DOSE:	repeated	smoked	Salvia divinorum
	10 mg	oral	Pharms - Diazepam
			Pharmaceuticals	(daily)

BODY WEIGHT:

9.5 st

About 6 years ago my friend and I tried some salvia divinorum which I had bought online. We were at another friend's house, where we used to go 3 - 7 days a week to smoke cannabis and drink alcohol. Even on days when we weren't at this house, we would still meet up twice a day every day. I was very comfortable with these friends.

I had researched salvia divinorum quite thoroughly, making sure I purchased a strength which was suitable for first-time users while still providing the desired effects (I believe it was 40x extract - some may say this is too high but I wanted to be transported to another land!). I had gone through with my friend in great detail what steps we would take to ensure the safest and best possible trip. Sadly, one of my other friends had recently given up smoking cannabis and had suddenly acquired the attitude that all drugs are bad (apart from nicotine and alcohol!) and anyone who takes them is a 'junkie'. I say 'sadly', as I believe his attitude towards what my friend and I were doing affected our trip.

We started smoking the salvia divinorum through a homemade pipe while we were lounging on a blow-up bed. After a few minutes, I had the feeling that I was sitting inside a washing basket. I used to do this as a child and would imagine I was in a boat – I think I felt this while tripping because the airbed was rolling me around in a fluid motion whenever one of us moved slightly. My friend and I were both feeling very giggly.

After another couple of minutes of still smoking it in small amounts, I started to feel as if (bear with me because this is very difficult to explain!) my pupils were attached with washing lines to whatever I was focusing on, and I could feel a dragging sensation inside my eyes as if someone was pulling down the washing line midway between my pupils and my point of focus. It was slightly unpleasant, as you can probably imagine. I believe I felt this way because my newly 'drug-free' friend was sitting on the other side of the room, watching us disapprovingly - as if the tension in the room was weighing me down palpably. Due to this, we decided to move our experience upstairs to my other friend's bedroom - a room I was quite unfamiliar with.

We sat down on the camp bed and continued smoking, with the previous effects having pretty much worn off. I tried a few deeper inhalations, as I hadn't so far experienced the trip I was hoping for. I very suddenly couldn't see my surroundings - I actually thought I was sitting on the arm of my parents' couch, without even realising that the sudden change of environment was peculiar. I did, however, think to myself, 'Surely this isn't all there is. There must be more'. This lasted for a few seconds before something even stranger happened. My vision went almost completely black, with just a sprinkling of light here and there - as if I was floating around in the universe and could see distant stars. At this point I was still contemplating how empty everything felt (almost as if I was searching in my mind for something I had forgotten - reality, I guess!), yet it had become even more intense. I tried to find whatever it was I was looking for, although by this point I don't think the concept of life or reality was remotely clear to me at all.

I suddenly happened upon an orb, almost like the moon, which I found to be familiar and comforting in some way. I tried to move closer to it but found that I, too, seemed to be a floating celestial body and so had no means of propulsion. Thankfully, however, I did manage to move closer to the object. As I felt slightly more comfortable at that point, I tried harder to find what I what missing. The familiar object disappeared from my vision and I was left gazing at these 'stars' again.

My trip then began to clear as I gradually felt as though I was starting to remember something of importance - there was something somewhere below me. Something solid. Two solid things. I started to picture railway sleepers as if I was viewing them from a train platform (although, the image was in no way as distinct as this). I later realised that I was thinking about my two friends who were still sitting in the living room on the floor below us. I can only imagine that I pictured railway sleepers because one of my friends shares his name with a character in Thomas the Tank Engine.

I started to regain my vision but for a good few minutes had absolutely no idea where I was or what I was looking at - I could see the shapes of different objects but none of them had any meaning to them. I eventually realised I had turned around on the camp bed and was looking at what I now recognised to be a TV, some suitcases and a bedcover with cartoon football players on a blue background – I believe this cover is probably what made me think I was looking at stars, due to the vast number of footballs scattered across a dark background. After I had come round almost fully, my friend told me that I had voicelessly clambered towards her while she was asking me if I was ok (I hadn’t heard this at all), before turning my back on her. I realised that the floating orb I had found comforting was actually her face.

Although I found this trip to be slightly panicking, I think I was at least relaxed enough with the one friend I was smoking with to prevent it from becoming something much more frightening. I would definitely advise anyone who is contemplating experimenting with salvia divinorum to research it, take it only in an atmosphere where you feel relaxed and with people you feel safe around, set up a system where only one person trips at a time (we had agreed on this but ended up both taking it at the same time, anyway) and discuss how you will handle any bad trips. After all, I thought I was well prepared and still managed to scare myself!

N.B. I suffer from depression and anxiety. As a result, I was taking anti-depressants (unsure of type or dose) and 2/5mg of diazepam at the time of this experience. I had smoked probably 1 - 2 joints earlier on in the day but had consumed no alcohol at the time of smoking salvia divinorum.

Exp Year: 2008	ExpID: 103140
Gender: Female
Age at time of experience: 19
Published: Oct 29, 2018	Views: 718
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Salvia divinorum (44) : First Times (2), Small Group (2-9) (17)