Post by TOO $ on Apr 19, 2018 10:10:28 GMT -5
It was on this day in 1943 that Albert Hoffman took the first full blown LSD trip. Read his trip report below (copied from reddit)
Hi all, I thought I’d post Albert Hoffman’s trip report from his first full LSD trip on 250µg. I expect it’s been posted here before, and most of you may well have seen it, but since there’s a few posts about bicycle day, I thought it might be of interest. Skip the next few paragraphs if you want to go straight to it.
I think the report provides a very useful standard to compare your trips to, in terms of dosage. So many people on here ask about weak trips on supposedly high dose tabs, or why they saw no visuals after dropping a certain strength tab (e.g. 150µg). Well, this is a rarity in terms of trip reports, because we categorically know that he took 250µg of pure LSD.
If you don’t want to read it all, here’s a brief summary of major effects he reports: altered facial perception, inanimate objects moving and swirling around, objects appearing to be in constant flux, massive changes to peripheral vision, well known objects seeming unfamiliar, an ‘out of body’ type experience, changed perception of space and time, dissolution of the ego, reduced ability to express thoughts verbally, colourful and constantly changing closed-eye visuals, and alterations in sound perception including visual representations of sounds when eyes are closed.
So, if you think you’ve taken 250µg but only see a bit of waving and breathing of objects and brighter colours, then you can be sure the dealer was exaggerating the strength of the tabs.
A final note – Hoffman’s first experience with LSD was frightening to him, so if you don’t like to read about so called “bad trips”, then don’t read it. However, it’s highly instructive because the reason it was scary to Hoffman is because he had no idea what to expect (it was the first ever trip). So, this nicely demonstrates some great advice about psychedelics – do your research before you take them as you might panic if you have no idea what to expect. Also, Hoffman describes how he tried to fight himself out of the LSD state, again this highlights a critical piece of advice – do not fight the experience, it only causes more and more panic.
Sorry for the long post! Here’s the report:
"4/19/43 16:20: 0.5 cc of 1/2 promil aqueous solution of diethylamide tartrate orally=0.25mg tartrate. Taken diluted with about 10 cc water. Tasteless.
17:00: Beginning dizziness, feeling of anxiety, visual distortions, symptoms of paralysis, desire to laugh.
Supplement of 4/21: Home by bicycle. From 18:00 - ca.20:00 most severe crisis. (See special report)"
"Here the notes in my laboratory journal cease. I was able to write the last words only with great effort. By now it was already clear to me that LSD had been the cause of the remarkable experience of the previous Friday, for the altered perceptions were of the same type as before, only much more intense. I had to struggle to speak intelligibly. I asked my laboratory assistant, who was informed of the self-experiment, to escort me home. We went by bicycle, no automobile available because of wartime restrictions on their use. On the way home, my condition began to assume threatening forms. Everything in my field of vision wavered and was distorted as if seen in a curved mirror. I also had the sensation of being unable to move from the spot. Nevertheless, my assistant later told me that we had travelled very rapidly. Finally, we arrived at home safe and sound, and I was just barely capable of asking my companion to summon our family doctor and request milk from the neighbors.
[...]
The dizziness and sensation of fainting became so strong at times that I could no longer hold myself erect, and had to lie down on a sofa. My surroundings had now transformed themselves in more terrifying ways. Everything in the room spun around, and the familiar objects and pieces of furniture assumed grotesque, threatening forms. They were in continuous motion, animated, as if driven by an inner restlessness. The lady next door, whom I scarcely recognized, brought me milk - in the course of the evening I drank more than two liters. She was no longer Mrs. R., but rather a malevolent, insidious witch with a colored mask.
Even worse than these demonic transformations of the outer world, were the alterations that I perceived in myself, in my inner being. Every exertion of my will, every attempt to put an end to the disintegration of the outer world and the dissolution of my ego, seemed to be a wasted effort. A demon had invaded me, had taken possession of my body, mind, and soul. I jumped up and screamed, trying to free myself from him but then sank down again and lay helpless on the sofa. The substance, with which I wanted to experiment, had vanquished me. It was the demon that scornfully triumphed over my will. I was seized by the dreadful fear of going insane. I was taken to another world, another place, another time. My body seemed to be without sensation, lifeless, strange. Was I dying? Was this the transition? At times I believed myself to be outside my body, and then perceived clearly, as an outside observer, the complete tragedy of my situation. I had not even taken leave of my family (my wife, with our three children had traveled that day to visit her parents, in Lucerne). Would they ever understand that I had not experimented thoughtlessly, irresponsibly, but rather with the utmost caution, and that such a result was in no way foreseeable? My fear and despair intensified, not only because a young family should lose its father, but also because I dreaded leaving my chemical research work, which meant so much to me, unfinished in the midst of fruitful, promising development. Another reflection took shape, an idea full of bitter irony: if I was now forced to leave this world prematurely, it was because of this lysergic acid diethylamide that I myself had brought forth into the world.
