Is LSD acid? Read to learn more about the substance, how it can impact the body, and how to seek treatment for addiction.
What is LSD?
LSD has one of the highest potentials for abuse, especially in the United States, leading the US government to ban the drug entirely. The National Institute of Drug Abuse has noted that the rate of use of this substance among high schoolers is on the rise across the country. The side effects of LSD are many and it, for example, can potentially cause serious damage to the neurotransmitters in the brain.1
LSD is an acronym for lysergic acid diethylamide. It is among one of the most potent hallucinogens. The creators and producers of this substance generally synthesize it from lysergic acid—a substance extracted from ergot, a fungus. This fungus generally grows on rye, but it can grow on other grains as well.
Table of Contents
Learn More About Ripple Ranch Recovery Center
Our team is standing by to discuss your situation and options. Your call is fully confidential, and no obligation is required
What is the difference between LSD and acid? Or are they the same? Most users refer to LSD as acid, and acid is the substance’s street name, while LSD is its chemical compound. Acid, along with mellow yellow, boomers, looney tunes, and yellow sunshine, are all other common names for LSD.
In fact, not all hallucinogens or compounds distributed as acid or LSD contain the purest LSD compound. Pure acids would contain 100% of the lysergic acid diethylamide compound.
How Does LSD Make You Feel?
Users normally refer to an LSD high as a trip. Whether you’ll have a bad or good trip is not easy to predict since reactions to acid vary from person to person. However, at least expect to experience abnormally severe mood swings. This is because most users experience visual hallucinations and delusional behaviors.
It is also common for a person who self-medicates with acid to experience:
Euphoria
Extreme energy or excitement
Being in awe of your surroundings
Feel giggly
Feeling extremely empathetic
How is LSD Abused?
There are many different forms of LSD. Since LSD is odorless, some users crush it into powder, dry it on a gelatin sheet, and then dissolve it in water or add it to sugar cubes. If the drug is in liquid or powder form, some users choose to inject or inhale it. Others compact the powdered LSD into microdots and take it that way as well.
You can as well transfer the liquid LSD onto a blotter, which is an absorbent LSD acid paper, and divide the paper into tabs. These tabs serve as small squares of single doses. A typical LSD pill form (or tab) generally contains twenty to eighty micrograms of acid. A user can then chew, lick, or swallow them.
Is LSD Addictive?
Generally, LSD is not among the most addictive substances. However, although it is very unusual for someone to become dependent on a hallucinogen, a person who uses many substances is far more likely to misuse LSD as well.2
Although acid is not addictive, it can lead to tolerance. This means you will have to take more and more of the drug in order to achieve the same high you used to get from smaller doses. This is often a dangerous path, given the unpredictability of LSD and the effects of other drugs in cases of drug mixing.
Side Effects of Using LSD
The physical and cognitive effects of LSD can be worrying beside this drug being a brain-changing substance. The drug disrupts the proper functioning of serotonin receptors, causing the user to hallucinate. Serotonin neurotransmitters are tasked with the role of regulating your moods and behavior, moderating your thinking patterns, and governing how your senses work.
How long-term or short-term effects of LSD manifests in your body varies from user to user. However, when you take the drug orally, you can expect to experience its effects after thirty to forty minutes. These effects can last for half a day but expect them to peak after two to four hours.3
Impacts of LSD
However, expect your body to react quicker to the intake of LSD if you take it intravenously. In this case, LSD’s effects can take place after just ten minutes. The effects of LSD include:
An increase in blood pressure
Altered perceptions
Auditory and visual delusions and hallucinations
Confusion
Questioning your present reality
Senses of euphoria
Increase in body temperature
How to Tell If I’m Addicted to Acid or LSD
Even though it rarely causes chemical dependency, LSD can take a toll on many aspects of your healthy life. Most users experience noticeable mental challenges when they abuse LSD. Users may want to keep experiencing the highs that LSD brings with it, even though it can come with physical or psychological effects.
It may be difficult to spot the early signs of LSD substance abuse since the symptoms of LSD withdrawal vary largely on the individual experiencing them. Only a few of these symptoms may be present in you, and their severity may also differ.
Indications of LSD Use or Addiction
The common addiction signs and symptoms of LSD include:
Lack of sleep (insomnia)
Hypersomnia (oversleeping)
Irritability
Restlessness and anxiety
Depression
Signifiers of Dependency
In the event that you have become dependent on the effects of LSD and suddenly cease using it, you may experience severe withdrawal symptoms. Among the most prevalent withdrawal symptoms is a long-lasting worry or anxiety that has no apparent cause.
The effects and symptoms of LSD withdrawal may also be more severe for you if you are presently managing a mental health issue like anxiety, suicidal thoughts, or depression. Always seek the help of a mental health expert, especially if you are grappling with a co-occurring (dual diagnosis) disorder.
Can LSD Cause Long-Term Problems?
The effects of prolonged use or addiction to LSD can last for a period ranging from weeks to years. LSD can cause prolonged flashbacks, meaning you feel the effects of the substance again and again. These flashbacks, or repeated LSD hallucinations, will be prevalent if you use acid more regularly.
Some people have difficulty concentrating or remembering things after long-term usage of LSD as well. In addition, depression, schizophrenia, and anxiety are just a few of the conditions that LSD may exacerbate or cause altogether.4
What Happens If I Combine LSD With Other Substances or Alcohol?
There are many dangers of LSD, but combining it with other substances, such as those that can be bought over the counter or those that are prescribed by a physician, may have unexpected and perhaps deadly consequences.
A bad trip and a stroke are more likely when LSD is combined with other drugs like ecstasy. Another danger of LSD is that taking the drug while drinking may cause nausea and vomiting.
Get Treatment at Ripple Ranch
Despite the lack of evidence for the conventional idea that physiologic dependence and addiction develop with repeated LSD use, people may nonetheless experience major negative effects. The substance is still potent, and it may have serious mental side effects. As a result, anyone might benefit from some kind of rehab intervention for LSD drug abuse.
The medicine may induce a wide range of side effects, and it could also impair one’s ability to make decisions. While high off of acid, several individuals have had tragic mishaps. Now is the time to get treatment for LSDor other hallucinogen addiction at Ripple Ranch.
