UserWiki:David Hedlund/Ayahuasca

“Guide to Safe Ayahuasca Curanderismo” by David Hedlund

See also: UserWiki:David_Hedlund/Ayahuasca music playlists

Nausea-free ayahuasca dose response

An emetic, such as syrup of ipecac, is a substance that induces vomiting when administered orally or by injection.

Vomiting is traditionally part of the ayahuasca ritual, but contrary to popular belief it's not required to experience ego dissolution.

• "The most common physical side-effects were nausea and vomiting (62% of respondents reported this)" - https://www.psypost.org/2022/11/new-research-identifies-the-most-common-physical-and-psychological-side-effects-of-ayahuasca-64397
• Indigenous people are known to say that Peyote, or Ayahuasca, acts as a purge, and is cleansing the body and soul. They also say that when the body and soul are purlfied one will no longer feel discomfort from the Peyote.^{[Essential Psychedelic Guide, Psychedelic saftey]}
• It should be noted though, that some people never vomit even on moderate dosages. But most people may feel nausea and will be able to vomit.
• The effects of low doses are sometimes referred to as 'the harmala buzz', as it tends to cause a buzzing feeling throughout the head and body. MAOIs are one of the main culprit for nausea. The threshold MAOI sensitivity is highly individual, some people may need 1.0 grams, while others need 2.0 grams, per 70 kg body weight from the same batch of fine ground peganum harmala. This is typically not thaught on ayahuasca retreats. However, this can be prevented by figuring out the lowest possible MAOI dosage to enter the ayahuasca space by gradually increasing. Example:

Peganum harmala:

• 700 mg peganum harmala / 70 kg body weight: No effects
• 800 mg peganum harmala / 70 kg body weight: Threshold: Physiological effects but no other effects observed.
• 900 mg peganum harmala / 70 kg body weight: -II-
• 1000 mg peganum harmala / 70 kg body weight: Threshold: Shifting in thoughts.
• 1100 mg peganum harmala / 70 kg body weight: -II-
• 1200 mg peganum harmala / 70 kg body weight: Light dose: Light but clearly noticeable dizziness

Re-evaluate peganum harmala with 3 mimosa hostilis root bark (MHRB) (standard DMT dose):

• 3 g MHRB + 1000 mg peganum harmala (90% of light dose): Threshold ayahuasca dose: Entered the ayahuasca space after 2 hours, no nausea.

On the threshold dose needed to enter the ayahuasca space, it is possible to discard the whole session if you regret yourself during the peak. However, it is required to do the shadow work to experience ego dissolution, I didn't experience any positive effects when I intentionally skipped it.

Pros and cons with ayahuasca

Pros

1. Cheap: Ayahuasca is much cheaper (and legal) in contrast to synthesized chemicals, 300 grams Mimosa hostilis root bark (MHRB) is enough for 100 doses and costs about €60 with shipping included, that's €0.6 per dose. Peganum harmala is sold for €60 per kilo, that is €0.06 per gram.
2. Legal: Ayahuasca specifically is not governed in most countries, however, check your local law to make sure.
3. Natural medicine, no chemical impurities.
4. Available: The plant ingredients are sold on clearnet (on eBay and on smartshops), so there's no need to use darknet and cryptocurrencies to obtain them.
5. Easy to prepare: It's very easy to prepare ayahuasca.

Cons

• The LD50 of ayahuasca is around 50 times a regular dose.
• The alkaloid content may vary in plants, but it is easy to find out the proper dosage. However, a friend of mine consumed 10 grams of ground Peganum harmala without effects.

MAOI cautions

MAOIs can cause dangerous interactions with:

• Psychoactive substances (up to one week before and two weeks after use). Using MAOIs within five weeks of discontinuing the serotonin selective reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) fluoxetine (Prozac) could lead to coma and death. Many MAOI interactions with psychoactive substances have never been documented on the internet at all.
  • Because of the extended half-life of norfluoxetine, a minimum of 5 weeks should lapse between stopping fluoxetine (20 mg/day) and starting an MAOI. With higher doses, the interval should be longer. For example, a serotonin syndrome was reported following a 6-weeks washout in a patient who had been given fluoxetine (80 mg/day).
• Food. Avoid food with moderate tyramine content during MAOI intake. However, it is generally safe to "eat light" levels of food that contains moderate tyramine level when the MAOIs wear off. Rare food with unusual high tyramine content that you should avoid both during and after MAOI intake to make sure to avoid a tyramine crisis:
  • Stilton (a blue cheese) contains up to 217 mg tyramine per 100 grams. - https://www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/documents/neurology/files/Tyramine%20Menu%20Book%2006227101.pdf

Teachers

Tolerance protector

Some natural tolerance to habitual use of ayahuasca (roughly once weekly) may develop through upregulation of the serotonergic system.

Strassman notes about DMT (without MAOIs): "DMT appeared unique in that tolerance was quite difficult to demonstrate, even in animals given full doses every two hours around the clock for twenty-one days in a row. The only published human study couldn't elicit tolerance when researchers gave full intramuscular doses twice a day for five days." "There were several DMT studies. The dose-response study was followed by the tolerance project in which subjects received a high dose of DMT four times, at 30-minute intervals. This latter study, which did not demonstrate a reduced response after frequent dosing (i.e., there was no tolerance), allowing for the deepest and most consistent work under the influence of DMT." - http://www.rickstrassman.com/publications/the-spirit-molecule/chapter-summaries/

Statistical protector

Long-term ayahuasca therapy should succeed 99 of 100 verified sessions (99%) with no sitter needed on light to common doses. Not just 90 or 100 sessions because a single severe failed session can destroy the next nine sessions, meaning that 10 failed sessions can destroy 100 sessions at worst. Some individuals, particularly those with a lot of egos, cannot resist the temptation to recommend you to increase the dosage if they run higher doses, don't do that, rather reflect (or at worst leave) your company and make sure they don't ruin your goals.

Start on small doses and stay on the lowest useful therapeutic doses for 100 sessions, only then increase the dose slightly. This way you will become an experienced ayahuasca user without a lot of effort since you don't need to mentally evaluate the doses which means that you can dedicate all energies to egoless.

MAOI dosage protector

Timing

I advise you to verify that you have eaten low tyramine food by observing adverse effects from the MAOIs before you add DMT.

