Suffer from cluster headaches? Try some LSD.

samson09

A review published in the respected journal Neurology has confirmed widespread evidence that LSD can be used to successfully treat an otherwise devastating and crippling health condition known as "cluster headaches."

For the rest of the story, click on link below

http://www.naturalnews.com/026015.html

Seems that magic mushrooms are just as effective too.

Just thought this may be of some use to anyone here that suffers from cluster headaches themselves or knows somebody that does. Apparently they are also known as "suicide headaches" because they can be so debilitating.

Dr Galen

do you have the reference to the actual article? All i see on that link you've posted is a story about a dude on a message board.

Dr Galen

found it myself actually

it appears that they interviewed a number of people who were self medicating with both LSD and magic mushrooms.



Pubmed

Sewell RA, Halpern JH, Pope HG Jr.

Clinical Research Laboratory, Alcohol and Drug Abuse Research Center, McLean Hospital/Harvard Medical School, Belmont, MA 02478, USA. asewell@mclean.harvard.edu

The authors interviewed 53 cluster headache patients who had used psilocybin or lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) to treat their condition. Twenty-two of 26 psilocybin users reported that psilocybin aborted attacks; 25 of 48 psilocybin users and 7 of 8 LSD users reported cluster period termination; 18 of 19 psilocybin users and 4 of 5 LSD users reported remission period extension. Research on the effects of psilocybin and LSD on cluster headache may be warranted.


link



it's hardly confirming widespread evidence. They interviewed 53 patients, which doesn't confirm anything. If you look at the statement I've highlighted in bold above, they say themselves that more research is needed on the subject.

In fairness though it's a start on the road. I certainly wouldn't be advocating people going out and getting trippy to cure a sore head. Cluster type headaches are something in a total league of their own, again no one should be thinking that this is definitive evidence and that it's a proven cure. In time it might be though, especially if the authors get the clearance to perform a proper study

samson09

Mystik Monkey wrote: »

do you have the reference to the actual article? All i see on that link you've posted is a story about a dude on a message board.

Had a quick look for the original review using the magical Google scholar but no joy. Since the review is new it maynot be online yet? However I did come across this paper that strongly suggests that this story wasnt fabricated in la-la land!

http://www.erowid.org/references/refs_view.php?A=ShowDoc1&ID=6690

samson09

Some interesting points to consider from the paper I mentioned in the last post.

"Our results are interesting for three reasons. First, no other medication, to our knowledge, has been reported to terminate a cluster period.
Second, unlike other ergot-based medications, which must be taken daily, a single dose of LSD was described as sufficient to induce remission of a cluster period, and psilocybin rarely required more than three doses. Third, given the apparent efficacy of subhallucinogenic doses, these drugs might benefit cluster headache by a mechanism unrelated to their psychoactive effects.

Several limitations of this study should be considered. First, it is subject to recall bias, because it relies primarily on participants’ retrospective reports. However, 6 participants (11%) provided detailed headache diaries that corroborated their recall. In addition, 3 (6%) of the 53 participants tried psilocybin for the first time subsequent to consenting to participate in the study but before being questioned; 2 reported complete efficacy and 1 reported partial efficacy—a prospective response rate consistent
with our retrospective findings.

A second consideration is the possibility of selection bias, in that individuals with a good outcome may have been more likely to participate. Recruitment over the Internet also selects for younger, more
educated, and more motivated subjects,4 likely leading to increased reported efficacy.

Third, participants were not blind to their treatment, raising the possibility of a placebo response.

However, cluster headache is known to respond poorly to placebo; controlled trials have shown a placebo response of 0% to prophylactic medications such as verapamil,5 capsaicin,6 and melatonin,7 and less than 20% to abortive medications such as sumatriptan.8 Therefore, it seems unlikely that we would have found more than 50 cases of apparent response to psilocybin or LSD through placebo effects alone.

Our observations must be regarded as preliminary,in that they are unblinded, uncontrolled, and subject to additional limitations as described above.

Therefore, our findings almost certainly overestimate the response of cluster headache to psilocybin and LSD and should not be misconstrued as an endorsement of the use of illegal substances for the self-treatment of cluster headache. However, given the high reported efficacy for this notoriously refractory condition, it is difficult to dismiss this series of
cases as entirely artifactual. Further research is warranted".

