Difference between revisions of "FAQ - DMT Frequently Asked Questions and Troubleshooting Guide"

Revision as of 00:16, 8 May 2010

Note:

This page is a transcription of the 'DMT Frequently Asked Questions and Troubleshooting Guide'[1].

DMT overview

What is DMT, Where do I learn the basics?

DMT is a naturally occuring substance, present in trace amounts in normal human metabolism (and its purpouse is unknown, check question 2.1 , as well as in a variety of plants and animals.

It can be extracted from some of these plants and smoked for some very strong psychedelic/entheogenic effects lasting 10 minutes. It can also be taken orally, but we have an enzyme (MAO) in our stomach that destroys dmt if taken orally, so for taking orally DMT must be acompanied by a substance that inhibits this enzyme (MAOI, or MAO Inhibitor), which is also extracted from some other plants.

Ayahuasca, a sacred drink used by indigenous people of the Amazon, is an example of a drink made from a dmt-containing plant, together with a MAOI containing plant, that is drank orally for a psychedelic/entheogenic experience lasting around 4 hours.

For learning more about DMT, this whole webpage is dedicated to it. Here's a few links

Links

• Wikipedia DMT Link
• The Dmt Nexus Wiki
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Main Dmt Nexus Forum

DMT Chemistry and Body

Is it true the pineal gland produces DMT naturally and is involved in dreaming?

If there is DMT produced / present in the pineal gland, is not yet proven. It is only a hypothesis raised by Dr Rick Strassman due to the presence of certain enzymes and Strassman's interest in the pineal..

It IS proven, though, for decades already, that DMT is produced in the human body and is present at all times in trace amounts, for unknown functions (which could be several functions). There is some speculation it may be involved in dreaming or that it may be released in Near-Death-Experiences but there seems to be no hard evidence showing this.

Is DMT physically dangerous?

Researches have been made showing the relative safety of dmt. It does not cause physical damage, addiction, and any tolerance disappears very quickly. Ayahuasca, the dmt-containing brew from the Amazon, has been studied by multidisciplinary groups in Brazil and other countries and was shown that in a careful context, it presents no negative cognitive/psychiatric/social consequences, even in adolescents. There is yet little research into vaporized dmt, but there seems to be no sign that it is in any way more dangerous than other administration forms

However:

• People with extreme heart or other conditions for whom strong emotions could be dangerous are contra-indicated, just like a roller coaster would for them.
• It is important to notice that with any psychedelic, it is a very powerful emotional/mental experience, so those with personal or family psychiatric history, unstable emotionally or going through some very difficult moments in life should be extremely careful.
• Also, it is possible that during the experience, one temporarily loses orientation in the consensus reality, so smoking/ingesting next to a cliff, sharp objects, etc, is not a good idea.
• DO NOT use MAOIs (so for example an ayahuasca brew) together with stimulants or SSRI medication

Links

• Scientific Articles on DMT/Ayahuasca/Psychedelics
• Long term effects of smoking DMT
• DMT After-Effects

Is a MAOI diet necessary? What kind of dangers are there with medication interaction?

Unlike some pharmaceutical MAOI, the Harmalas, alkaloids present in the caapi vine and syrian rue are reversible inhibitors of MAO subtype A, while Tyramine, the component in some food that could cause problems in big amounts, is eliminated by the intact MAO-B.

In other words, in terms of food interaction, there is no big danger related to reversible MAOI use (in for example ayahuasca or pharmahuasca with harmalas). In any case, it is generally considered good sense to eat light before and after the use of ayahuasca and analogues. With the exception of moclobemide, which stands in the same category as far as reversibility and food interaction goes, avoid all other pharmaceutical MAOIs !!

What IS dangerous is interaction between any MAOIs (including harmalas) and SSRI medication such as prozac, or also with stimulants. If you're taking SSRI's, do not consume MAOIs!! Do not mix stimulants with MAOIs either!

Links

• Will smoked Rue cause MAOI?
• Think iv cracked it

DMT and Society

Is dmt legal?

Posession and sales of DMT in its pure extracted/synthesized form is illegal, schedule 1 in USA and controlled by United Nations and can land you in jail if found in most countries.

Links

• Erowid DMT Law Vault

Are the natural ingredients such as mimosa, and ayahuasca, illegal?

Links

• Erowid Ayahuasca Law Vault
• Erowid Mimosa Law Vault

Whats the price of dmt?

DO NOT BUY OR SELL DMT! We at the nexus are against selling/profiting with this incredible substance. We do not know and we do not want to know how much it costs in the street, we do not want it to be sold on the streets!

Link

• Street Value of DMT

DMT Extraction

Where to start?

