Distributed to Psychedelics, Mental Health

Micro-Dosing on LSD: An Interview With a Current User

What he has to say about the fuss around the emerging trend and its benefits and drawbacks.

LSD is becoming a hot topic. Especially the micro-dosing part of it. I have been suffering from anxiety for the past 4 years and this has crossed my mind several times.

However, I still can’t gather the courage to try such as thing. In the past couple of years many reports have emerged on the on-going trend in the Silicon Valley and Manhattan — the craze around micro-dosing on LSD.

Some referred to the whole thing as “The Micro-Dosing Boom in the USA.” I even wrote an article about it — it concerned both LSD and ayahuasca. By that moment I had little knowledge of the psychedelics industry and its implications in the mental health world.

Then, I found out about the so-called psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy. It’s basically the supervised usage of psychedelic substances (MDMA, LSD, DMT, psilocybin, ketamine, and ayahuasca), with an aim to aid the process of psychotherapy.

Each individual program is specifically tailored to each patient, in order to reach optimal results. Yes, usually the usage of hallucinogens is illegal, but there are exceptions of the rules if it’s in a controlled environment or if it’s being used as a trial research.

Recently, I was lucky enough to be contacted by a person who has been micro-dosing on LSD for the past 3 weeks. For the sake of anonymity and discretion, let’s refer to him as Brady Hartsfield.

We spoke extensively and quite a while about the world of psychedelics, mental-health, and their relationship in today’s fast-paced world. Specifically, we gave particular attention to the effect micro-dosing has on productivity, social life, creativity, and well-being.

While I was talking to him it came to my mind that the people in the Silicon Valley are not the only ones entitled to micro-dose on LSD. When you think of the “Valley” you probably picture the headquarters of Google, Tesla, Amazon, and their employees hustling and bustling all day round, 365 days in the year.

However, work, stress, productivity, creativity — they’re all the same, no matter where you are. You could be working for more than a dozen hours a day in, let’s say, Bulgaria, and not feel tired or stressed at all.

Whereas, you could be working half that time in some Western European country and be jaded all the time. What I’m trying to say is that, obviously, everyone basically could micro-dose on the hallucinogen, no matter of location and other factors.

Enough with that, let’s dive straight into my conversation with Brady on his experience with micro-dosing on LSD:

His Story

Surprisingly or not, the one-hour conversation on hallucinogens and mental health with Brady was extremely open. Having in mind the stigma surrounding psychedelics, he seemed to act as if it was something people have been accustomed to for ages.

I took my first full dose of LSD at the end of this spring. I couldn’t explain what the euphoria was like, but it was not the MDMA-type-of-euphoria where your energy levels are above the roof. It was different. I felt more connected to the universe.

Just a side note: Brady had never taken LSD before that occasion and it was then that he took a full dose, not just 1/10, which is a typical micro-dose. I’m sharing this particular experience, because I think it would be beneficial to explore both cases — full dose and micro-dose — as he’s already done both.

It was time for us to go to the park, but initially I was scared to do it, because I thought I’d experience more extreme visuals than I already had. Anyhow, I did it. While I was walking, the most vivid feeling I could picture and explain was the following: I was Lightroom and my Saturation was on plus 50.

Although Brady’s first encounter with LSD was not the typical mind-bending or out-of-the-universe experience, undoubtedly he felt the hallucinogenic effects in a most vivid way. It’s going to be an understatement to say that the effects are sometimes exaggerated and that people do not always see demons or flying penises.

What follows is an excerpt from the second part of our interview, namely Brady’s experience with micro-dosing on LSD:

The normal micro-dose is usually between 1/10 and 1/20 of a normal recreational dose. The interval of days between each intake varies between people, though — there’s no fixed formula. The thing is that you build up tolerance really fast, so if you want to experience the same effect on the next day, you need to double the dosage.

Although LSD’s tolerance is known to be worn out fast, a break of a couple of days should bring your tolerance back on track.

