Psilocybin mushrooms (aka magic mushrooms) are known to have a wide range of subjective effects on the user. Some of the primary effects are part of the psychedelic and mystical experiences these mushroom cause such as a distorted sense of time, visual and auditory hallucinations, and a feeling of oneness or a connection to nature and the universe. The subjective effects of magic mushrooms can be highly variable and depend on which compounds are in the mushrooms, how much of each compound is present, the part of the mushroom that is ingested, the dosage, metabolism of the user, the entourage effect, and the set and setting of their psychedelic experience.
Some of the short-term side effects of ingesting magic mushrooms are described as undesirable, unpleasant, or uncomfortable. For some users, these effects are related to their psychedelic experience. For example, a person may visualize they are running away from something which causes an increase in their heart rate. However, this can be an undesirable and distracting effect for someone having a more peaceful experience.
There is a lot of mystery surrounding the exact cause(s) of these undesirable effects, their intensity, and why some people may not experience them at all. Research into the individual compounds in magic mushrooms would go a long way toward understanding how they work in the human body and the metabolic pathways they use (In addition to psilocybin and psilocin, magic mushrooms can also contain baeocystin, norbaeocystin, aeruginascin, and phenethylamine). It is reasonable to think that with more in-depth understanding, many of these undesirable effects could be reduced or even eliminated by creating formulations using specific magic mushroom compounds.
Here is a sampling of some undesirable effects of magic mushrooms that are frequently mentioned in experience reports and discussion posts on websites like the Shroomery, Reddit, Erowid and Bluelight.
Bad Taste
“Though this is something to be expected, I couldn’t help but be disgusted by the disgusting texture and even fouler taste.”
“We talked about how nasty the shrooms tasted. The day before the trip we each tried a little piece and that didn’t really taste bad, it was much like the usual mushrooms you have on your pizza. But when you have to 30 grams of it, though, they DO taste nasty. Only one word could describe their taste: horrid.”
[smoking dried cubies] “I packed a bubbler full of mushrooms, which I packed in there tight. My girlfriend and I smoked up the whole bowl, it tasted disgusting, but… not all drugs taste good. It tasted sort of like burning hair and cheese, almost enough to make me nauseous.”
“The taste isn’t exactly gourmet, but it really isn’t so bad. I like the taste of store bought mushrooms however. Dry, smell like old shoes, taste like nothing until rehydrated; then they’re nasty, texture isn’t bad, like bark or little pieces of wood. Fresh smell good, taste ok, but the texture is horrible, especially the cap.”
“I found that in the beginning I didn’t mind mushrooms at all, but now I can’t stand the taste of them. disgusts me.”
Nausea
“My trips are almost ruined from the overwhelming nausea, I can’t even walk for periods of time without running back to my bed, even as I’m talking I start to gage (sic). As far as watching t.v. or using my computer or phone, I can never look at it for more than one second without getting overwhelmed with the urge to puke.”
“Every racing thought appears as a powerful visualisation in my minds eye. I am laying on my bed, the nausea is bearable, as long as I don’t move or sit up.”
“I was fully immersed in the experience at this point, but still fighting ever-increasing waves of nausea. I was trying to keep everything in my stomach for as long as I could manage, but I had the intuition that eventually I would just have to jettison everything.”
“I’ve been taking shrooms recently, but can never get a good high in fear of puking!”
“When I first started using mushrooms my typical dose was 3-4g and the nausea was present but relatively bearable. Basically the more mushroom matter I have to ingest the worse the nausea gets and it can last the entire trip.”
Paralysis/Wood Lover Paralysis
“The ‘paralysis’ manifested as waves of losing most of the motor control of my limbs. If I was standing one minute, I was crumpled on the floor flailing about the next.”
“First noticeable symptoms are blurred vision, hand cramping/numbness, then loss of facial/mouth movement followed by having a hard time walking then full loss of the ability to walk properly or even stand period.”
“I have had severe paralysis on ps cyanescens to the point I had to hit the floor because my muscles just gave out.”
“I was fine that night. The next morning I woke up and was having a hard time focusing my eyes and felt very uncoordinated….All of a sudden I completely lost control of both legs, and my hands got seized up weird and stuff. I was in the middle of the road in the campground paralyzed. My mind was clear but I couldn’t get up no matter how many times I tried….My hands were seized up and my face was numb and the muscles unresponsive for up to a couple of hours and it went away.”