"Concomitant drugs are two or more drugs used or given at or almost at the same time." The MAOIs will give increased effects if you consume them before the Mimosa hostilis, Examples:

• Swallow fine ground Peganum harmala seeds 60 minutes (add 15 minutes extra if they are encapsulated) before you drink Mimosa hostilis root bark extract.

Ayahuasca on MAOI pharmacotherapy

Daily Peganum harmala doses has been used to treat depression, something that can be useful on ayahuasca sessions.

• Concentration of an equivalent dose of 0.5 gram in a single dose each day: Microdosing Peganum harmala - https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Michael_Doty/publication/322234580_Microdosing_Peganum_harmala/links/5aed0873aca2727bc004f660/Microdosing-Peganum-harmala.pdf
• 50 grams whole dried seeds in a single dose each day: "P.harmala was administered in the traditional way. The whole herb was used, 50g of dried pods used each time." - https://www.researchgate.net/publication/319225561_Pharmacological_studies_of_Syrian_rue_Peganum_harmala_L_Zygophyllaceae

Try 0.5 gram every 6 hours, three times per day: Morning, noon, and the start of the evening. Do not use it when you go to bed since the MAOIs are stimulants.

MAOI therapy

Carefully monitor your MAOI therapy if you want to use it with ayahuasca occasionally. I have experienced mixed results.

• I experienced increased sensitivity on MAOI when I used them in 2010 with a bodyweight of 78 kilos. People are speculating abour "reverse tolerance", but I don't find any scientific studies that supports it. Howerver, I suspect that the sensitivity was due to a gradual increase of harmala alkalaoids in my blood serum (similarly to loading dose). I didn't use ayahuasca back then.

Date	Time	Substance	Batch ID	Dosage	Unit	Comment
2010-02-05	19:23	Peganum harmala	i62vxo	0.6	g	Heavy antidepressant effects, mild euphoria. Stopped the MAOI therapy due to tyramine food complications.
2010-02-05	11:42	Peganum harmala	i62vxo	0.6	g	Heavy antidepressant effects, mild euphoria
2010-02-05	03:30	Peganum harmala	i62vxo	0.7	g	Heavy antidepressant effects, mild euphoria
2010-02-04	11:14	Peganum harmala	i62vxo	0.7	g	Heavy antidepressant effects, mild euphoria
2010-02-04	19:21	Peganum harmala	i62vxo	0.7	g	Heavy antidepressant effects, mild euphoria
2010-02-04	00:12	Peganum harmala	i62vxo	0.8	g	Heavy antidepressant effects, mild euphoria
2010-02-03	12:46	Peganum harmala	i62vxo	0.8	g
2010-02-02	04:06	Peganum harmala	i62vxo	0.9	g
2010-02-02	13:20	Peganum harmala	i62vxo	0.9	g
2010-02-02	21:52	Peganum harmala	i62vxo	0.9	g
2010-02-01	19:31	Peganum harmala	i62vxo	0.9	g
2010-02-01	12:15	Peganum harmala	i62vxo	1.1	g	Mild psychoactive effects after one hour but not antidepressant per see.

With another batch, I experienced decreased sensitivity on MAOI when I used them 2018 with a bodyweight of 85 kilos.

Date	Time	Substance	Batch ID	Dosage	Unit	Comment
2018-10-06	20:20	Peganum harmala	ws7fqb	0.9	g	Light antidepressant effects
2018-10-06	17:08	Peganum harmala	ws7fqb	1.05	g	Light antidepressant effects
2018-10-06	12:08	Peganum harmala	ws7fqb	1.05	g	Light antidepressant effects
2018-10-05	Early evening	Peganum harmala	ws7fqb	1	g	Light antidepressant effects
2018-10-05	Noon	Peganum harmala	ws7fqb	1.14	g	Light antidepressant effects
2018-10-05	Morning	Peganum harmala	ws7fqb	0.9	g	Light antidepressant effects
2018-10-03	Early evening	Peganum harmala	ws7fqb	1	g	Light antidepressant effects
2018-10-03	Noon	Peganum harmala	ws7fqb	1	g	Light antidepressant effects
2018-10-03	Morning	Peganum harmala	ws7fqb	1	g	Light antidepressant effects
2018-10-03	Early evening	Peganum harmala	ws7fqb	1	g	Light antidepressant effects
2018-10-03	Noon	Peganum harmala	ws7fqb	1	g	Light antidepressant effects
2018-10-03	Morning	Peganum harmala	ws7fqb	1	g	Light antidepressant effects
2018-10-02	Early evening	Peganum harmala	ws7fqb	0.85	g
2018-10-02	Noon	Peganum harmala	ws7fqb	0.85	g
2018-10-02	Morning	Peganum harmala	ws7fqb	0.85	g
2018-10-01	Early evening	Peganum harmala	ws7fqb	0.75	g
2018-10-01	Noon	Peganum harmala	ws7fqb	0.75	g
2018-10-01	Morning	Peganum harmala	ws7fqb	0.75	g
2018-09-30	18:00	Peganum harmala	ws7fqb	0.85	g
2018-09-30	11:00	Peganum harmala	ws7fqb	0.85	g
2018-09-30	05:40	Peganum harmala	ws7fqb	0.85	g

Proposed mechanism of action

"Farzin et al. revealed in a study on the anti-depressant effects of harmane, norharmane, and harmine using the mouse force swim test that these alkaloids of P. harmala have a significant dose-dependent anti-depressive effect with a suggested mechanism of acting on benzodiazepine receptors." - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3841998/

Ayahuasca in pregnancy

Peganum harmala

Peganum harmala can induce a miscarriage. It has traditionally been used as an abortifacient agent in Morocco, North Africa, and the Middle East. It is believed that quinazoline alkaloids such as vasicine and vasicinone are responsible for the abortifacient activity of the plant.

Checklist

• I've only had 1 in 100 very unpleasant experience.
• I have not consumed MAOIs for at least 8 hours to eliminate most of the MAOIs to not build up higher doses that I will take. Wait much longer than 8 hours if you have consumed a lot of MAOIs. Cut of 10% of the MAOIs if you start a new session after 6 hours.
• I will not re-dose within 6 hours after a previous MAOI dose.
• Food
  • I got access to tyramine free food for 24 hours (up to 72 hours).
  • My body is not empty of protein, carbs, and fat, to avoid fatigue. 15 mL MCT oil and 30 mL potato starch (start with 5 mL and increase 5 mL every 3 days to avoid stomach pain, take it before sleep to avoid hot food or fluid to break it down) on daily basis combined with occasionally intermittent fasting (IF) is really useful.
  • My stomach is empty (min 5 h, 6+ h for fatty food)
  • I have avoided tyramine for at least 24 hours Dekorne mentions 12 hours.
    • Symptoms are evident 1–12 h after ingestion of food containing tyramine but usually 1–3 h after ingestion.

