DMT (N, N-Dimethyltryptamine) is an endogenous hallucinogen or drug, which means it’s a substance that’s common in living organisms like plants and can cause mind-altering side effects.
Because DMT drug effects are often psychedelic and include symptoms like hallucinations and out-of-body- experiences, many cultures use it for ritualistic purposes, and many people use it for recreational purposes. Those who use DMT recreationally may have a few questions about its lasting effects, such as, “how long does DMT stay in your system?” Our Boca rehab shares some insight on DMT and the duration of its side effects.
What Is DMT?
DMT is a hallucinogenic drug and common component of ayahuasca tea, a common drink used for ritual purposes in South America. Plants that contain DMT include Phalaris, Delosperma, Acacia, Desmodium, Mimosa, Virola, Psychotria, and mimosa tenuiflora. DMT can also be synthetically produced in labs and is often sold in the form of white or yellow crystalline powder. It can be taken orally, mixed into a tea, smoked, vaped, or injected. Like cannabis, many people believe that DMT is safe to use, but that isn’t the case. According to the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), DMT is a Schedule I drug, meaning it has no medical use and carries a high risk of abuse and addiction. Many who have become accustomed to abusing DMT have had to receive inpatient drug treatment to safely recover.
How Long Does it Take for DMT Effects to Kick In?
Research on DMT drug side effects is scarce, much like research on LSD and magic mushrooms effects . However, DMT is believed to work by inducing a dream-like state and affecting levels of certain neurotransmitters like serotonin to produce euphoric and pleasurable side effects.
Some common DMT side effects include:
- Euphoria
- Feeling like you’re floating
- Vivid auditory and visual hallucinations
- Altered sense of time
- Depersonalization (out-of-body feeling)
- Rapid or irregular heart rate
- Increased blood pressure
- Rapid breathing
- Dizziness
- Dilated pupils
- Agitation
- Paranoia
- Rapid rhythmic eye movements
- Chest pain or tightness
- Stomach pain
- Diarrhea
- Nausea or vomiting
A DMT trip length depends on how much is taken and how it’s taken:
- Smoked or vaped: When DMT is smoked, the effects can begin after 45 seconds and peak after 30 minutes.
- Intravenous injection: When DMT is injected, effects kick in immediately and are gone within 30 minutes.
- Intramuscular injection: Effects can begin within 2 to 5 minutes and dissipate after an hour.
- Drinking or when taken orally: When DMT is drunk or taken orally, effects begin after an hour, peak after 90 minutes, and last for about four hours.
People with schizophrenia or other forms of mental illness are at a higher risk of experiencing severe side effects and should therefore avoid hallucinogens like DMT and drug use in general. DMT and ayahuasca have been known to trigger psychotic episodes, which can worsen the symptoms of an underlying disorder and land the person in the hospital.
At Banyan Boca, we understand that many people with mental disorders tend to gravitate towards drugs and alcohol to self-medicate their symptoms. However, this only adds the dangers of addiction and other physical complications to the mix. If you need help with your mental health, we offer mental health services in Florida to safely guide you to recovery.
How Long Does DMT Last in Your Body?
How long DMT lasts in your system not only depends on its half-life but also the amount taken. Factors like metabolism, fat percentage, and form of use can also affect how long DMT stays in your system. According to a recent study, the half-life of DMT is 12 to 19 minutes.1 This means it can take anywhere from 12 to 19 minutes for half of the drug to clear out from a person’s system and roughly 35 to 40 minutes for the body to be completely clear of it. However, despite its half-life, DMT can still be detected in sources like urine, hair, blood, and saliva past the 40-minute mark.
There is no official DMT drug test. DMT is also not part of the screening process for drug tests used for things like law enforcement or employment. Detecting DMT in the body requires a specific kind of test.
DMT detection times in blood, urine, hair, and saliva are as follows:
- Blood: DMT can be detected in blood for up to two hours after it’s taken.
- Urine: DMT can be detected in urine for up to 24 hours after it’s last taken.
- Saliva: DMT can be detected in saliva for about 1 hour after use, sometimes less. However, research also shows that it’s possible to detect DMT in saliva anywhere between 4 and 12 hours after use.2
- Hair: Drug tests on hair can usually detect the presence of drugs in the system for long periods. DMT can be detected in hair for up to 90 days. Even so, this number can vary depending on how often it’s used.
Factors like the dosage taken, weight, age, metabolism, and frequency of drug use can all affect how long DMT stays in your system. Although at-home remedies may be tempting, the safest way to get DMT out of your system is with medical detox. Our rehab in Boca offers medically monitored detox for individuals dependent on drugs or alcohol and need help with physical recovery and overcoming withdrawal symptoms. Undergoing a medically assisted detox can greatly reduce your chances of physical complications.
While many focus on the euphoric side effects of DMT, what many forget is that it can also cause an overdose. A DMT overdose, although rare, occurs when too high of a dose is taken. One of the most common symptoms of a DMT overdose is serotonin syndrome, which can occur when DMT is mixed with other substances like Levodopa, Lithium, triptans, and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). Serotonin syndrome can cause life-threatening symptoms, and the likelihood of overdose increases with prolonged drug use.
Banyan Treatment Centers Boca helps people addicted to drugs and alcohol regain their health and their lives. If you need substance abuse treatment, call us now at 888-280-4763 to learn more about our Florida drug treatment.
Source:
- ScienceDIrect - N, N-Dimethyltryptamine
- NIH - Kinetic profile of N, N-dimethyltryptamine, and β-carbolines in saliva and serum after oral administration of ayahuasca in a religious context
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