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Tortoisemuncher
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Help with Post-trip anxiety: First-time psychedelic trip caused Ego Death + Existential Crisis
#23766360 - 10/24/16 10:25 AM (7 years, 3 months ago) |
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Hello everyone,
After searching through some threads and not finding a decisive answer surrounding anxiety after a bad trip - I decided to post.
This weekend I took +/-1gram of Golden Teachers mushrooms. I went into the trip a bit forced as my friend was overly-pressuring me to do shrooms with him. During my trip I began to feel nausea's and ran around a corner under some trees to throw-up. It was there that I started experiencing ego-death and thought that I'd never have my personality return again. This was absolutely terrifying for me and I immediately wanted the trip to end. This also led me into a mild existential crisis as I couldn't comprehend what living is actually about.
Luckily for me, ego death is of course temporary (which I didn't quite know about at the time) but what has lasted for the past 2 days is anxiety and a sense of many things being foreign. Last night I got a panic-attack and was easily agitated.
I got through the trip and eventually returned home where I realised I was in fact still tripping. This set-in feelings of isolation and a mindset of "I think I might be insane".
I'm extremely worried these symptoms will be permanent - and that, specifically, the anxiety will indefinitely continue.
Are these symptoms of worry and anxiety common within the week after tripping? Is anxiety induced by shrooms usually permanent? Do you have any recommendations to alleviate anxiety without the use of medication? Would you recommend I do anything specific in terms of the circumstances I described to you, in order to alleviate my anxiety?
Thank you so much for your help. The bad trip I had was immensely traumatising for me - and I am in an intense state of worry surrounding my mental health.
I hope you all have a good day - and thanks.
-Jason
EDIT: It's 3 days after my trip and I'm still feeling anxious. A day after the trip I had a panic attack just as I tried to go to bed. I had to leave a family dinner and retreated to the bathroom after an embarrassingly odd need to just cry coupled with anxiety flooded over me. I'm still getting anxiety but today felt better than the day before. I'm going to seek professional treatment by the end if the week of things don't subside - thank you to those who gave their advice and shared their experiences.
EDIT 2: Massive update on what the trip has taught me and how my anxiety is practically gone is in the replies on PAGE 2. Thank you all for your help! <3
Edited by Tortoisemuncher (10/28/16 12:32 PM)
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Morel Guy
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Re: Help with Post-trip anxiety: First-time psychedelic trip caused Ego Death + Existential Crisis [Re: Tortoisemuncher]
#23766434 - 10/24/16 10:59 AM (7 years, 3 months ago) |
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Give it a couple of weeks to resolve. If weed makes it worse then don't use it.
-------------------- "in sterquiliniis invenitur in stercore invenitur" In filth it will be found in dung it will be found
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ergoticmandala



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Re: Help with Post-trip anxiety: First-time psychedelic trip caused Ego Death + Existential Crisis [Re: Morel Guy]
#23766476 - 10/24/16 11:19 AM (7 years, 3 months ago) |
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Quote:
I'm extremely worried these symptoms will be permanent - and that, specifically, the anxiety will indefinitely continue.
nothing is permanent my friend. This is the only thing we can be sure of as humans. I had a bad trip my first time too, with morning glories, it passed, day by day
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Morel Guy
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Re: Help with Post-trip anxiety: First-time psychedelic trip caused Ego Death + Existential Crisis [Re: ergoticmandala]
#23767102 - 10/24/16 02:57 PM (7 years, 3 months ago) |
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Psycadelics have a way of reflecting our attitude about using them back into the trip on us. All my bad trips I was too eager for kinder affects and not an open lesson. Either way once you start to learn what the trip was teaching it gets works out.
-------------------- "in sterquiliniis invenitur in stercore invenitur" In filth it will be found in dung it will be found
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Tortoisemuncher
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Re: Help with Post-trip anxiety: First-time psychedelic trip caused Ego Death + Existential Crisis [Re: Morel Guy]
#23769868 - 10/25/16 12:22 PM (7 years, 3 months ago) |
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Well I'm starting to think that the trip taught me to abstain from further drug use since I've just had anxiety and awful thought's for the past 3 days.
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Tortoisemuncher
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Re: Help with Post-trip anxiety: First-time psychedelic trip caused Ego Death + Existential Crisis [Re: ergoticmandala]
#23769876 - 10/25/16 12:24 PM (7 years, 3 months ago) |
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Did it give you anxiety - and did you seek any treatment? How long did its negative effects last?
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Bozko
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Re: Help with Post-trip anxiety: First-time psychedelic trip caused Ego Death + Existential Crisis [Re: Tortoisemuncher]
#23769925 - 10/25/16 12:42 PM (7 years, 3 months ago) |
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Hey man, sorry your intro into psychedelics had to be so abrupt.
