Health - Low dose LSD as an antidepressant?

[Hyperreal]

I've heard it said that40 or 50ugof LSD has exactly the same effects as an antidepressant. Hofmann originally wanted it to be marketed as such. Does anyone have more information on this? Have there been any studies done on it?


By the way, if you haven't tried low doses ofacid, I recommend it. You're not incapacitated in the slightest, so you can go to work/ college/ school, socialize, and conduct your business as normal (or better than normal), but there's a lovely euphoric and cosmic edge to life, plus a stimulant effect.

[Alfa]

If LSD would be effective as an anti-depressant at all I think it to be in the 10 - 25microgram range. 50 microgram is psychedelic and would interfere with normal life.

[mariecurie]

How much would you recommend as the dosage to just get the low-dosage
effects you mentioned? I talked with Hofmann once and he said that one
of his favorite things to do was take a quarter of a tab and go hiking
in the woods. Seems like a great idea to me

[Hyperreal]

How much would you recommend as the dosage to just get the low-dosage effects you mentioned?

Well, I can't really give an answer in micrograms, because there's no way of measuring street acid. I'd say take half of a weak tab.

[jaguarangel]

Yes. SWIM's friend takes micro doses for anti depressant effects. For some, it is effective. There are studies also being done on mushrooms and cluster headaches. It seems to alleviate them!

[raven3davis]

http://www.erowid.org/chemicals/show...?i=lsd/lsd_wat er1.jpg


Check that out. They mixed a hit in water and broke it down to several hits as a mild mood enhancer etc. Here is what erowid says about it.
<DIV =desc>Photo of a glass partially filled with filtered water and covered with plastic in which a single hit of LSD is dissolved. Sips of the dilute liquid are used every few days until the liquid is gone, 4-6 sessions, as an alternative mild stimulant, mood lifter, and to break routine. LSD remains active for over a week stored this way.</DIV>
<DIV =credit>Photo by Erowid, © 2002 Erowid.org</DIV>
<DIV =credit></DIV>
<DIV =credit>So yes, it seems like LSD could be used as an anti depressant, but I would also recommend a lower dose than 50ug, more like 20ug. The picture said they did 4-6 sessions from one hit of acid, so assuming the acid was ~100ug, thats ~20ug if you just count 5 sessions.</DIV>

[Felix Guattari]

The last time SWiM tried acid at a low dose (btw. 20-40 ug) it just made him feel edgy and teased. This was when also on an SSRI, so I suspect that may have had something to do with it.
This is an interesting idea that SWiM would love to give a shot, though.

[Panthers007]

Bongo found that a 20mcg dose of LSD25 (Sandoz) taken daily for a few weeks did, at first, create a different outlook on the world. This he found enjoyable. Was it an anti-depressant? Not really - the depression wasn't there to begin with. But he enjoyed the new perspective gained. But after awhile the novelty wore thin. It turned into a chemical-feeling of agitation. Rather like a cup of coffee when he didn't need one.

Project abandoned.

[darkest]

IMO LSD shouldn't be used as an anti-depressant. LSD Should almost always be used as a "going toward" substance (ie. Finding myself, learning about the world, etc,) rather than a "moving away" substance. (ie. Numbing out the world, get away from the pain, etc.)

The former is the precurser to amazing trips. The latter is the unsolid foundation that preceeds bad trips.


The best use, IMO for LSD as an anti-depressant is to take a full dosage and really figure out your life. Figure out who you are and what you care about - And how happiness works for you yourself. SWIM knows from personal experience that LSD can show you the secrets to true enjoyment of life.


That said, SWIM has also tried LSD at low dosage by accident. Rather than being amused, he was bored. Things were moving a little and his mind was amplified a little, but he felt more like he was just tripping mildly and boringly for 7 hours. He much prefered setting aside a real time in a real setting to take a real trip into his mind.

Reputation Comments on this post:

good points for correct use of lsd

[salviablue]

SWIM has a friend, SIDK, whom is on ssri`s (for anxiety) and has done many low doses of acid in the past (when s/he wasn`t on ssri`s). From this s/he states that low dose LSD indeed feels somewhat like the effects from certain ssri`s (a few days after the meds have started), although the effects faded a week or two after starting the meds.

SWIM told me that SIDK once forgot hir meds on a trip to Amsterdam and once the electric brain shocks started kicking in (from ssri withdrawal,) decided to try and see if mushies would help dampen the withdrawal effects. They completely removed the electric brain shock syndrome and left hir`s head feeling totally releived from the fuzzyness normally induced by the ssri withdrawal also - enough so that enjoyment of the rest of the holiday was capable.

One wonders whether lose dose LSD may have similar properties. If so I would suspect that LSD/Psilocin act in very similar ways in small doses to some SSRI`s and would indeed be possible for LSD/Psilocin to be used as antidepressants (maybe anxiolytics too?).

S/he informed SWIM that since this discovery in Amsterdam that s/he experimented the following mushy season in trying to come off ssri`s and use varying doses of mushies instead (to both fight off withdrawal effects and to eventually replace as antixiolytics). These trials only lasted 2-3 months and although they seemed to hold promise (at barely noticeable doses of mushies - just a few liberty caps spread throughout the day seemed to work best - just as well as the ssri seemed to), they where not conducted in any pretense of being scientific and thus the results are to be viewed as suspect at best. (I will start a thread on this soon as SWIM was informed by SIDK that there is more detailed information and that experiments may start again soon)

[humdroid]

Its interesting that Hoffman originally marketed LSD as a low dose, to be used as an anti-depressant.

The smiley >>>>>>> said that they had to double up the dose on lsd when taking it two days in a row, as it never worked. For instance, half a tab worked the first day, but on the second, he had to do two halves (one)

How would tolerance be got around?

[salviablue]

When swim experimented with low dose shrooms, s/he mentioned the only thing that seemed to effect the tolerance was when s/he either did too many in one day or took some particularly strong ones. But this is (a little) unscientific conjecture as there was no sort of control over the exact dosing and s/he still continued regular meds, albeit barely (about 37.5mg p/week). So the tolerance might only build once a threshold is reached? The dose would have to be large enough so as to reach the brain, but small enough so as not to build tolerance?

(I`ll post what I remember from swims experience whilst experimenting with this when I get chance (although I think it should be a new thread).

[Jatelka]

^^^ It should be a new thread, but one the flamingo would be very interested to read

[salviablue]

Being generally new to forums and the like, and a quick search didn`t reveal me an answer where does one think I should start the new thread? ( Sorry if its such a `noob` question). Maybe in a mushy thread but it may incorporate other psychedelics, so in a SSRI/SNRI thread maybe (but there isnt one?), ?

[Felix Guattari]

Pharmacology perchance?

[salviablue]

Ofcourse (maybe). Should get chance today sometime to type up report.

[salviablue]

-- Done it, and it resides in Pharmacology - Low dose psicolin mushrooms as an ssri/snri withdrawal control/possible replacement? For any one whom maybe interested. I have tried to keep it as "factual" as possible. --

[Songcycle67]

I doubt it would be particularly anti-anything. It would change the outlook to a degree, which could lead to anything from elation to despair. But I don't think it could be used as a long-term, daily dose medicine effectively. He's not a pharmacologist, but from SWIM's experience with the drug in this capacity it just gave him a slightly high feeling, no real negative or positive change in attitude though.

SWIM agrees with the poster who said it should be used as a catalyst. He believes that it takes time to integrate experiences and prepare for new ones and also believes that when it is taken it should be taken in the psychedelic range--120ug or so--to illicit a proper reaction. But that is his subjective idea.