LSD Effect

LSD is absorbed easily from the gastrointestinal tract and rapidly reaches a high concentration in the blood. It is circulated throughout the body and subsequently to the brain. LSD is metabolized in the liver and is excreted in the urine in about twenty-four hours. The effects of LSD range from blurred vision to a visual field filled with strange objects. Three-dimensional space appears to contract and enlarge, and light appears to fluctuate in intensity. Auditory effects also occur but to a lesser degree. All of these changes are episodic.

Temperature sensitivity is altered, the environment being perceived as abnormally cold or hot. Body images are altered (out of-body experiences), and body parts appear to float. Time is sometimes perceived as running fast forward or backward. “LSD produces an especially brilliant and intense impact of sensory stimuli on consciousness. Normally unnoticed aspects of the environment capture the attention: ordinary objects are seen as if for the first time and with a sense of fascination or entrancement, as though they had unimagined depths of significance.

A trip begins between thirty to sixty minutes after ingestion, peaks after two to six hours, and fades out after about 12 hours. There are “good acid trips” and “bad acid trips.” They appear to be controlled by the user’s attitude, mood, and expectations and often depend on suggestions of those around the user at the time of the trip. Favorable expectations produce good trips, and excessive apprehension is likely to produce the opposite. Because the substance appears to intensify feelings, the user might feel a magnified sense of love, lust, and joy or anger, terror, and despair. belly button rings

The bad trip is the result of a failure to comprehend that reality has not changed, merely its perception while under the influence of LSD. Sensations and feelings change much more dramatically than do the physical signs, which are as varied as the psychological ones and include dilation of the pupils (almost always); increased heart rate, blood pressure, and body temperature; mild dizziness or nausea; chills; trembling; slow, deep breathing; loss of appetite; and insomnia.