Precautions

As with other entheogens, eating lightly beforehand may reduce nausea and gastrointestinal discomfort.

Starting low with dosage and work up as you become familiar with the potency of the mushrooms and your individual reaction may help reduce the chance of unpleasant effects/overdose.

Some people recommend using cannabis to offset possible nausea.

Many people recommend planning to lie back and relax during the Onset and Early phases of Amanita muscaria intoxication to reduce nausea.

intoxication to reduce nausea. A. muscaria should be dried completely before ingestion, many people recommend heating / toasting the mushroom to dry it. The drying/heating process probably reduces or converts (decarboxylates) the ibotenic acid in the mushroom into muscimol, making it less toxic-feeling and more psychoactive (consider lowering your dosage if you heat the A. muscaria first).

should be dried completely before ingestion, many people recommend heating / toasting the mushroom to dry it. The drying/heating process probably reduces or converts (decarboxylates) the ibotenic acid in the mushroom into muscimol, making it less toxic-feeling and more psychoactive (consider lowering your dosage if you heat the first). Many recommend using only the skin and the thin yellow layer under the skin and avoiding the majority of the body, gills, and stalk.

Many people like to take milk thistle with the Amanita muscaria because of the fact that other species of Amanitas contain liver toxins...though we have seen no evidence that A. muscaria is toxic to the liver. (one person recommends milk thistle because of the possibility that its mycelial networks might intermingle with that of nearby toxic amanitas.)

It should be noted that there is a significant difference in quality, potency , and effects between mushrooms found in different seasons and different areas, as well as different varieties of psychoactive amanitas (ie different ratio of nausea/body effects to mental / entheogenic effects).As with other entheogens, everyone reacts individually to Amanita muscaria intoxication. Amanitas may be more variable based on the way one's body metabolizes ibotenic acid into muscimol . Many people do not enjoy the effects of A. muscaria or pantherina. Warning: there are deadly poisonous species of Amanitas. If you don't know what you are doing, don't ingest Amanitas.