DOSE:

17 mg

oral

2C-I

BODY WEIGHT:

130 lb

Part 0: Background and preparation

I consider myself decently experienced with psychedelic drugs for my 18 years of age. I’ve done DMT around 15 times, nitrous approximately 10 times, once in combination with 4-AcO-DMT, 4-AcO-DMT and shrooms a combination of 3 times, and have had a few odd experiences with other psychedelics (DPT, Ketamine, 4-HO-MPT, and Salvia). I had tried acid once but it was rather weak. I had never tried a phenethylamine but had purchased some 2C-I a few months ago. This is what we would all be taking on this fated Saturday.

I weighed out the doses a few nights ago. At this level my scale was accurate to +- 2 mg, a decently large but not earth shattering amount. I was taking 17 mg and my friends M and D were taking 20 and 22 mg respectively. We had all tripped a few times before and for each of us it was our first time with a phenethylamine. I had never tripped with D but had been around him on drugs. I’m decently close friends with him and we are very open with each other. M, on the other hand, is my best friend. I tripped for the first time with him and we understand each other. I weigh in at around 130 lbs and M and D hover around 200. We are all physically fit.

I woke up at 10.00 AM that morning. From my research I heard that it wasn’t a good idea to fast completely so I ate a small amount of food every hour, something like a slice of toast and jam or a piece of fruit. I meditated while listening to gentle music and considered myself prepared. I had read that the main effects lasted around 8 hours and it would take a few more before you could go to sleep. I thought I knew what this drug was all about.

At 3.00 PM M picked me up and drove me over to D’s house, our base of operations. We were both excited for this.

Part I: As expected

After arriving at D’s house at 3.15 (T+0.00) we set up in the basement and took our doses. We pulled out Risk and began setting up a game. Within 30 minutes M said he was feeling it. His eyes had already dilated. I concluded that I really wasn’t, maybe just a touch of giddiness. We chalked the difference in onset time up to food intake; M had eaten very little over the past few hours while D and I had not abstained from food. Not far into the game we decided to pause it, realizing that the mental aspect of it was proving a bit to hard for M. Additionally the small pieces were hard to work with, especially with jittery hands. We decided to start walking around.

At around T+1.00 we arrived at a bridge over an icy river. I noticed that although I wasn’t feeling all too much in my body or mind I had decent visuals. The patterns in the ice were swirling and expanding a decent amount. They were relatively realistic too; if I hadn’t known I had taken drugs these visuals wouldn’t have given it away. A few minutes later we arrived at our local magnificent Baha’i Temple. I don’t believe I had ever been in it before and boy was I missing out. The details everywhere were amazing. I was really beginning to notice my visuals now and the patterns really accented them. The marble veins in the pillars formed into Aztec and Mayan art with bird like creatures and figures. The walls shimmered and shook and I felt at peace in this cavernous space. I meditated for a few minutes and was truly happy and calm. The headspace was not confused and mindfucky like I get that of shrooms or 4-AcO-DMT but it still had the deep appreciation of beauty and nature.

We left the temple and continued our journey towards a park near the beach. We sat down and talked for a while as the visuals became more intense and the light started to fade. By this time I had noticed tracers. There existed after images of M, who was swinging on a children’s toy. Car’s lights looked like they do in a long-exposure picture. I was feeling very pleasant. I would even go as far as saying elated. By this point we were also beginning to notice some extreme time dilation. At around T+2.40 we headed in to town to get some food.

None of us were particularly hungry but I thought it would be a good idea and would probably feel good. As we walked down a relatively major street the world twinkled like diamonds. All of the lights combined with my tracers made this one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen. Walking around people wasn’t bad and the noise of the cars wasn’t overwhelming. The cold air felt good as did walking. The trip was going great.

We arrived in our hometown downtown without too many issues aside from very slow street crossing, never can be to safe you know? We decided against two larger restaurant establishments and almost passed up on getting food entirely because it would be too much. We finally decided on a Potbelly’s, a relatively inexpensive national chain that served sandwiches. Most importantly for us was the fact that it had a balcony area that where we would be removed from other customers.

Ordering was hard and the restaurant was seemed very loud. I barely spoke the words I thought but I think we all managed to come off as relatively normal. I walked up to the balcony before my tripmates and sat there for a few minutes. I began to worry a little bit about nothing in particular. The music and the group of college students on the floor level were very overwhelming. The sounds in the restaurant dictated my feelings. Loud music and I was anxious, soft and I was calm. Colors had begun to change, switching from green to purple to blue, and the walls and everything I looked at pulsated and glowed. When my tripmates came up with me I quickly calmed down. My food was much less appetizing than I thought it would be. I finished half of my sandwich and my soda before deciding that I couldn’t force myself to eat much more. I took a trip to the bathroom and sat in their for 5 minutes thinking about nothing in particular. After this we decided it would be best to go outside. Immediately after going outside we all felt better. The cool air was refreshing and the lack of confinement immensely comforting.

It was about T+4.00 and we continued to walk around. Walking continued to be very nice even though we had already been on our feet for about 3 miles distance. The trippy headspace remained at a relatively constant level another 2 hours before starting to dissipate at T+6.00. Visuals weakened a bit too. However we all agreed that the trip was still going stronger than expected. We headed back to D’s house and started watching Escanaba in da Moonlight, an incredibly weird hunting comedy. By this point we could interact with people relatively easily and we had a few friends come over. Paying attention to the movie was hard for a few reasons. The biggest was the accents; I couldn’t understand what anyone was saying. The second issue was that colors continued to change and outlines were not very sharp. That said I got the gist of most of the movie. At T+8.15 I was driven home by S, one of the friends who came over. My visuals were still going and I was surprised. I hoped that I could get to bed and concluded that I would be able to as I was feeling relatively calm.

