How Do Psilocybin Mushrooms Affect Your Heart

Most people who talk about psilocybin mushrooms talk about the mind: the strange visions, the changed thinking, the feeling of seeing the world differently. Far fewer people talk about the heart, and that is a gap worth closing, because the heart is affected too. Psilocybin mushrooms do not only change what a person sees and thinks. They also speed up the pulse, raise blood pressure, and place extra strain on a heart that has to keep working steadily through several hours of altered experience. For a healthy young person, that strain may pass without lasting harm. For a person whose heart is already weak, or whose blood pressure is already high, it can be dangerous, and in rare cases it can be life-threatening.

This article explains, in plain words, how psilocybin mushrooms affect the heart: why the pulse rises, what happens to blood pressure, what warning signs matter, who faces the greatest risk, and what happens to the heart in the days after the experience. It is general information, not individual medical advice. It does not describe how to use these mushrooms, and it does not suggest any safe amount, because there is no safe amount that can be promised. If you have chest pain, severe breathlessness, or a pulse that feels dangerously fast or irregular, seek urgent medical help. If you are worried about your heart, a qualified health professional is the right person to talk to.

How the Heart Responds

The heart is a muscle, and its job is simple and constant: it pumps blood around the body, carrying oxygen and nutrients to every organ, including the brain. It does this without rest, about a hundred thousand times a day, and it adjusts its speed according to what the body needs. When you run, it beats faster. When you sleep, it beats slower. That adjustment is controlled by the nervous system, which sends signals that tell the heart to speed up or slow down. Psilocybin interferes with that control, because it acts on the same chemical pathways that help to regulate the nervous system, and the result is that the heart often beats faster and harder than it should.

The rise in heart rate usually begins as the main effects of the mushrooms begin, and it can last for several hours. A resting pulse that is normally around seventy beats a minute may rise to a hundred or more, and it may stay high while the person is sitting still and doing nothing at all. That is very different from the fast pulse of exercise, which rises because the muscles need more oxygen and falls again when the person rests. Here, the heart is working harder without any useful reason, and it is doing so while the brain is also struggling to think clearly. The person may feel their heart pounding in their chest, or feel a tightness that makes them anxious, and that anxiety can make the heart beat faster still, in a cycle that is hard to break.

Blood pressure rises alongside the pulse. Blood pressure is the force of the blood pushing against the walls of the arteries, and when it rises, the heart has to push harder with every beat. A short rise in blood pressure is something a healthy body can usually handle, but a rise that lasts for hours, in a person whose arteries are already stiff or narrowed, places real strain on the heart muscle and on the blood vessels themselves. The person may feel a headache, a flushed face, or a sense of pressure in the chest, or they may feel nothing at all, which is itself a problem, because a silent rise in blood pressure can still do harm while the person is unaware of it.

A Faster Pulse and Higher Blood Pressure

A fast pulse is not always dangerous on its own, but it is a sign that the heart is under strain, and it should not be ignored. The heart needs time between beats to fill with blood, and when it beats too fast, it has less time to fill. That means each beat pumps less blood than it should, even though the heart is working harder. Over several hours, that inefficiency adds up. The body may receive less oxygen than it needs, the person may feel dizzy or light-headed, and the heart muscle itself may receive less blood, because the heart is fed by its own small arteries, which also need time to fill between beats.

The rise in blood pressure adds a second kind of strain. Imagine a pump that has to push water through a narrow hose. If the hose becomes narrower, the pump has to work harder, and the pressure inside the hose rises. That is what happens in the body when blood pressure rises: the heart pushes harder, the artery walls feel more force, and the risk of damage to those walls increases. Over a single experience, that damage is usually small, but for a person who already has high blood pressure, or whose arteries are already damaged by age, smoking, or diabetes, even a few hours of extra pressure can matter. It can trigger chest pain, breathlessness, or, in rare cases, a more serious event.