By the time the doctor arrived, the climax of my despondent condition had already passed. My laboratory assistant informed him about my self-experiment, as I myself was not yet able to formulate a coherent sentence. He shook his head in perplexity, after my attempts to describe the mortal danger that threatened my body. He could detect no abnormal symptoms other than extremely dilated pupils. Pulse, blood pressure, breathing were all normal. He saw no reason to prescribe any medication. Instead he conveyed me to my bed and stood watch over me. Slowly I came back from a weird, unfamiliar world to reassuring everyday reality. The horror softened and gave way to a feeling of good fortune and gratitude, the more normal perceptions and thoughts returned, and I became more confident that the danger of insanity was conclusively past.
Now, little by little I could begin to enjoy the unprecedented colors and plays of shapes that persisted behind my closed eyes. Kaleidoscopic, fantastic images surged in on me, alternating, variegated, opening and then closing themselves in circles and spirals, exploding in colored fountains, rearranging and hybridizing themselves in constant flux. It was particularly remarkable how every acoustic perception, such as the sound of a door handle or a passing automobile, became transformed into optical perceptions. Every sound generated a vividly changing image, with its own consistent form and color.
Late in the evening my wife returned from Lucerne. Someone had informed her by telephone that I was suffering a mysterious breakdown. She had returned home at once, leaving the children behind with her parents. By now, I had recovered myself sufficiently to tell her what had happened.
Exhausted, I then slept, to awake next morning refreshed, with a clear head, though still somewhat tired physically. A sensation of well-being and renewed life flowed through me. Breakfast tasted delicious and gave me extraordinary pleasure. When I later walked into the garden, in which the sun shone now after a spring rain, everything glistened and sparkled in fresh light. The world was as if newly created. All my senses vibrated in a condition of highest sensitivity, which persisted for the entire day."
(Hofmann, 1983).
TL;DR Hoffman's first experiment with LSD shows that 250µg is a powerful dose. He had a frightening experience as he didn't know what to expect; the lesson being - do your reading before you take a psychedelic.
Not condoning or condemning, just sharing information...
Hi all, I thought I’d post Albert Hoffman’s trip report from his first full LSD trip on 250µg. I expect it’s been posted here before, and most of you may well have seen it, but since there’s a few posts about bicycle day, I thought it might be of interest. Skip the next few paragraphs if you want to go straight to it.
I think the report provides a very useful standard to compare your trips to, in terms of dosage. So many people on here ask about weak trips on supposedly high dose tabs, or why they saw no visuals after dropping a certain strength tab (e.g. 150µg). Well, this is a rarity in terms of trip reports, because we categorically know that he took 250µg of pure LSD.
If you don’t want to read it all, here’s a brief summary of major effects he reports: altered facial perception, inanimate objects moving and swirling around, objects appearing to be in constant flux, massive changes to peripheral vision, well known objects seeming unfamiliar, an ‘out of body’ type experience, changed perception of space and time, dissolution of the ego, reduced ability to express thoughts verbally, colourful and constantly changing closed-eye visuals, and alterations in sound perception including visual representations of sounds when eyes are closed.
So, if you think you’ve taken 250µg but only see a bit of waving and breathing of objects and brighter colours, then you can be sure the dealer was exaggerating the strength of the tabs.
A final note – Hoffman’s first experience with LSD was frightening to him, so if you don’t like to read about so called “bad trips”, then don’t read it. However, it’s highly instructive because the reason it was scary to Hoffman is because he had no idea what to expect (it was the first ever trip). So, this nicely demonstrates some great advice about psychedelics – do your research before you take them as you might panic if you have no idea what to expect. Also, Hoffman describes how he tried to fight himself out of the LSD state, again this highlights a critical piece of advice – do not fight the experience, it only causes more and more panic.
Sorry for the long post! Here’s the report:
"4/19/43 16:20: 0.5 cc of 1/2 promil aqueous solution of diethylamide tartrate orally=0.25mg tartrate. Taken diluted with about 10 cc water. Tasteless.
17:00: Beginning dizziness, feeling of anxiety, visual distortions, symptoms of paralysis, desire to laugh.
