Magic Mushrooms May Help Treat Cluster Headaches

The psilocybin found in magic mushrooms has shown to be potentially effective in alleviating the pain associated with cluster headaches. Cluster headaches are highly focused burning headaches that occur in cycles and are more painful than migraines.

Magic mushrooms, much like cannabis and many other substances that found their way onto banned lists around the world, may in fact have potential as a medicine. The research has been out for some time now, going back over ten years. The laws however, have not caught up with the times. Sufferers of what are known as cluster headaches can access the research on psilocybin and its implications in treatment, yet they cannot access psilocybin itself. Cluster headaches cause pain on a level that lead some to believe they are dying. They are called suicide headaches for reasons we can only imagine. How far should a patient go to alleviate their suffering? Should they risk breaking the law and being locked up in an effort to find a treatment that may work?

CLUSTER HEADACHES

If you have ever suffered from a migraine headache, imagine that, only worse. They are often misdiagnosed as migraines or even sinus headaches, but have some clear differences. Individuals who experience migraines, typically know they are coming. They tend to have visual cues, like halos around lights or a blanking of sight. Migraines can last as long as three days, causing extreme sensitivity to sound, light and even motion. Cluster headaches on the other hand come out of nowhere. Some have described it as having a burning knife poked through their eye. They are extremely painful, yet isolated to one side of the head. They come on fast and strong but only last from a few minutes to a few hours.

Statistically, women are more likely to suffer from migraines while men are more likely to experience cluster headaches. Cluster headaches are more rare than migraines, which affect about ten percent of the population on average. Brain scans reveal that patients show no abnormal brain activity and the condition does not appear to be genetic. More often than not, traditional pharmaceutical painkillers are prescribed as treatment. Bouts of these devastating headaches come in cycles that last anywhere from six to twelve weeks. For chronic sufferers, this happens every year. Turning to prescription medications is not the route that many want to take, yet some feel forced to seemingly viable alternatives like magic mushrooms and truffles, but are legally out of reach.

PSILOCYBIN AND THE BRAIN

Research on psilocybin over the years has uncovered some amazing facts that hold great implications for modern medicine. Magic mushrooms have in a way broken all the rules. As an example, scientists always believed that brain and personality development ceased in your adult years. Psilocybin has shown, however, to be able to connect neurons that had previously not been connected. This in turn has a profound effect on personality and behavior, contrary to formerly held belief about development. On this premise it has shown amazing results in treating psychological disorders like depression and even addiction.

Psilocybin acts by binding to the same receptors as serotonin. Serotonin is basically the neurotransmitter that makes you feel good. It affects the region of the brain that controls emotion. This alone has incredible implications for use in psychology. Users of magic mushrooms often experience a sensation of being an outside observer of themselves. They experience a dissociative effect that allows for unbiased self-reflection and also a disconnection from physical pain. Many have turned to mushrooms in small doses or what has become known as micro-dosing to experience the pain relieving effects without experiencing much of the hallucinatory side.

POTENTIAL TREATMENT WITH MAGIC MUSHROOMS

Many people may have pre-conceived notions about mushrooms being for hippies or just meant to be taken at a rock concert. But when it comes to applications for treatment of these devastating cluster headaches, the psychedelic properties are not what patients are after. The pain relieving effects can be achieved at a dosage lower than the hallucinogenic threshold. In other words, you don't have to trip to gain relief. Many have embraced this technique of micro-dosing to treat these symptoms as well as other medical ailments.

Turning to psilocybin in an attempt to treat these cluster headaches is often called busting, short for cluster busting. While the average recreational user may take 2.5 grams or more of magic mushrooms to trip out, micro-dosing for beneficial relief only requires a fraction of that. A typical micro dose is said to be between 0.2 and 0.5g. Once you start taking upwards of 1 or more grams, you may feel your senses just a little off. Not enough to constitute a trip, but enough for a mild dissociative effect that can cause slight impairment. Some have taken as much as 1.5g on a regimented schedule in order to treat cluster headaches, however this would be a bit much for someone who may not have any experience with psychedelic mushrooms.

How much you take and how often is a decision that shouldn't be made lightly. Psilocybin is a powerful drug that can have a profound impact on the user's state of mind. Even those who have taken magic mushrooms in the past, should start slow. You can always take more, but once consumed, there is not much you can do about it. Using mushrooms as a treatment for cluster headaches should not be attempted every day. Again, it should be a decision that you make after your first dose. Listen to your body and don't rush. Those who have gone this path of treatment have taken a variety of schedules, but most involve dosing once every five to seven days over a period of weeks. One of the surprising effects of treatment has shown to be that it is permanent, for the most part. Taking a micro dose doesn't work like taking an aspirin. After your dosing cycle is complete, the relief experienced should be long term.

CONCLUSION

Sometimes we are forced to make decisions that we shouldn't have to make. Our liberty or our health is not a choice anyone should ever have to make. Unfortunately due to the current state of the drug war, potential remedies containing psilocybin, like magic mushrooms, are considered dangerous and without medicinal value. Most of the research you will find on psilocybin and its use for treating cluster headaches as well as a number of psychological ailments, is over a decade old. The information is there yet the powers that be have failed to take any of it into consideration when considering its status. If you do decide to try magic mushrooms as a course of treatment remember to do your homework first and make sure to take it slow.