Talk:Saffron

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Summary sheet: Saffron

Saffron
Chemical Nomenclature
Common names	DMT, Dimethyltryptamine, Dmitri
Substitutive name	N,N-Dimethyltryptamine
Systematic name	2-(1H-Indol-3-yl)-N,N-dimethylethanamine
Class Membership
Psychoactive class	Psychedelic
Chemical class	Tryptamine
Routes of Administration
WARNING: Always start with lower doses due to differences between individual body weight, tolerance, metabolism, and personal sensitivity. See responsible use section. ⇣ Oral Dosage Bioavailability x% - y% Threshold x - mg Light x - y mg Common x - y mg Strong x - y mg Heavy x mg + Duration Total x - y hours Onset x - y minutes Come up x - y minutes Peak x - y hours Offset x - y hours After effects x - y hours ⇣ Sublingual Dosage Bioavailability x% - y% Threshold x - mg Light x - y mg Common x - y mg Strong x - y mg Heavy x mg + Duration Total a - b hours Onset a - b minutes Come up a - b minutes Peak a - b hours Offset a - b hours After effects a - b hours DISCLAIMER: PW's dosage information is gathered from users and resources for educational purposes only. It is not a recommendation and should be verified with other sources for accuracy.

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Saffron is a herb that is often sold as a dietary supplement and is researched as an antidepressant, anxiolytic, ADHD treatment, wakefulness-promoting agent, aphrodisiac, and other purposes. It has also been historically used to improve mood, energy, and as an aphrodisiac. Saffron is largely used as a nootropic, and recreational use is uncommon, however saffron is capable of producing stimulant and enactogen effects comparable to but milder than substances like methylone at doses considerably higher than the doses used for medicinal purposes, according to many experience reports.

History and culture

This History and culture section is a stub. As a result, it may contain incomplete or wrong information. You can help by expanding it.

Chemistry

This chemistry section is incomplete. You can help by adding to it.

Saffron contains three major psychoactive compounds - cis-crocetin, trans-crocetin, and safranal. Saffron contains crocins which do not pass the blood-brain barrier and are not absorbed into the bloodstream, however a portion of crocins are converted to cis-crocetin, trans-crocetin, and safranal, which are responsible for the majority of its psychoactive effects.

Pharmacology

This pharmacology section is incomplete. You can help by adding to it.

Saffron contains multiple active compounds that are responsible for its effects, cis-crocetin, trans-crocetin, and safranal being responsible for the majority of its effects . Cis-crocetin is shown to be stimulating and act as a monoamine oxidase A & B inhibitor and potentially a dopamine-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor, and safranal tends to be sedating and possibly acts as a GABAa agonist and serotonin reuptake inhibitor, and does not inhibit monoamine oxidase. Both cis-crocetin and safranal act as acetylcholinesterase inhibitors. Trans-crocetin acts as an NMDA antagonist.

Subjective effects

This subjective effects section is a stub. As such, it is still in progress and may contain incomplete or wrong information. You can help by expanding or correcting it.

Disclaimer: The effects listed below cite the Subjective Effect Index (SEI), an open research literature based on anecdotal user reports and the personal analyses of PsychonautWiki contributors. As a result, they should be viewed with a healthy degree of skepticism.

It is also worth noting that these effects will not necessarily occur in a predictable or reliable manner, although higher doses are more liable to induce the full spectrum of effects. Likewise, adverse effects become increasingly likely with higher doses and may include addiction, severe injury, or death ☠.

The effects of saffron tend to be described as similar to stimulants and psychedelic microdoses. It is often used as a nootropic and to reduce symptoms associated with mental disorders like depression and ADHD. Very high doses have been compared to empathogens such as mdma and methylone, but with weaker effects.

The effects of saffron tend to be more stimulating during the onset and come up and fade into a more sedating effect, likely due to the short half life of crocetin which is responsible for its stimulant effexts.

Physical effects

• If applicable, a brief paragraph summary of the substance's physical effects may be included here. You may select physical effects to add below here.
  • Stimulation - Saffron typically is stimulating in a similar but weaker manner to substances such as methylphenidate, and encourages physical activity. Saffron produces stimulation through increasing dopamine and norepinephrine via reuptake inhibition and monoamine oxidase inhibition.
  • Sedation
  • Nausea
  • Pain relief
  • Stamina enhancement
  • Physical euphoria
  • Decreased blood pressure
  • Teeth grinding
  • Appetite enhancement or Appetite suppression
  • Tactile enhancement
  • Increased perspiration
  • Headache - This effect is uncommon but can occur in some users
  • Anemia - Long term use of saffron can lead to reduced blood cell count and anemia can develop as a result in some individuals
  • Increased bodily temperature
  • Frequent urination
  • Diarrhea - This typically only occurs at high doses
  • Increased heart rate
  • Abnormal heartbeat - This effect usually only occurs in very high doses
  • Dehydration - This effect is milder in comparison to other stimulants like amphetamine