There is also the question of what the person is doing while their heart is under strain. A person under the influence of psilocybin may walk a long way, climb stairs, dance, or run, without realising how hard their heart is already working. They may be in a hot, crowded place, which adds further strain, because heat makes the heart work harder to cool the body. They may have eaten little or drunk little water, which can leave them dehydrated, and dehydration makes the blood thicker and the heart’s job harder still. None of these things would be a major problem on their own, but together, on top of a heart that is already beating faster and pushing against higher pressure, they can add up to a real risk.

Rhythm, Chest Pain and Warning Signs

The heart normally beats in a steady rhythm, with each beat following the last in a regular pattern. Psilocybin can disturb that rhythm. The person may feel that their heart has skipped a beat, or that it has suddenly raced for a few seconds, or that it is beating unevenly. These sensations are often described as palpitations, and they can be frightening, especially when the person is already anxious. In most cases, the rhythm returns to normal as the substance wears off, but in some people, especially those with an existing heart condition, an irregular rhythm can be more serious, and it can reduce the heart’s ability to pump blood properly.

Chest pain is the warning sign that matters most, and it should never be ignored. Chest pain during or after taking psilocybin may feel like a tightness, a heaviness, or a pressure in the centre of the chest. It may spread to the arm, the jaw, or the back. It may come with sweating, nausea, or breathlessness. These are the signs that the heart muscle is not receiving enough oxygen, and they need urgent medical attention. The danger is that a person under the influence may not recognise chest pain for what it is. Their thinking is confused, their sense of their own body is altered, and they may believe the pain is part of the experience, or that it will pass on its own. They may also be afraid to seek help, because they do not want to admit what they have taken. That delay can be dangerous, because the sooner chest pain is assessed, the better the outcome is likely to be.

Breathlessness is another sign that should be taken seriously. If a person finds it hard to breathe, or feels that they cannot get enough air, or if their lips look blue, they need help urgently. Dizziness and fainting are also warning signs. A person who feels faint may fall and injure themselves, and a person who faints may have a heart rhythm problem that needs attention. The difficulty, again, is that these signs can be hard to recognise during an altered experience, when the person is already confused and frightened. That is why it matters for the people around them to know what to watch for, and to seek help quickly if they see it.

The Strain Builds Over Time

A single experience places strain on the heart for a few hours, and for a healthy person, that strain usually passes. But repeated use is a different matter. A person who uses psilocybin often is asking their heart to work harder, against higher pressure, again and again. Over time, that repeated strain can contribute to changes in the heart muscle and in the blood vessels. The heart muscle may thicken as it works harder, which sounds like a good thing but is not, because a thicker heart muscle is stiffer and less able to fill properly. The arteries may become stiffer too, which raises blood pressure further, creating a cycle in which each experience adds a little more strain to a heart that is already working harder than it should.

This kind of slow change is hard to notice, because it does not cause pain or obvious symptoms in the early stages. A person may feel a little more tired than usual, or find that they get breathless a little sooner when they climb stairs, and they may blame those changes on age, or on being unfit, or on a lack of sleep. But the changes are real, and they matter, because they reduce the heart’s reserve. The heart’s reserve is its ability to cope when it is asked to do more, such as during exercise, illness, or stress. A heart with less reserve is more likely to struggle when it is challenged, and that struggle can show up as chest pain, breathlessness, or a serious event that seems to come out of nowhere.

It is also worth remembering that psilocybin is rarely used on its own. People who use it may also smoke, drink alcohol, or use other substances, and those substances place their own strain on the heart. Alcohol raises blood pressure and disturbs heart rhythm. Smoking damages the arteries and raises the risk of heart disease. Stimulant substances raise the pulse and blood pressure even further. When several of these are combined, the strain on the heart is greater than any one of them would cause alone, and the risk rises accordingly. That is one reason why health guidance warns against mixing substances, and why a person who uses psilocybin alongside other substances faces a higher risk than the mushrooms alone would suggest.