Dieta

Avoid altogether - for at least 12 hours before the Ayahuasca ceremony - any food containing stimulants, caffeine, spices, chilli, fats, oil, salt and sugar. And please refrain from having any fermented stuff like Soya sauce/Tamari, Soya beans paste/curd (like miso or tofu), beer, vermouth wine, aged/mouldy cheese (cheddar, parmesan, Swiss cheese, blue cheese), yeast and all other food which is a potential source of tyramine, like mature avocados, eggplants, figs, grapes, pineapples, plums, raisins, prunes, broad beans, fava beans, lentils, peanuts, dried milk, sour cream, yoghurt, buttermilk, chocolate, Vegemite and sauerkraut. Taking foods containing tyramine in conjunction with monoamine oxidase inhibitors, can trigger hypertensive crisis and migraines.

We recommend to fast on the day of taking Ayahuasca, or else, to only have a light breakfast and a very light lunch, and - by all means - no dinner. It will be also much beneficial to drink plenty of water, on the day of drinking the purge, up until one hour before the ceremony begins. However, no water must be drunk during the Ayahuasca ceremony: doing so will only make the side effects of the medicine last longer, with no visionary effects. Remember that whatever food you may take on the day of the ceremony, will most certainly come out of your body via the "lower" or "upper" ways, after drinking the medicine.

Sexual abstinence

Dieta is more important than sexual abstinence, because tyramine can kill you while you're on MAOIs.

• The necessity of the diet — which includes also sexual segregation — to learn from the plants was stressed by every vegetalista (ayahuasca shaman) I met. The body has to be purified to communicate with the spirit realm.^{[Psychedelic Shamanism, p170]}
• "To keep the energy of the body, we advise sexual abstinence 3 days before and after the rituals" - Céu da Santa Maria (Santo Daime Amsterdam) recommendation

Comfort

• Peganum harmala tea from whole seeds doesn't cause nausea in the same way as ground seeds, problaby because the seed coat contains the highest yield of MAOIs. Extract can be used to avoid vomiting.
• A warm bed (several blankets), you'll get really cold.
• A portable audio device so you can listen to your preferred ayahuasca therapy music.
• A small basked if you need to puke (not needed on "light" doses).
• Active noise canceling (ANC) headphones if you are in a group session since hearing other people puke can distract relaxation.

Ayahuasca

Ayahyasca

DMT carrier

Mimosa hostilis

Technical data

The fibers are not more hydrophilic than the powder from MHRB, both will swell 4 times their volume after the decoct. 1 gram dry Mimosa hostilis = 1 mL: 10 gram dry Mimosa hostilis whipped in water will yield 10 mL. For example, 30 grams mimosa will produce 120 grams of sediment.

Densities:

• Commercial batch without fibers (not more expensive than MHRB with all fibers):
  • Dry density: 0.77 g/mL
    • Mass: 100 g
    • Volume: 130 mL
• Estimation of commercial batches with fibers
  • Dry density: 0.59 g/mL
    • Mass: 10 g
    • Volume: 17 mL
    • Powder
      • Density: 0.66 g/mL
        • Mass: 6.60 g (66% of the total weight)
        • Volume: 10.03 mL (59% of the total volume)
    • Fiber
      • Density: 0.47 g/mL
        • Mass: 3.30 g (33% of the total weight)
        • Volume: 6.97 mL (41% of the total volume)

Bottom sediment:

• Boiling solution stored in a ? degree Celcius cold refrigerator: 8% at 7.5 minutes.
• Boiling: 9% at 1 hour stored in a ? degree Celcius cold refrigerator -- a bit white sediment on top.
• Boiling: 9% at 1 hour stored in a ? degree Celcius cold refrigerator -- 2 mm white sediment on top after 15 hours, unchanged after 24 hours.
• Room temperature: 13% at 10 minutes stored in a ? degree Celcius cold refrigerator. -- Reevaluate
• Cold (pressure cooker on ice block): 17% at 2 hours stored in a ? degree Celcius cold refrigerator. -- Reevaluate

The sediment will coagulate after 30 minutes at room temperature to make it easy to separate the sediment from the clear phase.

Conclusion:

• The worst possible condition is MHRB with all fibers (33% loss), cooled down after boiling (17% loss): 51% loss
• The best possible condition is MHRB without visible fibers, poured up while boiling and cooled down at room temperature (8% loss): 8% loss

You can save up to 43% yield (51-8%) by following these guidelines.

Buying advice

Some but not all vendors sell Mimosa hostilis root bark (MHRB) most of the fibers discarded. I recommend that you ask the vendor before you buy.

• Encapsulated MHRB: It's not possible to encapsulate the fibers with a capsule filler.
• Even consistent, you can just grab a scoop, no need to eyeball an equal amount of fibers and powders each time which eventually will build an uneven ratio fiber since eyeballing isn't standardization. I have observed myself and others and we tend to take more powder than fibers ("better safe than sorry") which unfortunately made the batches less potent over time.
• Products without fibers are economical, the fibers take a significant amount or the weight but the price for Mimosa hostils with or without fibers are about the same.
• Save you time to skip fiber sifting which requires a very fine large strain that is hard to find in your local stores. You will lose some alkaloids and it's hard to get rid of all fibers when you sift manually with strainers compared to commercial sifting.

Fiber sifting

The fibers are very bright in color so a batch with powdered fibers will have brighter color. A powerful blender or high-quality grinder is not sufficient to powderize the fibers, so it's not convenient to do this if you want to standardize the particle size for a 100% natural product.

Compare the large stainless steel strains in your local stores and select the one with the finest mesh.

[I think the fibers contain very few alkaloids. Make a decoct on the fibers and evaluate the psychoactivity to verify.]

Encapsulated MHRB

Yuremamine is said to be heat sensitive, however, MHRB can be taken orally, and the bad taste can be avoided completely with capsules.

