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Topic: Intro and Shroom note by newbie (Read 9127 times) |
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unclfuzzy
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Hi all. I've been visited by the beast every two years since I was 16 (now 37). 6 years ago, I got introduced to Imitrex injections at the emergency room and found the first relief I'd ever experienced. Two years ago I cowered with clenched teeth for months waiting for the beast to come, but it never did. For the first time in half my life I missed an episode. I thought I was cured.
Two weeks ago though, I was driving home from Maine to Maryland and got smacked in the eye on 95 South. I got home, called my GP and had him call me in a script for Imitrex self-injection (tried the nasal spray 4 years ago but it's just no where near as effective). It was Friday and by the time I found out that the price had doubled and my insurance wouldn't pay for the injectible version any more Doctor's hours were over. On call doc ignored my page, and since I just got laid off (go Worldcom!), I decided to deal with the pain in the short term rather than spring for the $120 for two doses.
I went to see a new neurologist recommended on OUCH and he has me on Prednisone. It's promising, but I had a couple of breaktrough CHs on the 3rd and 4th days taking it. I'm using the nasal Imitrex and will get some Oxygen Monday to give that a try.
In the meantime, I discovered this site and this wonderful community. Reading through the posts on shrooms, I remembered that a little over two years ago I had had a weak mushroom tea while visiting Amsterdam. I didn't take enough to notice any effects and I had pretty much forgotten about it until now. I now believe that that weak tea spared me my bi-annual nightmare and am looking forward to dosing again as soon as I can.
If I were able to afford it, I'd be on a plane to Amsterdam right now, but I guess I'll be cultivating some for next time and praying the Prednisone and Imitrex keep life bearable through this episode.
Couple of questions:
Can I still buy spores legally through the mail (not sure how old the growing guide I've got is, and I wouldn't dream of asking anyone to send me mature shrooms)?
If I grow some now, dry them, freeze them, etc., will they still have any punch left in a year and a half or two years?
I searched the message board for "marijuana" and didn't find any messages about its use as a treatment or it possibly being a trigger. Any info on this out there?
Thanks all.
Matt Kreger
726 Lake Path
Crownsville, MD 21032
410-923-2434
mkreger@comcast.net
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rick
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Re: Intro and Shroom note by newbie
« Reply #1 on: Jul 28th, 2002, 1:43am » |
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Matt,
Welcome! Your Amsterdam experience sounds pretty interesting. For more info, read these first:
http://www.clusterheadaches.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=meds;action= display;num=1013709016
http://www.erowid.org/plants/mushrooms/mushrooms_medical1.shtml
on Jul 27th, 2002, 11:38pm, unclfuzzy wrote:
Can I still buy spores legally through the mail (not sure how old the growing guide I've got is, and I wouldn't dream of asking anyone to send me mature shrooms)?
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http://www.mycotopia.net/teks/scgg.html
http://www.fanaticus.com/index.htm
http://www.lilshopofspores.com/
http://www.sporeworks.com/
It is not illegal to obtain or possess spores in the U. S., except for in Georgia and California. One warning though, I am beginning to suspect that prednisone may be a drug which interferes with the benefits of this therapy. It is recommended that you detox from all meds before attempting this therapy, to give the psilocybin the best possible chance of working. Comb the archives here and you'll find plenty of mushroom related links.
I'm not sure how much a crop would degrade in storage over time, but I believe they would still retain some potency. A popular way to preserve them is in honey. You pour your honey out of its jar, fill the jar full of shrooms, then replace what honey you can. Wipe some honey around the rim of the jar, and then replace the cap, creating a seal.
Many who use this board feel that marijuana can aggravate our condition when in cycle.
Let us know if you have any more questions.
;DR
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unclfuzzy
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Re: Intro and Shroom note by newbie
« Reply #2 on: Jul 28th, 2002, 7:21am » |
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Thanks very much Rick. I figure I won't be able to cultivate a crop in time to arrest my current cycle, but I plan to be prepared next time and dose before I take any other meds. Since I didn't really have any noticiable psycoactive effect last time, I guess I could just dose every six months or so as some have suggested here, and maybe I'll be free indefinitely. It's certainly worth a try.
Matt Kreger
726 Lake Path
Crownsville, MD 21032
410-923-2434
mkreger@comcast.net
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unclfuzzy
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Re: Intro and Shroom note by newbie
« Reply #3 on: Jul 28th, 2002, 7:59am » |
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Another question... anyone have any experience using the "Myco Environment Bags" from the Spore Works?
http://www.sporeworks.com/mycobag.html
It looks like the simplest way I've seen yet for a novice to get started.
Matt
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tommyD
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Re: Intro and Shroom note by newbie
« Reply #4 on: Jul 28th, 2002, 9:01am » |
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Dried shrooms should last a year or so, at least, but they have to be really dry.
