Why I Stopped Microdosing Acid

Microdosing acid might start out as a fun little experiment to see what it’s all about; it may also evolve into a long term part of your life. But do you really want to be continually taking acid for the rest of your life? What is it doing to your body long term? Is that your brain dripping out of your ear? These are the big questions today.

I know when I first started microdosing I did it consistently for around five months before I met with my mum and told her what I was doing. To her credit she took it in her stride, and was equal parts interested and concerned. She is a psychologist, so her first thought was “what does acid do to your brain?”. A fair question. And despite the months of reading and casual research I had done on the subject of psychedelics, I’ll admit I didn't know the answer. What was it doing to my brain?

“..what does acid do to your brain?”

Of course, this had been on my mind as well. But I had done a lot of reading on the subject and nowhere in my travels had I come across anything that was warning me about the harmful effects of the LSD chemical on the brain itself. Mum advised that it would have been a great idea to get some type of brain scan done before I started this experiment, so I had a baseline to see what impact the months of microdosing was having on the old grey matter.

A great idea Mum, but a few months too late.

WHAT DOES ACID DO TO YOUR BRAIN?

There is more and more research being done on the impacts of psychedelics on the brain, and also what happens in the brain when on psychedelics, but I wanted to know what it was doing to ME. I already knew that you can’t get addicted to acid, as it is a non addictive substance. However, what were the long term side effects? And more importantly, were they something to be concerned about?

I admit that even after months of self directed casual research on the topic of psychedelics, I hadn't come across anything that was cause for alarm. But that didn't mean I shouldn't be worried. Microdosing psychedelics is, after all, a relatively new thing in the world, and information on its dos and don'ts are not exactly front page news. You need to dig this stuff out.

So I decided to dig and see what I could find out with the tools I had available to me: google and my curiosity.

What I now wanted to know with increasing urgency was:

What are the long-term side effects of microdosing acid (lsd)
What does dosing long term do to your brain and body

SIDE EFFECTS OF MICRODOSING ACID (LSD)

Frustratingly, there is very little research that has been done on the long term effects of microdosing psychedelics. There is anecdotal evidence of the short term effects and why people choose to do it, but less evidence on the long term effects and why people STOP doing it. One study I have found talks about reported motives and side effects of microdosing psychedelics.

The study was done via an online questionnaire (this seems to be common for preliminary research) and had respondents provide fairly broad multiple choice answers. The study looked at people that microdosed mushrooms (psilocybin) as well as LSD and some other lesser known substances.

I am really trying to find negative effects of acid here, so reasons like “cannot find the substance anymore” or “change in lifestyle” are not really relevant to what I want to know. There were, however, some other reasons that did peak my interest. The numbers in this study seem to suggest a relatively high percentage of people stopped microdosing due to an “acute” “psychological” negative effect. This basically means that some type of psychological effect impacted them negatively in the acute stage of microdosing, ie, when they were directly under the effects of the drug: Dose Day.

Now, not knowing what these psychological effects are, it is hard to comment. But presumably it could be something like paranoia, anxiousness, etc as these have also been reported in other studies as potential challenges of microdosing (there are also anecdotal reports of MACRO-dosing helping anxiety which makes me think there is more to this story).

Anyhow, the fact that these only really occur on Dose Day makes me think that they could easily be caused by not getting the dosage right. I know from experience that a dose that is slightly too large can make me feel uncomfortable and a little anxious so this makes sense to me, and isn't causing me too much alarm.The fact that little to no long term effects were reported is encouraging, but also inconclusive.

SIDE EFFECTS OF LESSER CONCERN

Another study I came across noted the biggest negative side effects people found with microdosing was insomnia, and accidentally overdosing. I have definitely had problems with overdosing before, as mentioned previously, but insomnia has never been a problem for me. This is usually reported to be an issue on Dose Day only, and is usually just due to dosing too late in the day. This feels like it is an issue that is very much in the control of the user. I know if I have coffee too late at night I will have trouble getting to sleep, so I don't. I have coffee in the morning. Knowing when to microdose to suit your body is no different, and really nothing all that concerning here.