[experiment: will 2-3 grams MHRB without an MAOI or RIMA produce any effects?]

Recipes

There's no reason to wash out the sediment by repeating the cooking process multiple times with only 8% loss as described in the #Technical data section.

Equipment:

• Pressure cooker. Ideally with a steam gasket and a sealed glass jar to produce even heating -- however, I have succeeded without them.
  • A regular sauce pan will work too.
• A scale with at least two decimals
• Dough-scraper
• A deciliter measurement cup

Ingredients for a single dose:

Standard dosages. Your dose = (Standard dose/70)*your body weight
Effect	MHRB, powder			MHRB, powder, and fiber (10% extra)
	Dose	Water	Lost water in sediment[1]	Dose	Water	Lost water in sediment[1]
Threshold	3.0 g	90 mL	9 mL	3.3 g	99 mL	9.9 mL
Light	4.5 g	135 mL	13.5 mL	5.0 g	149 mL	14.9 mL
Moderate	6.0 g	180 mL	18 mL	6.6 g	198 mL	19.8 mL
Strong	7.5 g	225 mL	22.5 mL	8.3 g	248 mL	24.8 mL
Heavy	9.0 g +	270 mL	27 mL	9.9 g	297 mL	29.7 mL

• [1]: 1 gram Mimosa hostilis = 1 mL: 10 gram dry Mimosa hostilis whipped in cold water will yield 10 mL. The fibers are hydrophilic and will swell with 4 times their volume after the decoct. For example, 30 grams mimosa will produce 120 mL of sediment (90 mL lost water in sediment).
• 100 mL cold tap water. Distilled water is not needed.
• 3.0 grams citric acid (common) or malic acid (less common but better taste mask) regardless of the dose MHRB. I always prefer this dose because your stomach can handle it perfectly and less acid will extract the MHRB slightly less and will provide less taste mask. Avoid ascorbic acid and tartaric acid since they can upset the stomach.

Procedures:

1. Pour up the water in the pressure cooker.
2. Whip down the citric acid, or malic acid. the pH should be 2.
3. Whip down the MHRB.
4. Pressure cook for 5 minutes at 120 degrees Celsius, or boils for 15 minutes if you don't own a pressure cooker. Minimum heat time is preferred to avoid 1) possible breakdown of the unique alkaloid yuremamine (2 making the DMT molecules unstable since that will speed up their oxidation process, in the bloodstream, and if you store the solution for several days or even months.
5. Cool the pressure cooker under cold tap water for a short while to reduce the pressure but to keep the heat -- this is the standard way to cool pressure cookers, but I'm mentioning it if you have never used a pressure cooker before.
6. Open the pressure cooker and use a dough scraper to scrape the fibers from the walls and the lid down to the solution.
7. Pour up the hot solution in the pressure cooker in a glass or ideally a narrow sealed glass jar. Do not cool it, it will just make it longer to produce sediment, and the sediment will produce more volume than hot sediment.
   1. If you are going to drink this as soon as possible, slowly pour the clear solution over to a glass dish and let it cool in a refrigerator for 20 minutes.
   2. If you want an even more clear solution (collect more sediment.): Once the solution is room temperate, slowly pour it over to a glass, and put the glass in a refrigerator for 8 hour.
8. Simmer down the volume to 50 mL (traditional volume) or 100 mL, in a wide container (sauce pan or fryer pan) to evaporate it as quickly as possible. A small volume is required to make it rapidly ingested.
9. Taste mask.

Comments

• Pressure cooker: A pressure cooker is preferred because a saucepan can burn the DMT. I prefer fresh pressure cooking to avoid oxidized DMT, so this is closer to standardization. [It takes about 15 minutes for most ?% of the sediment to build upon the bottom that can be discarded.] Make sure that the sealing ring in the pressure cooker is clean so it doesn't leak anything. You need to let the solution stay overnight to clear the solution to get the tannins in the sediment. Tannins produce headaches and nausea. Some people use egg white or activated carbon to filter out the tannins to prevent nausea, but will this remove the DMT content? Never mind, I never had headache on ayahuasca.
• Acids: Acids are good for several reasons. First of all improved alkaloid extraction, but they also preserve the solution (mold doesn't survive in acidic solutions) when you store it. However, note that long-term stored (a few days in the refrigirator) ayahuasca will be oxidized in my experience.

MAOIs

B. caapi

Most ayahuasqueros and others working with the brew claim the B. caapi vine to be the defining ingredient; according to them, it is not ayahuasca unless B. caapi is in the brew. The vine is considered to be the "spirit" of ayahuasca, the gatekeeper and guide to the otherworldly realms.

"Banisteriopsis caapi varieties. The variety on the right, with the ball-like nodes, is called caupurí in the União do Vegetal (UDV). The variety on the left, with a cylindrical and spiral-like shape, is called tucunaca in the UDV. The caupurí variety contains higher amounts of ß-carbolines then the tucunaca variety. Image courtesy of Rafael G. dos Santos." - https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Banisteriopsis-caapi-varieties-The-variety-on-the-right-with-the-ball-like-nodes_fig1_298879812

Moclobemide

From https://www.dmt-nexus.me/forum/default.aspx?g=posts&t=75963&p=3 As for Moclobemide, i'm surprised more people around here seemingly haven't experimented with Moclobemide, kinda hard to believe tbh. I actually kinda liked Mimosa with Moclobemide, Acacia too, but i do prefer the Harmalas but the Moclobemide experiences are definitely no doubt interesting too. Definitely worth a try imo, though it can be rather intense body sensation wise because the Harmala aspects aren't there and the Harmalas seem to ground the experience in a way but with Moclobemide you feel it's full force. Moclobemide is also cool for seeing what Mimosa or Acacia, or other DMT-containing plants are like on their own, because they're not altered by the Harmalas.

And yes, DMT with Moclobemide is purge-free, so if you give it a chance, let us know how it goes for you.

Moclobemide + MHRB capsules used: https://mycotopia.net/topic/84082-moclobemidemhrb-no-beta-carbolines-holy-hell/

Moclobemide has good penetration across the blood brain barrier with peak plasma levels within the central nervous system occurring 2 hours after administration.

Despite its short half-life, the pharmacodynamic action of a single dose persists for approximately 16 hours.

