Magic Mushroom Trip

Track 05/07

The day after

  1. The evening: not sober yet
  2. Sleep
  3. A delayed headache
  4. Memory, concentration and visual noise
  5. Mood after a trip
  6. Tolerance: why a second trip the next day does little
  7. When after-effects do not pass
  8. Planning the day after, before the trip
  9. If you are in the Netherlands

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Track 5 of 7 · 4 min read · Updated

The day after a mushroom trip, from the evening to the following week

What the evening and the day after a magic mushroom trip are usually like: tiredness, a delayed headache, concentration, tolerance and when to get help.

On this page · 9 chapters
  1. 01 The evening: not sober yet
  2. 02 Sleep
  3. 03 A delayed headache
  4. 04 Memory, concentration and visual noise
  5. 05 Mood after a trip
  6. 06 Tolerance: why a second trip the next day does little
  7. 07 When after-effects do not pass
  8. 08 Planning the day after, before the trip
  9. 09 If you are in the Netherlands

The day after a mushroom trip, most people feel tired but otherwise like themselves again. Some wake up with a headache, have trouble concentrating or feel low for a day; others feel calm or talkative. Jellinek's advice is to take the day after a trip off and plan nothing, so there is time to rest and to think about what happened. Below is what is known about the hours and days after, from the evening of the trip onward.

The evening: not sober yet

Once the main effects have faded, you are not back to normal. DRUGSinfo, the Dutch public information service, states that a user is still not sober after the trip and cannot yet drive safely. Jellinek adds that you can feel hazy and unfocused for some time after use, and that taking part in traffic is forbidden in the Netherlands.

What usually helps in the evening is simple: food, water, a quiet room, a film or music you know and an early night. Calls with work, social media and difficult conversations can wait. If you had a sitter, ask them to stay until the effects have clearly faded.

Sleep

A trip that starts in the morning or around midday has its comedown behind it by the evening, so the night is not part of it. A trip that starts at ten in the evening runs until well after midnight. Avoid using alcohol or other substances to get to sleep; Jellinek advises against combining mushrooms with alcohol or other drugs.

A delayed headache

A headache that starts hours after a trip is a known after-effect. In a double-blind study at Johns Hopkins, psilocybin often caused headaches, and their frequency, duration and severity rose with the dose (Johnson et al. 2012). All of them started late, passed by themselves and lasted no more than a day. The Alcohol and Drug Foundation in Australia gives the same picture: delayed headaches can happen and usually do not last longer than a day.

Memory, concentration and visual noise

DRUGSinfo mentions that some people temporarily have memory complaints or difficulty concentrating, or see visual noise in their field of vision after using mushrooms or truffles. For most people this fades quickly. It is a reason not to schedule an exam, a long drive or a demanding shift for the day after.

Mood after a trip

How people feel afterwards varies. The Alcohol and Drug Foundation lists exhaustion, low mood and anxiety as possible feelings after taking mushrooms. Others describe a calm, open or talkative mood for a day or two, which people sometimes call an afterglow. Both are reported, and neither says much about whether the trip was "good".

Some people write down what they remember or talk it through with the person who sat with them. Jellinek frames this as taking time to process the trip.

Tolerance: why a second trip the next day does little

Psilocybin builds tolerance quickly. Jellinek explains that with repeated use in a short period the effects stop appearing, and you have to stop for a while before you feel them again. It also notes that most people have no wish to take mushrooms again soon after a trip, partly because the experience is so intense.

When after-effects do not pass

Most after-effects are gone within a day or two. Some are not, and these deserve attention:

  • Flashbacks. The Alcohol and Drug Foundation notes that flashbacks can happen weeks, months or even years after the drug was last taken.
  • Lasting changes in perception. Researchers describe a rare condition in which visual effects persist after hallucinogen use, known as hallucinogen persisting perception disorder (Johnson et al. 2008).
  • Psychosis. DRUGSinfo and Jellinek both warn that mushrooms and truffles can trigger a psychosis in people who are susceptible to it.

If anxiety, low mood, confusion or perceptual changes continue after the first days, talk to a doctor. In the Netherlands, the Drugs Infolijn of the Trimbos Institute answers questions on 0900 1995. The difficult moments page explains what to do during a hard trip itself.

Planning the day after, before the trip

  • Keep the next day free, as Jellinek advises.
  • Put food that needs no cooking in the fridge.
  • Leave the car at home and arrange how to get anywhere you need to be.
  • Agree with your sitter that you will check in with each other the next day.

If you are in the Netherlands

Fresh truffles are legal in the Netherlands and their strength is graded by the shop. A milder strain also means a gentler evening and next day. Dutch-Smart describes Mexicana as mild and uplifting with virtually no visual effects at a normal dose, and Tampanensis as mild to moderate with introspective effects. The choice guide sets out the scale.