In one final study I found, it was noted that the main reason people stopped microdosing was the fear that they were doing something illegal, or that they had simply ran out and did not know how to find more. These are both relevant reasons to stop and both of which have stopped me in the past. Still, these are really just inconveniences, not real health concerns. Unless, of course, you end up stabbed in an alleyway, or in prison.. Ok, I take it back, these are extremely valid reasons to stop microdosing. Don’t do drugs.

STOPPING MICRODOSING

Although I was fairly certain the drug wasn't doing anything harmful to my brain, the reality is there is very little research on this stuff and I didn't really know what the long term effects might be. So I decided to take my mum's advice and at the end of my current acid tab I would stop microdosing for a few weeks and get back to ‘normal’ to see if there were any adverse effects.

“I was officially stepping off the psychedelic microdose train and re-entering life as just regular old me again.”

I stopped microdosing and monitored the effects. I didn't get headaches, I didn't lose focus on simple tasks, I did not spiral into depression. I felt normal, albeit maybe just a tiny bit slower off the mark mentally. It was really something I only felt during the first week or so of being ‘clean’, but I remember a real sensation of ‘missing’ something. Missing that little edge or spark that I had mentally. I would even say I felt a little bit sluggish with my thoughts. It went away, however, and given how subtle it was, it is hard to say how much of it was a real reaction and how much was me overthinking the situation ‘looking’ for something to notice.

“I remember a real sensation of ‘missing’ something. Missing that little edge or spark that I had mentally.”

But the reality is I stopped microdosing, and nothing really changed. I got on with my life and ended up not microdosing again for probably around six months. It's hard to say why. I mean, I didn't have any acid tabs in the house so that played a factor. But I could have easily gone and found more, I just chose not to, and life just carried on.

It will be a while yet until the research can catch up and we learn all the true physiological and psychological effects of long term dosing. But until then my little self experimentation and subjective observations are going to have to do. I really can't say that there were any notable side effects after I stopped; positive or negative. What I can say is that there did come a time, eventually, when the psychedelic breeze came knocking again. And I answered.

..STARTING BACK AGAIN

Eventually I did start microdosing again after about six months, and I have been on and off ever since for the last 3.5yrs. It's funny to look back on this now, as trying microdosing and then stopping it could easily have just been a chapter in my life that could be noted as a fun experiment of “that time I took acid for a few months”. But starting back up again it was more than that. I was choosing to let this thing graduate from experiment to full blown part of my life. And I was cool with that. Thinking about why you would start back up again, makes me think about why you would want to do this in the first place and can easily become more of a philosophical discussion of: why do we microdose in the first place?

“Starting back up again it was more than that. I was choosing to let this thing graduate from experiment to full blown part of my life.”

I have a friend who is not exactly on board with microdosing and she asked me the other day if I will continue to microdose once my first born child arrives in a few months time. She sees microdosing as being dependent on a drug, and surely you can't continue this once you have a child? Needless to say, I don't see things the same way and my answer to her was “yes, yes I will”. If I have the means to make myself more engaged with my wife and child. If I have the means to appreciate all the little moments with them more. I will take that opportunity with both hands.

And if something changes and one day I feel I don't want or need to microdose anymore. It's not addictive. I will just stop, simple as that. I feel that if you are continually checking in with yourself and asking the simple question of: why do I microdose? If you can't give yourself a good answer anymore, then maybe it is time to try something else.

So why do I microdose?

For me it is the quality of life that comes with microdosing;

It is the gratitude I feel towards the little things;

It is the openness and engagement I have with others around me;

It is the excitement of experiencing the world through a slightly different lens than others I meet on the street;

It is the appreciation I get for beauty of all types;

It is an appreciation for life.

Until next time,

Stay safe :)