[Solved] Physical effects of LSD, but little trip. Feeling sick, though

This pattern sounds as if your body does respond strongly to serotonergic psychedelics, but that the classic “triplague” (visuals, deep distortion, dreamlike images, ego loss) is relatively low in your case. This is not the same as “no effect”. On the contrary, the pupil dilation, nausea, vomiting and shaking at 300 mcg LSD indicate clear physiological activation.

The most likely explanation is a combination of factors, not a single cause.

With psilocybin, you describe: no clear trip, but then first fatigue and later more energy and better mood. This fits with a subtle or muted psilocybin response where there may be neurochemical and emotional effects, but without a strong subjective psychedelic experience. A similar example also came up on the forum where someone barely got any hallucinations or trip even with very high psilocybin from truffles. So such people really do exist: few visuals, little “trip”, but sometimes after-effects in mood, energy or mental clarity. See also 90 mg psilocybin from truffles and no effect or trip? and No to little effect of truffles and MDMA.

It's different with LSD: 300 mcg is normally a solid dose. If you then get large pupils, nausea, vomiting and severe trembling, but few visuals, it seems as if the physical stress and activation layer comes through stronger than the visual/psychedelic layer. This can happen with a nervous system that quickly shoots into sympathetic activation: adrenaline, noradrenaline, muscle tension, nausea, overstimulation. The Triptherapie information on difficult trips also mentions that the emergence phase can be accompanied by biological activation, including via stress response, glutamate/GABA balance and physical agitation. In your case, that activation does not seem to carry over into a smooth visual trip, but mostly lingers in the body.

One important possibility is medication or supplement use. SSRIs, SNRIs, antipsychotics, benzodiazepines, some mood stabilisers, sleep aids and certain other drugs can dampen or distort psychedelic effects. SSRIs can make 5-HT2A receptors less sensitive; antipsychotics can block that receptor directly; benzodiazepines can flatten the intensity. Then you can sometimes still feel physical effects but get little trip depth.

In addition, habituation or cross-tolerance may come into play. Psilocybin and LSD both work strongly through serotonergic systems, especially 5-HT2A. If you have recently tripped, microdosed or regularly use psychedelics, the same dose may give much less visual or mental effects. Triptherapie mentions that with truffles and magic mushrooms, rapid habituation occurs: using them too often in quick succession causes the effects to diminish or disappear. A deeper session usually requires at least one to two weeks' break, often preferably longer. See The risks of magic mushrooms and magic truffles and the forum topic How long to stop microdosing truffles before a truffle ceremony?.

Aphantasia can also play a role if you already normally have few inner images. Aphantasia does not mean that psychedelic visuals are impossible, because psychedelic images do not arise through voluntary imagination alone. Nevertheless, it can make the experience less visual or less “cinematic”. For someone with aphantasia, a trip may therefore be physical, emotional or cognitive rather than visual.

The search results on COMT and MAOA are also relevant. COMT and MAOA are involved in the breakdown of dopamine, noradrenaline and adrenaline. If these systems work slowly or if you are sensitive to catecholamines, a drug like LSD can give relatively high levels of physical activation: trembling, tension, heart rate awareness, nausea, panic-like energy or motor discharge. This does not necessarily mean that you are mentally tripping deeply; rather, it can feel like your body is “on” while your head remains relatively clear. The forum topic Psychedelic session for COMT and MAOA deficiency connects well with that.

Furthermore, with 300 mcg LSD, you should always think about purity and dosage certainty. If it hasn't been pharmaceutically or tested, you can't be sure if it's really LSD, how much is on it, or if some other substance or breakdown product is involved. Severe nausea and vomiting can occur with LSD, but with unusually strong bodyload with no obvious psychedelic depth, testing is extra important.

My assessment based on everything you describe: you are probably not a “non-responder”, but rather someone in whom the visual and mystical layer is strongly attenuated, while the physical serotonergic/catecholaminergic activation is clearly present. Psilocybin gives you mainly delayed after-effects on mood and energy; LSD gives mainly autonomic activation, shaking and nausea, but few visuals.

I wouldn't just dose higher in your case. Certainly not with LSD. At 300 mcg and so much physical reaction, “taking more” is not a logical or safe solution. What makes more sense is to first find out what is dampening or distorting: medication, recent tolerance, microdosing, cannabis/THC, melatonin, supplements, sleep deprivation, stress level, aphasia, COMT/MAOA profile, stomach content, liver metabolism and substance reliability. After that, you may be able to experience a better trip with adjustments.