4-HO-MET – The Ultimate Guide

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What is 4-HO-MET?

4-HO-MET (4-hydroxy-N-methyl-N-ethyltryptamine, also known as metocin) is a research chemical that is an analogue of psilocin, a chemical found in psilocybin mushrooms. It produces a psychedelic experience which is very similar to psilocybin mushrooms, albeit with a few differences. 4-HO-MET was first created by the American research chemist Alexander Shulgin, and was discussed in his 1997 book TiHKAL: Tryptamines I Have Known and Loved. Since then, it has gained popularity in the research chemical community, as it has a more relaxed and easygoing headspace when compared to other tryptamines. And due to its legality, 4-HO-MET can be bought fairly easily online through research chemical vendors.

How does it work?

The exact mechanism of action is unknown, but 4-HO-MET is believed to produce its effects via its mechanism as a partial agonist at serotonin receptors in the brain, particularly the 5-HT2A serotonin receptor.  You can buy 4-HO-MET in powder form or in pellets of a pre-measured quantity. It is most often taken orally. The common dosage for 4-HO-MET is 10-15 mg, with doses of 20 mg or more producing a stronger and more intense experience. However, the amount needed for an active dose can vary — some have had intense experiences from doses as low as 17 mg, while others have had gentle experiences from doses as high as 30 mg [1]. As with other substances, it is recommended that you first try a small dose to test for any adverse reactions.

What are the effects of 4-HO-MET?

Potential Positive Effects 

• Stimulation 
• Physical and cognitive euphoria 
• Conceptual thinking 
• Geometric visual hallucinations 
• Analysis enhancement 
• Creativity enhancement 
• Novelty enhancement
• Ego loss 
• Immersion enhancement 
• Pattern recognition enhancement 
• Colour enhancement 
• Tactile enhancement 

Potential Negative Effects 

• Nausea 
• Muscle contractions 
• Paranoia 
• Delusions 
• Temperature regulation suppression 

What is the subjective experience like?

When taken orally, 4-HO-MET lasts for roughly 4-6 hours, with an onset of 15-40 minutes, a comeup of 30-60 minutes, a peak of 2-3 hours, and a comedown of 60-90 minutes. After-effects are often felt for between 2-12 hours after the experience has ended.

Many people describe 4-HO-MET as a gentler and “less serious” relative of psilocybin mushrooms, with stronger visuals and a lighter headspace. Here are some trip reports describing the 4-HO-MET experience — one from Alexander Shulgin himself, two from Reddit, and one from Erowid.

4-HO-MET trip report in TiHKAL by Alexander Shulgin 

“(with 20 mg, orally) “Qualitatively a lot like psilocin. I started within the first half-hour, and at the max, I felt the same alteration of color and form, and times, sound was felt. As with psilocin, the experience was wave-like, with an alteration of effects between near-normal perception at one minute, only to be swept up in a swirl of altered concept the next minute”.

4-HO-MET trip report posted by SovietTactics on r/researchchemicals

“After a while I started noticing a pretty intense body high… I jumped in my bed, put on some very nice music, switched all lights off and hoped for the best.

What followed was one of the most insane introspective experiences of my life…. all of a sudden in just a few minutes my entire way of thinking had changed so drastically I almost felt like another person. But it wasn’t another person. It was me… All of a sudden I saw how all my self-destructive actions were just so unnecessary. And all my negative thoughts felt so easy to just say no to. My negative feelings went from feeling like they were going to be the end of me to feeling like a bit of dust on my mental stability.”

4-HO-MET: First Impressions trip report posted by andrewdood on r/researchchemicals

“The visuals are so bright and intricate and extremely noticeable, euphoria is there, and the body load can be pleasurable and light… It is extremely fun outside, skateboarding felt very freeing and I legit walked my dog for three hours just exploring. 

It does cause a lot of laughing which almost hurt at one point. The headspace is very light compared to other 4-sub-trypts and is much easier to get out of a bad mindset… CEV is not that impressive at low doses but at higher doses can be quite cool and unlike anything I had seen. It was kind of like shroom visuals combined with a synthetic like LSD style.” 

4-HO-MET: Beautiful Introduction to a New Substitution” trip report by Xorkoth on Erowid

“My mind was quick and crystal-clear, but the beautiful flow of inspiration and revelation that psychedelics can put us in touch with was very much there… This substance provided me with more psychedelic inspiration, even while being pretty weak in terms of overall intensity than any substance has in a long time. 

“…this substance was quite colorful… I could make no sense of what I was seeing with closed eyes, but it moved and breathed along with the music and was incredibly intricate to an extent that amazed me… The overall vibe was very friendly. The body high reminded me highly of 4-AcO-DMT (not 4-HO-DMT so much), except it was a lower-frequency buzzing with much less of a loss of coordination and balance. It was really quite pleasurable.”There are a number of websites with many 4-HO-MET trip reports if you are interested in reading more. 4-HO-MET’s page on PsychonautWiki has several trip reports on varying dosages of the substance, while Erowid has 105 4-HO-MET trip reports.”

How can I buy 4-HO-MET?

As mentioned earlier, you can buy 4-HO-MET for your research from research chemical vendors. Our guide on How to Buy Research Chemicals explains the entire process step by step.

You can also buy 4-HO-MET in our shop. Make sure to be careful and to do your own research before deciding to purchase research chemicals online. If you are unsure about the purity or quality of the product, make sure to request the NMR results. Chemical Collective has all of our products third-party tested and the NMR test results are available on our product pages or upon reuqest. Please send us an email at request@chemical-collective.com for more information. 

Written by Dr. Rick Dagless MD | Guest Blogger at Chemical Collective