Are you curious about microdosing mushrooms as a means of medicine, but you’re not sure where or how to start?
Well, then welcome! You’re in the right place! I used to be that person, too, so intrigued by mushrooms yet too stuck on my bad experiences in my teen years to move forward, until finally I did and I haven’t turned back since.
Here, I’ve put together a Beginner’s Guide to Microdosing to make things a little simpler for you. I’ll explain the purpose of microdosing, the benefits of medicinal mushrooms, and how to get started with integrating psilocybin into your daily routine.
First things first…
What is microdosing?
Microdosing is when someone takes a dose of psychedelics that is too small to produce any perceptible effects, usually considered to be about 1/10 or 1/20 of a normal dose.
If a usual dose is 200 mcg, a microdose will be just 20 mcgs or less.
The goal is to receive some wanted effects of the substance without actually “feeling high” or noticing any symptoms and/or signs of intoxication.
Despite the small amount being taken, there is evidence to suggest that microdosing can still bring about some of the benefits observed with full-dose treatment without causing the intense and sometimes negative hallucinatory experiences.
What does microdosing do?
Psychedelics are known to primarily affect serotonin, a chemical messenger that helps nerve cells communicate with other cells in the body.
Serotonin is associated not just with mood, but also with cognition, sleeping, eating, thermoregulation, memory, and even physiological processes like vomiting.
Since serotonin is so widely important in the body, there are molecular regions called serotonin 2A receptors located throughout the central nervous system. Chemicals can bind to these receptors in order to stimulate or block the serotonin system. Although this mechanism is not fully understood, these receptors are believed to be the targets of psychedelics.
One hypothesis is that when the psilocybin binds to the serotonin 2A receptors, the brain cortex, responsible for cognitive, sensory, and motor functions, becomes excited, ultimately leading to hallucinations and other effects.
Some studies have even found psychedelics to increase neuroplasticity, which leads to the creation of more connections between neurons and could potentially explain the novelty of these intense psychological experiences.
Microdosing is theorized to work in the same fashion, but to a milder degree.
Some research also suggests that microdosing may work by fighting inflammation in the body. Inflammation is the result of the body’s immune system protecting you from infection, but can cause damage when the immune system is activated without any real danger. Long-lasting or chronic inflammation is implicated in a number of disorders, including auto-immune diseases and even mental health conditions like depression.
Studies on animals have shown anti-inflammatory effects from microdosing, leading some scientists to speculate that this could point to another potential mechanism of action.
Psychiatric interest in psychedelics is nothing new: in the 1950s and 60s, thousands of patients were experimentally given various psychedelics to treat alcoholism and other mental health disorders. It was only when the U.S. 1971 Controlled Substances Act was passed that much of this research came to an unfortunate halt.
After a nearly 40 year pause in this work, scientists are beginning to resume this research.
Landmark trials from 2014 and 2016 have already shown that LSD and psilocybin respectively improved mood and anxiety in patients with various life-threatening illnesses for up to a year after treatment, with many more studies underway.
Are there any benefits to microdosing?
There are many reasons that one may seek out microdosing as a form of medicine.
These reasons can vary from improving one’s quality of life to overcoming trauma. There is a strong possibility that microdosing with psilocybin might soon replace conventional antidepressants.
This is due in part to the incredible benefits that individuals experience when microdosing, which include:
-
Improved mood and a stronger sense of optimism
-
A drastic decrease in anxiety levels
-
Increased focus and fewer difficulties in concentration
-
Motivation and higher levels of energy
-
Less social anxiety and better handling of relationships
-
More creativity in their thought processes
-
Better sleep quality
-
Improved confidence and mental strength
-
Reduction in the symptoms of depression
-
A greater sense of self-worth
Mental Benefits of Microdosing:
-
Improved concentration and focus—particularly in ADHD
-
Getting into the flow more quickly—at work, hobby, or study
-
Increased creativity
-
Increased productivity
-
Improved problem-solving capability
-
Increased overall awareness
-
More balanced mood
-
Better decision-making ability
-
Making more conscious choices about health, lifestyle, well-being
-
More positive mindset
-
Decrease in depression (in a range from mild symptoms to clinical depression)
-
Less procrastination
Physical Benefits of Microdosing:
-
Improved sleep
-
More physical energy
-
Enhanced sensory perception
-
Reduced premenstrual syndrome (PMS)
-
Decreased pain levels
-
Less stuttering
-
Support in quitting smoking and other addictions
Spiritual Benefits of Microdosing:
-
Increased emotional awareness
-
Greater emotional connection with people
-
More presence
-
Increased Open-mindedness
-
Increased sense of wonder
-
Increased sense of belonging
-
Increased sense of unity
-
Increased connection with spirituality and/or life mission
-
Increased gratitude for life
Researchers believe psilocybin has the potential to also help curb addiction to nicotine, alcohol, cocaine, and even perhaps opioids.