I know what I'd take if I suffered from cluster headaches

tech77

Sumatriptan for migraine is serotonergic as well, isn't it.
Interesting, if nothing else :P

Dr Galen

samson09 wrote: »

Some interesting points to consider from the paper I mentioned in the last post.

"Our results are interesting for three reasons. First, no other medication, to our knowledge, has been reported to terminate a cluster period.
Second, unlike other ergot-based medications, which must be taken daily, a single dose of LSD was described as sufficient to induce remission of a cluster period, and psilocybin rarely required more than three doses. Third, given the apparent efficacy of subhallucinogenic doses, these drugs might benefit cluster headache by a mechanism unrelated to their psychoactive effects.

Several limitations of this study should be considered. First, it is subject to recall bias, because it relies primarily on participants’ retrospective reports. However, 6 participants (11%) provided detailed headache diaries that corroborated their recall. In addition, 3 (6%) of the 53 participants tried psilocybin for the first time subsequent to consenting to participate in the study but before being questioned; 2 reported complete efficacy and 1 reported partial efficacy—a prospective response rate consistent
with our retrospective findings.

A second consideration is the possibility of selection bias, in that individuals with a good outcome may have been more likely to participate. Recruitment over the Internet also selects for younger, more
educated, and more motivated subjects,4 likely leading to increased reported efficacy.

Third, participants were not blind to their treatment, raising the possibility of a placebo response.

However, cluster headache is known to respond poorly to placebo; controlled trials have shown a placebo response of 0% to prophylactic medications such as verapamil,5 capsaicin,6 and melatonin,7 and less than 20% to abortive medications such as sumatriptan.8 Therefore, it seems unlikely that we would have found more than 50 cases of apparent response to psilocybin or LSD through placebo effects alone.

Our observations must be regarded as preliminary,in that they are unblinded, uncontrolled, and subject to additional limitations as described above.

Therefore, our findings almost certainly overestimate the response of cluster headache to psilocybin and LSD and should not be misconstrued as an endorsement of the use of illegal substances for the self-treatment of cluster headache. However, given the high reported efficacy for this notoriously refractory condition, it is difficult to dismiss this series of
cases as entirely artifactual. Further research is warranted".

I know what I'd take if I suffered from cluster headaches

dude its the same paper from your original post. It's the original version that your health website took the data from.

Dr Galen

samson09 i think your being a bit selective in your appraisal to be honest, and also mayb picking out the bits that support your argument above the valid concerns of the researchers involved.

I think you have to read that paper for what it is. An initial series of interviews with a very small grouping of patients. The researchers themselves say that they have probably overestimated the effects of LSD and shrooms on cluster type headaches. They have other concerns based on the type of paper this is and the methodology used to obtain the data etc.

In saying that there does seem to be potential for further study (which is pointed out), but at this stage, without seeing anything concrete on the subject, it would be very dangerous of anyone to start making decisions on the usage of these drugs as treatments.

DrIndy

Interview or observational type trials with very low numbers involved (53) mean on the scale of things - low level of evidence.

What this does open the door to though is the need to further study and possibly a breakthrough in understanding how LSD works in the brain and how it affects cluster headaches.

In return - it may be possible to develop a drug which is not a hallucinogen and be effective in treating cluster headaches.

This happens a lot - old drugs get new uses - and research is needed. Thalidomide is back on the market because it is effective in multiple myeloma.

Dr Galen

exactly, in time it may be possible to isolate the component within LSD that may be shown to control the effects of these migraines and make a totally new non spacey drug out of it.

Personally, I'd not be overly happy to swap cluster migraines for giant spiders.....

DrIndy

Mystik Monkey wrote: »

exactly, in time it may be possible to isolate the component within LSD that may be shown to control the effects of these migraines and make a totally new non spacey drug out of it.

Personally, I'd not be overly happy to swap cluster migraines for giant spiders.....

Or pink teapots which breathe fire.

On a more serious note - there are many old wives tales and herbal/folklore medicine which when studied correctly do show clear medical benefit and enter the mainstream of medicine with clear guidelines from the research for their use.

However, most of them don't - which does not detract one bit from the need for exhaustive research to prove they don't