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Another NBOMe Tragedy. Two Tabs of 25B-NBOMe Killed My Brother.
25B-NBOMe
Citation:   PainfulRegret. "Another NBOMe Tragedy. Two Tabs of 25B-NBOMe Killed My Brother.: An Experience with 25B-NBOMe (exp103021)". Erowid.org. Mar 31, 2014. erowid.org/exp/103021

 
DOSE:
T+ 0:00
2 hits buccal 25B-NBOMe (blotter / tab)
  T+ 0:30   smoked Cannabis (plant material)
  T+ 0:30   smoked Tobacco (plant material)
[Erowid Note: A first hand report of an experience and report of a fatality. From Reddit/r/Drugs. Reposted with permission. We have not yet received independent confirmation of this fatality, but believe it is factual.]

This past Friday, I came home from classes around 2:30 PM and found my younger, 18-year-old brother relaxing on the couch watching Rick and Morty and enjoying a bowl from his vaporizer. It was his spring break (I had already had mine a couple weeks earlier), and he had convinced our parents to allow him to stay home while they drove to Orlando, FL for their usual spring break vacation. I was tasked with watching over the house, dog and cat and making sure that my younger brother didn’t get into any trouble. I was looking forward to smoking with him and possibly tripping with him without fear of being found out by our parents.

We hadn’t been very close until about a year ago; we mutually discovered that we both shared a penchant for smoking cannabis. Over the past year we had bonded through smoking together, sharing music, and sharing our psychedelic experiences. We had tripped together twice before with DXM, once with MDMA and once off of three tabs of 25B-NBOMe. The NBOMe trip began nicely but ended semi-badly as our parents found us obviously under the influence and began interrogating us concerning the drug. There were no adverse health effects. However, we were tripping quite intensely, and being interrogated is not an ideal setting for tripping. Our parents were quite upset.

Despite our “bad trip,” we still enjoyed the psychedelic experience and looked forward to another more enjoyable one together. After arriving home from classes, I proposed the idea of tripping. He was on board and began messaging his friends for possible connections. One of his classmates, whom he had shared several classes with and casually talked to, said that he had seven tabs of 25B-NBOMe that he had been saving and was willing to share. The friend, who I shall refer to as Jay from here on out, arrived, and we dosed sublingually just after 5 PM. The tabs were actually from the same sheet that we had used for our 3-tab trip that I referred to above (Monopoly game board blotter art). Since that last trip was a little too intense, we each settled for two tabs each, confident that we would have a satisfying, not underwhelming but not overwhelming trip. I had actually tried one tab from the same batch a couple months before, and while it was a nice time, it was underwhelming compared to my previous five NBOMe experiences. Sidenote: this was Jay’s seventh trip and probably my brother’s tenth or so (he had more tripping experience than me).

T+0:30, we had all swallowed our tabs (having experienced the usual horrible, metallic, chemical taste and numbing effect), and I felt the electric energy characteristic of NBOMes start to stimulate my mind and body. We vaporized a bowl of cannabis and puffed on my hookah (which contained a mix of tobacco and cannabis) in the garage, hoping that it would calm the speediness and intensify our visuals.

T+0:50, the hookah wasn’t all that pleasant, and the disco-type lights we had in the garage were a little over-stimulating. So we decided to step inside and listen to music in our family room (couch and tv area). At this point, it was difficult figuring out the stereo system, and we weren’t talking very much. I think that we were all being hit pretty hard by the NBOMe, making communication difficult.

My memory of the next few hours are quite hazy and blur together. I remember that the visuals were very strong and beautiful. I remember Jay asking several times what we liked to do while tripping. He repeatedly tried to initiate some sort of activity, whether that was music-listening or playing video games. He must have been bored, but I was quite content admiring the visuals and getting lost in my own head. I remember stepping outside into the backyard and admiring the beautiful, sunny evening. I remember attempting to play Primus’ Jerry Was a Racecar Driver on Rock Band with my electronic drum kit and failing quite pathetically (a song I’ve gold-starred on expert). I remember sitting in the family room and seeing my brother stumble around and fall over. Now, this is where I should have noticed something odd, but I was heavily under the influence and lost in my own thoughts. I wrote it off as him tripping hard or perhaps being silly. I was stuck in my own head, experiencing thought loops where random people’s names would repeatedly pop up along with visualizing Newtonian physics and molecules amongst many other odd, psychedelic effects.

I recall sitting on the toilet simply zoning out for what seemed like quite a while. There is a vague memory of Jay and my brother coming into the bathroom with me and staring in the mirror. My brother had a bit of a crazed, confused look and coloration on his face (which in retrospect must have been a little bit of blood). Next thing I know, I’m upstairs in my own room starting to come down. The time must have been around 9 PM, four hours after dosing. I tried lying down in bed as I was quite exhausted, but then I remembered my brother and Jay. For some reason, I felt very apprehensive about going downstairs to check on them. I was feeling creepy vibes and remember having morbid, negative thoughts.

However, I ventured downstairs and saw broken glass all over the kitchen floor. I was very confused and extremely worried. I saw that the front room window blinds were still open and a mess, as if somebody had run their hands up and down them. I quickly fixed the blinds and tip-toed over the glass into the kitchen. What I saw next may haunt me for the rest of my life.