“Not full on paralysis, but I did realize how wobbly and weak my muscles were feeling under me.”
“I got half way to the kitchen and suddenly my legs felt like they were going to collapse. I sat down for 5 minutes, got up again, walked for a bit- and then my legs DID collapse. It was a little scary because I felt clear headed, there was no pain or numbness… just non-functional legs.”
“I collapsed in the middle of a field. I couldn’t walk 5 blocks. My co-tripper couldn’t smile the next day. I have experienced many muscular problems on these two species [Psilocybe cyanescens and Psilocybe azurescens]. They effect these muscle parts/groups: eye, facial, esophageal, hand and leg…. I have never had similar effects on [cubensis].”
“My friend … would try to stand up and his legs would collapse like jelly….he was also getting weird facial contractions where his mouth would distort similar to a mentally disabled person.”
“One time walking to the bathroom was a massive struggle, I probably looked like I had cerebral palsy… and once I did make it to the bathroom, I couldn’t even raise my arms more than a few inches, and my legs were trembling, barely holding my weight. My vision was blurred, and when I looked in the mirror, I was literally slightly cross-eyed with one pupil still heavily dilated and the other in a normal state (lol).”
Excessive Yawning
“Some trips I yawn so much I get the jaw equivalent of a charlie-horse.”
“Yawns are to shrooms what farts are to beer.”
“When the trip is coming up I seem to yawn for no reason, it doesn’t feel as “satisfying” as a normal yawn … it’s like I’m just opening my mouth really wide for no reason.”
“I yawn contagiously every time I trip on mushrooms, I can be running through the woods playing with shit, be wide awake and I am yawning. I remember one time me and a friend yawned together the whole night, every time I yawned he yawned and we would laugh. Fun times. Sometimes it bugs me, but I have no idea how to stop it.”
“Even microdosing I’ll get them, and I’m tired of yawning so much on days I dose!”
Fatigue
“I once had a batch that made me so unbelievably fatigued that I couldn’t stand. I spent an entire trip in the same position(not exaggerating at all). I wasn’t really just spacing out, I just couldn’t stand.”
“They [magic mushrooms] often make me feel physically exhausted. I’ve read and heard that muscle aches and ‘noodling’ are common experiences, but it’s getting to the point that it really affects my trip. I’ve tripped many times without feeling fatigued at all, so I imagine there is some way to combat this side effect.”
“The last few times I’ve done magic mushrooms I’ve had really bad fatigue on the comedown.“
“During the first 2 hours after taking cubes I feel really tired, weak and very sleepy, also I get very cold. I feel so tired that I have to lay down in my bed and wait until the onset is over. Then, after the first 2 hours, I usually start to feel better and lightweight.”
“I get really tired, but I found the tea made my shrooms really weak and got really nothing out of them. I get lathargic (sic) with endless yawns and I want to melt into everything.”
“I get pretty lethargic on shrooms, and just wanna chill, or walk around very slowly. It happens every time, even when I plan on going for a long-ish walk, I just end up sitting on a bench for most of the time.”
“I find that for me at least, the dosage plays a part. I know that when I eat an eighth or less, I have much more energy. While if a large dose is consumed, my body gets very tired and heavy and I usually just like to lay there.”
Has there been medical studies of what causes these effects? I have a bit of understanding of physiology (I have a training in naturopathy) and from what I’ve experienced and understood, the fatigue and weakness could come from low blood pressure. Mushrooms can behave as diuretics and the loss of fluid may cause hypotension and difficulty standing up. It could also cause feeling cold: loss of fluid, weaker blood flow —> feeling cold. One odd thing that helps deal with a lot of those issues of feeling weak, fatigue, nausea (to some extent) and low blood pressure is earthing/grounding. It’s… Read more »
This is misinformation. It is consensus currently that there is no electromagnetic sensitivity because of double blind studies in individuals. If you would love to converse with me however the lack of information in the subject is disturbing and irritates me due to my advocation for these studies to be considered for depression and motivational problems!
LOL that’s what they WANT you to believe. You can SEE the frequencies sometimes, let alone feel them. Consensus… please, more like propaganda. Caroline is dead on, going into the medicine in the absense of wifi, cell signals etc etc is a completely different experience and is the only way in my opinion to get really clean downloads do efficient healing and transformations. Happy sprititual journeys people, be safe and respect the power of yourself and of the substances you are ingesting.