Peganum harmala seeds

Peganum harmala extract

"Syrian Rue and other sources of Harmala can also be extracted. Gracie and Zarkov used vodka as a solvent. The extract I tried has some advantages over the seed form. It can be smoked, which produces a very nice high and comes on within minutes. And the extract, smoked or ingested, seems to produce less nausea and other physical symptoms for the same intensity of high. However, smoking Harmala won't produce as long-lasting an effect as ingesting, when used alone as well as when used to enhance other psychedelics." - https://erowid.org/library/books_online/essential_psychedelic_guide/harmala.shtml

1. Peganum harmala seeds are notorious hard. So a neat way to ground the seeds if you are going to make an extract is to soak them first to save your blades in a blender.
2. Place the seeds in a blender.
3. More instructions to come.

=Rinsing=

Peganum harmala is mostly not professionally produced, not even ecological seeds; the seeds are not rinsed from grit and I have never found any product that sells the seeds in a professional package. I found about 450 mg per 100 grams grit in my ecological Peganum harmala batch by weight, that's enough to damage the burrs significantly. Be careful to remove the stones to not wear out the burrs in a grinder rapidly. Stones can be one of the reasons why you sometimes find extra hard physical resistance when you grind them manually. Even the largest stones (for example 2 mm) will damage the burrs in the finest settings.

Washing out stones in a bowl is certainly the safest way to get rid of most of them.

Peganum harmala seeds have a width of 1.5-3.0 mm so a slightly larger sieve (eg 1.6 mm) will pass all seeds and trap larger stones, and a slightly smaller sieve (eg 1.4 mm)) will trap all seeds but pass smaller stones, sand, dust, etc. Search for "lab sieve" to get sieves with defined mesh sizes. The problem with sifting is that stones in the same particle range as the seeds will be trapped anyway.

Larger stones are easy to detect by sound by dropping them in a large metal pan for example but smaller stones have to be visually identified, the stones are easier to pick with tweezers. Repeat the process at least twice albeit this is a tedious task, I often find a lot of stones on the second round that was visually hidden on the first one.

=Grinding=

1. Avoid grinding large batches since living seeds will preserve the alkaloids and compensate lost alkaloids by synthesizing new ones naturally. Pre-weight the desired dose to avoid excessive doses with half crushed seeds in the grinder since that will kill the seeds.
2. Put the seeds in a freezer or in a cold refrigerator.
3. Grind the seeds with a ceramic coffee grinder (http://porlexgrinders.com/ grinders are very good) on the finest possible setting (I use even 2 settings below the recommendation in the Porlex manual to get even smaller particles and it works fine), avoid coarse particles since it will delay the MAOI metabolism significantly, I grind the same batch twice to minimize the largest particles from the first grinding.

See https://wiki.dmt-nexus.me/Harmalas_Extraction_and_Separation_Guide if you want to make the full-spectrum extract.

A rush can be felt in the beginning, I hypothesize that the smallest particles metabolized first. It is possible that I will evaluate this in the future by sifting the particles to standardize their volume.

Taste mask

Traditional simple syrup (technically known as inverted sugar syrup) is made from a 1:1 water:table sugar (sucrose). The water is heated, and the sucrose is stirred or shaked to full dissolve, the water is then cooled off. The main benefit is that using only sucrose eliminates the potential cause of MAOI interactions from the taste mask. As a thumb of rule, traditional simple syrup is safer than commercial squash that may contain proprietary ingredients, and tyramine may be found in expired fresh juice.

Effective sucrose ratios:

• Mimosa hostilis (MHRB): 1:1 sucrose:MHRB -- use water from the MHRB brew to form the traditional simple syrup. Sweetness is neede since not even delicious malic acid fully masks the bitterness of MHRB.
• Peganum harmala (if you don't swallow them by capsule): 5:1 sucrose:Peganum harmala.

Capsules

If you decide to take light doses and not to puke then you might want to use capsules because the consistency of Peganum harmala seeds triggers a bit of nausea, so even a good task mask won't help. Just make sure to wait for at least 30, but 60 is preferred for the capsules to fully dissolve for vegetarian or gelatin capsules.. I recommend vegetarian capsules for animal justice.

Storage

Ayahuasca can be stored and used in the refrigerator for months. - https://www.dmt-nexus.me/forum/default.aspx?g=posts&t=17174

[Will it cause more nausea due to tyramine? Will it oxidizes?]

Freezer

Will prevent oxidation of DMT. Not evaluated yet.

Admixtures

Warning

Ayahuasca can be fatal with polydrug use.

• Always prepare yourself to go to the hospital if you experiment with new substances, even in threshold doses.
• Stimulants - Combining stimulants with psychedelics may induce states of extreme anxiety, over-stimulation, thought loops, and increase the risk of psychosis. -- MAOIs are stimulants, they tend to potentiate other substances in addition, so "normal" doses with other stimulants easily cause overstimulation. In fact, a "cheese crisis" triggered by tyramine rich food on ayahuasca can should be able to trigger both physiological and psychotoxic effects since tyramine can displace stored monoamines, such as dopamine, norepinephrine, and epinephrine, from presynaptic vesicles. Psychedelic bad trips are often a trigger for HPPD.
• Popular sports supplements (especially pre-workout supplements (PWS)) and all-natural weight loss contain meth-like compound
• I recommend that you disrupt all non-pharmaceutical supplements for at least one week before you use MAOIs to avoid dangerous interactions due to withdrawal.
• Plants are not standardized so it is impossible to know how much effects you get from them. Only buy pharmaceutical grade substances (like OTC in your local pharmacy store) to eliminate possibly lethal interactions with MAOIs. Do not buy substances on the internet to avoid supplements or counterfeit medicines.
• The more substances you involve the larger is the risk for miscalculations.

Required equipment:

• A blood pressure monitor
• Activated carbon

A few deaths due to participation in the consumption of ayahuasca have been reported, although none have been linked specifically to Ayahuasca itself, but are usually said to be due to other factors. Some of the deaths may have been due to unscreened preexisting heart conditions, interaction with drugs, such as antidepressants, recreational drugs, caffeine (due to the CYP1A2 inhibition of the Harmala alkaloids), or nicotine (from drinking Tobacco tea for purging/cleansing), or from improper or irresponsible use due to behavioral risks or possible drug to drug interactions.