One small study on nicotine addiction found that 80% of participants who underwent psilocybin therapy quit smoking, and 60% of them were still abstinent 16 months later, impressive compared to the 35% or less success rate of other therapies. Before being touted as a cure for cigarette smoking however larger studies would need to be conducted.
In addition to treating addiction, psilocybin has also shown impressive results in treating depression and death anxiety.
Based on surveys of people who microdose, the practice can result in many mental and social benefits like:
-
Improved mood: More than 25% of people surveyed reported increased happiness, optimism, well-being, peace, and feelings of calm. They reported fewer depressive symptoms.
-
Better focus: About 15% of people reported better focus, attention, and concentration.
-
Creativity: Nearly 13% said microdosing helped them feel more creative, curious, and open.
How often to microdose?
Since microdosing is not a professionally regulated or prescribed treatment, there is really no recommended dosing schedule.
Through internet forums and personal experimentation, people usually microdose 2, 3, or 4 times per week.
Below are the most common methods used:
Dr. Fadiman’s Approach (1 microdose every 3 days)
Dr. Fadiman recommends taking one microdose every 3 days so as to prevent changes in tolerance over time.
He says, “the first day you feel great. The second day you would feel half of that. And the third day you won’t feel anything.”
Week 1: Mon/Thu/Sun
Week 2: Wed/Sat
Week 3: Tue/Fri
Week 4: Mon/Thu/Sun
Dosage: Start with lowest dose in the first 2 weeks (0.2g dried mushrooms), then progress to a higher dose in the following weeks.
Balanced Microdose Approach (every other day)
This dosing schedule is most similar to the dosing schedule in my own microdosing experiment. Microdoses are taken 3–4 times per week (I microdosed 3–6 times per week, depending on how I felt at the time).
Week 1: Mon/Wed/Fri/Sun
Week 2: Tue/Thu/Sat
Week 3: Mon/Wed/Fri/Sun
Week 4: Tue/Thu/Sat
Dosage: As with the previous experiments, start with either a higher or lower dose, and then progress to the next dose after 1–2 weeks.
The thinking with these patterns is that the psilocybin could still be in your system for a up to two days after ingestion, so skipping a day or two allows the body to process and it.
The dosing schedule can last for a few weeks or a few months. In some rare cases, people consistently microdose for years.
How does microdosing work?
Exactly what psilocybin does to the brain to trigger changes in mood and behavior is still a big mystery, but we know that, acutely, when someone’s on a psychedelic drug, the brain communicates in a much different way than it was “programmed” to.
The programming begins in mid to late childhood to handle the roughly 90 to 100 billion neurons in the cerebral cortex, the outermost layer of the brain that plays a key role in higher-order functions such as perception, thought, memory, and judgment.
If all of those neurons could communicate with each other, the number of potential connections is probably higher than the number of atoms in the universe.
But the brain can’t function like that—it has to be efficient for its survival. So there’s a pruning process, where perceptions of the way we understand ourselves in the world are narrowed, and the ego-consciousness develops. And what happens to all of those neural connections is that some get prioritized and are very efficient, like highways with a lot of neural traffic going through, and the others are paired down and rarely used, like dirt roads.
That’s where psilocybin comes in—it can basically open up those dirt roads again and send a lot more traffic down them.
Psilocybin and other psychedelics that are serotonin HT2A receptor stimulators massively increase brain entropy, so you have all of the neurons talking to each other in a very open, non-focused, and less organized way.
At the same time, there’s a reduction of activity in the Default Mode Network (DMN), a network of interacting brain regions that’s active when you’re not focused on the outside world.
In other words, an inhibited DMN means there’s less of that stream of self-reflective thought going on that we associate with our independent thinking self.
When that goes away, and it’s combined with all of these novel neural connections, the brain is capable of making radically different associations and developing new understandings of reality.
