Getting Started with Microdosing: A Guide
After learning about microdosing and its benefits and deciding on the protocol and substance to use, it’s time to get practical. This article will take you through the steps to follow and the mistakes to avoid when microdosing.
Before anything else, it’s worth mentioning that microdosing is not recommended in any of the following cases:
- When you are pregnant or breastfeeding
- If you’re younger than 18 years old
- Microdosing in combination with drugs like lithium carbonate, tramadol, antidepressants, and anti-anxiety drugs
- If you have a physical or mental condition
- Microdosing when undergoing extreme situations like grief
Another thing worth noting is that this guide is in line with the Fadiman Protocol. However, you can change this protocol to suit your microdosing needs. The Fadiman Protocol is one of the most popular microdosing protocols today. It makes it easier for microdosers to differentiate between non-microdosing days and microdosing days.
The Fadiman Protocol is excellent for people who are new to microdosing. It’s a three-day cycle that spans up to eight weeks and rests for two to four weeks. Here’s what the protocol looks like:
First Day: Microdosing day
Second Day: Transition Day
Third-Day: Normal day
Fourth Day: Second microdosing day
Before we continue with the steps to follow, let’s require some of the mistakes to avoid.
Microdosing Mistakes to Avoid
There are mistakes that people usually make when microdosing, and this prevents them from enjoying the effects of microdosing. Read on to find out the most common microdosing mistakes to avoid.
Taking Too Small of a Dose
Most microdoses don’t notice any changes after following their microdosing routine. They don’t usually notice any differences between microdosing days and non-micro dosing days. People make a general mistake when microdosing because they think it’s 100% sub-perceptual. This implies that you shouldn’t notice anything at all.
Microdosing should not cause you to experience psychedelic effects like trouble focusing, loss of reality, and visual distortions. However, it should let your experiences increase in ease and awareness. Microdosing doesn’t work like regular antidepressants or prescription medications that require months for their effects to kick in. The effects of microdosing take a few days to kick in, and this can be on non-microdosing days.
If you don’t get any experience with microdosing, you should consider slightly increasing the dose you take.
Taking Too High of a Dose
Finding your sweet spot is important, but this should not alter your daily activities. If you notice any of these signs, it means you are taking too high of a dose.
- Hyperfocus
- Trouble being present
- Easily distracted
- Restlessness
- Increased sleepiness
Decrease your current dose if you consistently experience any of the above.
Your Current Substance Doesn’t Fully Suit You
People usually make interesting findings through trial and error. For example, they realize that psychedelic substances don’t work the same way. If you don’t like your current progress in your microdosing journey, you may need to try another substance.
Other Substances Overshadow Microdosing Effects
Cannabis and alcohol are the most common substances people take, mostly for numbing effects. These substances place key roles in our lives today, and people use them for various reasons. Microdosing also has benefits it offers. However, because cannabis and alcohol are strong substances, it’s best to avoid them when microdosing.
Microdosing Steps to Follow
Now that you know the mistakes to avoid let us go through the microdosing steps.
Step 1: Preparing the Microdose
One of the most important aspects of microdosing is knowing how to accurately measure the dose. It’s advisable to microdose with liquid or dried substances rather than fresh ones. Maintaining consistency with each dose is easier with dried or liquid substances.
It’s best to use an electric scale when measuring your first microdose. You also need to ensure that it can measure up to two decimals. When you measure your microdose, it’s best to start small and increase gradually until you get to your sweet spot.
Here are the recommended doses for microdosing each substance:
- Fresh microdosing truffles: 0.5 to 2.0g
- Dried magic truffles: 0.2 to 1.0g
- Dried magic mushrooms: 0.1 to 0.3g
- LSD: 5.0 to 15.0 microgram (You’ll need volumetric dosing for this)
Step 2: Take the First Microdose
First Microdosing Day
Your first microdosing day should be a day without any major activity, like family or work. It’s best to take the first dose on an empty stomach, and this can be before 10 AM. This will ensure that you feel the effects quickly. Another reason to take the first dose in the morning is that you’ll experience increased energy levels during the day.