Syrian rue (Peganum harmala): Harmaline is a RIMA. Harmine is a nonselective MAOI (MAO-A and MAO-B inhibitor). Seed extracts were potent reversible and competitive inhibitors of MAO-A but poor inhibitors of MAO-B.

MAO-A preferentially deaminates serotonin, melatonin, epinephrine, and norepinephrine. MAO-B preferentially deaminates phenethylamine and certain other trace amines; in contrast, MAO-A preferentially deaminates other trace amines, like tyramine, whereas dopamine is equally deaminated by both types. Inhibition of both MAO-A and MAO-B is used in the treatment of clinical depression and anxiety.

Antiemetics

Antiemetics are not needed on light doses of ayahuasca.

• "His research into dietary management and vitamin supplements suggests that taking one gram of Lecithin the previous day and again two hours before a session will eliminate most nausea In addition, sliced dried ginger chewed after drinking ayahuasca tea eliminates much of its bad taste." [Doesn't lecithin contain tyramine?]
• "Ginger is often used as antiemetic." - Psychedelic Shamanism (page 178), Jim Dekorne
• Meclizine (INN,[1] or meclozine) brand names Bonine, Bonamine, Antivert, Postafen, Sea Legs, and Dramamine II (Less Drowsy Formulation): "MAOIs may prolong and intensify the anticholinergic effects of antihistamines. Although the anticholinergic activity of MAOIs is minimal; anticholinergic effects sometimes occur. It is recommended that the concurrent use of MAOIs with drugs possessing anticholinergic activity to be avoided since the effects of other anticholinergic drugs are potentiated and may become severe. Most manufacturers recommend that sedating H1-antagonists should not be used within 2 weeks of therapy with an MAOI."

Stimulants

Only for experienced people who are willing to take maximum responsibility. Always start with threshold doses, and gradually increase them but not on the same session.

Stimulants are useful to battle the sedative effects of DMT if you want to stay awake and use them as antidepressants in your everyday work for creativity and abstract thinking.

• 50 mg caffeine (avoid coffee brews since they contain b-carboline alkaloids) + 50 mg L-theanine, or a cup of tea is a nice nootropic ad-hoc. Yerba mate + ayahuasca is a common admixture. Use caffeine with caution due to the CYP1A2 inhibition of the Harmala alkaloids.
• 0.? mg nicotine orally from prescription free pharmaceutical nicotine tablets. "It may also be smoked by people having a challenging experience in order to bring them out of chaos into clarity. Conversely it can also be used to clear away obstruction and allow the visions to come through with more intensity." - http://realitysandwich.com/217970/meeting-the-tobacco-spirit/. Use nicotine with caution.

MAOI interactions

The risk for serotonergic and dopaminergic overstimulation. "A study reported in the 2010 issue of the Journal of Ethnopharmacology found that harmaline and harmine in ayahuasca are MAO-A and MAO-B inhibitors" - https://www.livestrong.com/article/82970-common-herbs-mao-inhibitor-activity/ "MAO-A is involved in the metabolism of serotonin, noradrenaline and dopamine whereas MAO-B metabolises the dopamine neurotransmitter."

Background of interest in this stack:

• My primary goal with cholinergic + ayahuasca is to find a possible safe way to get choline (an essential vitamin) so I don't have to eat more eggs. I want to able to be a vegan and use ayahuasca in the future and I want other vegans to have the same possibility by saying what worked and what didn't work for me.
• It is known that choline sources can strongly potentiate psychedelics, and Terence McKenna has advocated combining soy lecithin with mushrooms (I wish I could find this one video about it, it involves McKenna and it is very cool!). They are not MAOIs by any stretch of the imagination but they simply potentiate psychedelics very strongly. In my experience, 800 mg of CDP-choline can strongly potentiate multiple types of psychedelics, including LSD, smoking DMT, mushrooms, cacti, and synthetics." - https://www.reddit.com/r/Psychedelics/comments/3hsw7p/ayahuasca_without_the_nausea_possible_safer/

• Common MAOIs
  • Peganum harmala
  • "Nutmeg (Myristica fragrans) is an evergreen tree native to the Spice Islands. The seed of the tree is called nutmeg, and mace is the seed covering. Nutmeg essential oil contains myristicin, which can be toxic in large doses. Myristicin is an unselective MAO inhibitor, meaning it acts on both MAO-A and MAO-B. Nutmeg also contains the MAO inhibitors kaempferol and quercetin." - https://www.livestrong.com/article/499817-herbs-to-increase-dopamine/
  • Supplements
    • "Turmeric (Curcuma longa) is a yellow root used in Asian cooking and traditional medicine. A study reported in Psychopharmacology found that curcumin inhibited both MAO-A and MAO-B and increased the levels of serotonin and dopamine. When the researchers combined curcumin with piperine, an alkaloid found in black pepper, they found this enhanced the effect of MAO inhibition." - https://www.livestrong.com/article/499817-herbs-to-increase-dopamine/ "So I started taking 300 mg of Alpha GPC along with 1600 mg of NAC and curcumin (theracurmin)... Curcumin can act as an MAO inhibitor but I’d assume only in really high doses. Maybe if your extra sensitive with MAO that could have been the culprit but if you have been off it all for 10 days now I don’t see how side effects are still occurring." - https://www.longecity.org/forum/topic/101149-alpha-gpc-and-potentially-other-substance-really-messed-me-up-any-ideas-on-whats-wrong/

MAOI interaction with cholinergics

Choline-equivalent doses needed for evaluation (like in this stud: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23244432).

Monoaminergic cholinergics

• Alpha-GPC -- Dopaminergic "Alpha GPC has demonstrated the ability to increase overall dopamine and serotonin levels in the brain 4, which was shown to not be possible with a comparable dose of CDP Choline" "CDP-choline did not affect DA levels, which increased after GPC administration in frontal cortex and cerebellum. GPC increased also 5-HT levels in frontal cortex and striatum. DAT was stimulated in frontal cortex and cerebellum by both CDP and GPC, whereas VMAT2, SERT, NET were unaffected. VMAT1 was not detectable." "The above data indicate that CDP-choline and GPC possess a monoaminergic profile and interfere to some extent with brain monoamine transporters."
  • Crosses the blood-brain barrier (BBB): Yes
• CDP-choline -- Citicoline enhances cellular communication by increasing the availability of neurotransmitters, including acetylcholine, norepinephrine, and dopamine. - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17171187 "The above data indicate that CDP-choline and GPC possess a monoaminergic profile and interfere to some extent with brain monoamine transporters."
  • Crosses the blood-brain barrier (BBB): Yes
  • CDP-Choline (cytidine 5′-diphosphocholine): Is only about 18% choline by weight. Your body naturally synthesizes choline into CDP-Choline (Citicoline). It’s then converted to phosphatidylcholine (PC) which assists cell membranes, and helps create acetylcholine. - https://nootropicsexpert.com/choline-bitartrate/

Non-monoaminergic cholinergics?

