DOSE:

1.0 g

oral

Lady's Slipper

(roots)

BODY WEIGHT:

120 lb

Lady's slipper (Cypripedium calceolus var. pubescens) is a beautiful yellow-flowered orchid native to my region of western Canada. I had read in the book Magic and Medecine of Plants that lady's slipper root had once been used as a substitute for valerian root, and there was a little warning that large doses could cause 'giddiness, headache and hallucinations'. I thought this sounded intriguing, so when I discovered that my local herb store actually carried lady's slipper root, I immediately bought some. It was the most expensive herb they had, but I figured I had to try it at least once.

I decided to start off with what I thought we be a small dose - one gram of the dried roots steeped as tea. The roots had a really bizarre smell to them, almost a bit of a petrochemical scent. If you've ever smelled a lady's slipper orchid, you should know what I mean. It certainly didn't have the sickly sweet smell of valerian. I settled back with my first cup of tea, looking for nothing more than a little sedation so I could get to sleep easier. So I was quite surprised when, about 20 minutes later and halfway through the first cup of tea, I started to feel like I was floating. I poured out a second cup of tea, but never managed to finish it as the tea now proceeded to kick my ass. I was incredibly sedated, all I could do was lie on my bed. This overwhelming blissful feeling swept through me, and everything in my vision seemed to wave a bit. Also my sense of pain had completely vanished. The aching knee which had been plaguing me before I drank the tea now felt just fine.

It reminded me quite a bit of the effects of opium, except stronger. I had been a bit dissapointed when I tried opium, but lady's slipper held every desirable effect I had heard of regarding opiates. Euphoria, analgesia, sedation. It also proved quite effective as a remedy for insomnia. As I lay blissed out on my bed, I sort of went into a trance, and must have fallen asleep because I didn't wake again until my alarm went off the next morning. I didn't notice any residual effects that morning, except that I felt more rested and refreshed than normal. I wonder how many other people have tried this plant.

Exp Year: 2003	ExpID: 28755
Gender: Male
Age at time of experience: Not Given
Published: Jan 5, 2004	Views: 38,196
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Lady's Slipper (298) : Alone (16), General (1)