Posted by pinksharkmark (64.32.116.245) on October 07, 2001 at 12:58:33:
In Reply to: Psycobin and DMT, almost the same, Could DMT cause Clusterheadaches? posted by Jon on October 07, 2001 at 11:40:44:
The most thorough study of DMT that has been done to date was by Dr. Rick Strassman. I got in touch with him at the suggestion of our own "Georgia", who had been in e-mail contact with him.
His studies of the effects of DMT didn't include any subjects with vascular headaches. I am sure that if he was aware of any studies on the amount of DMT in clusterheads he would have let me know.
Your theory that clusterheads may have abnormal levels of DMT in their brains is one that needs to be investigated, no doubt about it.
You are correct that psilocin and DMT vary by only a single oxygen molecule. In previous posts I have pointed out that psilocybin is basically phosphorylated DMT, and Imitrex (sumatriptan) is basically sulphonated DMT. The phosphor group of psilocybin is stripped off once the psilocybin enters the bloodstream, and what is left is psilocin.
DMT is a fascinating molecule. It is structurally very close to serotonin (as is psilocin, of course), and it is the only known endogenous hallucinogen (one that occurs naturally within the human body). It is also the only known hallucinogen that does not exhibit the "tolerance" effect -- what Flash has referred to as "shutting the door". In other words, it is possible to do DMT repeatedly at very short intervals and each dose will produce a hallucinogenic effect. This is not the case with other hallucinogens such as LSD, psilocin, and mescaline, each of which require a resting period between doses in order to exhibit a full effect.
Here is a link to Dr. Strassman's DMT site.
pinky