I just tried them flr my first time only ate 1 gram made me puke for about and hour , then couldnt walk , well i coyld but evwry time i stood up i puked so they domt wlrk for everyone . Also i suffer from depression and very bad anxiety and it made it way worse also felt like shit for 2 days afterward .
If you eat shrooms after you eat, you will be nauseous. eating on empty stomach is the way to go
that and usually for smaller doses i usually feel sick and am left in cold sweats so i think going closer to 2gs could help…not an expert
Many years ago I used to take P. cyanescens occasionally, usually by drying, pulverizing and mixing with something like grapefruit juice. Once and a while I would just eat them, though that is not recommended. What did I know? 😉 It only bothered my stomach once, and that was very temporary. I did no mushrooms of any kind for at least 20 years, but two years ago someone gave me some cyanescens again. I had been reading about microdosing, and tried it a few times (a small amount of powdered dried raw mushroom), just to the point of an extremely… Read more »
Interesting . I’ve similar problems with the mushrooms. I’ve taken them in a tea form and it’s made no difference. Strangely the one thing that does alleviate the problem (nausea for the whole trip with accompanying anxiety for the first hour after on-set) , is alcohol. A couple of drinks before I ingesting and I’m fine. It doesn’t negatively impact the benefits of the plants at all , unless you drink too much and crash out. I’m pretty sure the problem is a biochemical reaction in the digestion system somewhere , possibly the gut. From my POV it’s nothing to… Read more »
So how much is too much. Like just a beer, a mixed drink or a shot.
I got incredibly sick once from drinking on mushrooms then I read the 2 mixed are poisonous
Mixing shrooms with alcohol is a very bad idea! I had a 3 weeks bad vertigo because of this, don’t do it!
Try blue juice if you have fresh ones
making a tea should reduce the nausea feeling due to the lack of physical matter plus it should hit you quicker and stronger than eating them raw around 15-25 mins for it to hit you,plus you cant taste anything if u use a good tea
But the paralysis went away right
It appears that p.cubensis seems to have the least negative side affects. It’s the only ones I’ve ever tried (perhaps due to my region) and I had no idea mushrooms can cause paralysis.
Panaeolus Cyanescens may be even better than cubensis from the perspective of negative side effects. Many report lower nausea, lower anxiety, lower fear, and a more euphoric, “smooth and gentle on the mind” experience with pan cyans (not to be confused with psilocybe cyanescens which is a totally different species and a woodlover, pan cyan is a grass/dung lover, does not grow on wood). I’ve created some (free) videos about pan cyans you may be interested in.
My boyfriend took shrooms 3 days ago and is having really bad stomach pains and spasms is that normal or should he be worried?
We are not doctors and do not provide medical advice. Please make sure your boyfriend goes to the doctor.
how did it end up? What was the reason, did you find it out eventually?
When you eat a bag of cashews, you will have undesirable effects, but when you eat only one or two cashews, you’ll be fine. Food abuse is the culprit.
A few friends and myself ate Shrooms a few days ago. I ate around 7g , My friend girl ate.1 , and our friend D ate 5 g or more. We had an amazing trip. However, even days later. D is suffering from lots of brain fog and feeling “ lost” or unable to focus or decide on any given thing. I’ve had this feeling from acid but never shrooms. He’s afraid it’s permanent but I thought It wasn’t that uncommon.i feel that way for days sometimes after a great trip. Has anyone experienced this or know if it is… Read more »
of course it’s not. but 5gs is quite a lot, so it may take a while (like up to a week id guess)
Is diarrhea and sleeping normal 2 days after I also feel like I don’t feel my chest anymore since the trip started to rn is this normal?
Yuh took some three days ago and I feel.the same as well as more senstive but shrooms just do that thr more you keep going on each day the less he’ll think about it and go to normal sometimes these effects just last a while but if it might help in like mentally to go to the doc so he wont be so paraniod
I am not an expert but 5 grams is much. Does your friends have any past mental health issues? If so, any hallucinogenic drugs could increase those issues. Your friend should be fine but I would probably stay hydrated and maybe see a dr.
what can one do if those effects don’t pass? how to treat?