I saw my brother lying on his back in the family room with vomit trails down either side of his mouth. My stomach immediately dropped. Had everyone’s worst nightmare become a reality? I turned him over onto his side. He wasn’t breathing; his face was grey and lips were blue. I looked over and saw Jay lying face down about ten feet over, probably lost in his own thoughts. I screamed my brother’s name, hearing my voice as I’d never heard it before. I frantically searched around for the nearest phone and dialed 911. The lady on the phone recorded my address, said help was on the way and instructed me to perform chest compressions. Having been certified in CPR, I placed the palms of my hands on the center of his chest and began forcefully compressing to the beat of the Bee Gees’ Stayin’ Alive. Deep down, I had very little hope. He looked like he had been lying there without oxygen for at least half an hour to 45 minutes. The paramedics arrived within six minutes. He began applying chest compressions, then ripped open my brother’s shirt and attached the electrodes from the defibrillator. Jay, meanwhile, had risen to a seated position and still seemed to be under the influence. He didn’t say anything and displayed no sense of urgency. Feeling helpless, I watched in horror as the paramedic continued chest compressions. He uttered under his breath, “Shit, he’s bleeding” as blood began to seep out of my brother’s mouth. I could not believe what I was seeing.

Eventually, about 25 cops, firefighters, and paramedics had poured into the house while a team of people continued to attempt to resuscitate my brother. Not being cooperative, Jay was placed in cuffs and held down by a police officer. Jay still wouldn’t speak save for a few high-pitched shrieks while resisting the officers’ restraint. Officers sat me down out of view from my brother and began asking all sorts of questions. I informed them of what we had taken, not wanting to withhold information that could save my brother. After an excruciating, anxiety-ridden 20 minutes, my brother was carted off on a stretcher into an ambulance. The other personnel had strapped Jay into a stretcher as well and into an ambulance. Utterly shocked at the events that had just transpired and fearing the worst, I was escorted into an ambulance of my own. Upon arriving at the hospital, I received the news that I had most feared. They had failed to bring my brother back. I sat down in shock. What was supposed to be a fun bonding experience with my brother had turned into our last moments together.

I feel such horrible guilt and responsibility for my brother’s death. I knew the dangers of the NBOMe series with its higher potential for overdose and problems with vasoconstriction. I falsely assumed that we would be safe, since my brother and I had taken three tabs from the same batch before with no adverse health effects. We had even stepped down the dosage from last time. My greatest worry was a psychological crisis or someone leaving the house, not death. We were all fairly experienced users of psychedelics. I did not know of all of the seizures and heart issues that others have experienced with the NBOMe series. I believed that my brother had had a seizure and choked on his own vomit. However, the coroner stated that he had experienced an arrhythmia which led to cardiac arrest and thus death. At the very least, I wish I could have known what had happened in those last moments. I wish I could have been there, lucid and ready to call for help. The house downstairs looked as if Motley Crue had destroyed the place in a drug-fueled frenzy. I imagine my brother was losing consciousness, stumbling and falling trying to make sense of what was going on. He had minor lacerations, cuts and abrasions from the glass and contusions on his head, arms and legs. I hope with all of my heart that he was not suffering in his last moments. I like to think that he was having the trip of a lifetime. Perhaps he talked to God. Maybe he saw the light. Or perchance he entered another stage of Samsara. I have no idea if there is an afterlife as I’m not religious and neither was my brother. But if there is, I hope he is in a peaceful place. He was the most kind-hearted, loving, carefree individual I have ever had the pleasure of knowing.

I want this to be a cautionary tale for all of you out there. I am not writing off all psychedelics, but know that NBOMe series does not have nearly the same safety profile as other psychedelics like LSD and psilocybin. If you do choose to use, expect the unexpected and prepare for the worst. Please have a trip-sitter there for you. If any drug was to be taken that evening, I should have been sober and trip-sitting. I would not wish this experience on my worst enemy. My four sisters lost a brother, and my parents wept over their son’s cold, lifeless body. Please be careful.

TL;DR My brother died about four hours after dosing two blotter tabs of 25B-NBOMe. Cannabis and a bit of nicotine was involved as well. If you choose to partake, please take all necessary precautions and employ a trip-sitter. We played with fire, and we got burned.




Follow up : I apologize for the delay. The past month and a half has been very difficult for myself, my family and many others. As promised, I have the postmortem toxicology results:

Blood Specimen

THC (2.4 ng/mL)
THC-COOH (17.1 ng/mL)

Blood Specimen cont.

Caffeine
25B-NBOMe (1.59 ng/mL)

Urine Specimen

Carboxy THC (361 ng/mL)
25B-NBOMe (>20 ng/mL)

So, it was indeed 25B-NBOMe. However, I am not sure what to make of these concentration levels. Can the dosage be inferred from this information alone? Hopefully someone more knowledgeable can shed some light on the matter.

Again, I would like to reiterate that all three of us dosed 2 tabs. My brother and I had had 3 tabs from the same sheet several months earlier. Three tabs was quite intense, but we felt no adverse health effects. That is why we felt relatively safe taking 2 from the same sheet.

I personally do not recommend using the NBOMe series. They are not well-researched and do not have an established safety profile. Do know that 25x-NBOMe is commonly sold in the guise of LSD. Invest in an Ehrlich's reagent test kit! A $20 purchase could save your life. Please use responsibly!










Exp Year: 2014ExpID: 103021
Gender: Male 
Age at time of experience: Not Given
Published: Mar 31, 2014Views: 29,530
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25B-NBOMe (564) : Small Group (2-9) (17), Train Wrecks & Trip Disasters (7), Health Problems (27)

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