• Choline bitartrate
  • Crosses the blood–brain barrier (BBB): No
• Phosphatidylcholine (PC)
  • Crosses the blood–brain barrier (BBB): "CDP-choline given parenterally or orally quickly degrades into its products cytidine and choline which can cross the blood-brain barrier separately (Grieb, 2014)." - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4625486/
  • Sold as supplement
  • Egg yolk contain phosphatidylcholine (PC). I have eaten a few fried eggs in the middle of an ayahuasca trip on completely empty stomach but didn't experience any side effects, the eggs didn't boost the effects of the trip. Try raw egg yolks, increase with one egg yolk per session.
• Soy lecithin
  • "Lecithin is a special type of fat called a phospholipid. About 13% by weight of the lecithin molecule is choline. Most choline in the diet is derived from lecithin. Some foods contain it in the free form or as a component of other phospholipids. One tablespoon of lecithin granules provides about 1,725 mg of phosphatidylcholine and 250 mg choline, a little less than the content in an egg." -
  • "It is difficult-to-impossible to obtain definitive information regarding tyramine content of a great many foods. However, the consensus appears to be that soy oil and lecithin are not harmful." - Dietician Moderators, https://forum.parkinson.org/topic/12588-foods-high-in-tyramine/?tab=comments#comment-47328

Research

• Centrophenoxine (meclofenoxate, sold as Lucidril) -- this substance is sold as a nootropic and prescribed as a medication but little data exist about it.
  • Crosses the blood–brain barrier (BBB): ?

Misc

• Cocoa: "I have met many who use cacao to extend the deeper portion of this medicine journey - take the cacao about 30-45 min before you would begin to surface from those depths. As cacao has significant MAOI's, some take cacao mixed with Aya to reduce the DMT degradation in the stomach. We know many who use cacao instead of the plant with the MAOI’s that is combined with the Ayahuasca containing plant." - https://ceremonialcacao.blogspot.com/2012/05/Notes-Bin-and-Recipes-Medical-Cacao.html

Using an MAO inhibitor (MAOI), the intake of approximately 10 to 25 mg of tyramine is required for a severe reaction compared to 6 to 10 mg for a mild reaction. In cacao: "The amounts of tyramine found ranged between 0.1 and 2.8 μg/g." - https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1365-2621.1983.tb10786.x

Routes of administration

Intrarectal

Under evaluation.

Bad trip management

Benzodiasepines

Disclaimer: There is no guarantee that you will receive any anxiolytics if you have a really bad trip and went to a hospital and tell them that you took MAOIs. A long bad trip without anxiolytic treatment can result in HPPD that might last for life. They will primarily monitor your EEG, blood pressure, and take blood samples. Your best bet is to learn that it is safe to use benzodiazepines with MAOIs. However, keep in mind that adulterated benzo tablets may cause dangerous interactions with MAOIs.

"Mixing 1.5mg alprazolam and 25g MHRB was by far the smoothest experience I have had. However, I feel like it definitely lacked something: the profound sense of spiritual revelation was absent. Sure, there was no fear whatsoever, but I realized afterward that fear during an experience is not something that necessarily needs to be avoided, and is a vital component of realizing the areas of the psyche which need healing the most. Also, I cannot recall some of the more subtle details of the experience. This is not to say that I did not learn a great deal from the experience, but I feel the potential was greatly diminished. Then again, my motivation for this at the time was to provide a more recreational experience than spiritual. If one's intent is to enjoy the visions without the distractions of inner personal growth, this is a valid path to pursue.

My advice is, if you feel the need to reduce anxiety during the experience, to go very light on the dose of anxiolytic. 0.5 mg alprazolam, 5mg diazepam, or 0.5 mg clonazepam would probably allow for reduction in anxiety without much inhibition of benefits. This is speculation, however, as I have not combined the two since Smile"

Detoxification

If you suspect that you have taken to high doses of anything combined with MAOI, for example, if you feel an expected rush early then follow the below processes.

Puke

The body cannot puke up anything without water in the stomach which is common during ayahuasca fasting, so if you have little water in your stomach then drink a few deciliters of water and puke. Puke by putting your fingers in your throat to induce the "gag reflex". Repeat the water consumption puke process for at least two sessions and make sure that you puke up most of the water content each session.

Activated carbon

Activated charcoal may be given to help bind drugs and keep them in the stomach and intestines.

Psychopharmacology

• Spiritual crisis:

The prefrontal cortex in the brain is involved in dealing with fear and stress. In the last few decades, brain imaging systems have been used to determine brain region volumes and nerve linkages. Several studies have indicated that reduced volume and interconnections of the frontal lobes with other brain regions are observed in patients diagnosed with mental disorders and prescribed potent antipsychotics; those subjected to repeated stressors; those who excessively consume sexually explicit materials; suicides; those incarcerated; criminals; sociopaths. It is believed that at least some of the human abilities to feel guilt or remorse and to interpret reality are dependent on the well-functioning prefrontal cortex.

You might for example stumble into a situation like this:

• Why do I feel mourning? Because I live in a mentally devistated society.
• How can I overcome my mourning? By building a house in the forest.

A few things ayahuasca can treat:

• Negative occult practices (eg past ouija séances during teens).
• Treatment-resistant mental disorders.
• Drug dependency and moderately use of socially accepted dependency substances like alcohol, nicotine, and caffeine.
• Self-destructive behavior and destructive relationships.
• PTSD: https://maps.org/research/articles/132-participate-in-research-2/maps-sponsored-studies/6254-ayahuasca-for-ptsd

Light ayahuasca doses have nootropic effects, it can be used in the same way that LSD is used for Problem-solving. I wrote a lot of this guide with ayahuasca for creative thinking.

