How To Microdose Psychedelics: An Introduction

This article was originally published on Microdose Psychedelic Insights and appears here with permission.

Microdosing. From Silicon Valley tech execs looking to enhance performance to common folk hoping to improve mental health, adding a microdose of psychedelics to your routine is growing in popularity.

But what is microdosing exactly? How much do you take? What are the effects? Will you start to trip?

These are the types of questions that are coming up more and more often. So considering our name, and the increasing role microdosing is playing in our society and in the business of psychedelics, we thought a deeper look might be a good idea.

What is microdosing?

“Sub-perceptual” might be the most important term to learn. You consume a much smaller (micro) amount of psychedelics like LSD, psilocybin, or DMT, and integrate this practice into your daily or weekly life.

The idea behind microdosing is that you experience some of the positive effects of psychedelics without taking a full dose (and thus a full trip). Anecdotal reports, and now more and more science, show that these smaller microdoses are enough to give you physical, mental, and spiritual benefits.

How much is a microdose?

First, it isn’t an exact science. The practice of microdosing is relatively new and there hasn’t yet been enough data to have settled on exact quantities to prescribe. We are just getting started here. Also, there’s the fact that psychedelics are dynamic things; they’re not pre-packaged or one-size-fits-all. They work on the brain, and the mind, and everyone’s wiring and personal experience are different.

So to help get a bit specific we’ll focus on psilocybin for now, as microdosing mushrooms are one of the most popular and easiest substances to use (LSD is another popular microdosing option).

You start with a full dose, often called a recreational or psychedelic, or therapeutic dose. For dried psilocybin mushrooms 2 grams is a common starting point for a full trip. We then divide this full dose by 1/10th to 1/20th (10% or 5%). This gives us 0.01 to 0.02 grams of dried mushrooms – that’s your microdose.

Note: Different strains of mushrooms (Psilocybe cubensis, Psilocybe semilanceata, Psilocybe azurecen to name a few) will have different quantities of psilocybin, as will fresh and dried mushrooms. Even different parts of the shroom can have different amounts of active ingredients.

The best practice is to use dried mushrooms and grind them up into a powder that can be easily blended and measured. This will ensure a more uniform dose.

Following a schedule: microdosing protocols

The goal is to introduce microdosing into your schedule to help ensure lasting benefits. There are currently a few “protocols” that have been introduced by psychedelic experts, and we’ll highlight the most popular ones here. These protocols are used by many to help get their microdosing experiences underway.

The Fadiman Protocol: Perhaps the most widely used dosing schedule is the Fadiman Protocol, introduced by the “grandfather of microdosing” James Fadiman. Dr. Fadiman has been studying psychedelics in medical settings since the 1960s and is a pioneer on the subject. More recently he authored “The Psychedelic Explorer’s Guide,” a sort of manual for safe and therapeutic psychedelic drug experiences.

His protocol calls for one day on, two days off, and then repeats the cycle for at least a month. The idea is to avoid building tolerance and give yourself time to observe the effects and adjust if needed.

In Fadiman’s own words: “On day one, you dose. Day two, you’re still having the effects. Day three, you should be noticeably not having the effects, and on day four you dose again. For self-study, that’s ideal because it gives you a chance to see what’s going on.” This short interview shows Fadiman explaining his research and view on microdosing.

The Stamets protocol: Paul Stamets is one of the world’s most famous mycologists (mushroom scientist). He’s an advocate and educator, writing books and speaking on the benefits of mushrooms in all their forms, psychedelic and medicinal.

His protocol recommends taking a microdose every day for four days, then taking three days off. So four days on, three days off.

The idea is to get a good dose for four days, get the potential positive effects, and then back off for three days to avoid building up a tolerance. He also recommends making psilocybin a central part of a “stack”, taking psychedelic shrooms along with Lion’s Mane medicinal mushroom and niacin, which his studies show can help with neuroplasticity and general well-being.

This page from the Microdosing Institute provides information on other microdose schedules.

Stay tuned to Microdose for more information on microdosing studies and advancements in the field. It’s an evolving subject and we plan on keeping you informed.