There are several ways of extracting DMT, and different ways use different chemicals and take different time. It is recommended that before embarking on extracting, one reads up at least a couple of different teks to understand the processes.

The basics of an extraction is:

Dmt in acidic solution is in salt form and therefore water soluble, while dmt in a basic solution is a freebase and not water soluble but rather soluble in non-polar solvents (like limonene, naphtha, etc). Non polars separate from water like oil, it stays as a layer on top. By playing with the pH (adding an acid or a base) you make the dmt move from one place to the other while most of other impurities dont, and then you separate the layers by pippeting/separatory funnel/decanting (and retrieve the dmt from the non-polar by evaporating or freeze precipitating it) so you are using these properties to isolate dmt. There are many other details and specific properties that make a difference, for example some solvents cant be freeze precipitated or so on, but thats the main principles.

There are some new developed teks for extracting dmt with food-safe materials and/or no petro-chemical solvents, such as Amor Fati's approach, Q21Q21's extraction tek, or BLAB. The biggest advantage is, as said, the use of relatively non-toxic material and no petrochemicals but instead solvents such as limonene, which is basically pure orange oil.

There are also the standard STB (straight-to-base) teks that have been used a lot before the food-safe/limo teks, the two most common being Noman's tek and Lazyman Tek. The advantage of STBs generally being that they need less steps or can usually be quicker, and the main disadvantage being the amount of lye/caustic soda they require (lye being dangerous if it spills because it causes chemical burns, though if done correctly it will not be on your final product. Also disadvantage of lye is it is watched in many places due to being used in meth production, so it might be suspicious to buy it, specially in some specific places of USA)

Then there are the A/B extractions (acid/base), such as Marsofold's tek and Panoramix's tek

Links

• Extraction Teks

What are the different bases one can use?

Always read the labels carefully and make sure there are no unwanted chemicals together with the desired base.

• For STB: Sodium Hydroxide/NaOH
• For A/B: Sodium Hydroxide/NaOH, Potassium Hydroxide/KOH
• For Dry tek: Calcium Hydroxide

What are the different acids one can use?

Always read the labels carefully and make sure there are no unwanted chemicals together with the desired acid.

Plenty of different kinds of acid will work, but generally people preffer the first one on the following list:

• Vinegar (acetic acid)
• Lemon Juice (citric acid)
• Phosphoric Acid
• Hydrochloric Acid/HCl/Muriatic Acid.

Link

• Acids

How long each acid cook?

2 hours cooks in a crockpot on low-medium. simmer at most, not boil (though this wouldnt necessarily damage the alkaloids). Stirring is more important than temperature.

How many acid cooks?

General consensus talks about 3 runs, 2 being minimum and 5 being over-careful.

Can I make one long cook instead of 3 shorter ones?

No. You can, but yield will be smaller. Like washing clothes, its better to make more cycles with clean water then only using the same water for washing all clothes.

Which ratio of MHRB:Lye:Water is the best?

1g MHRB:1g Lye:15ml Water is generally accepted as a good ratio. One actually needs less lye but this amount of lye helps prevent emulsions forming as well helps break down the plant material so that dmt is more exposed to the water.

Can I make one big pull instead of few smaller ones?

No. You can, but yield will be smaller. Like washing clothes, its better to make more cycles with clean water then only using the same water for washing all clothes.

How big should the pulls be?

5x 100ml per 250g bark is a sensible recomendation. More wont hurt but it will waste solvent as you will have to evaporate much afterwards. Less solvent per pull is even better, as long as you repeat more pulls to compensate.

The layers wont separate, what to do?

Possible fixes:

1. Dont shake next time! Instead, Stir/roll/turn upside down several times.
2. Add more basic water to the mix (either mix is not basic enough or too much plant matter for too little water)
3. Make a warm water bath with the whole container (remember no fire sources near solvents, and leave top slightly open for preventing building up of pressure)
4. Tapping on the side of the container/vibration (like sitting on top of washing mashine)
5. Adding plenty of pure salt (will make the water more polar and therefore chemically help in the separation)

Links

• Naphtha won' seperate?

How to get the naphtha off from the mix?

• STB: Each person finds his own way. One of the practical ways is to first, with syphon/pippete/turkey baster, crudely separate the solvent and maybe a little bit of the mimosa mix into a tall thin container. Then, with another pippete/baster (or same one, washed), separate the solvent (will be easier due to being thinner container, so thicker solvent layer than before) to the final container for evap or freeze precip. On this second separation, only pull out what you are sure you can do accurately, and the last bit throw back into the main container.
• A/B: Same as above, or also using a separatory funnel.

Should I wash my spice?

