Dose, Dosage, Deviation
Whether it’s your first time experimenting with mushrooms or your 1000th, knowing your proper microdose can be confusing.
I am not a doctor. These posts (and all other information blossoming from Aliud) are merely for educational purposes and not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Please consult a healthcare professional before treading these psilocybin-spiked waters.
DOSE
Whether it’s your first time experimenting with mushrooms or your 1000th, knowing your proper microdose can be confusing. It takes time, trial and error, patience, and self-awareness. Do you feel high? Are you getting drowsy? Have any subtle behavioral changes presented themselves to you? Have you noticed a change in your personal and interpersonal relationships? Has an overall sense of chill and calm washed over you? Are you crying for the first time in forever? These are just some of the questions you may ask yourself when testing different doses and seeing which one works best for you.
Often people ask me which microdose they should go with, but I can merely make suggestions as, well.. I am not them. It is ultimately up to you to decide which dose you feel most comfortable with and feel reaps the most benefits for you without posing any danger to yourself or others (by danger I mean rendering you unsafe to work and/or drive due to perceptual effects (read Microdosing and Its Benefits)).
As a rough guide, my suggestions are as follows (please note there are many other factors that can make you more or less sensitive to psilocybin, so don’t feel ostracized if these doses and descriptions don’t fit you exactly):
0.05 is typically ideal for those who’ve never experimented with mushrooms before, those who are extra sensitive to substances, those who are smaller in build, those who have a fast metabolism.
0.1 is typically ideal for the large majority of people. It’s not too little and not too much. It’s also a good starting point for those who’ve experimented with mushrooms before but have never microdosed because, from 0.1, they can gauge whether they need to dose down to 0.05 or dose up to 0.15.
0.15 is typically ideal for experienced ‘shroomers, those who may have a tolerance for psychedelics for whatever reason, those who are larger in build, those who have a slow metabolism.
0.2 is typically ideal for the same types as 0.15 but is, honestly, a microdose I see fit for people very rarely, if ever. Usually by this dose the person is definitely experiencing perceptual effects and, in my opinion, that is not a proper microdose.
DOSAGE
Though I suggest the “Fadiman Protocol” (which, by the way, Fadiman finds amusing it’s been dubbed that) of dosing once every three days (1 day on, 2 days off, 1 day on, 2 days off, and so on) — this is merely an introductory protocol; an easy-to-remember, logical starting point. When and if you feel confident enough, you can experiment with different protocols or make up your own. For example, sometimes I play around with 2 days on/2 days off or 3 days on/5 days off. We are all different — mentally, physically, spiritually — so it makes sense to tailor all things to our own unique makeup, sensitivities, and needs, and microdosing is no exception.
Fadiman has stated that he came to the 1 day on:2 days off protocol because he wanted people to feel:
Day 1: the microdose.
Day 2: the afterglow of the microdose — many people report the day after is better than the day of.
Day 3: back to normal (baseline) — life is all about contrast, and if you spend all of your time solely in a state of microdose/afterglow, you will lose the ability to see the ways in which you are benefiting from that microdose/afterglow.
As for how long one needs to microdose, I can’t say exactly. It depends from person to person because, again, there are so. many. factors. that come into play. A sensible-seeming rule of thumb I’ve heard/read is to:
Do it for a few months (maybe 2, maybe 3, maybe 6 — feel it out).
Take a two-week break to self-reflect and observe the lasting effects.
Return to microdosing if you feel you need to (some people don’t feel the need to).
I will attempt to discuss the implications of these lasting effects as they relate to brain structure and neuroscience in a future post.
DEVIATION
Capsules are measured one by one, by (sanitized) hand, on a precise scale. BUT, despite all of our meticulous efforts, we are merely human and not machines or A.I., so we allow ourselves a small amount of leeway. The deviation allowances are as follows:
Capsules: we use the average weight of 0.08g for the size 1 capsules, 0.1g for the size 0 capsules, and 0.14g for the size 00 capsules.
Contents: we allow +/-0.01g deviation from the stated weights. That is:
for 0.05g we allow 0.04-0.06g
for 0.1g we allow 0.09-0.11g
for 0.15g we allow 0.14-0.16g
for 0.2g we allow 0.19-0.21g
Psilocybin:Psilocin: at this time, we are unable to accurately control the psilocybin:psilocin ratio of each batch.
Stems:Caps: at this time, we are unable to accurately control the stem:cap ratio of each batch.
These disclaimers imply that each pack you get, though stated to be a certain weight, can differ slightly in strength and efficacy from pack to pack (remember your set + setting at time of dosing affect this too (read Good Trip Bad Trip)). We have plans to control all of these small deviations in the future but, as of now, we do not have the means to be able to do so. Please bear with us and keep supporting so we can keep improving our product, little by little, slowly but surely.
Sources:
https://www.reddit.com/r/microdosing/comments/bj5j11/paul_stamets_vs_james_fadiman_protocol/
https://psychedelicsalon.com/category/people/james-fadiman/
you deserve a safe alternative - ALIUD