powerful. It also worries me that things like harmine/harmaline, just like MDMA, increases the serotonin levels in our brains (that is what I’ve read anyway). Also, if you feel that you have to boost your mushroom trip you’re definitely not taking enough of God’s flesh. Mushrooms are perfect without any additional compounds.

Exp Year: 2003	ExpID: 25409
Gender: Male
Age at time of experience: Not Given
Published: Dec 7, 2004	Views: 40,901
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Mushrooms - P. cubensis (66), Mushrooms - P. semilanceata (90), MAOIs (83) : Alone (16), Difficult Experiences (5), Combinations (3)