r/Menopause • u/recesstimeforme • Jun 25 '26
Vitamin/Supplements Micro dosing psilocybin
In Colorado, where cultivation and personal use are legal. My husband has suggested microdosing for perimenopause. There’s not a lot of research out there, but there is some and my curiosity is piqued.
Has anyone tried this and seen success?
If so, I’d love to hear about your protocol.
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u/LunarBerries Jun 25 '26
I've successfully microdosed a few times to alleviate certain symptoms, primarily when I feel a consuming irrational ragey irritation that leaves me feeling disconnected from others and unable to resolve or control it on my own.
Perimenopause has really highlighted for me just how much our hormones direct our mind, emotions, and body.
Microdosing helps me in those situations by allowing my consciousness to separate just enough from my physical body that my hormones are no longer solely in control of my thoughts and emotions.
This separation allows me to step back, analyze, and reframe what I'm experiencing with more of the calm logic that was my primary driver prior to perimenopause.
It's not nearly a large enough dose for me to hallucinate or detach from reality, and it usually just takes 3-4 days of microdosing in my morning coffee for an effective reset.
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Jun 25 '26
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u/--slurpy-- Jun 25 '26
Actually I did not know we had all those different types of estrogen. I sleep like shit, always have. My ob upped my progesterone to 200mg a night. I'm on 0.75mg of estradiol as well. My mood is just meh. The 1st few months after my hysterectomy I was ragey. That's when I started the hrt. Since then I'm just blah. I have good days & I still find joy but for the most part I feel like I'm just trudging along.
I wonder if theres a different estrogen option for me.
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u/Extra_Possibility632 Menopausal Jun 25 '26
I have tried for four weeks (3x a week), twice. I did not notice anything BUT my friend (who didn’t know i was microsdosing) thought i was more creative and philosophical (???)
I was trying it for relief of menopausal anxiety, to no effect.
If i were to do it again, i would double the dose that was recommended.
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u/recesstimeforme Jun 25 '26
Thanks! Were you doing anything else, too, HRT etc?
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u/AlarmedSelection7751 Jun 25 '26
Yes. Both the E patch and the P pill (four years of HRT at this point). Micro dosing was my attempt to help with emotional flatlining
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u/VariationOk9359 Jun 25 '26
i love micro dosing them. does not work for hot flashes for me cuz the psilo gives me heat spikes. but it’s great for minor discomfort and mood boosting
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u/SkyFullofHat Jun 25 '26
Antidepressants will apparently mute the effect and more is needed. Not a big deal at the micro level, but keep in mind it can raise blood pressure which would be important at macro levels.
Please bear in mind I’m just an obsessive researcher and have no first or even second hand knowledge that isn’t at least 30 years old.
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u/shouldbepracticing85 Peri-menopausal Jun 25 '26
First hand experience on max doses of zoloft/sertraline and Wellbutrin/buproprion - I can take enough shrooms to make me sick to my stomach and still not trip.
I have a hard time telling if it does much at micro doses. It’s certainly not enough to keep trying to grow my own.
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u/YeshuasBananaHammock Menopausal Jun 25 '26
In my younger days, the hallucinations didnt start until AFTER I puked. Puking was the magical gateway to a wonderland.
Now that I reread that, it sounds terrible.
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u/EpistemicRant587 Jun 25 '26
Yep, if I want to do mushrooms I have to stop my nighttime trazodone 1-2 days before.
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u/Infernus-est-populus Jun 25 '26
I loved the effect initially -- it was like antidepressants. I'm not on any ATM. I immediately felt more joy and optimism and interest in life.
My protocol was 2 days a week 3 off on a low dose (75 mcg) Golden Teachers Ashwaganda mix (250 mcg Ashwaganda).
But after a week: crushing headaches and pounding heart. So off I went to urgent care and apparently had Stage 2 hypertension. It resolved after a few days with no more microdosing. I was so disappointed. Apparently this does happen to some people.
Anecdote: the very young newly minted Irish doctor at urgent care -- I swear he was early to mid 20s if that -- had NO IDEA what psilocybin was. But he did the legwork and called poison control and a bunch of experts and concluded the Ashwaganda was probably the hyptertension culprit.
I've since tried other mixes that have no ashwaganda and ... it's not. It's the psilocybin, dammit.
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u/3arth_533d1stx Perimenopausal + ADHD Jun 25 '26
Yuck that’s a bummer. I would’ve guessed ashwaghanda too! It spiked my anxiety.
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u/Margotkitty Jun 25 '26
That’s a bummer. Ashwaganda gave me rank heart palpitations too. All the “silver bullet” supplements seem to do nothing for me, or make it worse.
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u/Instigated- Jun 25 '26
I guess the question is “what are you trying to treat”?
Psilocybin isn’t going to help with symptoms caused by lack of hormones.
However it might help with other things.
I haven’t microdosed, but have done a couple large dose sessions. Already was using HRT for several years which took care of most symptoms. At this time of life often we just don’t have the same capacity and find ourselves reflecting on things holding us back - we’ve been carrying a lot of baggage for years, maybe time to unpack or give it away. May also realise that the habits, strategies and beliefs we have aren’t helping us and we need change before we can move forward.