When the Heart Is Already Weak

For a person whose heart is already weak, the risks are greater, and they deserve to be stated plainly. A person who has had a heart attack before, who lives with heart failure, who has a narrowed heart valve, or who has an irregular heart rhythm, is starting from a position of less reserve. Their heart is already working hard to do its normal job, and asking it to beat faster and push against higher pressure for several hours is a serious demand. It can trigger chest pain, breathlessness, a dangerous rhythm disturbance, or another heart attack. These are not remote possibilities. They are real risks, and they are the reason health guidance warns people with heart disease to stay away from substances that raise heart rate and blood pressure.

High blood pressure is a related concern, and it is common. Many people live with high blood pressure without knowing it, because it often causes no symptoms. A person who does not know their blood pressure is high may take psilocybin believing their heart is healthy, when in fact their arteries are already under strain. The rise in blood pressure caused by the mushrooms then adds to a pressure that was already too high, and the combined effect can be far greater than the person expected. That is why a person who has never had their blood pressure checked, or who knows it is high and is not managing it, faces a risk they may not be aware of.

Age also matters. As people get older, their arteries become stiffer, their heart muscle becomes less flexible, and their reserve falls. An older person who takes psilocybin faces a higher risk than a younger person, even if they feel healthy. The same is true for a person with diabetes, kidney disease, or a history of stroke, because all of these conditions affect the blood vessels and the heart. None of this means that a young, healthy person faces no risk. It means that the risk is not the same for everyone, and that the people who are most likely to be harmed are often the people who least expect it.

Heat, Exertion and Extra Strain

The place and the conditions in which a person takes psilocybin can add to the strain on the heart, and this is often overlooked. A hot, crowded room, a festival, a long walk in the sun, or a night of dancing can all make the heart work harder. Heat causes the body to sweat, and sweating loses water and salts that the heart needs to work properly. If the person does not drink enough water, they become dehydrated, and dehydration makes the blood thicker and the heart’s job harder. The person may also be so absorbed in the experience that they do not notice they are thirsty, or hot, or tired, until the strain has already built up.

Exertion adds a further load. A person who runs, climbs, or dances while their pulse is already high is asking their heart to do two hard jobs at once. In normal life, the heart can usually cope with exercise, because the rise in pulse is matched by a rise in the body’s need for oxygen, and the heart and the muscles work together. Under psilocybin, that matching is disturbed. The heart is beating fast because of the substance, not because the muscles need more oxygen, and adding exercise on top of that can push the heart further than it should go. The person may feel breathless, dizzy, or unwell, and they may not understand why, because they do not realise how hard their heart is already working.

Panic makes the strain worse still. A person who becomes frightened during the experience will feel their heart race even faster, because fear triggers the body’s stress response, which releases hormones that speed up the heart and raise blood pressure further. That faster heart can then make the person more frightened, because they feel their heart pounding and believe something is badly wrong, and the fear and the fast pulse feed each other. Breaking that cycle is hard while the substance is still active, and it is one reason why a frightening experience can feel so dangerous to the heart as well as to the mind. Staying calm, sitting down, and resting in a cool, quiet place can help, but it cannot remove the underlying strain, and it is not a substitute for medical help if warning signs appear.

Panic, Fear and the Heart

The link between fear and the heart is worth understanding, because it explains why a bad experience with psilocybin can feel so frightening in the body as well as in the mind. When a person feels afraid, the brain sends a signal to the body to prepare for danger. The heart beats faster, blood pressure rises, breathing becomes quicker, and the muscles tense. This is the body’s normal response to a threat, and it is useful when the threat is real, such as a car coming towards you. But when the threat is coming from inside the person’s own altered thinking, the response is less useful, because there is no real danger to run from or fight, and the heart is left beating fast for no good reason.

For a person with a healthy heart, this stress response is usually manageable, even if it feels unpleasant. For a person with a weak heart, it can be the extra load that tips the balance. A heart that is already beating fast because of psilocybin, and then beats faster still because of fear, is working at a level it was not designed to sustain for hours. That is why a frightening experience is not only a mental health risk. It is also a heart risk, and it is one more reason why the setting, the mood, and the presence of calm, trusted people matter. A person who feels safe is less likely to panic, and a person who does not panic places less extra strain on their heart.

