How frequent is too frequent, and equally, how many psilocybin experiences are just enough for experiencing these fungi’s relict benefits? With the rising interest in psychedelic-assisted therapy, at-home enthusiasts are taking a closer look at safety practices for ‘magic’ mushroom use.
Those wishing to consume medcinal magic mushrooms should also be informed on appropriate dosing, to ensure a tailored and productive journey. The conditions of a psychedelic experience can vary highly from person to person, depending on your specific healing intentions and overall medical history.
Relishing in the tender complexities of ‘shrooms’ or ‘magic’ mushrooms should first be met by conscious mental and physical preparation, which is why we’re so glad to see you here, conducting your diligent research. In this article, you’ll learn about healthy psilocybin dosing frequency, both in terms of microdosing regimens and for more sparse, large-dose experiences.
This information could be used for education on safe consumption of medicinal dried mushrooms, but will also help guide your understanding of how many psilocybin-assisted therapy sessions are necessary to start noticing results.
Background on Therapeutic Psychedelic Dosage and Frequency
Psilocybin mushrooms, also known as ‘magic’ mushrooms, have been used for centuries for their mind-expanding, soul-grounding effects, and more recently, they’re being used for therapeutic purposes. However, the frequency of use and amount of mushrooms consumed can vary from person to person.
There are different species and strains of therapeutic mushrooms, with psilocybe cubensis being the most common. However, there are also poisonous mushrooms that can look similar to psilocybin mushrooms, so it’s important to be to identify psilocybin mushrooms correctly.
When consuming magic mushrooms, some people prefer to take them in dried form, while others use the “lemon tek” method, which involves soaking the mushrooms in lemon juice to potentiate their effects.
We don’t recommend that first-time or even second-time journeyers attempt to potentiate psychedelic effects. You should be familiar with your baseline reaction to psychedelic medicine, before adding more variables into the mix.
Some people choose to take a “heroic dose” or large dose of mushrooms, which can last for several hours. Others prefer to take lower doses, which are often accompanied by less intense visuals and cathartic releases. Often, people will choose to microdose mushrooms, which involves routinely or intuitively taking a sub-perceptual dose of psychedelic medicine.
Taking mushrooms can lead to a range of psychedelic effects, such as visual distortions and an altered perception of time. These enhancements of sensation can be very enjoyable and intriguing. Remember though, psychedelics can also have negative consequences, especially if mixed with SSRIs and other antidepressants.
People with predispositions to certain mental health conditions like psychosis and schizophrenia, are often ineligible to partake in psychedelic therapy due to the high potential for the onset or worsening of syptoms. Those with bipolar disorder should also speak with an experienced facilitator to ensure that psychedelic medicine is a safe route for them.
How Often Should You Take a Large Therapeutic Dose?
Though a “large dose” can have very different meanings from one person to the next, a minimum therapeutic psilocybin dose is typically 3.5 grams. At this measure, individuals typically experience comparable sensations of distorted visuals, minor synesthesia, and a warped sense of time.
This is often accompanied by a disillusion of preconceived schemas that portend positive transformation in the perceptions of our inner and outer worlds. Understanding the ideal frequency for embarking on therapeutic psychedelic journeys can be approached from several different lenses.
From a data-driven risk standpoint, psilocybin mushrooms are very safe for consumption, though its effects can sometimes lead to what some people would call a ‘bad trip’, or what we like to call a challenging experience. The most immediate and present effects would include heightened confusion or paranoia, reduced coordination, and overwhelming sensory stimulation.
Psychedelic mushrooms can technically be taken by a healthy individual on a daily basis, without causing any readily apparent hazards to your physical health. Should large doses of psilocybin be taken every day for prolonged periods of time? Almost definitely, no.
While the mushroom itself is a natural substance without any inherent constituents posing a danger to our health, taking any large dose of psychedelic medicines daily could cause terribly unnecessary internal mental wellness imbalance.
Generally, clinical studies have designated 3-4 week intervals between trips, to be an appropriate frequency. Though it should be made clear that these clinical trials do not expose subjects to this regimen, indefinitely. Meaning, dosing with psilocybin mushrooms every few weeks for years on end, isn’t recommended.
See, therapeutic approaches to psychedelic consumption shouldn’t reflect the regularity by which antidepressants are taken. It’s precisely the durability of their positive results that have gained psychedelic medicines such a notable position in our mental health industry.
In fact, the tolerance-building effects of psilocybin mushrooms make it almost impossible to experience consistent high levels of perceptual diversities. Taking psilocybin daily would perpetually require you to consume triple the amount of your last dose in order to witness steady levels of hallucinations.
If we’re addressing this question from a psychological point of view, constant exposure to these drastically altered states of mind could overload your brain with too much change, too quickly, and may result in sustained feelings of dissociation that are extremely unpleasant, to say the least.
In order to gain the most productive results from this medicine, it’s important to allow yourself time to properly integrate the experience. Processing such a substantial inner event cannot happen overnight.
For some, the wait could be weeks or several months and some people even find themselves digesting parts of their trip for years after it’s happening. Rushing the process of integration could negate the benefits of these medicines by blurring the lines of mental order and stability.
In most cases, it can be difficult to conceptualize the meaning of an abstract apparition while still in the haze of a psychedelic trip. Allowing your mind ample time to discern the significance of a trip’s nuances is extremely valuable for preserving the integrity of your conscious decision-making skills.
