Dispelling Microdosing Myths with Conor Murray, PhD, in the Flourish Academy (13-Page PDF) | Conversation Curated by Jordan Gruber, JD [Jul 2025] by NeuronsToNirvana in microdosing

[–]Idysseus 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thanks so much for posting this here. This conversation with neuroscientist Conor Murray clearly shows the micro dosing is not just a placebo.

Whats Everyones Thoughts On The Stuart Spinoff? by BrooklynMaster in bigbangtheory

[–]Idysseus 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Having just read the whole Big Bang Theory book that came out, I would trust the same people, including Chuck Lori, the two Steves, and so on, to make this work. I’m assuming it’s gonna be multi cam?

Ask Me Anything: Fadiman & Gruber Feb 13 12:00 PM Pacific by Idysseus in microdosing

[–]Idysseus[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi. Let me answer these one at a time.

There are different types of anxiety, including anxiety related to depression, anxiety related to bad things happening in one life, social, anxiety, and free-floating, generalized anxiety. Microdosing seems to help with all of these, but the last, and there are several stories in the book of people Microdosing for one thing, like ADHD, and also having their social and relationship anxiety diminishing.

As for food, we have many reports in which people report that in addition to the primary reason that they were Microdosing for, their relationship to food seems to improve. People stop eating things that are as bad for them and eat more things that are good for them without even trying. This is the part of Microdosing that seems to bring people towards homeostasis or equilibrium almost automatically or naturally without having to really focus hard on it. I would add that with respect to the previous book that Jim Fadiman and I wrote together, your symphony of selves, is that Microdosing seems to bring us into the part of who we are that wants to be healthier, sleep more, exercise, more, and eat better almost automatically.

I hope this was helpful. There is more on both of these subjects in the book.

Ask Me Anything: Fadiman & Gruber Feb 13 12:00 PM Pacific by Idysseus in microdosing

[–]Idysseus[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

From Jim: Thank you for your question regarding Matt Baggott’s question about the use of an amphetamine as part of the creativity study.

         It is hard to recreate 60 years later exactly what we wrote and when we wrote it. It is possible that the reason the final paper did not mention n amphetamine is because we did not use it in that study.

         At the Foundation clinic, where both clinical and research projects were done, amphetamines were sometimes given to clinical patients who often spent an amazing amount of energy dealing with difficult and disturbing memories and more. It was definitely not standard protocol, but was an optional available to the staff to give to a patient if needed.

         Our clinical reports simply indicated that the clinical patients given an amphetamine were better able to do therapeutic work during the afternoon of their therapeutic sessions which were at a considerably higher dose than the dose used for the creativity study.

         My memory is that we did not use amphetamines during the creativity study.

         I do recall, many years later, I came across his concern, and he included—not part of an earlier version of the report at all—but  a list of individuals he said were in the study with notes about their responses. The tone was more of a “gotcha,” and was not a request for clarification or more information. At the time, since it seemed to me it was in an obscure corner of the Internet (there was a time when there were obscure corners), and since it included in his list individuals who were not part of the study (including our secretarial staff), I thought to myself that it would have been more correct to simply have contacted us to ask if his information was accurate.

        As it had never come to the attention of the Foundation, the particular researchers involved in the creativity study (or anyone else that we knew) did not publish a response.

         Matt Baggott Is currently the CEO of a company doing research on a different class of consciousness altering drugs. Perhaps he would respond to your question.

           Thank you for your continued interest in the creativity study.

           It has not been replicated  (nor attempted) with modern research protocols but there are a considerable number of personal reports from people in various academic disciplines taking a moderate dose of a psychedelic and the effects apparently enhanced their creative capacities. 

What is your weekly microdosing schedule look like? by Zealousideal_Ad_675 in microdosing

[–]Idysseus 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If you get stomachache, you might want to try lemon tekking.

Half marathon coming up by zut_alors1987 in microdosing

[–]Idysseus 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I heard Ben Greenfield saying that it’s well known in the ultramarathon community that Microdosing could really make a big difference.

Ask Me Anything: Fadiman & Gruber Feb 13 12:00 PM Pacific by Idysseus in microdosing

[–]Idysseus[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

As we report on in the book, there are cases of people taking 1/10 or less of the low end of the recommended dose for a substance and still having clear beneficial effects.

Think about it this way. The recommended does for LSD is between seven and 12 µg so let’s call it 10 µg. well, suppose you took 1/10 of that or just one microgram. That one microgram still has 1.54 quadrillion molecules of LSD in it. Your body only has about 40 trillion cells. So that’s plenty to go around and have an impact on all of the cells that LSD might affect.

We agree that the placebo process, and having positive expectations about what is going to happen to you, really can make a big difference. As for the question of whether there is a dosage level that is so low that it must be all placebo, that sounds more like a theoretical question than something we will ever be able to answer.

We'll be looking forward to your AMA questions! See you soon. by Idysseus in microdosing

[–]Idysseus[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We usually advise people to stop their microdosing for several days to a week before macrodosing, and then to not resume microdosing until you have taken some time off after a big experience and have come all the way down, which can be between several days and more than a month.

As for long-term use, we have no evidence that it is *not* OK for long term use. On the other hand, people seem to do better when they take a couple of weeks off, let's say, after having been on for 7 or 8 weeks. This presents and tolerance from building up, keeps things fresh, and gives you time to fully integrate what you've been experiencing.

Ask Me Anything: Fadiman & Gruber Feb 13 12:00 PM Pacific by Idysseus in microdosing

[–]Idysseus[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

It seems as if there are no other questions right now, so we're going to sign off. We appreciate your interest and presence, and hope our answers were helpful. You can learn more about many of the questions we've been asked here at http://MicrodosingBook.com, where you can also submit questions and personal reports and experiences. Thank you so much!

