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New Message Board Archives >> Medications, Treatments, Therapies 2003 >> History of shrooms for CH
(Message started by: CJohnson on Jul 31st, 2003, 1:55pm)

Title: History of shrooms for CH
Post by CJohnson on Jul 31st, 2003, 1:55pm
 Just out of curiosity, how is it that shroom therapy came to be used specifically for prophylaxis of CH? Did someone use shrooms and realize that it had positive effect on CH and then start looking at the mechanism of shrooms and the mechanism of CH and realized that there is a scientific basis for why shrooms helped? Or did someone look at the mechanism of CH and realize that an indole ring hallucinagen such as psilocybin could possibly have effect on CH?

PFDANs
-Curtis

Title: Re: History of shrooms for CH
Post by forgetfulnot on Jul 31st, 2003, 2:07pm
Ask Bob W, if anyone knows he doe's.

Lee

Title: Re: History of shrooms for CH
Post by CJohnson on Jul 31st, 2003, 2:24pm

on 07/31/03 at 14:07:31, forgetfulnot wrote:
Ask Bob Wold, if anyone knows he doe's.

Lee


Who dat?

Title: Re: History of shrooms for CH
Post by jminmilwaukee on Jul 31st, 2003, 2:38pm
The legand as I understand began with a Clusterhead who ocasionally ingested the substance as a recreational escape. The person (whome shall remain nameless unless they decide to come forth) then relized that the expected cycle never happened (as it always had in the past) was able to put one and one together thus discovering the medicinal properties of the shroom.

Over the years the word began to spread eventually reaching some microbiologist types that understood the chemical properties of the "ring". This was applied to the theory of the "filling of the receptors" and has continued to gain support to this day.

Although there is some belief that the shroom may have several properties that work together providing the long term relief or even avoidence of the CH, there is still much work to be done. Out of the original pioneers came forth the clusterbusters who have collectivly started a grass roots movement to figure this thing out.

Today we have gathered many successfull reports and are fine tuning the suggested treatment parameters. In tandom with the continued efforts of the CBs, we are also reaching out to the medical community to educate and hopefully gain some meaningfull research and acceptance regarding the treatment.

So in many ways we are still in the first stages of moving towards an eventual cure but have truelly come a long ways from the accidental discovery of what I hope is our holy grail.

As legends go I may have some of this wrong but this is the general evolution to my knowledge to date.

jmin

Title: Re: History of shrooms for CH
Post by ave on Jul 31st, 2003, 3:37pm
Not a legend, jimin.

The clusterhead posted this on the message board and at first there was a great deal of opposition. When they came back again (I think a year later) clusterheads were more receptive and prople who had never "done shrooms" recreationally began to try as well - llike myself.

When I was at the emergency doctor's (not CH-related) and told I had just taken shrooms, she said, madam, at your age too!

Oh, well...

Title: Re: History of shrooms for CH
Post by forgetfulnot on Jul 31st, 2003, 4:43pm
Bob W. AKA pinkfloyd

Title: Re: History of shrooms for CH
Post by Bob P on Jul 31st, 2003, 5:50pm
Flash, from Ireland was the first to post of shroom use.

He met with some skepticism but after researching the effects is had on 5HT receptors the crowd began to think maybe he was onto something.  It's just grown since then.

Flash's original post was probably about 3 years ago.

I think this is his first post:
http://www.clusterheadaches.com/wwwboard/messages/8836.html

Title: Re: History of shrooms for CH
Post by Ueli on Jul 31st, 2003, 7:45pm
The difference: the Irish drink Whiskey and the Scots drink Whisky.  ;D
Flash is from the Whisky drinking country.

Title: Re: History of shrooms for CH
Post by Pinkfloyd on Aug 1st, 2003, 3:44pm

on 07/31/03 at 14:24:25, CJohnson wrote:
Who dat?


Dat be me..
I think the question has been pretty well answered by jmin with some finer points added by others, although I believe Flash posted his info much before the archived post listed in this thread.