For instance, if the operating paradigm of the brain is trauma-based and defines others and the world as “bad” and “unsafe,” it could be replaced with a larger paradigm of “goodness” (or at least a less rigid experience of negativity) that sees the essence of the universe as love, and thus produces more feelings of love and compassion.
Animal studies also suggest that psychedelic drugs, like ketamine, can prompt the growth of new neurons and branch between dendrites, the parts of brain cells that reach out and communicate with other brain cells.
It could be that these types of changes are unfolding in the days and weeks following a psilocybin session, and they represent a kind of fluidity and plasticity in the system. It’s like a plastic that’s been heated and becomes malleable enough to reshape. Eventually, it’s going to cool down, but you’ve established a new normal during this time.
Researchers say that the drug is augmenting the process of how people change their behavior by increasing their sense of openness, which could lead to a future world with less depression, anxiety, and addiction.
“In all of the disorders we’re studying, you’re essentially talking about people who are stuck in a very narrow mental and behavioral repertoire, and it’s very hard to get out once you’re there,” says Matthew W. Johnson (professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University and associate director of the Center for Psychedelic & Consciousness Research). “There are so many self-reinforcing properties—more negative thinking leads to less social interaction and then more focus on the addictive substance—and it’s that ‘stuckness’ that really seems to be affected by psychedelic experiences. They seem to supply clarity and mental flexibility that allows people to jump outside their patterns.”
How magic mushrooms affect the brain:
Brain scans of people on psilocybin have given scientists the most detailed picture to date of how entheogens work. The findings of two studies that have been published in scientific journals identify areas of the brain where activity is suppressed by psilocybin, which suggests that it helps people to experience memories more vividly.
In the first study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), 30 healthy volunteers had psilocybin infused into their blood while inside MRI scanners (which measure changes in brain activity). The scans showed that activity decreased in “hub” regions of the brain – areas that are especially well-connected with other areas.
The second study, published online by the British Journal of Psychiatry, found that psilocybin enhanced volunteers’ recollections of personal memories, which the researchers suggest could make it useful as an adjunct to psychotherapy.
Professor David Nutt, from the Department of Medicine at Imperial College London, the senior author of both studies, said:
“Psychedelics are thought of as ‘mind-expanding’ drugs so it has commonly been assumed that they work by increasing brain activity, but surprisingly, we found that psilocybin actually caused activity to decrease in areas that have the densest connections with other areas.These hubs constrain our experience of the world and keep it orderly. We now know that deactivating these regions leads to a state in which the world is experienced as strange.”
The intensity of the effects reported by the participants, including visions of geometric patterns, unusual bodily sensations and altered sense of space and time, correlated with a decrease in oxygenation and blood flow in certain parts of the brain.
The function of these areas, the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), is the subject of debate among neuroscientists, but the PCC is proposed to have a role in consciousness and self-identity.
The mPFC is known to be hyperactive in depression, so psilocybin’s action on this area could be responsible for some antidepressant effects that have been reported. Similarly, psilocybin reduced blood flow in the hypothalamus, where blood flow is increased during cluster headaches, perhaps explaining why some sufferers have said symptoms improved under psilocybin.
Psilocybin decreased brain activity in the medial
prefrontal cortex and posterior cingulate cortex.
In the British Journal of Psychiatry study, 10 volunteers viewed written cues that prompted them to think about memories associated with strong positive emotions while inside the brain scanner. The participants rated their recollections as being more vivid after taking psilocybin compared with a placebo, and with psilocybin there was increased activity in areas of the brain that process vision and other sensory information.
Participants were also asked to rate changes in their emotional wellbeing two weeks after taking the psilocybin and placebo. Their ratings of memory vividness under the drug showed a significant positive correlation with their wellbeing two weeks afterwards.
In a previous study of 12 people in 2011, researchers found that people with anxiety who were given a single psilocybin treatment had decreased depression scores six months later.
Dr Robin Carhart-Harris, from the Department of Medicine at Imperial College London, the first author of both papers, said:
“Psilocybin was used extensively in psychotherapy in the 1950s, but the biological rationale for its use has not been properly investigated until now. Our findings support the idea that psilocybin facilitates access to personal memories and emotions.”
“Previous studies have suggested that psilocybin can improve people’s sense of emotional wellbeing and even reduce depression in people with anxiety. This is consistent with our finding that psilocybin decreases mPFC activity, as many effective depression treatments do. The effects need to be investigated further, and ours was only a small study, but we are interested in exploring psilocybin’s potential as a therapeutic tool.”
