Posted by pinksharkmark (12.128.190.173) on January 22, 2001 at 13:56:10:
In Reply to: Donald's 1st try at the shrooms---- posted by Cheryl on January 22, 2001 at 13:06:19:
If I understand this correctly, he took a dose of mushrooms Friday night and has experienced absolutely no relief whatsoever?
That is discouraging, indeed.
"I believe he gave up most except his methadone and Loracet plus"... If I have my facts straight here, both methadone and Loracet are opioids. What other medications had he given up? I'm afraid I know too little about the effects of opioids on seratonin receptor sites to give a qualified opinion on whether the presence in the bloodstream of opioids would interfere with the psilocybin or not. I suspect it would not, but I just don't have enough knowledge to say for sure. I guess it is possible.
Or, Donald may be one for whom the psilocybin/LSD therapy is ineffective. Did he take a large enough dose to feel any "trippy" side-effects?
This treatment is still too new for us to know all the parameters that determine success. Presumably, the best chance of success would be in the case of someone who had no lingering traces of other medications that might interfere with the normal mechanism of psilocybin absorption. Unfortunately, we don't KNOW which medications those might be, so the only way to test it properly is to let ALL medications clear out from the system.
I don't know about the rest of you, but I don't think I am strong enough to do that. If the beast hits, I'll smack him down with whatever is at hand... from Fiorinal to Imitrex! Sounds like Donald has been doing the same, and I don't blame him one little bit.
One course of action which may make sense is to stop ALL the preventative meds, and use only abortives from now until the next dose of mushrooms... i.e. oxygen and Imitrex.
On the other hand, I will admit that this might make no difference at all... the second dose of mushrooms may turn out to be equally ineffective, or it may be the Imitrex that is interfering with the action of the psilocybin, not the opioids. Imitrex is chemically fairly close to psilocybin in structure.
Sounds like you're doing everything you can to help him out. Hang in there, and keep us posted.
pinky