A while back I had a similar experience after an acid and e trip. I thought it may have had something more to do with the e, but our stories are similar. About 4 days after the fact I had my first panic attack, and I was only lightly nervous. I dealt with a persistent anxious state in which I had ridiculous looping thoughts which would feed the anxiety in a feedback loop, and I was sore and shaky, afraid I would have another attack.
These are all symptoms of Generalized Anxiety Disorder, which may be caused in part by disruption of the seratonin system in the brain. Psilocin acts as excess seratonin in the brain, and e makes you release endogenous neurotransmitters. I honestly wouldn't expect you to have these symptoms after a mushroom trip from a chemical perspective, so you may have just freaked yourself out enough to feel this way.
Exercise, eating right, and seizing the day helped me get back to normal. Also look up cognitive behavioral therapy to help with bad mental states. Stay up man, hopefully in the future you can experience these things in a more positive way
-------------------- ShadeOfDeepPurple said: I guess you don't get shamanism yet by the very fact that you describe a psychedelic as Mexican.
Edited by Bozko (10/25/16 12:44 PM)
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Tortoisemuncher
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Re: Help with Post-trip anxiety: First-time psychedelic trip caused Ego Death + Existential Crisis [Re: Bozko]
#23770060 - 10/25/16 01:36 PM (7 years, 3 months ago) |
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Hey man - I really appreciate the advice. The information on the disruption of the seratonin system was really interesting to me. I'm contemplating getting myself 5-htp (a seratonin booster) and just taking a low dose for a month or two - this could possibly help regulate my symptoms.
I am going to go see a psychologist by the end of the week and will hopefully receive CBT treatment - that is unless my anxiety disappears. Thank you so much for your help it really does mean a lot, man.
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Morel Guy
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Re: Help with Post-trip anxiety: First-time psychedelic trip caused Ego Death + Existential Crisis [Re: Tortoisemuncher]
#23771005 - 10/25/16 06:41 PM (7 years, 3 months ago) |
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They say that anxiety and depression is caused by low serotonin. They say high serotonin causes psychosis. Truth is it's an imbalance. 5HT2a agonists such as found in psilocybe mushrooms mimic serotonin at one receptor class.
I would lay off the serotonin boosting chemicals. Just let your brain find it's own balance.
-------------------- "in sterquiliniis invenitur in stercore invenitur" In filth it will be found in dung it will be found
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Jokeshopbeard
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Re: Help with Post-trip anxiety: First-time psychedelic trip caused Ego Death + Existential Crisis [Re: Tortoisemuncher]
#23771788 - 10/25/16 10:51 PM (7 years, 3 months ago) |
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As has been said, stay clean of all drugs as long as possible and allow your brain to reset. You'll be fine man. My few bad trips have left me equally fucked for a while, but they were many, many years ago now.
Out of curiosity, are you on any pharma meds?
-------------------- Let it be seen that you are nothing. And in knowing that you are nothing... there is nothing to lose, there is nothing to gain. What can happen to you? Something can happen to the body, but it will either heal or it won't. What's the big deal? Let life knock you to bits. Let life take you apart. Let life destroy you. It will only destroy what you are not. --Jac O'keeffe
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They
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Re: Help with Post-trip anxiety: First-time psychedelic trip caused Ego Death + Existential Crisis [Re: Jokeshopbeard]
#23772250 - 10/26/16 03:42 AM (7 years, 3 months ago) |
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Dear Tortoisemuncher,
Please realize that
1. No, shrooms themselves don't "cause" anxiety, they may simply reveal your own underlying issues, for you to see and fix.
2. The trip worked perfectly, I mean you failed to stand your ground in the face of this friend who pushed you, and so the shrooms VERY SAFELY showed you, what happens when you step on your own gut feelings in order to accommodate others. Kindly don't do that, but I think you'll actually remember this quite vividly from now on, and when some other friend tries to force you into anything, at their timing not yours, you'll now know where to tell them to shove it Oh and please notice that the shrooms are in fact good, but here the timing was pushed on you before you felt ready, it's a timing issue not a shroom issue. Like sex, it's kinda bad if it's imposed on you before you feel you'd like to try it
3. No, the anxiety isn't permanent. It was revealed to you now, to be able to master it, and once you do, you will then reap the lesson the mush brought upon you, which is a more stable state of mind, more ability to deal with stress, internal and external. You are fine. You are in the middle of a lesson that may seem chaotic and weird and disturbing now, but any training worth going through will push you to some kind of limit, else you wouldn't grow from it.
Now, things to do.
Anxiety is generally a state of over-thinking under-moving under-breathing.