Part II: A helluva night

At home I jumped on my computer for a little bit and found it very hard to read. Things were still very much vibrating and moving. I then decided to see if some Shakespeare homework made any sense to me. It did not. Reading a book was easier than computer text but it was still a chore. The words I did make out I recognized but they carried no meaning. It was like I skimmed over anything I read. Plus if I held my hand out it began to shake, complicating that matter further. After completing a few pre-bed rituals I curled up and turned off my lights at T+9.30. I wasn’t expecting to fall asleep immediately but still I closed my eyes and wham, was hit with CEVs out the ass. This was unexpected. I saw flashes of color and had distinct visualizations of whatever I thought of. Abstract images, people, shapes, figures, anything I thought I saw. My mind raced as I lay alone in my bed and I was thoroughly enjoying myself.

I did realize an annoying lack of ability to understand my bodily functions. I thought that I had to both defecate and urinate every 5 minutes. After the first few times I just figured I didn’t have to and tried to ignore it. My perceived internal temperature changed rapidly and I sweated more than usual.

At around T+10.00 I began developing realistic auditory hallucinations. I heard entire songs in great detail. I thought cars were idling outside when they weren’t. I imagined police cars and children by my window. While irksome I was not frightened by this. To assuage it and pass the time I decided to listen to some music. I was incredibly lost in it and it was excruciatingly overwhelming. I could not even begin to think. Before I even finished one song I turned it off. It was not at all calming.

Around every hour or so I would get up and walk around. At T+12.00 I began to get annoyed that I wasn’t falling asleep. My mind was still racing and I still had very noticeable OEVs and CEVs. Around this time I decided to get some food as I was feeling hungry again. It was easy to eat although my jaw hurt a bit, most likely from clenching it during the trip. I could read a bit better than before and my coincidental run-in with my mom went smoothly. My eyes stayed dilated until around T+14.00. Visuals faded around then too. I hoped I would be able to fall asleep now. This proved to not be true. I could roll around and space out but not at all fall asleep. When the birds began chirping at T+14.15 (6.15 AM, daylight savings skipped the hours ahead) I could not ignore them. Their songs were forcing me to listen. This continued for the rest of the period that I lay in bed. The night felt much longer than it was as I was still experiencing time dilation.

Part III: The next day or “aftermath”

At T+19.25 I got up and jumped in the shower in preparation for a physics tutoring session. As I didn’t get any sleep I wasn’t expecting it to go particularly well. However I would make it clear that I was pretty under the weather and hoped that the person I was tutoring would understand. The shower was not particularly refreshing and I got out and waited around before I headed over. The wait was incredibly boring, I was anxious and jittery. The time dilation I was experiencing was still going strong which did nothing to help. I talked to M at this point and his experience was similar. He, unlike me did not have CEVs but his eyes still remained dilated even at this hour. His eyes returned to normal around T+22.00. A later conversation with D revealed that he also could not sleep.

The drive over to where I was tutoring was fine, I just took it slow. I felt very fuzzy but oddly awake considering the lack of sleep. It was paradoxical. I arrived at my student’s house and explained the situation. They were alright with it especially since I let them know I wouldn’t be expecting any money. I looked at the problems and comprehended very little of what they said. The figures were only scratches on paper, the words nothing more than gobbledygook. I was fried. A slightly tilted lamp in my student’s house made me think that the entire house was on a tilt. I left after an unhelpful hour and forced myself to eat. My appetite had rescinded and eating half of what I normally do made me feel nauseous.

I worked on my homework and was completely ineffective. Math and science were completely out of the realm of possibility. I had lost all ability to think abstractly. I was easily sidetracked and fixated on music and motion. My English skills were similarly poor and I eked out a short paper.

If I had less homework this could have been a moderately enjoyable day that I would have spent zoning out to great music but that was not the case. As the day progressed and I became more tired my vision became fuzzier and I noticed slight tracers. At T+30.00 I went to sleep. It took me a little while to fall asleep but when I did I did so soundly for a very nice 11 hours. The next day I felt markedly better and the dull of high school wasn’t all too bad.

Part IV: Final thoughts.

A few days after this experience my cognitive abilities have mostly returned. I can now do math and science. I can participate in English. I developed significantly less HPPD than I was expecting which was nice to notice. I still have a little bit less attention span than before but in time I expect that to return too.

I feel like I learned a ton from this trip. The most important thing is that preparation is very, very key. This extends past the trip itself too. I didn’t really take care of myself like I should have and was more then rattled when dealing with homework. I will not be taking 2C-I again until I know I have no commitments for a few days. If I do it again I will take it between the hours of 9.00 PM and 3.00 AM, ensuring that I don’t lose too much sleep.

While I would never consider doing this at a rave because of the increased sensitivity to sound and the augmentation of intensity in closed spaces, I do finally understand why people glove. I figure it would be pretty damn sweet if you’re seeing tracers. Social settings with people I don’t know would be rough even though the trip itself is rather friendly.

This is a cautionary tale but don’t get me wrong, the trip itself was a blast. With a bit more foresight the entire experience would have gone over without a hitch.

Exp Year: 2011	ExpID: 90138
Gender: Male
Age at time of experience: 18
Published: Jun 18, 2011	Views: 22,144
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