Effects - Is it true Acid can affect your health permanently?

[snowfield]

my friend told me not to even try acid because you can get other illnesses from it. when she tried it her immune system got affected and its hard for her to heal her wounds and things like that.

my brother told me if you take acid you might not ever distinguish which is reality or not...forever, and his friend got permanently damaged by it and his friend thinks people might kill him even to this day.

this confuses me because when i search about it, theres nothing really dangerous about acid.

[HandyMan81]

Chronic Effects

The long-term effects of LSD use can be both good and bad. There are cases of people who claim to have had their entire lives turned around, for the better, due to LSD use. On the other hand, some people have been hospitalized by so-called "LSD psychosis." In the late 1960s, several studies indicated possible chromosome breakage due to LSD use. Some people report experiencing "LSD flashbacks" -- brief vivid repetitions of a previous LSD experience.
The effects of LSD are very strong and profound. Many people have claimed to have discovered their inner selves under the influence of LSD. One interesting analogy was made by Professor Jeffrey M. Blum of the University of Buffalo School of Law:

"The problems posed by LSD, for example, in some ways resemble those presented by scuba diving. Each is seen as a form of exploration that opens new vistas. Hence participants often find the activity enormously stimulating and inspiring. Each activity poses a small but significant risk of serious personal harm, these being death in one and aggravation of pre-existing states of mental instability for the other. Untrained, unsupervised use of unchecked substances or equipment are ill-advised in both cases." (Blum, 1990)

LSD also has shown to have therapeutic usefulness. It has been successful in treating some forms of schizophrenia (Hoffer, 1970). Another study found notable success in treating terminally-ill cancer patients: two-thirds of the subjects showed positive change in anxiety, emotional tension, psychological isolation, fear of death, and the amount of pain medication needed (Pahnke et al., 1970). Studies that have shown LSD useful in treating alcoholism and other addictions are contradictory and may be inconclusive. Pahnke's group (1970) reported moderate success in treating alcoholism, but Ludwig (1970) found less-than-encouraging results. It's important to note, though, that both of these studies used vastly different treatment styles and dosages of the drug. Some users of LSD experience what is clinically referred to as LSD psychosis, schizophrenic-like disorders that seem to be triggered by using the drug. However, in careful analysis of LSD psychosis patients, it appears that those who have strong family histories of major psychosis or psychopathology are more vulnerable than those who do not (Tsuang et al., 1982). Vardy et al. (1983) reported similar findings, as well as that LSD psychotics have significantly higher rates of parental alcoholism than control groups. In a survey of five-thousand individuals who had used LSD a total of twenty-five-thousand times, Cohen (1960) found 1.8 psychotic episodes per thousand ingestions, 1.2 attempted suicides, and 0.4 completed suicides -- figures consistent with the those of the general population. Regarding dangers of psychosis in therapeutic uses of LSD, Pahnke et al. (1970) notes:

"Since 1963 at the Spring Grove State Hospital, and now at the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, over 300 patients have been treated with LSD without a single case of long-term psychological or physical harm directly attributable to the treatment, although there have been two post-LSD disturbances which have subsequently responded to conventional treatment."

Bad reactions to LSD are almost certainly dependent on the user. It is becoming increasingly easier to diagnose schizophrenics clinically as patients suffering physical disorders -- these people should be very cautious, if not completely avoidant of truly powerful psychoactive drugs like LSD. There are another class of people who use LSD irresponsibly, ignoring important factors like set and setting -- bad reactions, more acute then chronic, are likely to occur here as well. Really the only serious physiological concern about LSD use has been that it may cause chromosome damage -- this was first reported by Cohen et al. in 1967. These findings were seldom replicated, and were contradicted by other studies (Loughman et al., 1967; Bender et al., 1968; Pahnke, 1970). In 1977, Maimon Cohen, one of the invesigators who first reported this a decade earlier, stated that no conclusions could be drawn based on existing evidence (Cohen et al., 1977).
The phenomena of LSD flashbacks has been over-sensualized by the media for many years. Flashbacks are associated with highly emotional experiences and often happen to people who have never used psychedelic drugs. A frightening war memory, being raped, or even getting married, can all trigger flashbacks quite some time later. Thus, an emotional experience on LSD can also cause flashbacks. Flashbacks also occur due to post-traumatic stress disorder, associated with victims of disaster and extreme violence -- it is estimated that 1% of the general population suffers from this ("Journey for Better Life," 1992).

Conclusion

LSD is a very potent drug, but is physically quite safe and non-toxic. Its effects include mild euphoria and anxiety, altered perceptions, and the ability to pass between states of consciousness. Visual hallucinations are the most noticeable by users. The acute effects taper off as time progresses and are usually gone by the next morning.
Chronic effects of the drug can be positive and negative. Positive effects include spiritual contact and self-exploration; the most severe negative effect is known as LSD psychosis. LSD has shown to have therapeutic usefulness, although research has been severely limited for the last several decades. LSD psychosis has been linked to forms of schizophrenia, and thus, to some physiological disorders -- it appears to be dependent on the user, and not on the drug.

