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Sadly Ineffective
Calea zacatechichi
Citation:   Robert. "Sadly Ineffective: An Experience with Calea zacatechichi (exp104172)". Erowid.org. May 9, 2019. erowid.org/exp/104172

 
DOSE:
600 - 1200 mg oral Calea zacatechichi (capsule)
BODY WEIGHT: 135 lb
I purchased some capsules containing dried Calea zacatechichi, 600mg per capsule, with the intent of starting my life as a psychonaut, easing myself in as it were, since from all reports all Calea zacatechichi did was enhance dreams, with no negative long-term effects. Additionally, I am rather uneasy about procuring some of the more potent, less legal hallucinogens, due to the legal risks associated with them, but that's just my own squeamishness talking. On to the report.

On four separate occasions, each with a slightly different setup, I tried this plant with no success. Each time, I ingested the capsule(s) like one would swallow a pill. The first time I simply took one 600mg capsule right before bed. I didn't expect anything to happen, since most of the experiences I had read involved 1000mg or more of Calea zacatechichi. As expected, I noticed nothing different in my dreams that night.

The second time I took 2 capsules, totaling 1200mg, right before bed. Before I went to sleep, I noticed I was a bit lightheaded, but nothing that would seriously impair me, nor anything that other people would necessarily notice. Once again, no effect after I went to sleep. I figured it was because the Calea zacatechichi had worked its way through my body by the time I had entered REM sleep.

The third time I went to sleep, woke up after 2 hours, and took one 600mg capsule before going back to sleep, so that I would re-enter REM sleep with the Calea zacatechichi in my system. No effect, so I figured it was just not enough dosage. I tried it again, taking two capsules for 1200mg total under the same circumstances as before, thinking that this time I would finally experience these more vivid, intense dreams I had read about people having. Before I fell asleep, one of my eyes felt like it was really big, maybe 2-4 times bigger than my other eye, and I couldn't keep my eyes closed for long before that one eye started to feel weird, but I don't think it took me more than 10-15 minutes to get to sleep even with that effect.

No luck in the dreamscape, leading me to just throw away the rest of the capsules, writing the experiment off as a failure. There weren't any real negative effects, though, and I didn't even spend $15 on the capsules, so it wasn't a super negative experience for me. Perhaps the capsules I purchased didn't contain the best parts of the plant to take for the intended effect, or perhaps it just doesn't work on me.

Exp Year: 2014ExpID: 104172
Gender: Male 
Age at time of experience: 24
Published: May 9, 2019Views: 1,531
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Calea zacatechichi (97) : First Times (2), General (1), Alone (16)

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