Posted on Shroomery.com and for the idiots of Totse/Bltc that cant seem to research worth shit!, and some from my own research on the www and Erowid.com

What is the difference between Amanita muscaria (Fly agaric) and Psilocybe mushrooms?

General differences

Psilocybin/Psilocin Mushrooms

Mushrooms that contain the hallucinogens psilocybin and/or psilocin belong mainly to the genera: Psilocybe, Conocybe, and Panaeolus. The word "psilocybin" comes from the Greek words "psilo" meaning "bald" and "cybe" meaning "head". Visually they appear usually with carmel/light tan to off-white caps of varying size and a white to brown stem possibly showing a bluish tinge.

Some specific mushrooms containing psilocybin and psilocin include Psilocybe cubensis, Psilocybe semilanceata, Psilocybe mexicana, Psilocybe pelliculosa, Panaeolus subbalteatus, Psilocybe cyanescens and Psilocybe baeocystis.

Amanita muscaria

The Amanita muscaria mushroom is also known as "Fly agaric" because of its (anecdotal) ability to attract and kill flies. The Amanita muscaria does not contain psilocybin or psilocin. Rather, the hallucinogenic chemicals this mushroom contain are muscimol and ibotenic acid.

The fly agaric is related to some deadly mushrooms: the Amanita virosa (the "Destroying Angel"); Amanita verna and Amanita phalloides (the "Death Cap"). These mushrooms contain toxins that destroy cells in the liver and kidneys. Five to 24 hours after eating one of these toxic mushrooms people may become sick with nausea and stomach problems. Later, severe liver and kidney damage may occur, often resulting in death.Visualy these are the classic "toadstool" with a bright red to orange cap covered in white flecks and a strong white stem and gills.

Effects on psyche and body

Psilocybin/Psilocin Mushrooms

At low doses, psilocybin causes simple feelings of relaxation, physical heaviness or lightness, and some perceptual distortions (especially visual). At higher doses, more physical sensations occur, including lightheadedness, oral numbness, shivering or sweating, nausea, and anxiety or hilarity. The symptoms may appear 30 to 60 minutes after the mushrooms are eaten and reach a peak level around 1.5hrs or less and can last about four to six hours with an "afterglow" lasting several hours to several days.

Amanita muscaria

Amanita muscaria contains muscimol that produces feelings of euphoria, hallucinations, muscle jerks, drowsiness, sweating, pupil dilation, Increased tear and mucus formation (Those on muscaria often exhibit excessive tearing and salivating) and increased body temperature. Symptoms appear 30 to 90 minutes after eating this mushroom and are most intense after two or three hours. Symptoms include blurred vision, loss of motor skills, moderate to extreme nausea or cramps, physical relaxation or a sedative like effect, euphoria and a “dream like” state of being. The experience is said to be very different from that of psilocybin and many do not enjoy it. People who eat these mushrooms sometimes fall into a deep sleep. Some people describe the effects of eating Amanita muscaria as similar to being intoxicated by alcohol.

Effects on the Nervous System

Psilocybin/Psilocin Mushrooms

The chemical structure of psilocybin and psilocin is similar to the neurotransmitter called serotonin. In fact, the primary effect of psilocin is on the receptors for serotonin (HT-2a). There is also evidence that psilocybin reduces the re-uptake of serotonin by neurons in the brain allowing this neurotransmitter more time to act in the synapse.

Amanita muscaria

Muscimol and ibotenic acid from the Amanita muscaria appear to act on the GABA neurotransmitter system. Muscimol activates GABA receptors on neurons. The GABA neurotransmitter system is one of the brain's major inhibitory systems. Therefore, muscimol acts to inhibit the activity of neurons in the brain.

How do shrooms work (very simplified)?:

In very, very simple terms... The brain is made up of billions of neurons (brain cells). Each neuron is 'connected' to thousands of other neurons. The neurons take input from all of their neighboring neurons, and if the input is enough they 'fire' sending an output to all of their neighboring neurons. This process leads to thought, cognition, etc... (Very simplified)

There is space between the neurons. When you take a drug, the drug gets into the spaces between the neurons and alters how/when the neuron fires. (Very simplified)

The neurons have receptors, which are a lot like a keyhole. Think of a drug as a key. The drug usually only effects a neuron if it fits into one of the neurons receptors.

A tryptamine has a shape very similar to serotonin. Because of this, it will fit into the same 'keyhole' that serotonin fits into... but because the tryptamine shape is a bit different, the effects are different.

How do shrooms work?:

The answer to this question is somewhat complex and not 100% understood by scientists.

The chemicals in "shrooms" that produce the high are called psilocybin and psilocin (and some trace similar compounds). When you eat mushrooms, psilocybin is thought to be converted into a chemical called psilocin. Psilocin is then absorbed into the blood stream where it is taken to the brain.

Psilocin has a chemical structure very similar to the naturally occurring neurotransmitter serotonin. Neurotransmitters are chemicals that cells in the brain (neurons) use to communicate with each other. Varying levels of serotonin will affect sleep, appetite, sensory perception, temperature regulation, pain suppression and mood.

Serotonin is taken up or absorbed by neurons at receptor sites known as the 5-HT receptors. There are various types of 5-HT receptors, but for our purpose we'll generalize. Because psilocin's chemical structure is very similar to serotonin, it is taken up by the 5-HT2 receptor site (one of several 5-HT receptor types) as are many other common hallucinogens including LSD and mescaline.