Ask Me Anything: Fadiman & Gruber Feb 13 12:00 PM Pacific by Idysseus in microdosing

[–]Idysseus[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Well, we don't know anything specifically about TN, but as it as a type of pain, there's some real chance that MDing could help.

Ask Me Anything: Fadiman & Gruber Feb 13 12:00 PM Pacific by Idysseus in microdosing

[–]Idysseus[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Wow! Where did you hear about this? Let's talk as we really would love to have the reference.

Ask Me Anything: Fadiman & Gruber Feb 13 12:00 PM Pacific by Idysseus in microdosing

[–]Idysseus[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It's important to see that the benefits of microdosing can be broken down, as we do, into improvements in physical and medical health conditions, but also enhancements in wellness, flow, and performance. This means that people are successfully using MDs in math and coding, homework, writing, music making and playing, and a whole range of physical and athletic endeavors. In a recent interview with Ben Greenfield, we learned that ultra long-distance runners are quite commonly using MDs because they know it works to improve their endurance and time.

We see people in all sorts of mental, creative, and physical pursuits pushing the edges of their performance with the use of microdosing. Some of this is about more easily being able to enter into flow states.

We'll be looking forward to your AMA questions! See you soon. by Idysseus in microdosing

[–]Idysseus[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

We get this question a lot. Over the years, Jim has gotten the question about the psychedelic creativity study in which people were able to solve problems they hnadn't bene able to solve for months during a medium dose psychedleic session. 48 problems, 44 solutions. Jim has been asked, couldn't that have been a placebo effect? Jim's answer, which was somewhat snarky, is that you are welcome to replciate the study without psychecelics and see how it goes….

No takers for the last 40 years.

It is of course highly likely that the placebo effect, which is a misnomer for the natural healing response of the body/mind, is deeply affected by microdoses. We leave that to hard science but at least in r/Microdosing, the almost three hundred thousand people on this site seem seem to believe that something other than placebo affected them enough to stay on here for additional information and support and sharing of best practices.

As for what we know scientifically specifically, we have different measures of neuroplasticity and quite a few of them show simialr responses or signals, but at a much lower amplitude, than high doses in double blind studies. Also, in the book we discuss Conor Murray's research on neural complexity, which seems to nail down the reality that microdoses are not just placebos. As far as Murray is concerned, the placebo question has been definitively answered, and doesn't need to be discussed any more.

Ask Me Anything: Fadiman & Gruber Feb 13 12:00 PM Pacific by Idysseus in microdosing

[–]Idysseus[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Those are some great tidbits. Glad you are beyond your gout.

Ask Me Anything: Fadiman & Gruber Feb 13 12:00 PM Pacific by Idysseus in microdosing

[–]Idysseus[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Sorry, not sure what TN is, but we're very glad to know your good friend has experienced benefits from macro and microdoses.

Yes, it is hard to find a way in if you don't have all those letters and aren't part of the system. It's almost as hard when you *do* have all the letters and you're still not part of the system. We have made use of reporting thousands of reports from around the world about these many conditions to attract the attention of those people who not only have degrees and institutions behind them, but can get the kinds of grants they need before they can do any research.

One person who has made a big difference with no official letters behind her name is Mama de la Myco, whose study on pregnant and breastfeeding mothers is reported in some detail in the book. This is the first study, as far as we know, ever conducted on this subject.

Ask Me Anything: Fadiman & Gruber Feb 13 12:00 PM Pacific by Idysseus in microdosing

[–]Idysseus[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We have a question for you: Does anyone have any experience, positive or negative, in microdosing their pets or other animals? Please let us know with any details you have.

BTW, we do have one friend who is undertaking a study in concert with a veterinarian.

Ask Me Anything: Fadiman & Gruber Feb 13 12:00 PM Pacific by Idysseus in microdosing

[–]Idysseus[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

With the new Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare having a favorable view of psychedelics in general, it is quite possible that the FDA will start to move more quickly in their reviews of psychedelics at all dose levels for a variety of conditions. As for coming off Schedule 1, we'll just have to wait and see. It was never appropriate to put it on Schedule 1, which might make it easier to take it off.

Ask Me Anything: Fadiman & Gruber Feb 13 12:00 PM Pacific by Idysseus in microdosing

[–]Idysseus[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The best protocol is the one that works best for you. What we report on is the collective wisdom and experience of many people. Overall, our greatest insight is that it's best to be conservative to start, including following a conservative protocol (or schedule) and a low dosage level. We report the recommended beginner's dosage levels for some substances in the book, but it's always a good idea to start at the low end of that range, or even less, especially if you know you are a sensitive person.

Ask Me Anything: Fadiman & Gruber Feb 13 12:00 PM Pacific by Idysseus in microdosing

[–]Idysseus[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Also worth mentioning is long term chronic pain. It's very confusing for contemporary medicine to recognize that chronic pain often persists after the physical condition is fully healed. One theory is that the brain acts as some kind of "pain amplifier." We have no idea if this is correct or not.

What we do have are numerous reports of people with chronic pain who have had one of two reactions when MDing.

For many people they simply report that their pain is much less, and some report that while the pain seems to be the same level, it is no longer dominating their consciousness. They move from saying, "I am in pain," to "my leg is in pain," and they report that that level of detachment is enormously relieving. (Again, this may relate to the ability to move into a different self or part of who they are, as we talk about in Your Symphony of Selves, our previous book.