We fear the unknown.

I remember feeling a sense of pride telling people that I’ve never taken any drugs… whilst holding a tequila drink in my right hand. I had the belief that any mind-altering drug (but not alcohol), would make you feel out of control. That ANY psychedelic drug led to a highly visual experience, or that it could trigger a psychotic episode and change you/ your personality.

I knew NOTHING about psychedelics. That is… until I microdosed mushies with my girlfriend at a bar crawl one night. But that’s a tale for another time 😉.

Being the curious kitty that I am, I asked our Instagram community if they’ve ever taken any psychedelics. I received the response above ^ and I thought it was the perfect way to open up conversations around psychedelics. Before we get into the Q&A with expert, Shift Wellness, let us look at the data:

Psychedelics Q&A

Before we get into the scientific density of this topic, let’s learn about Shift Wellness:

“Shift Wellness is more than a mushroom company. We are psychedelic industry pioneers & extreme sport athletes pushing the envelope of what is possible for the human body. Maximizing your full potential has implications far beyond the self. We are here to create a massive wave in the wellness industry, where every one has access to the medicine that fuels their inner and outer world.

Our mission is to bring high-quality products to market that are innovative and ground-breaking, highlighting the importance of the mind-body connection for peak performance. We want you to be performing at your best, feeling your best and operating at your best. We want you living your best life. 

This brand started from my own personal healing. I have suffered from migraines, cluster headaches, and daily tension headaches since I was 15 years old. I'm 34 now. I've probably spent more time in doctors' offices than I have anywhere else. I had every test and scan done imaginable and was prescribed basically every medication out there. Did some of them help with my migraines and headaches? Absolutely, but they all came with negative side effects. When I would tell my doctor about the side effects from the medication, I was then prescribed another medication to deal with those side effects. At one point, I was taking over 10 different medications daily. I became a shell of a human. I was depressed, couldn't sleep, my anxiety was at an all-time high, and I had completely lost interest in everything. I made the decision to break up with big pharma and slowly weaned myself off all medications with the help of a friend who is an NP.

I had read an article that psilocybin and LSD were used to treat cluster headaches in Canada. At the time, mushrooms seemed less intimidating than LSD for some reason, so I chose that medicine to experiment on myself with. I did two high-dose journeys with psilocybin and also incorporated microdosing.

It's been five years since I've been hospitalized for a cluster headache or a migraine attack, and my daily tension headaches are non-existent. Not only did my headaches subside, but I also stopped feeling the need to take my Adderall for my ADHD, and my anxiety is at an all-time low. I have more energy and mental clarity and noticed a huge difference in my ability to handle problems and shift my perspective when needed. I have also noticed an insane mind-body connection when it comes to my sports.

Mushrooms gave me the relief I needed from my migraines and headaches, along with so many other insane and life-changing benefits. They fueled the fire for me to completely shift my life and operate on a whole new level, and it just keeps getting better. I've never been more in control of my thoughts and actions than I have been now. It's like I was living on autopilot before and had no idea."

What is microdosing?

Microdosing psilocybin and LSD is increasing in popularity due to its powerful brain boosting effects and medicinal properties (neurogenesis). It is shifting from the underground world of Silicon Valley Biohackers to a wider circle of health and wellness enthusiasts as well as being used to help treat those with depression, anxiety, PTSD, ADHD, and more. Microdosing is the act of consuming sub-perceptual amounts of psychedelics, a dose that is approximately 1/10th to 1/20th of a large dose. For psilocybin, a typical microdose can be anywhere from .05g to .25g. For LSD a microdose can range anywhere from 2.5mcgs to 25mcgs. 

What happens when you microdose psychedelics like LSD or Psilocybin?

Microdosing causes parts of the brain which would normally not communicate together to communicate with one another. These brain connections, aka new neural pathways, are made by decreasing the activity in our Default Mode Network (DMN). The DMN in our brain is responsible for numerous mental activities such as thinking about the past/future, daydreaming, self reflection and thoughts of the self, past, future, and others.  When the DMN is overstimulated, our mental thoughts may often lead to those of a depressed or anxious state. Since micro dosing has been proven to slow down the activity of our DMN, it causes humans to naturally think in new ways which would otherwise be inaccessible to us. These new thought patterns and neural networks help us to remove and forget about depressive thoughts and allows people to be present in the current moment. This has been shown to specifically help people that suffer with depression and PTSD, as they are often stuck in repetitive thought patterns. 

A consistent microdosing routine can led to many positive outcomes, but it’s important to approach this journey with an open mind, free of expectations.  Release your expectations and the urge to control your journey and label it as positive or negative. Give yourself time to discover these new emotions and ways of thinking, and to process the new feelings and perspectives.  Remember, your brain is a muscle and muscles take time to develop.  Be consistent and patient!

How can psychedelics like LSD or psilocybin help?

Psychedelics share a similar chemical structure to serotonin, both are part of the Tryptamine family. Psychedelics, like serotonin, bind to the receptor called the 5 HT2A receptor and when this receptor is stimulated a number of things happen:

• There is an increase in production of brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) which is a pre cursor for neuroplasticity. BDNF is a protein that nurtures existing neurons and is also responsible for dendritic sprouting, which is the formation of new neural neurons and an increase in connectivity between them. 

• There is an increased transmission of glutamate which is a neurotransmitter that is most responsible for cognitive brain function. 

• Psychedelics promote neuroplasticity. Neuorplasticity is the brain’s ability to form and reorganize pathways and connections. This happens after brain injury or trauma, such as stroke or TBI. The brain’s capacity to reorganize allows the injury to heal and maintain vital functionality by making new and different connections. Neuroplasticity provides us with a brain that can adapt to not only changes inflicted by damage, but allows adaptation to any and all experiences and changes we may encounter

• Psychedelics decrease blood flow to the amygdala.  The amygdala is responsible for fear and emotions. Many people with depression, anxiety, ADHD have an increase in blood flow to the amygdala. This medicine reduces blood flow to the amygdala which is essentially starving fear from the brain. 

• We have 15 serotonin receptors in total and when you take something like an anti-depressant it’s working on all of them. The 5 HT2A receptor is specifically responsible for regulating your mood and this is the exact receptor that psychedelics attach to. 
  

Why do people microdose?

• The use of psychedelics has been shown to DECREASE depression, anxiety (general or social), PTSD, ADD/ADHD, addiction, mood disorders, bad habits and INCREASE creativity, productivity/focus, flow state, mind body connection, energy, deeper meditative states, enhanced perception and awareness, new habits. 
  

Pharmaceuticals vs PSYCHEDELICS: 

• Pharmaceuticals (may cause): depression, mental fog, loss of sex drive, fatigue, cancer, ulcers, anxiety, headaches, social isolation.

• Psychedelics (may cause): Happiness, mental clarity, love, health, ancestral healing, inspiration, creativity, wellbeing, neurogenesis, neural plasticity, reconnection, improved sleeping and addiction habits. 

• As depression can cause the brain to get stuck in to a negative way of thinking, multiple studies have shown that psychedelics increase connections in the brain and causes improvement in the patient’s mood months later, which was not seen with traditional antidepressant medication. 

THANK YOU, @ShiftWellness, for sharing your profound insight with us. If you have any other questions, reach out to them over Instagram!

If you enjoyed this article, comment your thoughts below or message me on instagram! As always, I hope you found this article insightful.

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xX,
Stephanie