Posting for personal posting clarity as well as to put out something for thought to the community.
I’m not sure what r/shrooms policy was on this, I don’t recall really noticing Amanita related posts on there though.
Amanita mushrooms are NOT psylocibin mushrooms but instead have different chemistry involved. Many guides mark them as poisonous, but some Amanita varieties, most commonly and notably Amanita Muscaria, are psychedelic in nature. Use of these mushrooms in such a manner dates back centuries, likely millenia, in regions with pine forests.
I’m in favor of including all mushrooms of psychedelic nature, but it is important to consider this for the community moving forward.
I’ve started seeing Amanita Muscaria popping up in smoke shops in my area in the US all of a sudden. It’s generally legal and ignored, but it seems like it is going the way of Delta 8 and all the cannabinoids here soon. So expect to see WAY more discussion of mushrooms in reference to Amanita Muscaria in the coming months/years.
Have you tried A. muscaria yet? I got some because I hoped they’d make a good alcohol replacement, anti-anxiety med, and oneirogen (dream enhancer).
As an alcohol replacement… due to its chemistry and effects on GABA, it *might *work that way, but it can’t be used as often as booze :( Ime, it’s like being tipsy or drunk, but more clear-headed and expansive. Quite dissociating. Mixed with cannabis, I got some faint, but complex visualizations similar to DXM. (Ability to more easily visualize 3d objects, with rotation and on-the-fly editing, but strange, otherworldly structures.) Again, visuals were very faint, like a watermark.
Its anti-anxiety properties might be too good. So much so, that my mind was much more blank weeks after dosing. Not optimal if I want proper mental function.
It didn’t really help as a dream enhancer.
I feel I should also mention how they taste. They have a savory, umami flavor, like MSG. This shouldn’t be too surprising, since ibotenic acid acts on the glutamate receptors, and somehow our taste buds are able to pick that up.
All in all, I don’t trust A. muscaria at this point in time, because ibotenic acid supposedly passes the blood-brain barrier (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7977045/) and may cause excitotoxic neuronal death. (In lab experiments, ibotenic acid has been injected directly into animal brains to kill brain cells.) However, proper decarboxylation might render this mushroom completely safe.
I have tried it. I found it similar to LSD, though shorter in duration and not quite as frantic. I don’t feel exhausted after the trip either, in fact I find it easy to go to sleep after a while and I wake up more energized than I normally do the next day. I had about 300mg in gummy form both times.
Both muscimol and ibotenic acid were listed active ingredients, but to my understanding ibotenic acid, when ingested and metabolized and not injected, is essentially just converted back into muscimol. Not an expert though, pretty new to Amanita in fact.
I did find one night that I dreamt more significantly, but basically it was the fact I dreamed at all, I usually never do.
Haven’t noticed the blank mind effects personally, or any real lingering after effects.
Not knowing how reliable this commercial space is, I’ve wondered if I’m actually finding some research chemical being sold under the false name. Need to try another brand for cross reference I guess.
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I have used LSD a number of times but psilocybin only once or twice, I’ve for some reason just found it harder to come by usually, and more expensive. I have no DMT experience really at all. I would say though that the Acid-shrooms middle ground definitely describes what I experienced.
My wife and I really want to forage our own Agaric and/or psilocybes from the wild, but have yet to have success.
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My wife is very into Herbalism and foraging, so I leave most ID details to her.
I’ve only had psylocibin once or twice, and tbh was kind of underwhelmed. Would like to try it more, especially since I have only had lower doses. But like I said, I’ve found it hard to find usually.
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I’ve heard that some of the stuff sold in smoke shops, gas stations, etc as legal mushroom gummies are actually 5-meo-mipt and other analogs. That being said I’ve wanted to try Amanita Muscaria but worry about them possibly being a neurotoxin.