LSD flashbacks

[snopes]

Comment: I've heard several times that once someone has taken LSD/Acid, it
never leaves the body and after the 'trip' is over, it settles in the
spinal cord with the possibility of re-entry into the brain under certain
physical circumstances (IE "cracking your back" or popping the vertebrae
in or out of alignment.)

Is it true?

[SatansHobbit]

Before making an opinion, I would like to explore some authoritative medical sites to research the veracity of this phenomenon actually occu....Doooood, I can taste the music!

[Not_Done_Living]

20 some odd years ago -- i would have been referred to as an Acid freak, and i am pretty confident that once i came down, i was fairly normal. And i am not talking about one or two times, but a fairly regular acid influenced existence back in the 90s..

I have not had anything that i would refer to as a flashback -- ever.

[depravedbeast]

Way back when - I was told that strychnine was once used in the process of the manufacture of LSD, and that the trace amounts of strychnine was the source of the flash backs. I believe all of this is hearsay and a load of. I never got a "free ride" as it was once called.

[depravedbeast]

Way back when - I was told that strychnine was once used in the process of the manufacture of LSD, and that the trace amounts of strychnine was the source of the flash backs. I believe all of this is hearsay and a load of. I never got a "free ride" as it was once called.

[Cervus]

I've never done acid myself but I have several friends who were heavily into it (and other substances) years ago. They've never reported having any flashbacks or lingering effects.

[ganzfeld]

Flashbacks themselves are a fairly well documented phenomenon (although unfortunately much too vaguely defined) in a predictable minority. Anecdotes about people not experiencing them despite using the drug don't say much about it.

In any case, it's not known exactly what causes them. Some circumstances are known or thought to precipitate flashbacks but I don't think the ones mentioned in the OP have ever been studied, probably because it's not very plausible that the drug hangs out in the spine (or anywhere else in the body) waiting for someone to crack her back.

[geminilee]

The drug is out of the system by the time the trip starts, AFAIK. It triggers a big serotonin dump, and then is gone.
I have experienced something like flashbacks. No actual tripping or hallucinations, but something that reminds me vaguely of the feeling of acid. what I personally think is happening is that some people have occasional serotonin dumps, and those who have done acid before are likely to associate the feeling with the drug. I don't think it is limited to acid users, or that it has anything to do with the acid, it is just that it is a vaguely recognizable feeling to those who have used acid. Those who haven't, of course, do not associate it with the use of any drug.

[ganzfeld]

Given the vague definition of the term flashback, that could be an explanation for much of the phenomenon, maybe even all of it, but it fails to explain why it's much more common with some hallucinogens (such as LSD) than with others. I think the scientific consensus at this time is that it's real, although uncommon and often misunderstood or mistaken for other experiences.

[geminilee]

Do all hallucinogens work via serotonin dumps? If not, then that may explain why it is not commonly associated with other hallucinogens.

[Richard W]

I've only taken LSD once, but I've taken other hallucinogens (mushrooms) a few times.

What I think is meant by "flashback" is that unlike, say, alcohol you can generally remember trips quite clearly. Hallucinogens alter your perception slightly, so that you can spend hours looking at ordinary textures and objects and light effects and finding them fascinating (it's a stereotype but it's true - I sometimes wondered whether it was a bit like being a very small child and seeing everything in the universe for the first time. I'm sure they're all tripping at least until the age of two...) It makes you more aware of how your senses work, and all the funny little things that can trick them. But because you remember this, you remember the kind of effects that you saw, and can still see them to an extent long after the trip has finished, just as you can remember anything that you've learned about. The world becomes more fascinating in general, and I probably am more likely just to sit watching a textured surface or a pattern of light now than I was before.

It's not at all like you suddenly start tripping uncontrollably at random moments, though. There's no "drug" left in the system. I've never experienced anything like that, and I doubt anybody does.

[ganzfeld]

Originally Posted by geminilee

Do all hallucinogens work via serotonin dumps? If not, then that may explain why it is not commonly associated with other hallucinogens.

Lots of drugs and experiences affect serotonin production, reuptake, or reception. I don't know that there's anything especially unusual about LSD in that regard. (Nor do I think that it explains its effects. The exact mechanisms of most hallucinogens, including LSD, are unknown.)

[Ali Infree]

I agree with the memory idea espoused by Richard W. As someone who is 25 years past my last experience and much longer past my acid phase, I have never had any event that seemed or felt like the original experiences, if that is a flashback.
Darn it! I miss that sense of wonder of seeing something ordinary as though it was new and everchanging. OTOH, I am very seldom late for stuff because the toaster is just so... shiny.

Ali