Needham and Lus first explanation is that many alchemical mineral preparations were capable of giving an "initial exhilaration" or transient sense of well-being, usually involving weight loss and increased libido. These preliminary tonic effects could have acted as a kind of "bait" inveigling an elixir-taker deeper into substance intoxication, even to the point of death. Chinese medical texts recorded that realgar (arsenic disulphide) and orpiment (arsenic trisulphide) were aphrodisiacs and stimulated fertility, while cinnabar and sulphur elixirs increased longevity, averted hunger, and "lightened the body" (namely, qīngshēn' 輕身, which is a common description of elixir effects).
Wine, as mentioned above, was both prescribed to be drunk when taking elixir pills and to relieve the unpleasant side-effects of elixir poisoning. Needham and Lu further suggest the possibility that elixir alchemy included hallucinogenic drugs, tentatively identifying the busi zhi yao 不死之藥 "drug of deathlessness" as fly-agaric and busi zhi shu 不死之樹 "tree of deathlessness" as birch. The elixir that Tao Hongjing's disciple Zhou Ziliang took to commit suicide "probably had hallucinogenic and toxic mushrooms". In the present day, realgar wine is traditionally consumed as part of the Dragon Boat Festival.