The Beginner's Guide to Microdosing Shrooms | Scheduling & Dosage Tips

The use of psychedelic mushrooms (or magic mushrooms), isn’t new.

We have been able to track them back to religious ceremonies. Some evidence even points to their use dating back 10,000 years ago in African cultures. The most mainstream, recent occurrence that we most commonly think of is in the 60’s when mushrooms and other psychedelics were used recreationally by a widespread group of people.

But recent news has centered around the medicinal and therapeutic use of psychedelic mushrooms, most notably its psychoactive compound, psilocybin. Over the past few years, companies have been researching its effects and conducting studies on higher doses that people will “trip” or have a “mystical experience”. This administration is often accompanied by psychoactive therapy to help understand its potential to treat various health conditions, from depression, anxiety, alcohol/smoking addiction, and more.

Psilocybin therapy is gaining a lot of momentum as states loosen the regulation on the substance and studies are reporting positive results. With the growing concern of mental health disorders, in particular, it’s already evident that psilocybin will play a large role in healing those who suffer from the disease. 

But, there’s another phenomenon that has been increasingly popular amongst everyday people. From women to men, young adults to parents and grandparents, there has been a lot of public discussion about microdosing.

It’s important for us to mention that magic mushrooms are still federally illegal. Hopefully that changes soon, but for now, just know that it is illegal to grow or possess them as they are still a schedule 1 drug. 

What is microdosing?

Essentially, when we think about microdosing, it’s important to initially discuss what a typical “dose” of magic mushrooms is, as “micro” obviously means its a small, small fraction of that a normal dose is. Here’s a table to show what that may look like.

Use this table as an example. Most dried magic mushrooms have a content of around 1% psilocybin. Of course, this dose varies based on species, but we’ll use it as a general rule of thumb. 

For most users, 1 gram is going to be a lower dose, where you’ll likely feel a sense of euphoria, laughter, and a general feeling of betterness, but you’re unlikely to have a real trip.

Of course, if you’re brand new, take it slow and work your way up, depending on what you’re looking for.

As we get into the medium, higher, and hero’s dose, this is where you can expect to trip, hallucinate, and potentially have some out-of-body experiences, especially when you approach higher levels like 5 grams (50mg of psilocybin). For reference, most clinical trials have been done giving patients around 25mg of psilocybin to go on a spiritual journey. 

When it comes to microdosing, the dose drops significantly. It’s meant to be a dose that you can function normally with. It’s not a dose you would trip on, but a maintenance dose, typically about 1/10th the amount of a typical dose. So, depending on your experience, you may be taking anywhere from 100mg of dried mushrooms (1mg psilocybin) if you’re basing this off of a lower dose, or up to 500mg of dried mushrooms (5mg of psilocybin) if you’re basing this off of a lower dose. 

In general, most beginners will often choose to start with about 100mg of dried mushrooms or about 1mg of psilocybin in order to gauge the effects and see how they’re feeling. It’s kind of like anything you put into your body. Each person reacts differently, so it’s important to understand your own self, monitor how you’re feeling, and increase or decrease your dose as you choose. 

What are the potential benefits of microdosing?

Research into psychedelic mushrooms is still rather limited as you might imagine. Even with some clinical trials from various companies and organizations, we’re still waiting to hear more about their findings, even if preliminary results are positive. As far as microdosing goes, most of the results are user-reported among people who are advocates for its use for a variety of conditions. However, there is a notable study that weighed in on categories of benefits of microdosing magic mushrooms. 

The results reported the following categories of benefits. 

As described in the study and chart above, here were the following benefits of microdosing, ranked by most reported to least reported.

• Improved Mood
• Improved Focus
• Creativity
• Self-Efficacy (motivation)
• Improved Energy
• Social Benefits
• Cognitive Benefits (mental clarity)
• Reduced Anxiety
• Physiological Enhancement
• Other
• Reduced Symptoms (stress, addiction, etc.)