Thank you for the artical
A certain people was wondering what type name, of these mind boggling veggies you be taking ,if possible a pic woUd be outstanding..
THANK YOU….
Has anyone experienced pressure in the mouth and face after a shroom trip?
Yes! It’s happened to me a few times before, and it feels super intense. I think it usually happens when I am trying to hide / suppress something.
Omg, was just reading and glad I’m not alone! Took them for the first time two days ago. Great time but pressure in my mouth and jaw! Did them again last night & same thing. Still feeling residual a little bit but ibuprofen helped a lot.
I experience rarely any side effects
I’m usually just feeling like woah…
I found that the negative effects can vary from person to person, and when abusing the substance, you will eventually bump into one or two effects that scare the shit out of you. Myself, i’ve done plenty of experimenting with LSD (only a couple of times) and P.Cubensis (to the point i was growing my own and having a trip every month-or-so.) I’ve always experienced the full effects, and, with maybe one or two exceptions, enjoyed them every single time. Until fate struck, and i suddenly got something that felt like a stroke. Well, it didn’t really feel like it,… Read more »
Seems like you experienced normal tripping effects: Copper/mettalic taste is very normal. Difficulties in speaking can be very normal (not being able to explain anything/making up your own words and language/completely not understanding the meaning of words and things). I don’t know about the numb feeling in your arm.. but feeling all around numb is also normal. Some trips you can have less visuals and more body high, some trips are completely reversed. Nothing to worry about, trips can be very differerent. As long as you aren’t psychotic or something, you shouldn’t worry too much. But if you don’t feel… Read more »
If there’s one thing psychedelics have taught me is acceptance. Things like that happen or bad trips I literally just sit there and deal with it or go lay down. In it for the long haul and the drug is gonna do what ever its gonna do just gotta always remember its just the drugs and its temporary and you have to just go with what ever is happening to you. It’s when you fight it that things start to go wrong.
Magnesium. You might be interested in this:
https://www.ecronicon.com/ecpt/si/ECPT-01-SI-07.pdf
“… we have, indeed, found that Mg2+ administration, depending upon concentration, either attenuated the vasoconstrictor and stroke-like effects of these hallucinogenic drugs or inhibited, completely, their dangerous effects on the brain microcirculation.”
While psychedelics can raise blood pressure (like many other things including exercise or a roller coaster) which could potentially cause an adverse cardiovascular event, it is pretty unlikely. For people who call an ambulance while on psychedelics, nearly 100% are just having your basic run of the mill “panic attack” and nothing more, they usually are fine after a few hours. If you really had a stroke the hospital would know it based on testing. There was a large study just published in 2022 about people who called for emergency help after taking psychedelics: Adverse experiences resulting in emergency medical… Read more »
I started off taking Liberty Caps a few years ago and was slowly increasing my dose and also started fasting for a 6 hours or more before taking them. Got upto 4g of liberty caps and decided to take another 2 g after an hour or 2. All was going well until i started getting a horrible pain in my legs which at the time i didnt worry about too much but i now believe was bloood pooling in my legs. I didnt panic as i have had multiple collapsed lungs where i couldnt breathe properly, a couple of bad… Read more »
In my own experience (8 or 9 trips over several years) undesirable effects may always be controlled by my attitude and my environment (including who I am with and their attitude and state of mind (is this the entourage effect?)). I’ve never felt overwhelmed by discomfort, and have always been able to choose the direction of my trip. (Though taste doesn’t appeal to me, it also doesn’t bother me. It’s just part of the experience!) I’ve never experienced paralysis or loss of motor control while on cubensis, but I’ve also never eaten more than 5 or 6 grams (dry) at… Read more »
When my husband takes shrooms , he vocalizes every dream-thought in his sleep. If he’s about to roll over or move, he signals with a loud sigh first, and talks incoherently all night. Even his breathing is accentuated with more sound (not breathing harder, just putting noise into it). Is there some mechanism that connects thoughts with vocalization?
