Psychedelics, Bipolar Depression, and My Personal Protocol

 

                   

Disclaimer: What are Your Intentions For Growing or Using? 

Can People With Bipolar Have Psilocybin and Psychedelics?

The short answer is we really don't know. 

All I know is my experience, and that of 8 other bipolar friends I've talked to.

I'm trying to gather information the best I can, but this is not scientific, and it's all based on personal accounts. 

All of us have had psychedelics, and not only does it not kick us into psychosis, but it keeps us stable. No hypomania, no mania, no psychosis. 

No depression!!!! That's the biggest help for me. 

When I say no depression, I want to make it clear that it's not 100% perfect in taking it away. There are degrees of depression present at different times. When you have a more challenging psilocybin ceremony, the depression is a little stronger those two weeks. 

But it has completely taken away my suicidal thoughts. I never knew how heavy this burden was to carry, until it has been taken away. 

All glory to God!!! Truly!!! God lead me to these medicines, and God grows these beautiful plant medicines for us. Thank you Heavenly Parents!!!

 A Moving Target

My first dose of psilocybin was 3 grams. This was a great anti-depressant for 12 days. 

2nd dose 2.5 grams: dose lasted again for 12 days. 

3rd dose 2.5 grams: dose lasted for 12 days. This time I was hoping for the macro dose to last longer, by starting to microdose in between. 

The microdosing led to hypomania. I was directed by God to stop all microdosing, and to only macrodose. I asked how frequently and I was told every 3-4 weeks. At the time, it was feeling like a lot, really too much to take psilocybin every 1.5 to 2 weeks. 

So I was relieved to find out it would only be every 3-4 weeks. 

But what about the other 1-2 weeks that I would have depression coming back? What about covering that time? 

At the time, I didn't know what God would lead me to, but I knew that He would. That night I got a dream that was so clear! Usually that doesn't happen to me. 

In the dream, I popped in my mouth a ketamine lozenge. As I was waking up from the dream, I literally said out loud "oh, I'm supposed to take ketamine!" 

So I connected with one of the at home ketamine companies, and got the ketamine ordered. 

So for parts of February and all of March, I used ketamine to help fill in between the psilocybin ceremonies. 

It feels like all of this a bit like a moving target. The ketamine isn't helping like I was expecting that it would so I'm changing it up again. 

Psilocybin and Ketamine Protocol

I take between 2.5 to 4 grams of dried mushrooms every 3-4 weeks. I am slowly trying higher doses, to see if the psilocybin anti-depressant effects will last longer. I have not gone above 4 grams yet.

I have found that psilocybin lasts about 12-18 days, and then I can feel the depression coming back. I used to try to use psilocybin once per month, and then once or twice per month use a dose of an at-home ketamine lozenge. 

Week 1 - psilocybin mushrooms

Week 2 - still covered by psilocybin mushrooms

Week 3 - if I'm feeling the darkness of depression, then I will take a dose of ketamine

Week 4 - same as week 3

I did this twice, so for two months I tried this. The first ketamine lozenge was an absolute joke. The IV dose of ketamine I had was for 100mg. That is pretty close to 400mg of a lozenge by mouth. 

My doctor wanted to be super careful so she started me on 250mg. It did absolutely nothing but make my body a bit numb and hard to move. I didn't dissociate or have any kind of psychedelic effects, and it didn't do anything to help my mind be more open to therapy like ketamine usually does. 

This didn't surprise me, with such a low dose. I was curious to see what it would do though. I found out... nothing! I literally spent an hour in bed being totally and compltely bored. I meditated, I planned my week, I went over notes in my head for the class I'm taking. 

That ketamine dose didn't touch the depression AT ALL. 

My second lozenge of ketamine was for 375mg. This was closer to being therapeutic, with ever-so-slight psychedelic effects. But again, it didn't do anything for the depression. It gave me a huge headache that lasted for two days, which is very unusual for ketamine for me. Usually I have a mild headache that goes away after a couple of hours. 

The second dose of ketamine didn't help any with the depression either. Maybe some relief for a day or two? 

Ketamine Lozenges vs. Ketamine IV or IM

It totally blew me away the difference in taking ketamine by mouth instead of by IV(intravenous - it goes in your vein) or IM (intramuscular - it goes into your muscle). 

IV ketamine was easier on my body (less of a headache) but so incredibly therapeutic! It truly healed my depression!

You really need to get the right dose that is right for you. I was able to get to that dose through the IV and IM sessions. 

Once we switched to the IM, I have a feeling that they didn't get the dose right either. But it was 100% better than the ketamine lozenges by mouth! 

So that was just my experience. If you have only had the ketamine lozenges, and it didn't work well for you, don't give up just yet! Try ketamine IV or IM. It probably costs more, but it's more effective. 

My Current Protocol

So currently, I'm taking a macrodose of psilocybin mushrooms every 3 weeks. The dose is usually between 3-4 grams of dried mushrooms. 

I always do a ceremony around taking the mushrooms. That includes preparation with fasting, prayer, and clearing my space and protecting my space spiritually.