Psilocybin and LSD in the treatment of Cluster Headaches
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.
PMID: 16801660
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Rev Neurol. 2006 Nov 1-15;43(9):571-2. [Article in Spanish - Translated below]
Hospital Vega Baja, 03314 Orihuela, Espana.
PMID: 17072817
Chronic cluster headaches responding to psilocibin.
Cluster headaches are considered the most painful of all primary headaches(1) .
They represent 1.5% of all outpatient headache patients(2) and it is a frequent
cause of emergency room visits(3). It affects more men than women and the age of
onset is generally between age 20 and 40. Cluster headaches can be
classified into two categories: Episodic: With periods of remission of over a
month. Chronic: The headaches last through the year and the periods of remission
are less than a month.
Abortive treatments of choice include oxygen at 100% and subcutaneous
sumatriptan( 5). Inhaled oxygen has the inconvenience of difficult access.
Sumatriptan subcutanous has a 74% efficacy in 15 minutes(6). Sumatriptan
is contraindicated in patients with uncontrolled hypertension or cardiac
ischemia, frequently found in male smokers. The preventive treatment consists of
prednisione to suppress attacks, while starting maintanence treatment. The
preventive treatment of choice is verapamil, with a 69% response (7). If
verapamil fails, there are other possibilities such as topiramate and lithium.
However, none of the mentioned 3 medications are FDA indicated for this
therapeutic reason. When the pharmacological treatments fail there is the
option of surgery. The most commonly performed is the thermo coagulation of the
trigeminal nucleus by radio waves.
We present a patient with chronic cluster headaches, resistant to medical
treatment, with an excellent response to psicocybin treatment, an alkaloid from
the tryptamine family. A review of the literature in PubMed did not find any
articles in Spanish regarding the use of psicobilin in the treatment of cluster
headaches.
A 47 year old male, with an unremarkable medical history except for being a
smoker with cluster headaches, episodic type, since age 40 have transformed into
chronic cluster headaches. His neurological exam was normal. He required
Sumatriptan, subcutaneously almost on a daily basis and in home oxygen.
Occasionally he would use oral ergotamine before going to bed to prevent
nocturnal attacks. Zolmitriptan oral was not effective in abortive use. A
trial of preventive treatment was attempted including oral prednisone with
verapamil (240mg a day) and topirimate (100mg a day), that were ineffective.
Through an internet forum on patients with cluster headaches, this patient
informed himself on other posible treatments, specifically the treatment of
Psilocybe cubensis. Initially psilocybin was used in the acute attack of cluster
headache and it accomplished disappearance of the pain within 20 minutes. After
three doses in two weeks the cluster headache attacks were gone. The
patient has continued asymptomatic for the last 6 months taking an infusion of
P. cubensis consisting of 30mg of fresh mushroom and 3gm of dehydrated mushroom
once a month. The patient did not experience the hallucinogenic effect with
psilocybin. Psilocybin is an alkaloid of the tryptamine family. It is
found in many species of mushrooms, specially the of the genre Psilocybe, like
P. cubensis and P. semilanceata ( 8 ). Psilocybin transforms to psilocin in the
organism, that represents the active form and acts as a serotonergic agonist at
5-Ht2a(9). Psilocybin is considered a drug with legal implications, that is why
it's cultivation and sale is considered a crime. Recently an observational study
has been published that gathered the use of psilocybin and LSD in the treatment
of cluster headaches(10) . In the mentioned study, psilocybin was able to abort
attacks in 22 of 26 patients (85%) and a preventative effect in 90% of patients
(totally effective in in 52 % and partially effective in 37%). In
addition, psilocybin was able to prolong the period of remission in 20 of 22
patients that used it (91%). This study has evident limitations, like the
authors pointed out the bias of selection, the patients were contacted
through a patient support group. And a possible placebo effect. Psilocybin would
count on the advantage of having both an abortive action as well as preventative
of cluster headache attacks. The therapeutic effect of psilocybin occurs in
subhallucinogenic doses, which indicates a different mechanism of action to it
psychoactive effects. The only interests of these clinical observations, far
from supporting the use of psilocybin in the treatment of cluster headaches,
would be to set the need for controlled clinical studies to evaluate the
efficacy and safety of psilocybin, as well as the need for more research.
References:
A.P. Sempere a, L. Berenguer-Ruiz a, F. Almazán b Aceptado tras revisión
externa: 12.09.06.
a Servicio de Neurología. b Servicio de Medicina Interna. Hospital General
Universitario de Alicante. Alicante, España.
Correspondencia: Dr. Ángel Pérez Sempere. Servicio de Neurología. Hospital
General Universitario de Alicante. Pintor Baeza, s/n. E-03010 Alicante. E-mail:
aperezs@mac.com
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