After a psychedelic experience, you should intend to hold an intrapersonal space of self reflection and self support through mental repose. Nurturing a balanced transition into and out of these states of consciousness are coequally important. From a spiritual perspective, the balanced practice of holding on and letting go should be recognized as a sacred, personal service.
Fostering transcendental healing in an emotionally sustainable way can only occur through our patient awareness, which in itself, is a practice of surrender and attachment to our highest good. Becoming acquainted with that which is below our corporeal surface shouldn’t always require diving headfirst into the torment waters of our minds.
Sometimes, a bird’s eye view will help us locate unconscious vices with much clearer direction. This is all to say that psychedelic medicines should be used as a tool, not a crutch.
Respect for the spirit of these rites should look like surrender, through the attitudes of patience and trust. Honoring their sacredness means allowing yourself the space to really, truly, integrate their teachings.
So the general rule of thumb, give yourself at least 3-4 weeks in between psychedelic trips to ensure the best rehabilitative results. After all, our goal is to become the change we seek without having to rely on an external substance—even if it’s naturally occurring.
How Often Should You Microdose?
Many people prefer to opt into microdosing regimens, instead. Microdosing involves ingesting much smaller doses of psilocybin mushrooms, usually .05-.25 grams. This route is taken by those who desire a gentler, long term build up of healing effects.
In fact, people with depression, anxiety, OCD , and even eating disorders have reported seeing great results from this approach. The experience of a microdose is very difficult to compare against large-dose trips.
While larger doses influence accelerated arrival at more all-encompassing mental destinations, microdosing can promote equally potent changes, for example, but in a much more subtle and slow paced way.
A proper microdose will never cause hallucinations of any kind. Instead, you may notice brighter and richer colors, a feeling of empathy and connectedness to everything including our planet, and a very seamless transition into more functional mental perspectives.
Therapeutic, intentional microdoses help us explore our behaviors and relationships from a more mentally steady place, whereas large doses often cause a much more rapid upending of self-limiting mental paradigms. So, how often is a microdose taken? Typically, a microdose is taken 3-5 days of any 7-day-week, over the course of a few months.
These intervals are set in place to prevent drug tolerance development. The two-day breaks in any given week allow your body to reset, removing the microdose from your system so the potency of upcoming doses aren’t affected by preceding ones.
Again though, just as with larger-dose trips, psychedelic mushrooms are not for everyday employment like antidepressants are. Psilocybin mushrooms are so promising because they don’t require prolonged self medication.
During our one to two-month microdosing regimens, we should be consciously and consistently extracting and integrating productive behaviors we’re noticing to be of help. This way, when our microdosing routine comes to end, we’ll have easy access to more intentional and proactive mental frames.
When to Expect Results From Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy
Now that we’ve discussed the two most common ways to consume psilocybin mushrooms, we can start painting a more comprehensive image of what psychedelic-assisted therapy looks like. Psychedelic-assisted therapy does not mean that a trip will be taking place every time you go into session.
Instead, you are working with a guide or facilitator to prepare for your journeys, to have support during the experience, and to get professional assistance with methods of integration.
Essentially, a healthy cycle of dosing is already built into the psychedelic-assisted therapy model. In clinical trials, patients with PTSD, depression, or anxiety are usually given anywhere from 3-6 psychedelic assisted therapy sessions with 3-4 weeks breaks in between.
Really, the number of times that you’ll have to embark on a psychedelic journey to attain your desired results, cannot be quantified before that day arrives, especially when our personal goals are constantly fluctuating according to outside circumstances.
Some people experience life changing results in just one psychedelic trip. For others, it takes three or four or maybe even five trips to meet more stable and consistent emotional bodies. We always tell our clients to focus on the journey that’s immidiately in front of them, as opposed to trying to prescribe a set number of journeys from the get go.
“Results” can be a vague term though. If you’re interpreting “results” as any small change that alters your perspective on existential circumstances or personal identities, then it’s very likely that you’ll experience these shifts from your very first trip.
The nature of a psychedelic journey is rooted in a sort of unveiling of our sociological conditioning. The simple experience of entering an altered state of mind is in itself, the result of acquiring very literal, novel outlooks. It allows our brain to step into new dimensions of our routine spaces that likely haven’t been explored in our day-to-day lives.
So yes, under these terms, results can be experienced from your first psychedelic-assisted therapy session, but it could take multiple sessions to expose the deeper roots of our psychological conditioning.
There really is no magic number for the amount of trips it would take to achieve your mental health goals, which is why pacing these experiences can help you get a better gauge on progress made thus far.
Taking The Next Step
Ultimately, whether you’re interested in starting a micro dosing regimen or feel ready to embark on a larger-dose psychedelic trip, listening to your intuition is the best way to get an accurate grasp of your mind’s and body’s needs.
Having a knowledgeable psychedelic guide is also of immense value. However, finding someone who aligns with your needs and intentions conditions can be somewhat tricky, especially in this freshly-formed space of psilocybin therapeutics.
If you’d like to connect with our pre-vetted network of psychedelic facilitators, we empower you to book a consultation with our psychedelic concierges. We would be honored to service your personal journey of growth and healing by answering any of your questions and providing guidance in whatever capacity it’s needed.
