LSD and Mushrooms for Headaches and Pain? The Research is Surprising
The word ‘psychedelic’ carries many connotations. When the general public hears that word, they typically associate it with melting walls, talking animals or trippy, dayglow hallucinations. But clinical research has discovered some surprising results (such as using mushrooms for headaches) that could change the way we all view psychedelics.
How? Well, out of all the things people think about when they hear the term psychedelic — “pain relief” usually doesn’t make the list. Sure, we’re increasingly inundated with stories and research of how cannabis and CBD can relieve chronic pain, linked to all sorts of pain conditions. But the same isn’t true of psychedelics, which most of us assume work only on the mind.
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But the effects of psychedelics on the brain can affect the rest of the body. And we’re just starting to figure out what these effects are, with the most promising ones being reductions in pain. For those living with chronic conditions causing severe pain, psychedelics have, surprisingly, acted as an effective lifeline.
LSD and Mushrooms for Headaches
A growing body of research is finding that classic psychedelics, which bind to and activate the serotonin 5-HT2A receptors, can be used as preventative care for headache disorders. These can include cluster headaches and migraines. A 2022 study found that the administration of three moderate doses of psilocybin decreased both the attack frequency and pain intensity of cluster headaches, one of the most painful conditions that exist. In addition, a study published the year before in the journal Neurotherapeutics showed that a single dose of psilocybin created an enduring improvement in migraine frequency. Which means using mushrooms for headaches could be a life saver for those who suffer from the debilitating episodes.
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You can see the usefulness of psychedelics in lots of personal stories. One Redditor, whose father suffers from cluster headaches, said, “Mushrooms…and LSD are the only medications that have really helped him without causing completely intolerable/dangerous side effects…This has allowed him to lead pretty much a normal life again”.
Yale University is currently carrying out a clinical trial on repeat dosing of psilocybin for the treatment of migraine headache. University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland and Radboud University Medical Center in the Netherlands are studying how LSD can be used to treat cluster headaches.
Clusterbusters, a cluster headache advocacy group, provides practical and harm-reduction information on using psychedelics to relieve symptoms of this condition. Members of this group have found that classic psychedelics in small doses can offer effective relief, despite having little psychoactive effect.
Chronic Pain
Psychedelics also seem to be able to alleviate the symptoms of primary chronic pain disorders as well. These include fibromyalgia (which causes pain all over the body), back pain, and secondary chronic pain, which arises in the context of another disease, such as cancer-related pain.
Researchers have found that many fibromyalgia patients feel that their psychedelic use improved their symptoms. Ali Zarrabi, a palliative medicine physician at Emory University, is carrying out a clinical trial on psilocybin psychotherapy, combined with palliative and supportive care, to treat the anxiety, depression, and chronic pain experienced by cancer survivors.
In fact, it was her own experiences using psilocybin as treatments for a headache condition, hemicrania continua, that led Jessica Khurana to found Eleusinia, a science-based psilocybin retreat focused on chronic pain conditions. “Despite the multiple medications prescribed by my neurologist for hemicrania continua, none provided relief. I was losing hope until I discovered psilocybin, which surprisingly brought me the relief I never thought possible,” Jessica said.
On a Reddit thread regarding psychedelics and chronic pain, one user writes, “My girlfriend has fibromyalgia and when she trips (full doses of 1 gram or more) she becomes completely painless and free from fibromyalgia for the duration of the trip.” Peter Hendricks at the University of Alabama at Birmingham is exploring whether psilocybin can effectively alleviate chronic pain in patients with fibromyalgia.
In the same Reddit thread, a user states, “I have chronic back pain. For the duration of my trips on LSD, MDMA, and mushrooms, I am pain free.” And another user says, “I had chronic pain from a slipped vertebra disc for more than 5 years, prognosis was painkillers for the rest of my life, and most probably, wheelchair.” But after a few trips they are “walking like it never happened, completely pain free.”
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Psychedelics for Uncommon Ailments
Psychedelics may also effectively alleviate the symptoms of more unusual pain disorders. A 1977 study published in Headache, discovered that sub-hallucinogenic doses of LSD resulted in an improvement in pain and a reduction in the use of analgesics in some patients with phantom limb syndrome (the perception of pain or discomfort in a limb that is no longer there). Fadel Zeidan at UCSD, is currently studying the effects of psilocybin-assisted therapy on phantom limb pain.
In a review published this year in PAIN Practice, the authors state, “Through [psychedelic] activation of the serotonin-2A (5-HT2A) receptor, several neurophysiological responses result in the disruption of functional connections in brain regions associated with chronic pain.” They add that “psychedelics have a generally favorable safety profile especially when compared to other analgesics like opioids. In addition, psychedelics do not have the addictive potential of opioids.”
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Looking at these personal accounts and studies together, a picture emerges. Psychedelic have the potential to heal not just our emotional pain but our physical pain, too. However, we need more research. With careful study, we can uncover just how effective the classic psychedelics are at reducing pain compared to conventional analgesics. But we do have promising research. For example, a 2021 placebo-controlled study found that LSD microdoses can reduce pain perception. So it may not even be necessary to trip to experience some benefits.
LSD and Mushrooms for Headaches and Pain: Set and Setting
A note: pay attention to your surroundings. If you decide to take a macrodose of a psychedelic, one that can induce intense subjective effects, pay attention to set and setting. Make sure you’re ready and prepared for wild ride. And having the experience in a comfortable environment with trusted people around you. It is much safer to treat your pain this way compared to tripping alone at home.
What is clear is that people are desperate for alternative forms of pain relief. People are looking for, and using, drugs that lack the side effects and risk of addiction associated with opioids. Thankfully, researchers are continuing to study the potential of psychedelics to offer this solution.