Ayahuasca users who don't practice egoless will instead experience egodystonic or egosyntonic emotions that will aggravate their mental instability and eventually becomes malevolent shamans (brujas) or antisocial individuals.

The prefrontal cortex is part of the frontal lobe, you can observe the energies in your forehead during spiritual crises that can make you temporarily psychotic.

"A line of research has revealed that a polymorphism in the promoter region of the MAOA gene is related to antisocial phenotypes." - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0191886912004047 The brain is neuroplastic so regions that are imbalanced will change over time with frequent ayahuasca use.

Underground psychedelic therapy

Charity

The sale of psychoactive substances without paid tax is not legal and can be used as an argument from governments to put resources on you. I have personally never earned any money from ayahuasca, I use to donate ayahuasca and consultation to friends that might be interested in it as a form to promote more egoloss to this world.

Santo Daime: "We know that this issue is very delicate. It was extensively discussed at meetings of the GMT / CONAD where it was established that "the sacrament should not be marketed, nor should obtain his personal earnings and / or cash benefit of any kind" However it was made the caveat that it was recognized the right to each entity providing the costs of its production in accordance with its statutory principles and administrative procedures ." -

Ayahuasca international critisism

See https://www.psychedelicexperience.net/organisation/EZJZAXzfCEC6wW5kEjKsQw/ayahuasca-international-inner-mastery

They got Facebook accounts dedicated to regional retreats that you can read about in your local news. A few sites that are in use:

• https://www.facebook.com/ayahuascainternationaldenmark/
• https://www.facebook.com/ayahuascainternationalfinland/
• https://www.facebook.com/ayahuascainternationalnorway/
• https://www.facebook.com/ayahuascainternationalsweden/
  • 2016: https://www.norrteljetidning.se/artikel/stockholm/norrtalje-kommun/vi-ar-ingen-fristad-for-droger-eller-hasch
  • 2018: https://kit.se/2018/01/12/95275/ayahuasca-den-heliga-drogen-som-blivit-business-i-sverige/

Alberto Varela, Ayahuasca International (originally Ayahuasca Internacional), Inner Mastery International S.L.U.: "The founder of Ayahuasca International is Alberto Jose Varela, who has ceded all rights to the use and exploitation of Ayahuasca International to the company Inner Mastery International SLU."

Avoid addicts

Avoid to treat individuals with chemical dependence due to possibly deadly MAOI interactions, never give MAOIs to these people. Addicts often forget things too, and they can be very hard to reach even by phone, something that is crucial when substances are evaluated even on low doses MAOI.

Notable people

• Benny Shanon is a psychologist best known for the Biblical entheogen hypothesis based on his 2,500 ayahuasca experiences. Shanon is the ayahuasca reference authority.
• Rick Strassman is a medical doctor who researches about DMT and is the author of DMT, the Spirit Molecule from 2001. Strassman is the DMT reference authority.

Legality

Legal status

See also: Ayahuasca § Legal status, and DMT § Legal status

Internationally, DMT is a Schedule I drug under the Convention on Psychotropic Substances. The Commentary on the Convention on Psychotropic Substances notes, however, that the plants containing it are not subject to international control:

The cultivation of plants from which psychotropic substances are obtained is not controlled by the Vienna Convention. . . . Neither the crown (fruit, mescal button) of the Peyote cactus nor the roots of the plant Mimosa hostilis nor Psilocybe mushrooms themselves are included in Schedule 1, but only their respective principals, mescaline, DMT, and psilocin.

International human rights

Use it if someone tries to punish and/or prevent you and your friends to use ayahuasca.

• Freedom of religion -- can protect individuals that practice ayahuasca religiously if they for example say that their religion is Santo Daime.
• Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities -- can protect individuals with psychiatric diagnoses to use psychedelic therapy.

Courts on shamans

https://legalizepsychedelics.com/ requires English references so this section cannot be merged into it.

This section includes shamans that have used entheogens, not just ayahuasca.

Sweden

• Jungle Svonni

Ayahuasca and non-oral DMT variations

Survey for non-oral DMT with MAOIs

"Although there are many varieties of Changa, like Ayahuasca the key active ingredients are consistently DMT and an MAOI.

The effects of Changa are considered by many to be more grounded than just DMT freebase smoked on its own. The effects have been reported as being similar to a short Ayahuasca trip. The duration of effects is slightly longer than that of freebase DMT, with reports of trips lasting up to 12 minutes." - https://wiki.dmt-nexus.me/Changa

• MAOIs either taken orally before smoked/IV/IM DMT or in conjunction with smoked/IV/IM DMT, also makes the high difference than just DMT on its own. A study should be conducted to compare the therapeutic index and the subjective effects of non-oral DMT administered with and without MAOIs because Strassman didn't compare this AFAIK. RIMAs (eg harmaline, or moclobemide), a sub-type of MAOIs, are much safer than MAOIs (paganism harmala: Harmine), because the enzymes turn over approximately every two weeks, meaning that a lot of psychoactive substances have to be avoided for two weeks. The therapeutic index of MAOIs and RIMAs should be compared.

Disclaimer

To any governments reading this page: There are no doctors or psychologists that have helped me as much as psychedelics have done. I am my own ayahuascero, and curandero and I'm well aware that there are unpredictable risks. I self-medicate with ayahuasca, not for recreational purposes. I don't pose any threat to our society with my purity of mind combined with ayahuasca use. I care about my mental health and my choice of friends. Ayahuasca has helped me out from depression, and I have guided people on how to achieve that with this guide that aims for maximum harm reduction and healing, and high standardization of the ayahuasca brew. It's the last thing I can do to express my thankfulness to ayahuasca.

Terminology

See Terminology#Ayahuasca_terms

See also

• Ayahuasca
• MAOI
• RIMA
• Harmala alkaloids
• Responsible use

External links

• Ayahuasca (Wikipedia)
• Pharmahuasca (Wikipedia)
• Ayahuasca (Erowid)
• Erowid Experience Vaults: Ayahuasca Reports in category: Mystical Experiences
• Erowid Experiences : Reports with at least DMT in combination with Moclobemide
• Well-being, problematic alcohol consumption and acute subjective drug effects in past-year ayahuasca users: a large, international, self-selecting online survey
• Hypothesis: The Psychedelic Ayahuasca Heals Traumatic Memories via a Sigma 1 Receptor-Mediated Epigenetic-Mnemonic Process