The researchers acknowledged that because the participants in this study had volunteered after having previous experience of psychedelics, they may have held prior assumptions about the drugs which could have contributed to the positive memory rating and the reports of improved wellbeing in the follow-up.
Functional MRI measures brain activity indirectly by mapping blood flow or the oxygen levels in the blood. When an area becomes more active, it uses more glucose, but generates energy in rapid chemical reactions that do not use oxygen. Consequently, blood flow increases but oxygen consumption does not, resulting in a higher concentration of oxygen in blood in the local veins.
In the PNAS study, the volunteers were split into two groups, each studied using a different type of fMRI: 15 were scanned using arterial spin labelling (ASL) perfusion fMRI, which measures blood flow, and 15 using blood-oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) fMRI. The two modalities produced similar results, strongly suggesting that the observed effects were genuine.
The studies were carried out with a Home Office licence for storing and handling a schedule 1 drug and were approved by NHS research ethics committees. All the volunteers were mentally and physically healthy and had taken hallucinogenic drugs previously without any adverse response. The research involved scientists from Imperial, the University of Bristol and Cardiff University and was funded by the Beckley Foundation, the Neuropsychoanalysis Foundation, Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, and the Heffter Research Institute.
Are there any side effects of microdosing?
With microdosing, you are never sure just what outcomes the process will have. Some people will experience a symptom like anxiety getting better, while others will notice it worsening.
It’s also important to keep in mind that your mindset going into a microdose session will set the ground for your entire experience. Meaning, you’ll want to almost manifest what you want your experience to look like. Imagine it as an uplifting, motivating, happy experience. Otherwise, it could heighten negative emotions if you go into it with a negative headspace.
The most commonly listed negatives of microdosing are:
-
Physical side effects like poor sleep, stomach issues, and headaches
-
Poor focus
-
Higher anxiety
-
Lower energy
-
Worse mood
Where can I find psychedelic substances for microdrosing?
Most local or state laws in the U.S. prohibit the use of LSD or magic mushrooms, and so your options are probably limited.
Unfortunately you can’t walk into a pharmacy, a doctor’s office, or a grocery store (yet!) to find what you are looking for, and so illegal, black-market options are your only choices.
If you live in Oregon, your situation could be different, as the state became the first to legalize mushrooms in late 2020.
Over the last few years, some cities in the U.S. have changed the legal status of psilocybin as well. The drug is currently decriminalized in the following cities:
-
Oakland and Santa Cruz, California
-
Denver, Colorado
-
Ann Arbor and Detroit, Michigan
-
Sommerville, Cambridge, and Northampton, Massachusetts
-
Washington, D.C.
Things to consider before diving into mushroom medicine…
There’s a few steps to consider before diving fully into starting your microdosing experience:
-
Journal your intentions beforehand – this is important. Manifest what you want your experience to be. Envision what you expect to get out of your experience.
-
Start journaling everything atleast a week before your first dose. Make sure to include things like: your mood throughout the day, your concentration and energy levels, and any specific areas of your life you want to improve in; maybe paying more attention to your spouse, being a better parent, or just hoping to see an overall positive shift in mindset.
-
The purpose of microdosing is to improve aspects of your life, which won’t happen unless you have taken the time to reflect on the aspects of your life you want to change.
-
Once you begin taking your microdoses, after a week of journaling, it is essential that you continue the daily journaling process. Reflect on your mood, concentration levels, and what you did to improve upon your goals.
-
With journaling, microdosing can potentially change your life. Without journaling, you are blindly grasping for improvements.
-
-
Measuring your microdose – Often, someone will attempt to microdose mushrooms, but will take WAY too much! It is essential that you remember the “micro” in microdose.
-
Frequently, people will think to themselves, “Oh, I don’t feel any different, I must not have taken enough, I’ll have some more.” And then be operating on a low, not-microdose. If you do this frequently it will nerf your tolerance, and you may not get the long term benefits of microdosing.
-
If you have never microdosed before, a good starting point is 0.1 grams of dried mushrooms. Depending on your body size you can go higher, perhaps up to 0.2 grams, but it is better to start low for a month and then recalibrate.
-
-
Scheduling – Once you have prepared your doses, you need to decide how you are scheduling your microdosing journey. Even at such a tiny dose, your body can still build up a natural immunity fairly quickly, so it is important that you take breaks.