It is also true that the fear can linger after the experience. A person who felt their heart pounding during a bad experience may become anxious about their heart afterwards, noticing every beat and worrying that something is wrong. That worry can itself make the heart beat faster, creating a cycle of anxiety that lasts for days or weeks. The person may avoid exercise, or avoid places that remind them of the experience, because they are afraid of feeling that pounding again. That avoidance can make them less fit, which in turn makes their heart less able to cope with exertion, and the cycle continues. Talking to a health professional about these worries can help, because it can separate the real state of the heart from the fear that the experience left behind.

What Happens in the Days After

When the main effects wear off, the heart usually returns to its normal rate and blood pressure, and for most people, that is the end of the immediate strain. But the days after can still bring problems. A person may feel tired, drained, and low in mood, and they may sleep poorly, which itself places strain on the heart, because poor sleep raises blood pressure and disturbs heart rhythm. They may have eaten little during the experience, and they may be dehydrated, which can leave them feeling weak and dizzy for a day or two. They may also feel anxious, and that anxiety can keep their pulse a little higher than usual, even when they are resting.

For a person with an existing heart condition, the days after can be a time of extra risk, because the heart has been through several hours of strain and needs time to recover. Chest pain, breathlessness, or palpitations in the days after taking psilocybin should be taken seriously, and the person should seek medical help rather than waiting to see if it passes. It is important to tell the health professional what was taken, because that information helps them to understand what has happened to the heart and to give the right care. A health professional is there to help, not to judge, and withholding information can make their job harder and the outcome worse.

Over the longer term, the question is whether repeated use causes lasting damage to the heart. The honest answer is that the evidence is limited, because psilocybin has been studied far less than substances such as tobacco or alcohol, and long-term studies are few. What is known is that repeated rises in blood pressure and heart rate, over months and years, are linked with a higher risk of heart disease in general, and that a substance that causes those rises is likely to add to that risk. That does not prove that psilocybin alone causes heart disease, but it does mean that repeated use cannot be called safe for the heart, and that a person who uses it often is taking a risk that grows with each use.

My Take:

I will be honest with you. When I think about psilocybin mushrooms, the heart is the part I worry about most, because the heart does not get a break. The brain can be confused for a few hours and then recover, and the person can usually tell that their thinking was not clear. But the heart has to keep working through every minute of the experience, beating faster, pushing against higher pressure, and doing so without any rest. It cannot pause and wait for the effects to wear off. It has to carry the strain, and if it is already weak, that strain can be more than it can bear. That is a sobering thought, and it is one I wish more people understood before they made a decision.

What troubles me is how little attention the heart receives in conversations about these mushrooms. People talk at length about visions, about insight, about feeling connected to the world, and they rarely mention the pulse at all. Yet the pulse is one of the most consistent effects. It rises in almost everyone who takes psilocybin, and it stays high for hours. That is not a minor side effect. It is the heart working harder than it should, for longer than it should, and for no useful reason. A healthy heart can usually cope, but a heart that is already carrying a burden, from high blood pressure, from age, from smoking, or from an existing condition, may not cope as well. The person who takes the mushrooms may not know that burden is there, and that is what makes the risk so quiet and so dangerous.

I think about the people who do not know they have high blood pressure, because there are many of them. High blood pressure often causes no symptoms at all, and a person can live with it for years without realising it. They feel fine, they work, they walk, they live their ordinary life, and they believe their heart is healthy. Then they take a substance that raises their blood pressure further, and their heart is suddenly working against a pressure far higher than it is used to. That is not a risk they chose knowingly. It is a risk they walked into without knowing it was there. I think that is unfair, and I think the only honest answer is to say it plainly: if you do not know the state of your heart, you do not know the risk you are taking, and the risk may be greater than you think.

Chest pain is the warning I would emphasise most strongly, because it is the one that people are most likely to ignore or misunderstand during an altered experience. A person whose thinking is confused may feel a tightness in their chest and believe it is part of the experience, or that it is anxiety, or that it will pass. They may be afraid to tell anyone, because they do not want to admit what they have taken. That delay can matter a great deal. Chest pain is the heart’s way of saying that it is not receiving enough oxygen, and the sooner it is assessed, the better the chances are. I would rather a person seek help and be told that the pain was not serious than stay silent and discover too late that it was. There is no shame in seeking help. The shame would be in suffering alone when help was available.

