Is It Possible to Overdose on Magic Mushrooms?

What happens if you take too many magic mushrooms? Can you really overdose? Is consuming enough to overload your body even realistic, and how does the body deal with the influx of psilocybin? Keep reading to learn all you need to know about the risk of a magic mushroom overdose.

Magic mushrooms have a significant impact on the body and mind, exhibiting a range of effects that can be perceived as both positive and negative. However, it is perfectly normal to feel slight nausea or discomfort as psilocybin begins to take effect in the body. Still, there's a big difference between feeling slightly unwell and a fatal overdose.

By definition, a drug overdose (or OD) is "the ingestion or application of a drug or substance in quantities much greater than are recommended", usually ending in a fatal reaction. The trouble, of course, with magic mushrooms is that a recommended dose doesn't exist, and how much you consume comes down to personal experience and preference. So, what really happens if you consume much more than you know you can handle?

IS IT REALLY POSSIBLE TO OVERDOSE ON MAGIC MUSHROOMS?

Can you really overdose on mushrooms? Although the psychological effects can be very extreme when you ingest large quantities, the actual risk of overdosing on magic mushrooms is extraordinarily low. In fact, it's considered one of the safest recreational drugs (Solon, 2017). Similar to cannabis, you would have to ingest a completely impractical and probably impossible amount of mushrooms to incur a fatal overdose.

That's not to say one can't have an experience that puts their health at risk, but it's more likely to stem from mixing magic mushrooms with other drugs, a pre-existing health condition, ingesting contaminated products, or worse, eating a poisonous mushroom variety by mistake. Remember, magic mushrooms contain psilocybin, a psychedelic substance that alters your perception of reality, and with this comes impaired judgement, possible confusion, and difficulty coordinating your actions. You might not OD on shrooms, but you can certainly have a bad trip.

IS PSILOCYBIN CHEMICALLY ADDICTIVE?

When we think of an overdose, it's usually associated with hard substances such as heroin or cocaine. However, it's important to distinguish between the chemical interactions happening with these drugs and psilocybin. When you consume magic mushrooms, your body metabolises the psilocybin, turning it into psilocin, which interacts with serotonin receptors in the brain. It's this interaction that triggers the psychological effects shrooms are known for.

After experiencing this mediation of mood, cognition, and memory, the nervous system downregulates the interaction rather than becoming chemically dependent. If you were to consume a large dose of magic mushrooms on one day and then take another dose the next day, there would be diminishing returns. Repeat that over several days, and you'll quickly notice that the shrooms have little to no effect. The only way to trip again would be to abstain and wait for the body's innate resistance to fade.

WHAT ARE THE RISKS OF CONSUMING TOO MUCH PSILOCYBIN?

Taking a large dose of psilocybin can have unpleasant effects, from waves of nausea to feelings of panic or paranoia. And while we've established that an overdose is an unlikely outcome, there are still adverse effects you need to be aware of.

IMPAIRED JUDGEMENT AND CONFUSION

At high doses, you may experience difficulty making decisions or confusion as you struggle with the changes to visual and auditory perception. You may also start to feel anxious, and a cycle of negative thoughts can begin. It can be very challenging to break out of this cycle, and many people describe a bad trip as a spiral, with each negative thought leading to the next. Finally, there's also a chance of flashbacks and/or paranoia.

MAY INCREASE THE ONSET OF MOOD DISORDERS

Shrooms have a profound impact on our mood. In people with pre-existing mental health conditions, psilocybin can exacerbate symptoms. As such, high doses may cause psychosis or delusions, and even once the initial trip has ended, recurrences can occur for months after. Consideration of set and setting is crucial to mitigating the risk of adverse effects, but for anyone living with a mood disorder, magic mushroom use will always be a delicate balancing act.

A HOST OF UNDESIRABLE PHYSICAL SYMPTOMS

While psychological side effects are front and centre, there are still several physical symptoms that can occur when consuming large doses of magic mushrooms. These include:

• Excessive sweating

• Muscle weakness

• Nausea/vomiting

• Diarrhea

• Lightheadedness

WHAT IS AN EXCESSIVE DOSE OF MAGIC MUSHROOMS?

What's interesting about magic mushrooms is the more you take, the longer and more intense the effects, both positive and negative. However, this also means that it's easier to mitigate the risk of a bad trip by carefully monitoring how much you consume. Still, when we talk about an excessive dose of magic mushrooms, what quantities are we referencing?

For a novice or first-time user, a dose of around 0.5–1.5 grams (dry mushrooms) will provide very mild changes to colours and slightly enhance senses. Increase this amount by a gram, and effects rise in kind. Moreover, you’ll also need to consider how much you consume versus your body weight. Put simply, the greater your weight, the more shrooms you’ll need to eat.

For example, a dose of regular dried magic mushrooms for a 60kg person would be around 1.8 grams, while a 90kg individual would need up to 2.7 grams to feel similar effects. Mushroom species is also a consideration (as different varieties have differing levels of psilocybin). This means particularly strong varieties of magic mushrooms, such as Copelandia, require less to have the same effect. Many reputable suppliers will label their mushrooms or truffles accordingly so you know how potent they are.

However, once you reach five grams or more, regardless of body weight, you're in the realm of a heroic dose. It's at these levels that an overdose (a toxic state or risk to health) is more likely without the proper preparation and consideration for set and setting.

MAGIC MUSHROOMS VS NON-PSYCHEDELIC MUSHROOMS

A potential overdose is just one factor of magic mushroom consumption. The second most considerable risk is poisoning, but not from psilocybin. It's common for keen psychonauts to forage for magic mushrooms. After all, they grow wild across the world. However, it's all too easy to mistake varieties of Psilocybe cubensis for harmful mushroom varieties such as death cap, fool's conecap, and panther cap (Trust, 2022).

None of the species listed above contain psilocybin, but they do contain toxins that can prove fatal to humans. Unless you are experienced with foraging, it's far safer (and usually more productive) to grow magic mushrooms using a dedicated grow kit.

EVERYTHING IN MODERATION, EVEN MAGIC MUSHROOMS

While the risk of overdosing on magic mushrooms is incredibly low, and the psychedelic shows a relatively good safety profile compared to other drugs, a slow and steady approach is paramount. A magic mushroom trip offers a journey into the depths of your psyche, and there's nothing wrong with starting your journey with a gram or less to see how you feel.

Moreover, consideration for set and setting is crucial in ensuring you don't experience several of the negative effects highlighted earlier. Like all things in life, moderation is the key to a productive relationship with magic mushrooms.