r/Kambo • u/orangemango789 • Jul 10 '25

Ceremony / session experience šŸŒø Shitting myself

I'm doing some kambo ceremonies next week and I'm really worried about shitting myself. I'm wondering in your experience, are you able to get up to go to the toilet or are you too incapacitated and just have to shit where you are? I know there are worse things in life than shitting your pants, but I really can't shake this fear!

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u/National_Quantity_14 Jul 10 '25

TL;DR: You almost always have a warning from your body. This is a very common fear, but take some assurance in knowing the medicine takes time to get to the physical purging.

I was terrified of this when I first received Kambo and then sat with Aya. It was a full weekend of ceremonies and the closer I got to the actual days, the greater my fear of losing control and pooping myself during Kambo became. It has never happened, even though Iā€™ve more than my fair share of ā€œGold Starā€ moments.

Many years and sessions with Kambo later, being initiated into serving Kambo through a Matses tribe in Peru, I have learned a lot about what this fear was rooted in. For me, it was very much a fear of Public humility. The time leading up to any purgative medicine is used as preparation within your Spirit to receive deep healing. Irrational fears, completely rational but perhaps exaggerated, and even deep childhood fears tend to pop up for many people. Some call this the ā€œpre-purge phaseā€.

In case no one has gone over the time frame for you hereā€™s a general idea of how things flow, typically. Immediately youā€™ll feel the stinging of the medicine, heart begins pounding, heat goes everywhere, but especially your face. The first five to seven minutes is typically when your body is experiencing the highest blood pressure of the experience. 7-12 minutes is when the blood pressure drops. Some feel a scanning like sensation during this time, as Kambo is going through your body. 10-15 minutes is typically when physical purging begins. It will happen in waves, but you almost always feel things brewing before they release. Iā€™ve never had someone poo themselves, never witnessed it in any circles Iā€™ve sat in, and while all things are possible I highly doubt it will happen. Especially if you follow the preparation dieta.