To help you navigate your first microdosing day, here are answers to some common questions:
What if the microdose is too strong?
You will likely experience restlessness, a headache, confusion, and a lack of focus if your microdose is too strong. Here are some tips to help you navigate a bad experience:
- Take a walk
- Relax and meditate
- Surrender
- Try breathwork exercises
- Listen to nice music.
How do you react to an unpleasant physical reaction?
People can get unpleasant physical reactions from microdosing, such as fatigue, nausea, and headache. If you have any of these experiences, you’ll need to investigate the issue, and here’s what you should do.
- The first thing is to check if the reaction is purely physical, which may result from a high dose. In some cases, it may be that you need to switch to a different substance.
- Try to connect with the feeling you get and ensure that you stay focused.
- Listen to what the sensation is trying to tell you and determine what it requires from you.
Whatever the case may be, the important thing is to ensure that you are aware of yourself and know how to take action.
Step 3: Keep a Microdosing Journal
This is an important thing to do if it’s your first microdosing experience. Daily journaling of your feelings, insights, and observations from the first microdosing day is vital. This will allow you to quickly identify the changes as they take place. The importance of collecting insights cannot be overemphasized.
There are different journal questions and topics that you can include, and this should give you insight into your mood, work, study, and physical changes. Reflecting on these aspects will also help you be more aware of your psychedelic journey.
Step 4: Creating Subtle Awareness
Second Day: Transition Day
The day after your first microdose is called the transition day. Transition days are as significant as your microdosing days. It’s important to note that the substance you microdose will remain in your body and brain for two days. During the transition days, you’ll need to be aware of your feelings, thinking, and experience. It’s also important to ensure you don’t overthink or judge these feelings.
Step 5: Resetting the Body
Third-Day: Normal Day
This is a non-micro dosing day, also called a normal day, when the substance is no longer in your system. Including normal days in your microdosing schedule will help you avoid building tolerance to the substance. This will also make it easier for you to differentiate between transition days and microdosing days.
Step 6: Identifying your Sweet Spot
Fourth Day: Second Microdosing Day
The fourth day is when you take the second microdose of the substance. On this day, you can take less, more, or the same amount you took on the first day. One of the most important aspects of microdosing is finding your ideal dose, which is called the sweet spot. The key thing to remember is that microdosing should alter your social interactions and daily activities.
You’ve found your sweet spot if you feel the presence of the substance and it doesn’t interfere with your daily activities. Here are some things to look out for to help you identify your sweet spot:
- If you forget that you microdose during the day
- You start to feel like you can see through a magnifying glass, of you have a sense of wonder during the day
- When the day ends, you think, reflect, and feel it was a great day.
Irrespective of the case, you need to be aware of the presence of the substance in your system. It’s advisable not to use any motorized device until you find your sweet spot.
Step 7: Creating Balance
Day 4 to 30
Even though microdosing is a strong tool, it’s not advisable to microdose every day. Always remember that less is more. Also, psilocybin, LSD, and other substances stay in the body for up to 48 hours. Microdosing daily will only cause your body to build a tolerance to the substance, which can grow into a habit.
With that, you won’t be able to monitor the effect of microdosing on your level of creativity, mood, and productivity. You shouldn’t develop tolerance to the substance if you follow the Fadiman Protocols.
Conclusion
Microdosing is the practice of consuming little quantity of a psychedelic, and this is usually around 5-10% of the dose. The goal of microdosing is to improve the quality of life. Microdosing offers a range of effects, including clearer thinking, increased focus, positive mood, awareness, and creativity.
After reading this guide, you are ready to start microdosing and only need to select a substance. Psilocybin is one of the most common substances that people microdose for its benefits. You can learn more about psilocybin and its benefits on Microdose Bros.
Buy magic truffles now at Microdose Bros online store. We ship discreetly in Europe.
Disclaimer
The above and other content on Microdose Bros is for educational and informational purposes alone. This does not substitute consultation with healthcare professionals or professional medical advice. We recommend consulting a healthcare provider or medical professional if you need medical treatment, diagnosis, or advice.