Visual effects

• If applicable, a brief paragraph summary of the substance's visual effects may be included here. You may select visual effects to add below here.
  • Visual acuity suppression - Saffron can cause mild blurred vision at higher doses
  • Color enhancement

Cognitive effects

• If applicable, a brief paragraph summary of the substance's cognitive effects may be included here. You may select from a list of cognitive effects to add below here.
  • Cognitive euphoria - Saffron is known to have powerful mood-enhancing effects and is often used as an antidepressant for this effect. At very high doses, this effect has been compared to empathogens like methylone, but milder, likely due to the shared mechanism of increasing dopamine and serotonin.
  • Focus enhancement - Saffron is shown to have similar efficacy to methylphenidate in treating ADHD
  • Motivation enhancement
  • Anxiety suppression
  • Increased libido
  • Emotion enhancement - Saffron is often used to treat anhedonia
  • Emotion suppression - This effect is similar to but milder than the emotion suppression produced by stimulants like methylphenidate
  • Increased music appreciation
  • Addiction suppression - Saffron is found to suppress symptoms of opioid withdrawal and reduce tolerance to opioids
  • Empathy, affection, and sociability enhancement - Saffron increases sociability and empathy, and decreases social anxiety, and is found to improve social relationships in clinical trials.
  • Thought acceleration
  • Ego inflation
  • Irritability - This effect is uncommon but can occur at higher doses
  • Analysis enhancement
  • Memory enhancement
  • Thought organization
  • Wakefulness or Sleepiness
  • Mindfulness
  • Immersion enhancement
  • Novelty enhancement
  • Creativity enhancement
  • Increased sense of humor
  • Time distortion - Saffron can sometimes cause time compression in a similar manner to stimulants like methylphenidate but milder
  • Personal bias suppression
  • Insomnia - Saffron's stimulating effects can cause insomnia in some users, however this effect is generally mild, and some users report sleepiness from saffron rather than wakefulness, possibly due to varying concentrations of active compounds

Experience reports

There are currently 0 experience reports which describe the effects of this substance in our experience index.

Additional experience reports can be found here:

• Erowid Experience Vaults: SUBSTANCE

Toxicity and harm potential

This toxicity and harm potential section is a stub. As a result, it may contain incomplete or even dangerously wrong information! You can help by expanding upon or correcting it. Note: Always conduct independent research and use harm reduction practices if using this substance.

It is strongly recommended that one use harm reduction practices when using this substance.

There is evidence that saffron may produce kidney and lung toxicity, however the toxicity of saffron is not well studied or understood. Negative side effects are rare and there has not been any reports of long term medical complications caused by saffron.

Lethal dosage

A lethal dose of saffron has not been established, and the toxicity of saffron is still debated, with some studies suggesting potential lethal toxicity and doses only a few times higher than a regular medicinal dose, others suggesting toxicity only occurs at very high doses. No lethal dose has been reported in humans.

Dangerous interactions

This dangerous interactions section is a stub. As such, it may contain incomplete or invalid information. You can help by expanding upon or correcting it.

Warning: Many psychoactive substances that are reasonably safe to use on their own can suddenly become dangerous and even life-threatening when combined with certain other substances. The following list provides some known dangerous interactions (although it is not guaranteed to include all of them).

Always conduct independent research (e.g. Google, DuckDuckGo, PubMed) to ensure that a combination of two or more substances is safe to consume. Some of the listed interactions have been sourced from TripSit.

• 5-HTP - Saffron may cause serotonin syndrome when combined with 5-HTP
• Caffeine - Saffron may inhibit the metabolism of caffeine, leading to stronger and prolonged effects, and potentially leading to effects like anxiety
• Stimulants - Saffron has strong synergy with stimulants due to its MAOI activity, which could cause negative effects like anxiety, abnormal heartbeat, and serotonin syndrome
• Opioids - Saffron potentiates opioids and could lead to excessive respiratory depression, and combining opioids with serotonergic substances can cause serotonin syndrome

Legal status

This legality section is a stub. As such, it may contain incomplete or wrong information. You can help by expanding it.

See also

• Responsible use

External links

(List along order below)

• SUBSTANCE (Wikipedia)
• SUBSTANCE (Erowid Vault)
• SUBSTANCE ([PiHKAL or TiHKAL] / Isomer Design)

Literature

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