I am also troubled by the way fear and the heart feed each other during a bad experience. A person becomes frightened, their heart beats faster, and the faster heart makes them more frightened, because they feel it pounding in their chest and believe something is badly wrong. That cycle can turn a frightening experience into a physically dangerous one, especially for a person whose heart is already weak. It is a reminder that the mind and the heart are not separate. What happens in one affects the other, and a substance that disturbs the mind will also disturb the heart, through fear as well as through its direct effects. That is why a calm setting and calm people matter, not only for comfort, but for the heart itself.

The question of repeated use is one I think about a great deal, because it is where a single risk becomes a pattern. One experience places strain on the heart for a few hours, and for a healthy person, that strain usually passes. But a person who uses psilocybin again and again is asking their heart to work harder, against higher pressure, over and over. That repeated strain can contribute to changes in the heart muscle and the blood vessels, changes that are slow, silent, and hard to notice until they have already reduced the heart’s ability to cope. A person may feel a little more tired, a little more breathless on the stairs, and blame it on age or fitness, when in fact their heart has less reserve than it used to have. That slow loss of reserve is a real cost, even if it does not show up as a single dramatic event.

I think about the people around someone who uses psilocybin, because they are often the ones who have to act when something goes wrong. A friend who notices that someone’s breathing has become laboured, a partner who sees someone clutch their chest, a parent who finds their child pale and frightened: these people need to know what to do, and they need to know it before the moment arrives. The answer is simple, even if it feels hard in the moment: seek medical help, and tell the health professional what was taken. That information is not a confession. It is a piece of medical information that can help the professional to give the right care, and withholding it can make their job harder. I think everyone who spends time with someone who uses these mushrooms should know that, and I think it should be said plainly and without judgement.

If someone I cared about told me they were thinking about trying psilocybin mushrooms, and they had any history of heart trouble, high blood pressure, or a family history of heart disease, I would ask them to think very carefully. I would tell them that their heart is already carrying a load, and that adding several hours of a fast pulse and higher pressure is a serious demand to place on it. I would tell them that no one can promise a safe experience, that chest pain during the experience needs urgent help, and that the risk is greater for them than it is for a young, healthy person. Then I would leave the decision to them, because it is their life, but I would want them to make it with their eyes open, not with a story that leaves out the heart.

I also want to say something about the days after, because the heart does not always return to normal as quickly as people expect. A person may feel tired, drained, and anxious for a day or two, and their pulse may stay a little higher than usual. They may sleep poorly, which itself raises blood pressure. If they feel chest pain, breathlessness, or palpitations in those days, they should seek help rather than waiting to see if it passes. The experience may be over, but the strain it placed on the heart can still be felt, and the right response is to take those signs seriously. I know that can feel like overreacting, especially if the person feels embarrassed about what they took, but a health professional is there to help, not to judge, and taking a warning sign seriously is never a mistake.

There is a broader point I would make, and it is about the way we talk about risk. People often think about risk as a single event: will this one experience harm me? That is the wrong question, or at least it is only part of the question. The right question is also about the pattern: what happens if I do this again and again, what happens to my heart over months and years, and what happens if I am unlucky on a particular day, in a hot room, after little sleep, with a heart that is already tired? Risk is not only about the average experience. It is also about the worst experience, and about the slow accumulation of strain that does not show itself until it is already there. I think people deserve to hear that fuller picture, because it is the picture that reflects how the heart actually works.

I also think about how easy it is to underestimate the heart, because it works quietly and we rarely think about it until something goes wrong. We notice a headache, we notice a sore knee, we notice when we are tired, but the heart does its work in the background, and we take it for granted. That is a mistake, because the heart is the organ that keeps everything else going. When it struggles, the brain receives less oxygen, the body receives less energy, and every other part of life becomes harder. A substance that asks the heart to work harder for hours, without giving it anything in return, is not a small thing. It is a demand placed on the most hardworking part of the body, and it deserves to be taken seriously, even if the person feels fine at the time.