Reputation Comments on this post:

	great answer, plus references! this is how all posts should look
	Incredibly useful and informative
	If this is copy-n-pasted you should credit the original author

[Desertfox]

If you have a previous history of underlying mental disorders or are predisposed(family members) to mental illness than you should not be taking psychedelic substances at all. period. LSD is one of the safest to ingest if you do, the only real danger is developing schizophrenia earlier in life but this only applies to people that were going to develop the condition despite LSD ingestion (same goes for marijuana too). Read up, educate yourself, and then decide if its worth the plung, I know SWIM recommends it ecstatically but you're your own mind so decide for yourself.

[snowfield]

Originally Posted by desertfox

if you have a previous history of underlying mental disorders or are predisposed(family members) to mental illness than you should not be taking psychedelic substances at all. Period. Lsd is one of the safest to ingest if you do, the only real danger is developing schizophrenia earlier in life but this only applies to people that were going to develop the condition despite lsd ingestion (same goes for marijuana too). Read up, educate yourself, and then decide if its worth the plung, i know swim recommends it ecstatically But you're your own mind so decide for yourself.

people keep on pertaining about "swim" what is swim or who is swim!?!?!?!!?!?!?!?

[Joe-(5-HTP)]

I would like to add that having horribly bad trips can cause Traumatic stress which can turn into Post traumatic stress disorder.

Originally Posted by snowfield

people keep on pertaining about "swim" what is swim or who is swim!?!?!?!!?!?!?!?

S-w-i-m (swim) = Someone Who Isn't Me. Use it so you don't self-incriminate yourself.

[HandyMan81]

Originally Posted by snowfield

people keep on pertaining about "swim" what is swim or who is swim!?!?!?!!?!?!?!?

Someone Who Isnt Me

[Potter]

It can not effect your immune system in such a manner. Theoretically a chronic abuser may stop keeping up daily health care like sleeping, eating, washing, this may result in getting sick, but in no way does the chemical it self interact with the immune system.

LSD does not produce true hallucinations, that is to say, that the visual disturbances it causes fall apart under scrutiny, they are distinguishable from reality. Fever (from illness) and deleriant drugs like datura and antihistamines DO cause hallucinations that are indistinguishable from reality, they are also very dangerous, and not related to psychedelics.

[helikophis]

Originally Posted by Potter

LSD does not produce true hallucinations, that is to say, that the visual disturbances it causes fall apart under scrutiny, they are distinguishable from reality. Fever (from illness) and deleriant drugs like datura and antihistamines DO cause hallucinations that are indistinguishable from reality, they are also very dangerous, and not related to psychedelics.

To be clear, while the visual disturbances are generally quite easily distinguishable from reality, obsessions and delusions that accompany the experience can sometimes be difficult to distinguish from reality, especially for individuals with pre-existing mental conditions. This is why people end up calling ambulances on LSD - they become obsessed with the delusion "I am going to die, this is killing me," and are unable to remember/understand that they are not actually going to die, it is just the drug.

This is one of the reasons why it is important to have sober trip-sitters; sober contacts who are aware of the situation; or at the very least competent, experienced psychonauts along for the ride when entering any LSD experience.

LSD experiences can stress your immune system rather considerably. The elephant under my bed believes that this is due primarily to exhaustion and depletion of nutrients. Factors include the disturbance of sleeping and feeding patterns associated with the trip, increased physical and mental activity (yes, mental activity expends energy), elevated metabolic rates, unusual excretory activity (sweating), and possibly gastrointestinal disturbance (which is sometimes reported).

Note that these disturbances are not likely to be permanent: rest and appropriate care of the body should return it to good working order within a few days. The elephant would recommend that psychonauts use proper nutrition, possibly including taking vitamin supplements or digestive enzymes; take care not to exhaust themselves during the trip, and use the day afterward to rest, recover, and reflect.

Finally, although Potter dismisses it, the elephant would not be quick to dismiss some more direct influence on the immune system. The elephant believes that there are some significant interactions between the nervous and immune systems, whereby mental state can affect immune functioning.

Bear in mind that all this is simply nonsensical elephantish speculation, and you would be wise to ignore it.

[Potter]

Heli makes a good point. Originally thought that was along the lines of "Took acid and it destroyed my immune system now I've got not WBCs", which won't happen.

However, drugs take a toll on your body, if you're getting sick, LSD is going to use up energy you're body should be using to fight infection, it's certainly not going to make things better. Add in the loss of sleep and often poor eating that goes along with psychedelic use, you can be asking for trouble.

Don't do drugs when your sick!