Spread the fresh shrooms out (leave them whole) and direct a fan on them for a day or two, depending on humidity, then put them in a container with a drying agent, such as silica gel, to get the last bit of moisture out of them. The shrooms should be "cracker dry."
Then store them so air and moisture can't get at them -- vacuum seal bags, or zip lock bags with as much air as possible squeezed out.
Then you can freeze them, though there is debate as to how much this helps. Also with freezing, condensation can be a problem if the cold shrooms contact warm air when you open the bag. Get around this by storing individual doses, or two-dose sets, in separate bags. Let the shrooms warm to room temperature before opening the bag.
Hmmm... wait... I just had the thought that storing individual doses could have legal ramifications...should law enforcement somehow find your mediciations, they might claim that bagging them individually shows an intent to distribute....turning a misdemeanor into a felony...any legal eagles out there?
-tommyD
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rick
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Re: Intro and Shroom note by newbie
« Reply #5 on: Jul 28th, 2002, 1:52pm » |
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on Jul 28th, 2002, 1:43am, rick wrote:| A popular way to preserve them is in honey. You pour your honey out of its jar, fill the jar full of shrooms, then replace what honey you can. Wipe some honey around the rim of the jar, and then replace the cap, creating a seal. |
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Ugh! Again, I forgot to mention that the shrooms should also be completely dried before storing  sorry.
Matt- many of us have been achieving success by hitting psychoactive levels over 1.5 on PinkSharkMark's scale, which you will find under his "Important Notes on Mushroom Therapy" link which I gave you above. I would recommend doing all the reading you possibly can on the subject, and using your own best judgement as to what level you will need to achieve.
Any idea what strain you consumed while in Amsterdam?
-R
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steColor
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Re: Intro and Shroom note by newbie
« Reply #6 on: Jul 29th, 2002, 5:55pm » |
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Hi Rick/TommyD,
About the preservation techniques; I was fortunate enought to procure a decent amount for my therapy.
BUT I did the double baggie deal....got all the air out but by my 3rd dose..they had lost their potency....WTF? And they were bone dry...another thing to add and I bet this is the problem...but WHY??...right before my first dose (I had purchased a food scale to measure, but alas..it measures only to the nearest 2 grams), so in last minute desperation (it was getting late and I was wanting to get on with therapy) I diced the whole lot up....so I could eyeball them into like size piles (I knew what the whole thing weighed)....is this why they lost their potency? Probably stupid on my part to have chopped them all up, but it was done 
And Rick, I thought I had read somewhere that someone had done the honey deal and by the time they got to the last bit....they had lost the magic....did you ever come across that in your reading?
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eyes_afire
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Re: Intro and Shroom note by newbie
« Reply #7 on: Jul 29th, 2002, 7:40pm » |
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Hi SteColor. I bet dicing them up was the biggest detriment to the shrooms potency. By dicing the shrooms, you are exposing maximum surface area to the open air (oxidizing the psilocybin) and traumatizing the shrooms. Also, I think using honey would end up making it difficult to weigh the doses. Right now I have the dried shrooms packed tightly in a tight-sealing glass jar containing dessicant and stored in the freezer. Harvest was about a month ago and they are still as potent as ever. If I find that they lose potency, I will resort to using dry-ice for storage as well.
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pinksharkmark
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Re: Intro and Shroom note by newbie
« Reply #8 on: Jul 30th, 2002, 2:51pm » |
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Some tips on storage:
Stay away from honey. It totally sucks as a storage method.
Honey storage is rarely used anymore. Too many problems with it. The thing is, over time the moisture (and active ingredients) in the fresh mushrooms will leach into the honey. This is why the honey gets "runny" -- it is being diluted by fluid from the fresh shrooms. This makes dosing EXTREMELY problematical. How much honey and how many mushrooms do you need to reach a "Level 2" high? It is almost impossible to tell. Some of the "goodies" are in the honey, some is still in the mushrooms... I think you can see the problem.
Honey storage is also only used for FRESH mushrooms, never for the dried ones. There is no point whatsoever to putting dried mushrooms in honey. Properly dried and stored mushrooms will keep for a couple of years at least, so there is no point trying to preserve them further with honey.
And even with fresh mushrooms, honey storage is only good for around 6 months or so. The psilocybin/psilocin will start to break down fairly rapidly after that.
Psilocybin and psilocin are fairly fragile organic molecules, and have the same four "enemies" that all fragile organic molecules have --
a) moisture
b) oxygen
c) light
d) heat
a) -- Thoroughly drying the mushrooms through the use of a desiccating agent eliminates the moisture problem. It is a really good idea to include a small packet of fresh desiccant in the longterm storage container in order to soak up any stray moisture in the air trapped in the container.
b) -- Storing them WHOLE rather than diced, and storing them in a small, tightly-sealed GLASS container (all plastic will "breathe" to some extent) minimizes the exposure to oxygen. An empty baby food jar is ideal. These jars are small, cheap, obtainable anywhere, and have an excellent seal. You can cram a packet of desiccant and several doses of whole mushrooms into a baby food jar.
c) and d) -- Storing the glass container in the freezer eliminates the heat and light problems.
