Shrooms Dosage: Chart, Calculator & How-To Guide

• This post was approved by mycologist Caine Barlow
• By Karla Tafra
• November 8, 2022February 24, 2023
• magic mushrooms Psilocybin Articles psilocybin mushrooms psychedelic drugs psychedelics
• With 16 comments

Guessing the right shrooms dosage for you isn’t always intuitive. Everyone is different, and knowing just the right amount for you is crucial to reaping the full benefits. Here’s a guide you should be following.

When figuring out the best shrooms dosage, it’s important to find the sweet spot. You want to prevent visual and auditory distortions (or hallucinations), but still get the positive effects it creates when it binds to a serotonin receptor.

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This may be completely different for everyone as there are many different factors at play. Such as your age, gender (hormonal profile), mental health condition, previous experience with psychedelics, current intake of medications, set (or mindset), and setting (environment of the experience). That’s why it’s difficult to establish a general dosage guide for everyone.

You’re looking to get the best out of your psychedelic experience without going too far and potentially ending up with a “bad trip“. Existing research can help you do just that.

The Johns Hopkins Study

Dr. Roland Griffiths, Ph.D is well known for his work on cancer patients. Additionally, his research shows how the disease affects depression and anxiety — which has been groundbreaking in the world of psilocybin therapy.

In 2011, he conducted a study in which 18 healthy volunteers were given four tiers of psilocybin dose in sessions lasting eight hours each and timed a month apart. They were encouraged to lie down and relax in a living-room like, comfortable environment with headphones. The study’s aim was to analyze subjective experiences with a different shrooms dosage.

The highest dose they received was 30mg/70kg participant weight (mg/kg is the usual clinical measure of dose for all kinds of drugs). Four out of five volunteers receiving this dose reported the experience was, “one of the top five most spiritually significant events of their lives.” Others also reported experiencing fear, anxiety, and stress.

The dose of 20mg/70kg brought out positive experiences from almost all volunteers, with only one experiencing anxiety and stress. With a lower shrooms dosage, everyone reported positive results.

A little over a year later, the researchers did their follow up and found that the majority of them still thought that their experiences were incredible and that they would place them in “the top five most spiritually significant of their lives.”

The latest research from Johns Hopkins Medicine Center showed that when given with supportive psychotherapy, two doses of psilocybin produced fast and large reductions in anxious and depressive symptoms. Moreso, most participants showed visible improvement in mood and mindset, while the half of study participants achieved remission through the four-week follow-up.

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Psilocybin in ‘Shrooms

Over 180 species of mushrooms have active hallucinogenic compounds such as psilocybin and psilocin. The most common of these is the Psilocybe cubensis. Psilocybin content varies between species, but it also varies from sample to sample in the same species. Studies show how psilocybe cubensis can contain about 0.5 – 1.0 percent total psilocin, averaging around 0.7 percent by weight. 0.7 percent total psilocin equates to about 1 percent psilocybin.

Shrooms Dosage Chart

Let’s consider different shrooms dosage and their potential impact on your body.

• 0.1 to 0.5 grams of psilocybe cubensis. Generally known as microdosing, this range is standard during therapeutic treatments. This shrooms dosage isn’t enough to create a “high,” but only minimal acute drug effects that can help long-term.
• 1 gram of psilocybe cubensis (~10 mg psilocybin). A low shrooms dosage, 1 gram still produces some effects such as euphoria and the enhancement of all senses
• 1.75 grams of psilocybe cubensis (~17.5 mg psilocybin). A medium shrooms dosage, known to produce some hallucinogenic effects (mostly visual and sensory) and stronger euphoria
• 3.5 grams of psilocybe cubensis (~35 mg psilocybin). A high shrooms dosage with strong visual and sensory distortions which may bring on mind-blowing effects and synesthesia (blending of the senses)
• 5 grams of psilocybe cubensis (~50 mg psilocybin). The “heroic shrooms dosage,” 5 grams of shrooms typically brings the full depth of a mushroom trip experience. The term comes from American ethnobotanist Terrence McKenna, an advocate for the use of psychedelics. Taking this high shrooms dosage is extremely rare, with side effects being things like a complete loss of control and losing the grasp of reality.

Johns Hopkins University conducted psilocybin trials, finding that high doses of magic mushrooms induced a “mystical-type experience”. In other words, this is a complete psychedelic experience.

The psilocybin dose in mushrooms varies, not only depending on the species, but also the freshness. Over time, mushrooms start degrading and the dose of psilocybin gets lower. This is why finding the right shrooms dosage may be difficult.

A recent study proved how psilocybin degrades in 15 months when put in storage, with different rates of degradation depending on temperature and lighting conditions. It was best when the mushrooms were kept in a dark place at room temperature.

The Fresh or Dried Mushrooms Question

So how do you know if you’re consuming fresh or dried mushrooms? As Dr. Emily Biesmans of Katharsis Journeys in the Netherlands says, “Most psilocybin-containing mushrooms and truffles, consumed for psychedelic use, are dried. Finding fresh mushrooms in nature is possible, but one would need to consume them quite quickly. Fresh mushrooms may last in the fridge for 5-7 days but at room temperature, would likely start to decompose after just 1 day. Usually, it is quite straightforward to tell whether a mushroom is fresh or dried and there is no fundamental difference in comparison to how you would assess this for non-psychedelic edible mushrooms.”

And she continues, “Due to loss of water, dried mushrooms usually become slightly more rigid and chewy. Of note, there is a shared belief amongst traditional healers that the actual process of chewing/mastication is extremely important for establishing connection between the medicine and the person consuming it. However, there is currently no scientific data to back this up.”

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So, How Should Find Your Appropriate Shrooms Dosage?

The obvious way to find an appropriate shrooms dosage is usually the correct one. Start with a low dosage and build up from there. Every person is different, and there is no guarantee in how someone will react. Some might be so quick in metabolizing psilocybin — which limits hallucinations. Others might start feeling a different sense of reality by simply microdosing shrooms. So it’s important to understand how long it takes for shrooms to kick in.

Always remember the importance of set and setting. That is your mindset going into the psychedelic experience, and the environment you’re experiencing it in. You must also decide whether or not to have someone guiding you along the way. It’s important to have someone nearby in case a bad trip takes place. Or you take a dose that’s higher than you can handle.

Unfortunately, there is no official shrooms dosage guide to follow. However, when it comes to taking magic mushrooms, there is some knowledge on the effects specific amounts produce. If you’re just beginning, start low. Over time, you’ll adapt and will be able to try higher doses. This should eliminate the fear of going overboard and potentially experiencing negative consequences.

If you’re taking shrooms for the first time in a retreat setting, you have the added benefits of a curated setting and knowledgeable guides to assist you through your experience. When determining dosages for retreat participants, Alberto Herrera, collaborator and facilitator at Soul Medicine, says, “We would take the time to meet people where they are at, first examining their experience with taking Psilocybin and their overall physical and mental health. We typically serve between 2.5-5 grams of dried mushrooms during our ceremonies.”

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Common FAQs About Shrooms Dosage