On a microdose right now. Seems to affect me if I don’t eat food. Sitting here having a bit of an anxiety attack. Decided to read this article. The guy who mentions getting up and going to the bathroom and looking Iike he had cerebral palsy made me laugh lol I also get loss of motor function but that isn’t until the high starts wearing off. I remember I was at a festival with my ex and we’d been eating shroons all day. By the end of the night she wanted to keep going and I literally couldn’t. I couldn’t… Read more »
i tasted a shroom i didn’t eat it & minutes later it felt like i was finna pass out my heart was raising & my head was feeling bumpy & my feat were feeling heavy
Funny..I took mushrooms 2 days ago, thank God I had nothing to do the next day cuz I was very fatigued/ still am I slept the whole next day away
I ate mushrooms 3 days In a row, like less than a gram each time. Then took a gram 2 days after. And my stomach hurts since that last time. It’s been 10 days and seems like it wont go away. Any ideas what i can do? Besides seeing a doctor which i will tomorrow..
i’m a little scared that i might hurt myself badly. I’ve had much more doses before but not days in a row..
I took shrooms a few months back. I did have an interesting trip. But one thing I’m worried about is that my arms started moving without me making them movr. They were moving to the rythm of the music I had on. I was conscious they were moving, but I didn’t make them move if that makes any sense. Anyone had similar experiences?
I have taken shrooms recreationally a few times, just a little bit to enhance festivals/concerts with no ill effect. I decided to start growing my own to explore microdosing. When I microdose, I don’t notice anything at the time except feeling more positive overall, long term has help enormously with depression. But when I take more than 500 gm (to have a psychedelic experience,) I have consistently experienced EXTREME itching on my face, in my ears and eyes. It literally feels like a pack of invisible mosquitoes are attacking my face and ears, it is boreline unbearable. Also, I cannot… Read more »
about a month ago, i took 2.5 or blue meanie, and few hits of sativa, I was feeling like i couldnt control my lungs, felt as if i was gna die, guess it was ego dissolving, but i had the bad face nose and ear itching, which made my trip almost go super bad.. ive nvr experiebced this before..
Felt the same thing with the lungs .. it’s scary to not know if you’re breathing .. I feel some dizziness while on microdosing to..
I’m wondering why
I have crazy head tingling that goes down my neck and back. I started microdosing about 6 weeks ago, for depression that nothing has remedied for the last 35 years, I had no side effects. A couple weeks ago I added a lions mane supplement. A few days later I started getting weird sensations like someone was sneakily picking up parts of my hair and it moved around my head. It got intense so I stopped yhe.lions.mane and it has decreased a lot. Now it just feels weirder but less intense and goes down my back shoulder and tons much… Read more »
Dude, I just searched the internet for this and found your comment. I have the exact same things happening. Like a warm tingly feeling in the back of my neck and then up into my ears. Ive been microdosing for about 6+ weeks too. (Less than .1) and just recently added lions mane to my daily along with Niacin (vitamin b3). Its not an uncomfortable feeling for me its actually slightly calming.
The itching you described is likely the niacin flush reaction.
The different strains of mushrooms all have a different dosage level depending on the potency of the species you are eating find out what type you’re eating and research it first some types of mushrooms are 3 times more potent than p. cubensis so you don’t have to eat that much of them cutting down on the quantity of disgusting mushrooms you have to eat to get desired result. Also getting them in capsules helps with the taste too if you don’t mind swallowing a whole bunch of pills. Marijuana helps with the nausea. And always have water near by… Read more »
If you want to avoid nausea altogether, my advice is to avoid any food whatsoever prior to taking a trip!! I always fast 6 hours prior, the longer the fast the more intense the trip!
I took it on an empty stomach. I dry heaved for an hour and a half. :/
I took Tramadol for back pain for quite some time. I noticed that if I used more than reccomended I’d get really lethargic the next day. AFAIK it was because one of the effects of Tramadol is its increase in Seratonin so using too much causes a crash later. All the symptoms described here sound like a very similiar reaction. I tried microdosing cubes (about 100 mg) and the next day I was just weary…like when I took too much Tramadol. Maybe the problem is some people are more sensative to a surge in seratonin than others? I’m not sure… Read more »
I use both Golden Teacher and Blue Meanies. Are you trying to get stoned or use it to treat an ailment? The problem is most people are cluless as to the dose they should injest. If you start with a 1 gram dose you are a fool….. 0.3 grams to start. This is my normal dose for helping with my PTSD and chronic neck pain. At the most I am taking no more than 0.5g as a dosage. Even that is a very small amount to chew and swallow. You can even purchase in Chocolate format…9 cubes contain .3339 gram… Read more »
I have been micriding in 1 1/2 gramms every other day for three weeks and i getsk weak and tired several times day i have s sleep, i am treating depression
If I were you I’d do less than that!! That’s a lot to do every other day, when I do a trip it makes me sleepy so don’t worry but if u do less I can imagine the sleepiness will wear off?