I personally take a micro-dose every three days. For example, I’d take a 1/20 on a Monday, then I usually experience an afterglow on Tuesday and I rest on Wednesday. Then I take another again one on Thursday, and repeat. On the day of the usage, I’d usually wake up, take a shower, and hit the LSD.

Usually, most people that micro-dose on LSD do not safe-keep the psychedelic in the same way they’d do with a recreational dosage. People say that they store the blotter paper in liquid that consists of 50% ethyl alcohol and 50% distilled water. The paper then dissolves in it and you can just drink it.

If you have a bad trip you might have a trigger after a few months that will bring back the bad trip. It’s rare though. The biggest problem is that if a person has depression or schizophrenia, it might enhance it.

This might shine a light on mental illnesses that the person taking the LSD might not be aware of. Metaphorically- while you’re tripping you’re in a self-induced form of psychosis.

After I drink the liquid I feel the kick after around an hour or so. The thing with micro-dosing is that the amount is so little that you do not usually get to experience the renowned hallucinogenic and visual effects.

However, you feel something, for sure. I felt that whatever came in my way I would just acknowledge it and say: “great, I got it, I’m gonna figure it out.”

As for productivity — oh boy — it was amazing. I would say that I was around one and a half times more productive than before.

You become extremely focused and everything becomes linear — you know exactly how to do stuff in the right and the best possible way.

People who micro-dose on LSD say that the effect is the strongest on the day of usage. However, the effects, although depleting, remain for the following couple of days.

Most people report that they do experience some kind of an afterglow effect on the next day of usage. The feeling is usually characterized by “feelings of detachment and increased psychological clarity.”

During the third day, my rest day, I often meditate. During my sessions I take time to assess how the LSD affects my brain and how I generally feel about all this. The question I usually ask myself is “Well, should I keep on doing it?”

As for well-being, I have noticed that there isn’t any major notable change. However, yes, I do feel slightly better and I feel as if my negative thoughts just come and go. It’s easier for me to observe and let them go. I’ve found out that meditation, aided by micro-dosing, helps a lot.

Also, before taking any full doses, I’d usually meditate a lot the week before, just to make sure that my mind will be in a good and stable place in case of a bad trip.

Another aspect that differentiates micro-dosing from “normal” dosing is that people tend not to feel the major downsides LSD usually has. Individuals who have used LSD report experiencing vivid flashbacks and recurrence of past trips, long after taking the psychedelic.

“Bad trips” are also highly likely to happen to the user, depending on the setting and his mental-health during the time of usage. With micro-dosing, however, according to Brady, it’s a bit different:

It’s really hard to experience bad trips while you’re under the influence of such a minor dosage. You can hardly feel anything. My friends have also told me that they haven’t noticed anything abnormal in me or my behavior. “You look a bit happier and a bit more easy-going, but that’s about it,” they would say.

There’s one downside, though. At least in my case. Communication with people becomes harder while I’m under the influence, especially if I have taken a full dose.

With micro-dosing, it’s a challenge to shift my attention from doing my work and being productive to chit-chatting with my colleagues. It’s hard to express myself verbally, it’s as if there’s some kind of barrier between me and them.

My thinking becomes extremely linear and the whole conversation lacks context for me — as when it jumps from a topic to topic suddenly. But that’s just about it.

At the very end of the interview I asked Brady about his personal view point on whether micro-dosing on LSD could possibly lead to a better life in general. That’s what his response was:

I could not say whether this would be beneficial for the long-term, as I micro-dosed for three weeks only. If I had to assume, I guess it could help. A big factor is that it does not harm your body in any visible way, at least physically.

The thing is that every person should weight in the risk and the reward, and the pros and cons. The mindset you go in with is extremely important.

The interesting thing, however, about psychedelics, is that it’s all highly individualistic. You need to have done your homework. If you have a deep understanding of what you’re going in for, then your experience with micro-dosing is likely to be better.

Thank you for reading! Enjoyed the article? Follow me for more articles on mental health and psychedelics:

If you’re further interested in the topic, I recently wrote articles on MDMA-assisted psychotherapy and whether being high makes you more creative & productive. Check them out :)