Bob Wold (aka P.Floyd)

Title: Re: History of shrooms for CH
Post by vig on Aug 1st, 2003, 3:53pm
I think this 'splinter' group deserves some serious commendations for going where no one else will go in order to help all of us find a way out.  It's one of those things that make me proud to be here.

Salud!

Title: Re: History of shrooms for CH
Post by Mitch on Aug 1st, 2003, 9:18pm
;DIt's been three years now that I haven't had to visit my neurologist, thanks to Flash and Pinksharkmark. I remember thinking that this has got to be Bullshit. Wow am I glad I was wrong and they were Right.

It’s amazing to see how many people this is helping now.

Thanks again guys,
Mitch

Title: Re: History of shrooms for CH
Post by jminmilwaukee on Aug 1st, 2003, 10:04pm
Yes indeed. I am also a convert. Off the meds and on with life. Problem is, most get soo much relief that they drop off the face of the planet and are not heard from again.

This is why I am still around. If there is a cure to be had, I will do anything to see it get done.

Oh yeah, a big two thumbs up for the founding fathers!

Title: Re: History of shrooms for CH
Post by Flash on Aug 5th, 2003, 9:09am
Are you ready for this?

28th July 1998:

http://www.clusterheadaches.com/wwwboard/messages/1617.html

The first post on hallucinogenic treatment.  In this instance it was LSD, but they both achieve the same result.  

I posted that under my real name, but quickly changed to an alias because I run a reputable business, and didn't want to cause any problems.

That was the first time I discovered this message board.

Please note though that I was in fact pipped to the post...

I had been using shrooms and LSD as a treatment since Oct 1995, and also recreationally since Jan 1993.  Please be aware that I stopped the recreational doses in 1995.

When I discovered CH.com I went looking to see if anyone else was doing the same as me.  Incredibly I found another guy using LSD who had posted this information in the guest book of all places (as opposed to the message board).  Do we still have a guest book?  This guy had been doing it longer than I had.  He posted something like "blah blah I've had these for 20 something years and only manage to get relief through periodic doses of LSD, this works really well if you have the stomach for it".  Or words to that effect.  I don't think he left an email address, but I posted several times on the message board asking him to contact me.  He never did.  Probably jumped out of a high rise window:)

At first the shroom thing was the looniest of the loony theories that used to spring up all the time.  Someone would email me saying "I think you might be onto something - between this and my drinking a gallon of urine at midnight on a Sunday theory we might have it cracked".  Needless to say that type of support really encouraged me.

Everyone else either collapsed in fits of hysterical laughter (unassisted), or gave me a bollocking for suggesting we take illegal drugs.

I think BobP was the first sane person to offer me any support, and for a long time he was the only one.  I gave up after a while, but a year later BobP emailed me saying that people were talking about the shrooms again... someone else had tried it.  People was an overstatement, there were only like 4 of us (including BobP and myself).  The others were Margi and the person that had tried it.  I think that was Monique's husband Gregg.  After that there was a guy called Rider and some other dude called ugh wait for it... nope his name had slipped my mind.  Anyway they all had success.  Then Margi's husband Mike tried it, and it worked for him too.  There was also a guy called Kenn who had been prescribed LSD for migraine back in the 60s.  

The biggest boost was when pinksharkmark arrived on the scene.  I was running out of energy, because a lot of people were reporting success then never coming back to the board, presumably because they no longer needed the support.  Anyhow pinky was a breath of fresh air and really moved things on to the next level.  For the next couple of years there was only really pinky and myself promoting it.  We finally got some text for a website together, and it was Todd that initially published it online.  

Later on Ueli went trawling through the archives and collated all the relevant historical posts onto the website.

Then I guess it must be about a year ago, at a time when I was losing interest again that the Cluster Busters team:

PinkSharkMark
TommyD
Eyes Afire
Firebrix
jmin
Mast
Mitch
BobW
pinkfloyd

etc.

(hope I didn't miss anyone out)

took up the baton, and since then things have never really looked back.  

So there you go!

Also, just for the record I'm an Aberdonian, that's kind of Scottish but quieter.