Mushrooms stored according to these guidelines should retain most of their potency for at least two years.
As for dicing before storage -- a VERY big no-no.
It is a good idea to dice them immediately before dosing, though. The few minutes they will be exposed to oxygen before being ingested is not a problem at all, and the psilocybin/psilocin can be extracted much more quickly and completely from tiny pieces than from big chunks, whether you are making a tea or just swallowing them.
pinky
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tommyD
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Re: Intro and Shroom note by newbie
« Reply #9 on: Jul 30th, 2002, 5:01pm » |
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Great tips, pinky, thanks.
I've heard storing fresh shrooms in honey is popular in Great Britain because posession of fresh psilocybin mushrooms is legal. Only ndried or processed shrooms are illegal.
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rick
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Re: Intro and Shroom note by newbie
« Reply #10 on: Jul 31st, 2002, 1:35am » |
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on Jul 30th, 2002, 2:51pm, pinksharkmark wrote:Some tips on storage:
Stay away from honey. It totally sucks as a storage method.
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DOH!
I've haven't actually had to store them yet, sorry.
 ;DR
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steColor
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Re: Intro and Shroom note by newbie
« Reply #11 on: Jul 31st, 2002, 8:12am » |
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I KNEW I screwed up dicing them up....it was a last minute desperation thing SHOOT !!!
Pinky,
THanks so much for the advice.
PFDAN
STEC
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MrMuscles
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Re: Intro and Shroom note by newbie
« Reply #12 on: Jul 31st, 2002, 10:51am » |
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Wow, a former Worldcom employee! I StILL work for Worldcom Matt so I'm sorry to hear about you being laid off. I sincerely mean that! Wow, what are the odds of two Clusterheads working for the same company?? LOL Starting to see a pattern here...hehehe Sorry we had to meet under these circumstances but you've come to the right place my man. Plenty to learn from this but most of it you probably already knew from experience. It's a great place to just hang out as I'm finding so WELCOME aboard.
MrMuscles 
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unclfuzzy
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Re: Intro and Shroom note by newbie
« Reply #13 on: Jul 31st, 2002, 11:18am » |
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Actually, I was an employee of Digex, which is Worldcom owned. But I did get laid off by MCI in 1997 and again from the same position at MCI in 1999. I guess three severance packages from essentially the same company is a little unusual, eh? The first two were welcome (invited, even), and this time was long expected (I was in R&D and the company is bleeding).
As to the original topic, I'm expecting my Myco Environment bags to arrive today or tomorrow (ordered Saturday and got a shipping number Monday morning). I'll post progress updates.
Nasal Imitrex sucks, Prednisone helping, but having one Kip 7 or 8 a night. Finally figured the O2 thing out last night and it helped keep my CH down to a Kip 4 or 5.
From everything I've read, it looks like there isn't much chance I'd be able to have any sucess mushroom hunting in the wild in Maryland this time of year, eh?
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scottie
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Re: Intro and Shroom note by newbie
« Reply #14 on: Jul 31st, 2002, 3:15pm » |
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Pinky, Rick, Steve, Flash and TommyD,
You guys are the Funk.
Fuzzy,
The advice from these guys is the most informative you are likely to ever find. Heed them well. Good Luck and PFDAN.
Fellow Fungus Head.
Scottie
P.S. I don't advocate this as the magic bullet therapy but even if you are having to dose every 2 weeks or so like Rick then that is still preferable to putting an enormous amount of other drugs in your system like the 4800Mg daily of Nuerontin that I was taking prior to my dosing. What do you think?
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forgetfulnot
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Re: Intro and Shroom note by newbie
« Reply #15 on: Aug 3rd, 2002, 2:18pm » |
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Quote:"Another question... anyone have any experience using the "Myco Environment Bags" from the Spore Works?"
Fuzzy, I havn't heard any other reports but my exeperience has been poor but they have replaced 3 spore syringes and 4 grow bags at no charge.I started a new strain last week in the new redesigned bag so I have hopes this will work, if not this would be the 4 the consecutive failure and I am a pretty damn good gardener. The strain that failed 3 times was P. Cubensis Puerto Rican so avoid that one.
Lee
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unclfuzzy
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Re: Intro and Shroom note by newbie
« Reply #16 on: Aug 4th, 2002, 6:41am » |
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Thanks, Lee.
I went for the Hawaiian as it was tagged "suited well for the novice." Were any of your bags successful? I'll be happy if one of the bags fruits this time around.
Matt
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forgetfulnot
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Re: Intro and Shroom note by newbie
« Reply #17 on: Aug 4th, 2002, 1:47pm » |
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Quote:Were any of your bags successful?
None so far.
Lee
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