Cluster Headaches and Shrooming

As Migraine People, we know we'll try anything to make the pain stop. The pain could escalate to the very edge of human endurance.

That said, how far do you think would Cluster Headache people go to get relief? They don't call clusters Suiside Headaches just because it has a nice ring to it.

This is how far they'll go - there's a whole underground movement of trying to treat clusters and migraines using a variety of hallucinogenic substances:

• Psilocybin, that comes from "magic mushrooms",
• LSD, well, 'nough said
• LSA, precursor to LSD, (known as d-lysergic acid amide, d-lysergamide, ergine, and LA-111), found in Sleepygrass, several varieties of Morning Glories and Hawaiian baby woodrose seeds
• Mescaline, found in some varieties of cactus
• DMT, Dimethyltryptamine, found in roots of Mimosa flower and, interestingly enough, produced by human body in small amounts

...everything has been tried.

The results are mostly anecdotal - there's very little "legitimate" research that has been done. With that said, "It's estimated by the Clusterbusters organization that 80 percent of the cluster headache sufferers who try psychedelics find near-complete relief and the attendant improved quality of life."

It's pretty obvious that Big Pharma is not really interested in doing much research on the drugs they can't get a patent on - all of the psychedelics mentioned have been discovered a long time ago. It is also obvious that any government of any county is not going to look kindly on people growing hallucinogenics in their back yards, be it for medical reasons or just for fun.

So, as it stands, most "research" is conducted "under-the-radar" by patients themselves. Even though in the US "the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) of 1970 makes it illegal to possess hallucinogens" for individuals.

Now, my gentle readers, don't start shrooming just yet. Just because it sounds fun, it's still pretty darn illegal. Also, the "fun" factor is pretty low here - "Most cluster headache sufferers only require sub-hallucinogenic doses to achieve remission."

To learn more about hallucinogenic treatments of "neuro-vascular headaches ranging from Clusters to Migraine Headaches" check out http://www.clusterbusters.com/ , the public face of the "magic mushrooms for better quality of life amongst the Cluster and Migraine Headache sufferers" underground. Despite yours truly prejudice against medicines that don't come in an easy-to-swallow pill-form, it turned out to be a very informative and in some places down-right conservative website.

Still, give a try to Imitrex first. It's almost as good and it's still legal. And if you have to trip, trip gently into that good night, my gentle readers.

link: Low-dose psilocybin brings relief to cluster-headache suffers

technorati tags: Psilocybin LSA LSD Mescaline DMT migraine abbortive alternative migraine treatments cluster headaches migraine headaches migraine migraines headache headaches