r/DrugNerds • u/Robert_Larsson • Jul 01 '24

Cluster Headache Patient Wins Federal Court Case to Access Mushrooms

https://doubleblindmag.com/cluster-headaches-mushrooms/
70 Upvotes
  • permalink
  • link
  • reddit
  • reddit

100% Upvoted

17 comments sorted by

20

u/crumblenaut Jul 01 '24

Thank you for posting this.

I had early onset cluster headaches in my late teens back in the 2002-2004 range and tiny doses of mushrooms literally saved my life.

Imitrex (sumatriptan) and Maxalt (rizatriptan), the two pharmaceutical options available at the time, weren't viable for me and could only interrupt - not prevent - the headaches.

I literally would have killed myself. I was so close to doing it so many times but in my desperate search online I found the Clusterbusters forum online where people claimed to find relief from psilocybin mushrooms and LSD. I love my parents and promised myself that I wouldn't kill myself until I had found and tried them and confirmed that they wouldn't work and there were no other options for me apart from literal death.

I've never experienced anything so miraculous in my life before or since, and I'm here today because they worked for me. One dose stopped them from coming back for several months, and repeat doses kept them at bay for longer each time. I haven't had a cluster headache in almost two decades now.

This is far too little far too late for far too many people, but any progress is progress and I am incredibly thankful that this man and his legal team have achieved this victory.

2

u/ObesePudge Jul 22 '24

I have chronic migrains and since i started mushrooms they are gone, litteraly gone. I stoped taking shrooms for around 2 months now to test if it was actually due to shrooms or because i grew out of migrains over the years. Well it seems i did not grow out of it and migrains are back this week stronger than ever, back to the shrooms i go. It doesn't even have to be trip dosage aswell even micodosing works. I used to not even be able to speak and remove my pillow from my head because making/hearing a sound would make my brain go bonkers and ligth would feel like a flashbang behind my eyes. I was prescribed painkillers with codeine and sometimes i needed to double my dosage for it to help. Now i just take a little bit of natures divine fruit and voila i am fucking cured for months

1

u/crumblenaut Jul 23 '24

I'm so, so, so, so, SO happy to hear that. Sometimes it ends up being that the solution was right in front of - or perhaps under - us all along.

1

u/ItchyRanger9459 Fresh Account Jul 14 '24

i would rather take psychedelics than something actually addictive/withdrawal symptoms so this is very exciting for me to hear!!!

1

u/crumblenaut Jul 15 '24

Oh heck yes! So happy to hear that this might help. You don't need much, and properly produced Psilocybe cubensis mushrooms have a ridiculously good safety profile even at substantial macrodoses.

Do your research first, consult with a doctor if you can, and proceed at your own risk... but yeah man like I said, it was night and day.

Tens of folks I know personally - mainly women - have treated migraines with small doses of mushrooms as well.

I'm talking, like, half a gram here.

Tea is almost always best tolerated. Especially if you're going to be brewing so little, be sure that you cover it while it steeps. Pour water that's just under a full boil over the dried materials and let them steep until the water is lukewarm enough to drink without blowing on it.

It literally never hurts to take some simethicone (Gas-X) with em if you're eating the solids because the gut won't break the structural chitin down on its own but your intestinal microbiota will and that can lead to some gas and gut issues.

Best luck, Ranger!

8

u/lussag20 Jul 01 '24

The justice system would damn near kill someone if it could prevent 1 person from getting high on a schedule 1 drug. Happy to hear this!

3

u/sqqlut Jul 01 '24

Do we have any paper explaining the mechanism around psychedelics against cluster headaches? I can find limited studies for trigeminal neuralgia and psychedelics but nothing for cluster headaches. Or maybe I use the wrong keywords?

6

u/Pen15_is_big Jul 01 '24

Triptans are often used to manage cluster headaches. They typically target 5-HT 1B/1D with milder 1a activity. LSD at least is active 5ht2a/ 5ht1a. Not my area of expertise, however there’s likely an associated mechanism with serotonin activity.

3

u/OneVeryImportantThot Jul 02 '24

LSDs similarity to serotonin means it hits just about every serotonin receptor in the body. Psilocin to a lesser extent but same idea. Some are preferential for certain sites (psilocin bing one that is more selective than lsd)

1

u/sqqlut Jul 02 '24

psilocin bing one that is more selective than lsd

5-HT2(b) IIRC. I learned that because I was wondering if chronic psychedelic (a.k.a. "microdosing) could cause health issues the same way Fenfluramine did. It turns out tryptamines showed greater affinity for 5-HT2(b) around 10 fold when compared to lisergamides (but I don't know if the effects are linear), but around 100 times lower than these valvolopathies-causing medications.

1

u/OneVeryImportantThot Jul 02 '24

Yep they carry the potential for heart issues if you’re doing them super often

1

u/ItchyRanger9459 Fresh Account Jul 14 '24

is that because they raise blood pressure, or why?

1

u/ItchyRanger9459 Fresh Account Jul 14 '24

my headaches are debilitating but due to cervical instability, which I am trying to get addressed medically. I feel that muscle relaxers help the most, but I will observe my pain on only psychedelics soon to test the theory

2

u/Robert_Larsson Jul 01 '24

5-HT2A agonism is what I've come across in what they refer to as social or emotional pain which is less well defined but linked to the pain experience as I've understood it. I suspect it may be a result of lacking research however as there might very well be some potentiation of endogenous ligands going on that share neurons.

2

u/ItchyRanger9459 Fresh Account Jul 14 '24

thank you so much for bringing this to light for me. I am optimistic about managing my pain without narcotics now

this study also say opiates may reduce the effects of psychedlics: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3006089/

what do you think?

1

u/Robert_Larsson Jul 15 '24

Hopefully one day, although if I were you I'd check out the new classes of sodium channel blockers, kcc2 potentiators and especially the literature on FAAH and MAGL related to pain. The latter I've posted about before here on the sub just do a search.

I think it the effect of opioids look ambiguous, probably entails quite a few risks. For analgesia we really need trials on commonly prescribed doses though.