And there are other studies to back up microdosing and its effects on mental health, including this one here. The study concluded that those who microdosed, compared to the group that did not, saw greater improvement in mood and mental health.

And this is why microdosing is really gaining in popularity.

Microdosing for depression and anxiety

Mental health is a growing concern in our society. And it’s not just about severe forms of disease like depression. We live in a society where most people experience a significant amount of stress. From work, to family and home life, we are all under some form of pressure and this begins to compound and stack up against ourselves.

We become more stressed, we may choose unhealthy solutions to try to help, and eventually, before we know it, it can lead to a lack of energy, lack of creativity, lack of motivation, and more.

But microdosing magic mushrooms has the potential to be a solution for this. 

Because, right now, there really isn’t a solution for mental health. Sure, there are prescribed medications someone could take, but even those have their downfall. The most common form of successful treatment is to see a therapist, which of course requires continuous effort into working on yourself through the help of a professional. But even that comes with its drawbacks like time commitment and money. 

How to start microdosing

Well, here’s the biggest challenge. If you’re in the United States and nearly all other countries, it’s still illegal. You’ll have to make that call for yourself. We can only educate on the topic and cannot advise the use of illegal substances. 

Curious if there's any psychedelic legalization happening in your state? Here's a state-by-state guide of legislation, advocacy groups, and more. Check it out & subscribe for updates. 

But, in general terms, you’ll want to journal your dosing and stick to a schedule. The journal is to report how you’re feeling. The schedule is meant to stick to a program, give yourself tolerance breaks, and see how you feel.

The best microdose schedule and dosage for beginners

Our favorite option is the one discussed by Paul Stamets, world renowned mycologist. He came up with the Stamet’s Stack which incorporates the following:

• Dried psychedelic mushrooms
• Lion’s mane (non-psychedelic mushrooms known for its cognitive benefits) 
• Niacin (b3-vitamin)

Stamets says the use of the 3 substances compliment each other and yield the best effect. Lion’s mane has been studied for its beneficial effects on cognitive health, while niacin has been reported to help distribute everything throughout the mind-body connection. At this point, there isn’t additional scientific evidence to back this up, but his recommendation comes from decades of research and experience into the field of mycology. 

The best microdose dosage for beginners is:

• .1 grams (100mg) dried psychedelic mushrooms
• 500-1000mg of lion’s mane extract 
• 100-200mg niacin (b3-vitamin)

As far as the schedule, Stamets recommends a 4 day on, 3 day off schedule, that would look something like this:

Over time, our bodies build up a tolerance. This schedule gives 3 full days of tolerance break to reset and then start back up again.

The best microdose schedule for beginners

There are a couple of different microdosing schedules you might try. The first is a daily on and off every three days. The second is one week on and one week off. Let's take a look at those schedules in more detail: 

Micrdosing schedule option 1: On and Off

There are some others out there that recommend .1 grams (100mg) of dried magic mushrooms taken at various cadences, like once every 3 days. Here's an example of what that schedule might look like your first week: 

Micrdosing schedule option 2: Alternating Weeks

And others that recommend a full week on and then a full week off, and repeat. 

It does come down to personal preference, but we believe that the Stamet’s Stack and schedule is the best, especially with the addition of substances that may help make its use even more efficient. 

What does microdosing feel like?

We debated how we would write about this for a while. There are a lot of resources from people talking about their own experience, but most just discussed what it did for them. While that’s great, we are all about education and wanted to create something that almost held someone’s hand through the process. Luckily for us, we have someone that decided to commit to a full 2 months, detailing the process as he goes.

He’ll be recapping how he’s feeling, starting from day one until the end of his cycle. He’ll discuss the stack he’s using, the cadence, and more. You can ask questions, email, and be a part of the process as you seek out your own microdosing journey.

Follow this link and he’ll keep updating it every day!

And if you have any questions, just contact us and we'd be happy to chat.