Chapter 9: The Skinny on Dosing
Below is a collection of found practices and schedules for microdosing. As I’ve said before, this is a memoir, not an instruction manual. I can only share with you my own personal doses, schedules, and experiences with each. But I thought it might be helpful to demonstrate the wild variation in suggestion. Even if only to highlight the most important bullet point of all: there are no right answers. No prescription. Start small. Be smart. Be patient. Do it at home on a day off until you understand how you will be affected by your chosen dose. And again, these are just a collection of other people’s launch points. This will be your experience; no one else’s.
Microdose: anywhere from 0.1-0.4 grams dry mushroom. This level is frequently described as sub-perceptual. As you may infer, this means so visuals, no auditory effects, nothing crazy. According to many, doses at this level should not affect your daily routine. As a side note, I must stress that 0.4 grams is over my Meditation Dose, and creeping closer to my Beach Dose, which weighs in at 0.6 grams. For my own personal body chemistry, .4 grams is a very noticeable dose, and I would never take it if I were, say, going to work or socializing.
Microdose Schedule Option 1: 0.1-0.5 grams dry mushroom, 1-4 times per week.
Microdose Schedule Option 2: 0.2 grams dry mushroom every 3rd day.
Microdose Schedule Option 3: 0.3 grams dry mushroom, every 3rd day.
Microdose Schedule Option 4: 0.04-0.4 grams dry mushroom, 4 days on and 3 days off.
Microdose Schedule Option 5: 0.2 grams dry mushroom every other day.
The gram ranges listed have been collected from multiple sources and combined. This serves to highlight something very important—everyone is different. One person’s Low Dose is another’s Blow-it-out Dose. Take notes as you go. Figure out your own dosing and schedule.
Low Dose: anywhere from 0.25-1 gram dry mushroom. This is the zone where things can start to get interesting. And this is where I prefer to stay for now. Keep in mind that 0.25 grams and 1 gram are very different animals, which is why it’s so important to get your dry measurements spot-on when you’re forging your own path. If you fudge it, you won’t be able to pinpoint or recapture the doses that work for you and the ones that don’t. Common expectations of a Low Dose, according to others, could be a touch of euphoria, giddiness, and slight changes in perception such as enhanced colors. Don’t forget—my cormorant experience was at 0.6 grams. You don’t need complete ego dissolution to change your entire world forever.
Moderate Dose: anywhere from 1-3.5 grams dry mushroom. Take a moment to recognize the vast chasm between 1 gram and 3.5! Every body chemistry is unique and will respond differently. 3 grams sounds crazy to me, but to someone else, that’s a Moderate Dose. Expectations, according to others, can be a strong enhancement of color and sound, a significant body high, euphoria and introspection, and a blending of the senses called synesthesia, such a seeing light sparkle to the beat of music.
High Dose: anywhere from 3-4 grams dry mushroom. A pushing of the envelope of a Moderate Dose. At a High Dose you can expect stronger visuals and auditory hallucinations, waking dreams and disassociation.
Heroic Dose: 5 grams (sometimes more) dry mushroom. This level is not sought by most. It’s a bit out there. This is the lose your identity, communicate with beings and deities others cannot see, time dissolving, kind of dose. I can tell you with 99% accuracy that this is not a level I seek to attain. I’m good here on earth. I have no desire to spend the rest of my life wondering if that fairyland creature I conversed with all night long was real or in my imagination.
As I write this, I am far from a mushroom expert, though I seek to be.
My goal was never to dive into psychedelics for the thrill. But I do want to fully experience and understand this little mushroom that is slowly saving my life. I want to see how far she can take me. I want to know her limits, or perhaps my own. And so I’m getting there. I am familiar with the microdose, my Chill Dose, my Meditation Dose and my Beach Dose. What lies around the next corner for me, I don’t yet know. But I will. I’ll go higher. I’m just taking my time. Maybe that’s the pesky left side of my brain kicking in again. Studying, analyzing. Worrying.
Clutching onto fear of the unknown.
Maybe it’s time to let go…
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