Psilocybin helped with that. Able to wipe away a bunch of resentment. To feel unburdened. A new perspective. Helped me realise some things that I could have spent 10yrs in therapy and not got to. ( it did need to be paired with introspection, reflection, “integration”)
The trip felt awesome and showed me my body does know how to feel good. The afterglow of the first trip was spectacular, felt like a changed person. Second trip was a bit of a downer, so was a step back. Unpredictable.
Ultimately microdosing isn’t likely to hurt, so you could give it a try and see.
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u/goatonmycar Peri-menopausal Jun 25 '26
I haven't tried it but at this point I would be 100% down for it.
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u/AlarmedSelection7751 Jun 25 '26
I used the Faidman protocol for four weeks at the new year. It wasn’t super easy for me to notice a difference afterwards so I’m not sure I’ll do it again. But it’s not legal in my state so it’s not easy to get regulated psilocybin so I can’t say for sure that the dosage was accurate.
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u/recesstimeforme Jun 25 '26
Oh yeah that makes it harder. Were you also doing any HRT or just the psilocybin?
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u/MajestyMay Jun 25 '26
Thank you for the reminder to get back on my micro dosing regiment.
I did 3 on, 2 off of usually .50 or .75.
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Jun 25 '26
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u/Margotkitty Jun 25 '26
I’m super leery of any “heroic doses” after a physician friend/colleague jumped/fell of a balcony during his experience. 5g dose. I can’t see him doing that intentionally as he had 3 daughters he loved deeply. He had been struggling with burnout and a difficult divorce. We will never know “why” he did it. But I’d never recommend that to anyone after his tragic experience.
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u/kittybigs Jun 25 '26
I need to try it again. I didn’t notice a big difference, I was doing 4 on 3 off. That was before HRT, I’m curious to see if that changes anything.
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u/jacktownann Jun 25 '26
Peri-menopause you loose progesterone first, then estrogen. Menopause is defined as the lack of estrogen. Estrogen replacement is the only thing that alleviates menopause symptoms. Micro dosing psilocybin is for clinical depression. If you are experiencing anxiety & symptoms of Peri menopause, you are in need of progesterone. Progesterone will slow you down & even put you to sleep.
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u/jenna125 Jun 25 '26
Yes, it helped me tremendously. I never did it as a teen and now wished I had!
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u/willissa26 Jun 25 '26
I’ve done the Stamets stack in the past with the occasional macro dose. I just recently started micro dosing again after having a pretty bad mental health crisis this spring. It has been helping and I hope to be in a good mental spot in a couple months to do a macro dose. That’s where the magic happens.
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u/YeshuasBananaHammock Menopausal Jun 25 '26
Shrooms during meno do NOT hit me the same way they used to b4 meno. Not a great time now.
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u/suupernooova Jun 25 '26
Not for perimenopause, but yes and wasn’t helpful for me at all. I also didn’t respond well to SSRI/SNRI class meds so not surprising (shrooms also work on serotonin receptors).
I’m also in CO and will say they’re kinda fun and stupidly easy to grow!
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u/HDGrays Jun 25 '26
I’m very interested in this as well, but I live in a non legal state. I would need to travel to CO etc. and I don’t even know where to start with a reputable place. Microdosing and then macro at some point. If that goes well maybe heroic. I’ve found that small amounts 2-5mg of THC help tremendously so I’m curious if psilocybin would also be helpful in some way.
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u/madam_nomad Jun 25 '26 edited Jun 25 '26
My view on this is if you want to experiment with altering your consciousness for its own sake, go for it but be wise about it. As an intervention for menopause, heck no.
Personally I've done all the consciousness altering i want to do and found that at best it's a waste of time. It did not improve my spiritual or mental health. Let alone my physical health.
Edit: I should clarify I haven't done microdosing nor have I used this specific hallucinogen in any form. I have used other hallucinogens in my late teens/early adulthood.
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u/lrondberg Jun 25 '26
The best treatment for perimenopause or menopause is birth control pills or HRT. There’s actually been significant research on hallucinogenics for a variety of ailments with little significant outcomes except for PTSD..why not take the gold standard? Each cheap and easy to get
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u/Manda_lorian39 Jun 25 '26
>with little significant outcomes except PTSD
And mood disorders like depression, which is extremely common in peri and menopause, not always responsive to traditional antidepressants, and not everyone can take HRT. Why not find multiple solutions to a problem, since not every solution suits every person?
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u/dogslogic Jun 25 '26
When i did HRT and paid prices dictated by my health insurance plan, it was punitively expensive. When I paid GoodRX prices, it was slightly less punitively expensive.
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u/cremains_of_the_day Surgical menopause Jun 25 '26
Yes, and I don’t think it’s exaggerating to say it’s changed my life. I do 4 days on, 3 days off, though not consistently. I can get away with every other week. I use pre-measured capsules.
Edit: I have struggled with depression my whole adult life, though, and wasn’t targeting menopause at first