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Citation:   Me. "Madness in a Bottle: An Experience with Absinthe (ID 30481)". Erowid.org. Dec 5, 2006. erowid.org/exp/30481

From the first time I drank absinthe I was hooked on it. I had a friend who made it, so I tried some at a party and ended up buzzed. But I found the buzz only lasted intensely for about 5 to 15 minutes, so I immediatly wanted to go back and get more. And so I formed a habit.

I ended up brewing a good amount of absinthe bottles myself and drinking them constantly. That was when I REALLY started to feel the effects.

I think absinthe has to build in your system for it to really affect you. People who drink it only a bit here and a bit there will be buzzed but won't really experience it. I would generally put three table spoons of wormwood per 750ml of 80proof vodka. I found higher proofs dilluted the effects of the wormwood.

The trips themselves, when they were good, were subtle. It's a hazy, arrogant feeling. Things don't look different but colors are more vibrant and patterns more interesting. If something emotionally or physically intense happens things start to stop making sense and the first thought in your head starts to become what you accept as reality. I had an interesting experience with a physical relationship on absinthe once, I couldn't figure out how many girls I was with, even though I was just with one.

After a while absinthe started to effect me. I realized that one absinthe trip ACTUALLY lasts with you for about a week, but I didn't necessarily notice. I just 'noticed' things off here and there. The more I drank the more this happened, until everything was ALWAYS off. That's when reality started to become a little difficult. And yet I LOVE it, I want to go drink absinthe RIGHT now. Everything started to remind me of the stuff.

Then the bad parts happened. I started feeling like I was being followed. I started 'seeing' shadows in the corner. The room would start to shift and stuff with just sorta of 'wiggle' at random. Then I got anxiety attacks, things would just become REALLY awful. I'd wake up with AWFUL dreams and couldn't stop shaking. I'd see spots in front of my eyes. That was about when I stopped drinking it.

The spots and all that went away within about a month or two, there wasn't much of a withdrawl but the symtoms persisted. It was like I didn't have to drink synth to trip on it. My tolerence for caffiene and liqour plummeted too. And when I got TOO drunk I would have boarderline violent delusions, I would literally not be able to figure out who people were, why they were doing things or how to do stuff like cross the street. Even though I had done no absinthe, it was like it was coming back on me. When I started sobering up I wouldn't be able to close my eyes because the most vivid images of just horrific and disturbing things would come about.

I still drank it occasionally, it was VERY difficult to say no to when I was around it. The last straw was waking up violently shaking. I stopped then. But I still even want to drink it today. That's even why I was on this website, just wanting to read about other people's expierences with it.

The absinthe made in Europe these days in no longer very strong compared to older or homemade absinthe. I drank homemade and that probably had alot to do with my addiction.