After the psilocin molecules bind with the 5-HT2 receptor sites, little is known about what happens. Psilo(cybin)cin is considered a serotonin agonist and possibly may have reuptake inhibitory effects also(SSRI) .There is still not enough data to explain clinically exactly the effect of the active ingredients in psychedelic fungi. What we do know is that psilocin is NOT physically harmful to the body or brain. Psychological conditions can rarely arise from a very profound experience, but no physical harm is done by psilocin even in high dosages.

In short: psilocin molecules from the mushrooms bind with serotonin receptor sites in the brain and cause the mind to do strange things… and scientists aren’t quite sure why.

Do caps or stems contain more psilocybin/psilocin?:

The caps tend to contain more psilocybin and psilocin than stems.

From Morphological and chemical analysis of magic mushrooms in Japan :

..... The psilocin/psilocybin contents in P. cubensis were in the range of 0.17–0.78%/0.44–1.35% in the cap and 0.09–0.30%/0.05–1.27% in the stem. Hallucinogenic alkaloids (psilocin and psilocybin) have a tendency to be contained in the cap more than the stem. Our results are in agreement with the findings of Wurst et al. [8] who found lower concentrations of psilocybin in the stem than in the cap of the hallucinogenic fungus, Psilocybe bohemica. P. cubensis samples also had a tendency to contain larger amounts of psilocybin than psilocin. This tendency is consistent with results reported by Bigwood and Beug

When the data from the above study is proecessed, it shows that in the samples of the above study, the caps were 30% more potent than stems.

Why do different species and strains of mushrooms have different highs?:

All active Psilocybe mushrooms contain the same main substances which are psilocybin, psilocin and to a lesser degree baeocystin and norbaeocystin. The amounts and proportions of those 4 key components varies among different species and strains. Alongside with those 4 main components there are many other substances, which by them self don't have a described psychoactive effect, but might very well have a slight modifying effect on the psychoactive properties of the key components.

Another likely cause for the different effect of different mushrooms is the influence of the effect of stomach contents and set and setting on the psychedelic experience.

The use of any hallucinogen involves "set," i.e. mind-set, mood, emotional state and "setting," the environment and/or people with whom one is tripping at the time. The combination of set and setting in conjunction with the effects of the drug produce the kind of trip one has, good or bad. People do experience psychotic breaks from reality in a bad trip and this can be extremely traumatic with long-term and lingering after effects. A good trip can be very euphoric and transcendent in comparison. Which you’ll get is again, dependent on set, setting, the drug and certain amount of luck and randomness.



Can mushrooms be smoked?:

There continues to be controversy around whether or not smoking psilocybin/psilocin containing mushrooms can produce a psychoactive effect. On the one side, are those who claim to have tried it and experienced effects. On the other are those who state that psilocybin and psilocin break down at low enough temperatures that a flame would destroy them, as well as those who have tried this method and experienced no effects.

Even if smoking mushrooms produces a psychoactive effect, the effect is very mild and won't last long. Eating psilocybin/psilocin mushrooms will produce incomparable effects. If you want a serious psychedelic experience, don't waste your mushrooms by smoking them; eat them.

Source: http://www.erowid.org/plants/mushroo...s_smoked.shtml

Discussion: http://www.shroomery.org/forums/show...Number=1007607

http://www.shroomery.org/forums/show...Number=1190335

http://www.shroomery.org/forums/show...&Number=926442

http://www.shroomery.org/forums/show...&Number=826091

http://www.shroomery.org/forums/show...&Number=589497

http://www.shroomery.org/forums/show...Number=1681553

http://www.shroomery.org/forums/show...Number=1467781

http://www.shroomery.org/forums/show...Number=1360732

http://www.shroomery.org/forums/show...Number=1047857

http://www.shroomery.org/forums/show...&Number=334342

http://www.shroomery.org/forums/show...&Number=322093

Do hallucinogenic mushrooms cause liver damage?:

The mushrooms that contain psilocybin and psilocin will not cause liver damage.

There are other mushrooms that will cause liver damage if eaten. They contain toxins called amatoxins. The mushrooms which contain these toxins are mostly from the genera Amanita, Galerina, Lepiota, and Conocybe. Amatoxin poisoning is responsible for over 95% of mushroom poisoning fatalities. Death is usually in 7 to 10 days due to liver failure.

The cases related to psilocybin containing mushrooms causing liver damage are cases where somebody misidentified one of the deadly mushrooms mentioned above for one of the psilocybin containing species. The most common mushroom for this is Galerina marginalis. Sometimes the deadly Galerinas are mixed in with active Psilocybe or Panaeolus species. There are photos documenting the two growing side by side taken by Mushroom John (mjshroomer).




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tl;dr

and the point of that post was?

tl;dr

Fuck you.

and the point of that post was?

Go help welcometofagland fuck himself, then let him fuck you.




Good post, WBM. Informative but not too "bulky" for the thick, brain dead infants infesting this forum.

You said you were leaving, faggot. piss off.

Good post, WBM. Informative but not too "bulky" for the thick, brain dead infants infesting this forum.


This. It actually may help some people, especially getting familiarized with magic mushrooms. Thanks WBM.

ah, good read. i haven't had the pleasure to eat mushrooms for well, almost 2 years now. but the next time i do, at least i know a little more about them.

Isn't this what erowid is for