I’m on mushrooms right now. Just a small amount, about half the size of my pinky nail. I’m not hallucinating or anything, but for the past couple of months, I’ve been taking a regular, tiny dose of psilocybin ‘shrooms every few days. And life has never been better. It’s called "microdosing" — and, so far, it’s been awesome. Microdosing as a concept isn’t new. It’s been used in clinical trials to test drug reactions on the body. The National Institutes of Health have listed the guidelines for dosing as “1/100th of the expected pharmacological dose.” In the psychedelic world, “microdosing” refers to taking teeny, tiny amounts of psychedelics such as LSD and ‘shrooms on a regular basis, to improve your day-to-day functioning. You’re not having a Hunter S. Thompson moment here. Instead, the idea is that you’re cruising along and generally feeling better. James Fadiman, PhD, a pioneering researcher in psychedelics and microdosing who has made it his life’s work to study psychedelic use all over the world (and is the author of The Psychedelic Explorer’s Guide ), offers a protocol that many enthusiasts currently follow: Once every four days, take a 10th to a 20th of a typical dose. Dr. Fadiman says this amount should be “sufficiently low that there is little or no change in visual perception, nor any physical or mental confusion.” Earlier this year, I came across an Alternet article touting the benefits of microdosing, and then an insanely helpful Reddit forum devoted to it. I was intrigued. According to these (admittedly biased) sources, people were exploring microdosing for many reasons, from increasing creativity to decreasing anxiety. My main goal was to see if I could improve my focus, and if dosing could help rid me of my crippling migraines. I’ve had migraines for over 30 years, have tried every remedy you can think of (beta blockers, antidepressants, Botox, acupuncture, Topamax, cafergot), and my neurologist has all but waved a white flag at me. My most recent drug regimen involved barbiturates and muscle relaxers taken at the first sign of a migraine — plus lots of moaning and groaning. When I mentioned my headaches to Dr. Fadiman, he pointed me to ClusterBusters, a forum for people who self-administer relatively large doses of psychedelics — typically LSD — in an attempt to relieve their cluster headaches. Cluster headaches, however, are distinct from migraines. But there was also enough anecdotal information online about migraine sufferers getting relief from mushrooms that I had to give it a shot. What did I have to lose? I finally got to try out my microdosing obsession when my friend John* mentioned he had ‘shrooms and was experimenting with microdosing, too. I admit I was beyond trepidatious about my first dose. I hate tripping. The only two times I previously tried ‘shrooms were in the late '90s; I felt certain there were ghosts in the room and that someone was after me, and then I became fascinated with the window, which forced my friends to take me outside for the duration. Hello, after-school special! So this time around, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Would I freak out on my dog? Was I going to vomit? Fuck it, there was only one way to find out. I debated powdering my mushrooms, weighing the powder precisely, and then putting it into gel caps, as suggested by the Reddit forum (because potency in shrooms varies), but the truth is: I’m lazy as hell. So I cut off a tiny chunk, washed the little ‘shroom piece down with filtered water, and then waited and watched Supernatural reruns. (It seemed appropriate to watch a show about demons while waiting for hallucinogens to kick in.) Pretty soon, I felt really good and happy — think that buzzy joy you get from being stoned, but minus the stoned part. Dr. Fadiman, who studied LSD prior to its ban in 1966 , has spent years unofficially researching and studying microdosing. In 2010, he put together an all-volunteer study group in which subjects self-administered psychedelics according to his protocol and reported their results to him. Although it wasn’t a controlled study, the anecdotal results were interesting, if vague. “It improves your overall capacity," Dr. Fadiman explains. "It seems to help a huge number of conditions” including anxiety, depression, and even stuttering. After his initial volunteer group, people continued to send in reports, which Dr. Fadiman receives to this day from all over the world. While the medical-establishment jury is still out on the use of psychedelics, study of the substances has experienced a resurgence in recent years. Psychedelics are being studied in controlled settings for the treatment of depression, anxiety in cancer patients alcoholism, end-of-life therapy, cluster headaches, and PTSD — and they're being used in psychotherapy . Of course, shrooms and their psychoactive ingredient (psilocybin) are schedule 1 substances , meaning that they are considered to be highly addictive and have no accepted medical value. That makes it very illegal to take these drugs. It also makes it difficult for researchers to study them, which is why there’s still so much about psychedelics that we don’t know.