MOVE. Fucking RUN. Climb. Sprint. Climb trees. Shovel shit. Take that friend that pushed you towards shrooms, take two sticks and go play Star Wars together. The impact WILL help you rebalance again. Also the fact that you're pissed at this dude for pushing you into something you weren't really into, that needs to be expressed in a tactile way, not just verbally. Verbal does VERY little to release anything, whereas tactile does A LOT.
Put in MASSIVE amounts of movement on this. YOu need to be
1. Sweating 2. Gasping for air.
This will trigger endorphins, and balance you out in a multitude of ways.
Also, massage. Also, sex.
Swimming in a pool or lake or river, probably indoors makes more sense as it's nearing winter now. But electrically, you have to quit being in-your-head and start being in your body, BY USING IT. Lift some logs or weights or something, go throw a few kicks and punches in a ring with someone, or just regular playing tag in a group, will snap you out of it, at least for some time.
The more of these "snapped out of it" moments you have, the more you retrain your brain that oh yeah, I CAN feel relaxed and happy again, who knew? 
We've all been there mate, we've all seen those hesitation and doubt moments, and PRECISELY because we've been through that and were forced to push through, to make it work, because of that we're now calmer, more composed, if it comes again fine, we've done it 4-5 times already and survived
Get a couple of sweating sessions (running doing shit, not sitting around in sauna) and a couple of massages and orgasms, you'll be good as new. Oh and express some fucking anger for a change. You have nothing you're pissed off and angry about in your life? Maybe the friend pushing? Mom? Dad? Work? Girlfriend or girls in general? Is there's nothing you want to smash some shit about? Cause I kiiiiiiiiiiiinda suspect there is, and it's pretty thick once you get going. I wonder I wonder, what has our little tortoise repressed during all those years before the shrooms brought it up?


I for one advise against the psychologist, just talking around beating around the bush, super slow costly method, when a more direct physical release will get you there for free. VERY easy to get into victim games, by this whole talking to the therapist dynamic, I mean I don't even want to know how much he charges per hour, and in fact the worse he is at it, the more sessions you need the more you have to return and pay them. Plus a shroomed human is working from a higher level of intelligence than a non-shroomed psychologist stuck in their ways, speaking from books.
I think you're starting to feel what I'm talking about here, that in the land of the shroom the urban therapist is often outgunned and outmatched, out of his league, whereas we beings who play here, are quite at home and offer faithful guidance to the light
Go with intuition my friend, always go with intuition and it will lead you true. Peace
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Tortoisemuncher
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Re: Help with Post-trip anxiety: First-time psychedelic trip caused Ego Death + Existential Crisis [Re: Jokeshopbeard]
#23772259 - 10/26/16 03:50 AM (7 years, 3 months ago) |
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I take chela-fer once a day to treat my anaemia. I also take fexofenadine to treat my allergies. And lastly for the past 4 days I've been taking reuterino a pro-biotic as I was sick and had an upset stomach last week. Does anyone know if these drugs would impact my current psychological state?
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They
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Re: Help with Post-trip anxiety: First-time psychedelic trip caused Ego Death + Existential Crisis [Re: Tortoisemuncher]
#23772288 - 10/26/16 04:09 AM (7 years, 3 months ago) |
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The way you think about the world, get or not get into stressful situations or thought loops, and how long you stay in there, that affects your upset stomach / psych state more than a couple of pills you take, IMO at least.
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Bozko
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Re: Help with Post-trip anxiety: First-time psychedelic trip caused Ego Death + Existential Crisis [Re: They]
#23772745 - 10/26/16 09:28 AM (7 years, 3 months ago) |
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If there is one thing my experience taught me, it is that if I were to have to live my life with that imbalance of chemicals, I would definitely seek SSRIs.
I don't think that OP is in this position, and I don't think that half the people that end up getting prescribed those meds need them, but still. This whole thing woke me up to what people with anxiety/depression have to deal with everyday and that is a hell.
They, I would read some of the work Oliver Sacks if you have the time. Ime, the best psychiatrist would have to be a psychonaut. Sacks is one of the few that could be said to have practiced what I would call a shamanistic psychiatry of sorts.
-------------------- ShadeOfDeepPurple said: I guess you don't get shamanism yet by the very fact that you describe a psychedelic as Mexican.
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They
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Re: Help with Post-trip anxiety: First-time psychedelic trip caused Ego Death + Existential Crisis [Re: Bozko]
#23773602 - 10/26/16 03:09 PM (7 years, 3 months ago) |
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Quote:
if I were to have to live my life with that imbalance of chemicals, I would definitely seek SSRIs.
Why?