I took a small about two days ago and my heart is still pounding and my body still aches and my eyes feel weird is that normal or should I go to the hospital?
We are not doctors and don’t provide medical advice. Please see your doctor as soon as possible.
I recently took psilocybin mushrooms and I was under the impression that they did nothing at all. I took them late one evening after I had been out on the water and in the sun all day. I waited for 3 hours, than by the time the 4th hour came around I gave up and figured nothing was going to happen and I went to sleep. I was under the impression that they didn’t work because I had previously left them in the car were it was probably 100+ temperatures for 2 days and I had them for a while.… Read more »
I have been trying to microdose fir the las5 6 months or so. The problem for me is every time I ingest my cap, I end up in the bathroom within 15 minutes with an extremely bad stomach ache and diarrhea. This happens without fail, every time. I’m ready to give up trying to microdose. I really didn’t think that it was the mushrooms but I now know that’s exactly what it is, just through experimenting. Is there anyone else that has ever had this experience with microdosing?
Did you ever get a reply on this question?
I have a sensitive stomach period. I’ve gotten bad gas from just 100mg. But I now (ALWAYS) do the “lemon tek” and I’m free from symptoms. I do the lemon tek in the way where you discard all the solids after soaking in lemon juice (or vinegar) for 20 minutes or so. Just squeeze out the soggy shrooms when you strain the juice. The mushroom fruit body is loaded with lignin and proteins that are challenging to digest. They are also RAW when consumed dry. Edible mushrooms should be cooked when eaten. These factors could easily lead to diarrhea. Hope… Read more »
I too have issues with diarrhea but not until the day after. I do get the initial nausea sick feeling when kicking in, but once it passes I’m good! I do also feel like cannabis and maybe 1-2 drinks helps with any anxiety or anticipation of the nausea (I think since I know it’s coming I get anxious about it but the alcohol helps me not get into my own head too much about it!) Anyways, I take the psilocybin gummies, which are all natural but have the extract, so the lemon trick wouldn’t work with what I’m using. But… Read more »
I used to enjoy psychedelics when I was younger. In particular mushrooms. I never felt nauseous or sick in those days but have always gotten the yawns and the sweats at the onset. Recently my wife who never tripped in her life went with me on a trip to our nations capitol. Shrooms are legal there and we decided to partake. I have long understood “set and setting” and made sure everything was good before indulging. She had a terrific time right from the start but per usual I began yawning uncontrollably to the point that I just wanted to… Read more »
Could be stomach acid strength; typically it decreases with age.
Any other tips for stomach pain/nausea? That’s usually what gets me every time. One of the last times I had to take promethazine just to get some peace and it didn’t help that much. But I usually feel better later so I’m not overwhelmed. I did notice I had a better time when I had a few beers with it, but I haven’t done that, that much because I didn’t want to make the nausea worse. I had one of the most powerful and life changing experiences of my life the last time I tripped. And I want to ensure… Read more »
I got 0.5 mg mixed Penis Envy and Golden Teacher. I took one and just wanted to sleep. No trip at all. Just tired and foggy for days. I’ve taken half as and the same effect. I want to microdose not sleep forever…?
Thank you Barbara
My one time experience was awful. felt like giant weight on front my body head to toe..I was afraid to move but did get up go outside pressure stayed same …it was all I could do to stay calm for hours.
Has anyone experienced a sudden aversion to untidiness? Almost every time I dose, I suddenly get very upset about the littlest thing being out of place or unclean. It’s bizarre.
I have just started to microdose what a awesome feeling
This page with the comments has been more helpful than anything else I’ve found online. I took shrooms 35 years ago and it was unremarkable, typical mild trip. I wanted to try some again to understand better what some of my clients experience who use shrooms. I took 3.5 grams of a variety nicknamed the “shaman,” but I don’t know the scientific name, will have to ask the source. I had good set and setting. I used lemon tekking and had no nausea. The effect came in about 15 minutes, but almost immediately I felt pinned to my chair, then… Read more »