Flash (Craig)



Title: Re: History of shrooms for CH
Post by Flash on Aug 5th, 2003, 9:33am
Oops - the answer to your original question... heh heh.

I had suffered from CH since the age of 16 in 1986.  They came twice every year in episodes of 1 month.  This was like clockwork through 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92.  Then in 93 and 94 I skipped all 4 episodes for no apparent reason.

Now the interesting things was that up until that point my life had not been going to well.  I was a waster, someone that was around illegal drugs (I'd rather no say too much here), never worked, drank a lot.  Not someone you'd like to see your daughter with.  I had attended college but dropped out.

In Jan 93 I got involved in some LSD related things.  And took my first trip.  There were other trips in 93 and early 94.  Around this time it became apparent that the headaches were a no-show.  

It's hard to hold your life together when it falls apart once every 6 months.  Relationships failed, usually when the headaches came.  College exams failed because the headaches came.  CH was especially unknown back then - even compared with now, and nobody had any sympathy.  So CH had imparted the strange temporary feeling to my achievements.  I knew that 6 months down the line I'd be back to square one.

When the headaches stopped I began to get my shit together.  I returned to college and completed my computer science degree.  My drug use gradually decreased.  I formed my first long term relationship.  I got a job.  I got a good job.  I started my own business.  Believe me that few people have moved so fuckin fast.  I felt like I was on borrowed time.

Then in April '95 the headaches came back.  I was devistated, but now I had some hope.  There was no way I was going back to the same old shit as before.  I had seen the potential for success.  So I sat down and tried to figure out what I had done differently in 93 and 94.  I could only think of one thing LSD.  However, for obvious reasons the LSD use had not occured around the time my episodes were expected.  So there was no direct correlation between the two.

In Oct 95 I landed my first big contract.  I was due an episode in Oct 95.  There was no way I could have a fuckin episode at that point in my life.  Not right on the first fuckin month of a contract that required my attendance 70 hours a week and could be cancelled at 1 weeks notice.  No fuckin way!

This contract gave me access to the Internet and World Wide Web for the first time.  My mind kept returning to LSD.  Could those few tiny pieces of paper, taken months outside of my normal episodes really be responsible.  I typed "cluster headache" into Excite or Web Crawler.  I got back no hits.  CH didn't exist on the web back then.  Next I typed in "LSD & migraine".  Unbelievably a dose of hits appeared.  Most of them concerned Albert Hoffmann, and how he had been researching migraine medication when he stumbled on LSD.  Other links went into methysergide, ergotamine and how they were related to LSD.  I remember my father once telling me that LSD was related to some headache pill - he though it was aspirin - he was incorrect, the article he'd read must have been referring to ergotamine.  I recognised both methysergide and ergotamine as drugs the neuro had offered me for CH.

I was potentially going to be drug tested on this contract.  I didn't know jack shit about drug testing, and whether LSD showed up.  I was willing to take the LSD because anything that might prevent the imminent episode was worth trying.

Next problem there was no LSD available.  That's when I looked into magic mushrooms.  Magic mushrooms were growing in my area every Sep, Oct, and Nov.  I went out, found some, picked 600 Liberty Caps, and took them with my friends as a recreational experience.  We did 50 each, and had a really good time.  The episode never came.

I have subsequently used shrooms to prevent most of my episode bar 2, in both those cases I had problems getting the shrooms.

So there you go.


Flash

Title: Re: History of shrooms for CH
Post by jminmilwaukee on Aug 5th, 2003, 10:36am
The legend has spoken!!!!

Funny, I was 17 in 1987 when I first got hit. Anyway, I think it was about 4 years ago when the pinkshark recommeded the treatment for me.

Gotta say that I really have no reason to hang around these boards anymore but feel compelled to help explore this further.

Who knows, perhaps someday instead of and asperin we will all be taking flashperin!

Thanks to Pinkshark, Flash and Pinkfloyd for the most amazing advice and help I have ever recieved!

Who would of known that a handfull of sufferers could almost cure what an entire world of neuros and pharmacies can barely touch!!!!

JMIN



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