Ayahuasca gives long term increase in baseline serotonin levels. Why fuck up one's body with constant SSRI use, when you can Aya up for a couple of ceremonies and be fine, or certainly much better?
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Jokeshopbeard
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Re: Help with Post-trip anxiety: First-time psychedelic trip caused Ego Death + Existential Crisis [Re: Bozko] 1
#23774668 - 10/26/16 08:32 PM (7 years, 3 months ago) |
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Quote:
Bozko said: If there is one thing my experience taught me, it is that if I were to have to live my life with that imbalance of chemicals, I would definitely seek SSRIs.
REALLY?!?!?
Fuck that pharma poison, I've seen it do way more harm than good in my time. I would only ever resort to it if my, or someone elses life was on the line. But then I'd probably be locked up by that point anyway.
I've seen the effects of multiple SSRI/SNRI's and they're fucking nasty man.
But, after all, they suit our profit driven culture and inherent laziness, so it's little wonder they're as mainstream as they are. In a sane society, I would not be able to walk into my doctors and walk out with pharma poison like that without rigorous examination of other aspects of my life. As it is, they hand them out like sweets.
-------------------- Let it be seen that you are nothing. And in knowing that you are nothing... there is nothing to lose, there is nothing to gain. What can happen to you? Something can happen to the body, but it will either heal or it won't. What's the big deal? Let life knock you to bits. Let life take you apart. Let life destroy you. It will only destroy what you are not. --Jac O'keeffe
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Bozko
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Re: Help with Post-trip anxiety: First-time psychedelic trip caused Ego Death + Existential Crisis [Re: Jokeshopbeard]
#23775242 - 10/26/16 11:42 PM (7 years, 3 months ago) |
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Quote:
Jokeshopbeard said:
I've seen the effects of multiple SSRI/SNRI's and they're fucking nasty man.
In there lies the rub. The looming patent cliff is what fuels the creation of new drugs, not necessity. I don't think all SSRIs are equal, and I agree they can mess people up badly. I knew a girl with a permanent tic from Paxil.
-------------------- ShadeOfDeepPurple said: I guess you don't get shamanism yet by the very fact that you describe a psychedelic as Mexican.
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Jokeshopbeard
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Re: Help with Post-trip anxiety: First-time psychedelic trip caused Ego Death + Existential Crisis [Re: Bozko]
#23775665 - 10/27/16 05:40 AM (7 years, 3 months ago) |
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Exactly. It's a corrupt, money making game, and it's worth BILLIONS. I actually used to work for one of the biggest pharma companies in the world, and what I know now, that I did not know then, is that in the world in which we live profit ALWAYS overrides the good of the individual.
I mean some of these things have been shown to cause an INCREASE in suicide rates to people prescribed them. Then there's all the brain fog, brain zaps, RLS, etc, etc.
They provide a huge cashflow to some of the most powerful companies in the world, and because of this they're handed with careless abandon to people who really should not be on them. As an absolute last resort, they may offer some help, but there are many, many other ways of correcting out of whack brain chemistry.
But of course they don't want you to know about, let alone have access to them. Hence why we have things like the Psychoactive Substances bill in this country. Insidious and corrupt as fuck, which is why I'd have to be fucking insane before I took any part in it.
-------------------- Let it be seen that you are nothing. And in knowing that you are nothing... there is nothing to lose, there is nothing to gain. What can happen to you? Something can happen to the body, but it will either heal or it won't. What's the big deal? Let life knock you to bits. Let life take you apart. Let life destroy you. It will only destroy what you are not. --Jac O'keeffe
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Morel Guy
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Re: Help with Post-trip anxiety: First-time psychedelic trip caused Ego Death + Existential Crisis [Re: Bozko]
#23776198 - 10/27/16 10:22 AM (7 years, 3 months ago) |
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Paxil is a fucked up drug.
Trazadones human metabolite is illegal in several countries.
I fail to see the illegal/legal drug philosophy make sense.
-------------------- "in sterquiliniis invenitur in stercore invenitur" In filth it will be found in dung it will be found
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Jokeshopbeard
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Re: Help with Post-trip anxiety: First-time psychedelic trip caused Ego Death + Existential Crisis [Re: Morel Guy]
#23777463 - 10/27/16 04:57 PM (7 years, 3 months ago) |
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Quote:
Morel Guy said: I fail to see the illegal/legal drug philosophy make sense.
Of course it doesn't. It's rooted in greed and control.
-------------------- Let it be seen that you are nothing. And in knowing that you are nothing... there is nothing to lose, there is nothing to gain. What can happen to you? Something can happen to the body, but it will either heal or it won't. What's the big deal? Let life knock you to bits. Let life take you apart. Let life destroy you. It will only destroy what you are not. --Jac O'keeffe
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