Washing spice has as a main function eliminate any possible lye from the final product when it is used as a base earlier in the process. Unless one was really sloppy and some of the basic mimosa liquid came through to the solvent when separating, there should be nothing or very negligible amounts of it in your final product. In any case if one feels better making sure, then proceed to a sodium carbonate wash (DO NOT WASH WITH AMMONIA! Many people report losing yield with ammonia wash )

1. Have your product still in the solvent, before evaporation/precipitation. If you have already in crystal form, redissolve in a solvent.
2. Add anywhere in between a pinch to 10 grams of sodium carbonate (yes, doesnt matter... All that is necessary is for it to be a basic solution) to 100ml clean water.
3. Add your spice-containing solvent and the sodium carbonate solution together in a container. Mix/shake/whatever (emulsions will not form).
4. Separate the solvent from the sodium carbonate solution using pippette/turkey baster/syphon/separatory funnel. One can repeat steps 2-4 if desired, but strictly not necessary. One can also do last wash with pure water without sodium carbonate, though one risks losing yield.

No precipitation problem, AKA 'Where's my snow globe'?

1. Evap till theres only a quarter of the naphtha left and repeat freeze precip. If it doesn't work, then go to step 2
2. Add more lye/base in the basic solution, and go to step 3.
3. Make small warm pulls and go to step 4
4. Stir/mix and let separate the layers many times over a longer period of time before pulling the solvent out of the mix

Other possibilities:

• Bad mimosa/plant material
• Not the right solvent

Melting/dissapearing crystals after freeze precipitation / Whats the best way to retrieve crystals after freezing?

This usually happens because of remaining solvent residues warming up and redissolving the crystals.

A trick to work around that is to freeze precipitate for a day or so (if you already have the melted crystals, then redissolve them in small amounts of warm naphtha and back into the freezer), and after crystals have precipitated, take it out of the freezer, pour the naphtha off (through coffee filter just in case any crystals are not stuck to the container), close the container and put it upside down in the freezer for some more hours. This way, any remaining naphtha trapped inside the crystals will drop off to the lid of the container on the bottom.

So after those few hours, take out out of the freezer, opening the lid still upside down so the naphtha drops off (remember to save the naphtha from freeze precip to reuse.... ), and then you can scrape the almost totally dry crystals, put them on top of a coffee filter or on a plate to finish air drying, and voilá

Links

• DMT crytals melting
• Question about freeze precipitation times
• Yellow goo. Wont crystallize

What to do with the waste?

Links

• What to do with the waste

DMT Usage/Methods of administration

Whats the best method from smoking?

Different people preffer different methods. FORGET THE LIGHTBULB METHOD as it only works for a small percentage of people, most report problems.

- Bong/leaf bed/enhanced leaf

One method generally considered successful is in a water bong, with a metal screen, a thick layer of ashes or thin layer of herbs on the bottom, then the dmt in the middle, and then another thick layer of ashes or thin layer of herbs on top. 50mg seems to be a good dose if one wants to really go inside the dmt dimension. Inhale slowly and deeply, holding in the lungs as much as possible (at least a few seconds), exhaling, and then taking a second, third one if possible, and even fourth one if one still can. Even if after the first there are already some effects, if one really wants to breakthrough, gotta keep going as much as one can.

Specifically for enhanced leaf check link below

- Vaporgenie

Using these vaporizing pipes, one should inhale slowly and deeply. The trick is to keep the fire from the lighter on the border of the bowl, so that the flame starts to get licked in as you inhale but doesnt go completely in. The first puff always takes a while longer to start coming vapour because the whole thing needs to warm up. Then, regulate through feeling the back of the throat the temperature/density of vapour, and keep inhaling near the limit of how much one can take, as thick as possible without coughing. Leave a bit of space in the lungs at the end of each puff, so that you can inhale a bit of fresh air and therefore help with being able to keep the vapor in the lungs for longer.

Hold each puff as long as possible in the lungs, at least, say, 10 seconds, and if you want the real experience, try to take as many hits as you physically can, keep hitting even after effects have started. Usually it takes anywhere between 2-5 hits.

- The Machine

Links

• Helps and tips for smoking spice
• Ban the Bulb - Modify the Machine
• A guide to enhanced leaf changa
• Thoughts on using a VaporGenie
• Troubles with The Machine

I dont get any effects/light buzz only, what to do?

Try one of the methods above, and considering it is dmt and one smokes it right, it should work. Other possibility is that one has a very impure product with too much plant oils and so on. One can perform one or more recrystalizations to get a purer product that is easier to weight accurately and vaporize, and then try methods above.

Link

• Trouble Breaking Through???

What are the dosages for ... ?

Link

• Dosages and different forms of ingestion

What is the best setting/context to consume spice?