-
The most famous and classical schedule is a microdose every 3 days. The idea behind this is on the first day you feel the full effects, on the second day you still feel about ½ the effects as the substance is still in your body, and the third day is a tolerance break. If you stick with this schedule, taking 0.1 grams every 3 days, you should manage to avoid building up a tolerance.
-
Some people also do it every other day, which may work for them. However, for beginners, it’s suggested to do it every third day.
-
Another common regime is one week on and one week off. This would average out to every other day, but by having a full week off, you can rebuild your tolerance.
-
Since there hasn’t been a lot of hard core scientific study on the best regimes, you should choose the one that seems most appealing to you, and stick with it for a minimum of a month.
-
The key here is consistency. A lot of the benefits of microdosing come over time, not on the first or second day, so whichever schedule you choose, make sure you stick by it. As you record in your journal your progress, by about a week in you should be noticing significant improvements to focus, creativity, and ability to get into states of flow.
-
-
Listen to your body – It is important that you stick with your original schedule for at least a month to give your body and mind time to adjust, and for you to have had enough time to make adequate reflections on the effectiveness of your microdosing journey in your journal.
-
However, after your first month, depending on how you feel, you can rejig your regime. Every person is different, as is how their body reacts to a drug. If you are a bigger person, for example, perhaps you might want to add a little more. Don’t go overboard, but upping your dose to 0.2-0.3 grams may be reasonable. Or perhaps you feel you don’t need to take as much as you currently are, and bring down the schedule to once a week.
-
You can figure out how to shift your process by going back and reading through your journal, and seeing how you have felt on days where you took a dose, and how you felt when you were on an off day.
-
Everyone is different, so just listen to your own personal body and emotions to figure out what is right for you. Microdosing mushrooms is an inexact science, so you just have to do what is right for you personally.
-
Eventually, maybe after a month, or maybe 3 months or a year, you will feel like you don’t have to be microdosing any longer. You may feel like you retain the benefits even if you are not taking a weekly dose. Once this happens, feel free to take a protracted break. This could be a full month off, or longer. It may even be a year or multiyear period, or perhaps you can switch to only microdosing when you have something specific you need a boost for, such as a stressful social situation or a date. While you are in this break, it’s important that you continue to journal. For one, this is still beneficial for you. But for another, this will help you decide when and if you should start microdosing again.
-
-
Improve other aspects of your life – Remember, if you are microdosing, it should be to improve specific aspects of your life, such as your concentration, ability to speak in social settings, etc. You are not just taking magic mushrooms to get high. In fact, if you are getting high, you are doing it wrong.
-
The entire time you are microdosing, you should keep in mind your goals, and be recording daily in your journal how much progress you have made towards said goals. Something that can help is that when you are journaling, set a checklist of things to try to do the next day. Take it slow, take baby steps. Make realistic goals, that are within reach.
-
While you are microdosing, you may also try to become healthier in your day to day life. Not only will microdosing make this easier, but by being healthy, the positive benefits will multiply. Some examples of areas you can try to become healthier in are: eating better, exercising at least a couple times a week (yoga, cardio, hiking) and having a better sleep schedule. Meditating is also a fantastic way to boost your microdosing experience.
-
Something important is to remember that microdosing mushrooms is not a cure-all. At best it will help you achieve your goals, it won’t achieve them for you.
-
Get Involved:
Join the world’s largest mobile microdose study
Apply for psychedelic research study at Johns Hopkins
Synthesis Psychedelic Retreat
Find Retreats
Additional Resources:
Books:
-
How To Change Your Mind by Michael Pollan
-
The Psilocybin Connection: Psychedelics, the Transformation of Consciousness, and Evolution on the Planet– An Integral Approach
-
Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures
-
The Hidden Kingdom of Fungi: Exploring the Microscopic World in Our Forests, Homes, and Bodies
-
This is Your Mind on Plants by Michael Pollan
-
The Psilocybin Mushroom Bible: The Definitive Guide to Growing and Using Magic Mushrooms
-
Fantastic Fungi: Expanding Consciousness, Alternative Healing, Environmental Impact
-
Food of the Gods: The Search for the Original Tree of Knowledge A Radical History of Plants, Drugs, and Human Evolution
-
Mycelium Running: How Mushrooms Can Help Save the World
-
The Microdosing Guidebook: A Step-by-Step Manual to Improve Your Physical and Mental Health through Psychedelic Medicine