Supplement of 4/21: Home by bicycle. From 18:00 - ca.20:00 most severe crisis. (See special report)"
"Here the notes in my laboratory journal cease. I was able to write the last words only with great effort. By now it was already clear to me that LSD had been the cause of the remarkable experience of the previous Friday, for the altered perceptions were of the same type as before, only much more intense. I had to struggle to speak intelligibly. I asked my laboratory assistant, who was informed of the self-experiment, to escort me home. We went by bicycle, no automobile available because of wartime restrictions on their use. On the way home, my condition began to assume threatening forms. Everything in my field of vision wavered and was distorted as if seen in a curved mirror. I also had the sensation of being unable to move from the spot. Nevertheless, my assistant later told me that we had travelled very rapidly. Finally, we arrived at home safe and sound, and I was just barely capable of asking my companion to summon our family doctor and request milk from the neighbors.
[...]
The dizziness and sensation of fainting became so strong at times that I could no longer hold myself erect, and had to lie down on a sofa. My surroundings had now transformed themselves in more terrifying ways. Everything in the room spun around, and the familiar objects and pieces of furniture assumed grotesque, threatening forms. They were in continuous motion, animated, as if driven by an inner restlessness. The lady next door, whom I scarcely recognized, brought me milk - in the course of the evening I drank more than two liters. She was no longer Mrs. R., but rather a malevolent, insidious witch with a colored mask.
Even worse than these demonic transformations of the outer world, were the alterations that I perceived in myself, in my inner being. Every exertion of my will, every attempt to put an end to the disintegration of the outer world and the dissolution of my ego, seemed to be a wasted effort. A demon had invaded me, had taken possession of my body, mind, and soul. I jumped up and screamed, trying to free myself from him but then sank down again and lay helpless on the sofa. The substance, with which I wanted to experiment, had vanquished me. It was the demon that scornfully triumphed over my will. I was seized by the dreadful fear of going insane. I was taken to another world, another place, another time. My body seemed to be without sensation, lifeless, strange. Was I dying? Was this the transition? At times I believed myself to be outside my body, and then perceived clearly, as an outside observer, the complete tragedy of my situation. I had not even taken leave of my family (my wife, with our three children had traveled that day to visit her parents, in Lucerne). Would they ever understand that I had not experimented thoughtlessly, irresponsibly, but rather with the utmost caution, and that such a result was in no way foreseeable? My fear and despair intensified, not only because a young family should lose its father, but also because I dreaded leaving my chemical research work, which meant so much to me, unfinished in the midst of fruitful, promising development. Another reflection took shape, an idea full of bitter irony: if I was now forced to leave this world prematurely, it was because of this lysergic acid diethylamide that I myself had brought forth into the world.
By the time the doctor arrived, the climax of my despondent condition had already passed. My laboratory assistant informed him about my self-experiment, as I myself was not yet able to formulate a coherent sentence. He shook his head in perplexity, after my attempts to describe the mortal danger that threatened my body. He could detect no abnormal symptoms other than extremely dilated pupils. Pulse, blood pressure, breathing were all normal. He saw no reason to prescribe any medication. Instead he conveyed me to my bed and stood watch over me. Slowly I came back from a weird, unfamiliar world to reassuring everyday reality. The horror softened and gave way to a feeling of good fortune and gratitude, the more normal perceptions and thoughts returned, and I became more confident that the danger of insanity was conclusively past.
Now, little by little I could begin to enjoy the unprecedented colors and plays of shapes that persisted behind my closed eyes. Kaleidoscopic, fantastic images surged in on me, alternating, variegated, opening and then closing themselves in circles and spirals, exploding in colored fountains, rearranging and hybridizing themselves in constant flux. It was particularly remarkable how every acoustic perception, such as the sound of a door handle or a passing automobile, became transformed into optical perceptions. Every sound generated a vividly changing image, with its own consistent form and color.
Late in the evening my wife returned from Lucerne. Someone had informed her by telephone that I was suffering a mysterious breakdown. She had returned home at once, leaving the children behind with her parents. By now, I had recovered myself sufficiently to tell her what had happened.
Exhausted, I then slept, to awake next morning refreshed, with a clear head, though still somewhat tired physically. A sensation of well-being and renewed life flowed through me. Breakfast tasted delicious and gave me extraordinary pleasure. When I later walked into the garden, in which the sun shone now after a spring rain, everything glistened and sparkled in fresh light. The world was as if newly created. All my senses vibrated in a condition of highest sensitivity, which persisted for the entire day."
(Hofmann, 1983).
TL;DR Hoffman's first experiment with LSD shows that 250µg is a powerful dose. He had a frightening experience as he didn't know what to expect; the lesson being - do your reading before you take a psychedelic.
Not condoning or condemning, just sharing information...