• A comfortable quiet place is generally recommended. If there are friends around they should be requested to remain quiet while someone is embarking on this experience and only start speaking once the explorer talks himself and allows others. Possibility of telefone ringing or street noises or other interruptions is definitely NOT recommended.
• The presence of music or not depends a lot on personal taste. Some prefer full silence to 'concentrate' more deeply and mention that any stimulus keeps them too grounded in usual reality, while others can have very deep interconnected experiences with certain music of their own preference (often being some kind of chill out/ambient/ethno ).
• Many people preffer full darkness or indirect lighting, but sunset or sunrise in a nice nature place (if safe) can also be marvelous.
• Obviously DO NOT have sharp objects around, smoke next to cliffs, driving etc...
• It is very rare, but it may happen that one feels nauseated and/or vomits, so specially first times or those doing alone, its also recommended to have a bucket nearby, and to sit comfortably, resting the back against something soft in a way that you wont slip or fall, such as an armchair, bed with backrest/pillows or comfortable sofa.
• While we are not aware of any deaths, it would be irresponsible to discount the possibility that blocking your airway while deep in hyperspace could prove fatal, so be in a position/place where you are safe even if not conscious of the surroundings. During traditional ayahuasca ceremonies participants sit on the floor or in a comfortable chair. We recommend sitting upright (slightly reclined for stability) comfortably because the launch is far more immediate and surprising with vaporised DMT. Think of it as your pilot seat- you wouldn't fly a plane any other way!
• If you do not have a sitter to take the pipe from you, be sure that you have a safe and easy place very near to put it down when you feel hyperspace approaching. You will not be inclined to move your hand very far, so we would recommend a fireproof shelf of sorts less than a foot away. Just smoking cigarettes in bed kills many people every year, and obviously the same dangers are relevent with DMT. We have heard one report of a member who returned from an unenjoyable trip to find that she had dropped the pipe onto her leg, resulting in a nasty burn.
• Prior meditation or at least focusing on intention and inner calm can be benefiting.
• Remember to let go, dont struggle. Its normal that the hearbeat accelerates in the come up. Some people fear they are dying or that they wont return, but dont worry FOR SURE you come back, as it has happened with everybody else. Some people feel that they lose their breath, but its just a feeling.. As long as the airway is not physically blocked, then dont worry our body has a built-in mechanism that prevents one from stopping breathing.
• Dont be scared, entities cant hurt you in real life if you dont believe it. Try to not make 'good/bad' judgements during the experience, dont resist!! Just go with the flow of the ride. Some images may appear positive, negative, incredible, impossible to describe, etc, but you are safe regardless of what comes.

Link

• Favourite setting for smoking DMT

DMT/Plant storage

Does DMT go bad?

The main degradation product of dmt seems to be dmt n-oxide, which is also psychoactive. Some people enjoy and find qualitative difference in n-oxide compared to dmt. On the other hand, other people report negative experiences with old spice, but it is unknown how much is self-suggestion and how much is really true.

In any case, n-oxide can be converted back to dmt using zinc dust, see link below

Link

• DMT N-Oxide to Freebase DMT

Does mimosa go bad?

Generally mimosa should not go bad even after months/years. If it looks fine and doesnt have some mutant fungus growing on it, its perfect :) There are reports of people using mimosa that was for many months or even years in a drawer without any significant problem (though as with anything, its always more prudent to store in dark, dry, cold place).

The main possible degradation is of dmt into dmt n-oxide. Dmt n-oxide is also psychoactive, but it is not soluble in naphtha, which may cause some people to get small yields when extracting from older bark. N-oxide is soluble in limonene/xylene/toluene/etc, so one could extract it with those solvents without loss of yield. Alternatively, N-oxide can be converted back to dmt using zinc dust, see link below

For oral usage of mimosa, formation of n-oxide wouldnt really affect much as it will be water soluble so one will still get the effects when consuming the brew.

Links

• DMT N-Oxide to Freebase DMT
• How long should MHRB keep

Whats the best way to store DMT?

As with mostly anything, a dark, airtight, dry and cold place is the best, but dmt is reasonably stable and one doesnt have to worry much appart from dmt-n-oxide (see question 5.1)

In any case, one can also convert to dmt fumarate which is a very stable salt form of dmt

Links

• Long-term storage
• How to store DMT for longest

Whats the best way to store Mimosa?

As with mostly anything, a dark, airtight, dry and cold place is the best, but dmt is reasonably stable and one doesnt have to worry much appart from dmt-n-oxide (see question 6.1)

Logically, bark in pieces will keep better than when powdered

Links

• Storing mimosa hostilis

DMT Allies

What is jungle spice ?

Links

• Jungle Spice
• Jungle Spice chemical analysis

What is changa / How to make changa ?

Links

• Changa

Reference

1. ↑ DMT Frequently Asked Questions and Troubleshooting Guide [1]