There is one more thing I would say, and it is about honesty in the stories people tell. When someone describes a pleasant experience with psilocybin, they rarely mention their pulse, their blood pressure, or the tightness they felt in their chest. Those details are less interesting than the visions, and they are easier to forget. But they matter, because they are the body’s way of saying that it was under strain. A story that leaves out the strain is not a complete story, and a person who hears only the pleasant half may make a decision they would not have made if they had heard the whole truth. I think the whole truth should be told, plainly and without drama, so that people can decide for themselves with all the facts in front of them.

I would also add that looking after your heart is not only about avoiding one substance. It is about the small, steady choices that build up over a lifetime: walking a little each day, eating in a balanced way, getting enough sleep, and having your blood pressure checked from time to time. Those choices are not dramatic, and they do not make for exciting stories, but they are the things that keep a heart strong for decades. A person who looks after their heart in those ordinary ways is giving it the best chance to cope when life asks more of it, whether that is illness, stress, or simply the passing of years.

Finally, I would say this to anyone who has never tried psilocybin mushrooms: do not start. It is the simplest advice in this whole article, and it is also the most valuable. Your heart has to work for you every minute of every day, for your whole life, and it does so without rest and without complaint. It deserves to be protected, not placed under several hours of unnecessary strain for the sake of an experience that may be frightening, confusing, or harmful. There are safer ways to feel wonder, to feel connected, and to understand yourself, and none of them ask your heart to beat faster and push harder for hours on end. Look after your heart, because it is looking after you, and it will need to keep doing so for many years to come. That quiet, steady work is easy to forget, but it is the foundation of everything else in life, and it is worth protecting every single day.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can Psilocybin Mushrooms damage your heart?

Psilocybin raises the heart rate and blood pressure for several hours, which places extra strain on the heart. For a healthy person, that strain usually passes, but for a person with heart disease or high blood pressure, it can trigger chest pain, breathlessness, or a dangerous rhythm disturbance. Repeated use adds to the strain over time. General information only.

Can Psilocybin Mushrooms cause a heart attack?

A heart attack is a rare but real risk, especially for a person whose heart is already weak or whose arteries are already narrowed. The rise in heart rate and blood pressure increases the heart’s need for oxygen, while the faster pulse gives the heart less time to fill. If chest pain, sweating, nausea or breathlessness appear, seek urgent medical help. General information only.

Who is most at risk from Psilocybin Mushrooms heart effects?

People with heart disease, high blood pressure, an irregular heart rhythm, diabetes, kidney disease, or a history of stroke face the greatest risk. Older people also face a higher risk, because their arteries are stiffer and their heart has less reserve. People who do not know they have high blood pressure are also at risk, because they may not realise their heart is already under strain. General information only.

Does Psilocybin Mushrooms raise blood pressure?

Yes. Psilocybin usually raises blood pressure as well as heart rate, and the rise can last for several hours. A short rise is something a healthy body can usually handle, but for a person whose blood pressure is already high, or whose arteries are already damaged, the extra pressure can matter. The person may feel a headache or a sense of pressure, or they may feel nothing at all. General information only.

Is chest pain after Psilocybin Mushrooms dangerous?

Yes, chest pain should always be taken seriously. It may feel like tightness, heaviness or pressure in the centre of the chest, and it may spread to the arm, jaw or back. It can be a sign that the heart muscle is not receiving enough oxygen, and it needs urgent medical attention. Do not wait to see if it passes, and tell the health professional what was taken. General information only.

Why does Psilocybin Mushrooms make the heart race?

Psilocybin acts on the chemical pathways that help to control the nervous system, and the result is that the heart often beats faster and harder than it should. Fear during the experience can make the pulse rise further, because fear triggers the body’s stress response. The heart may stay fast for several hours, even while the person is sitting still. General information only.

Sources

This article is general information only. It is not individual medical advice. If you are worried about your health, talk to a qualified health professional.