My ex-girlfriend was able to cure a migraine that she's had for a few years now with psychedelics, but the cure only lasted 3-4 days and then the migraine would come back. It's worth a shot though.
That is normal, it should then be taken again - after a few times it should break a cycle of migraines for much longer though.
(I want to edit, but I'm on my phone)
She said she took amitryptiline (I'm not sure how to spell it) when she was younger but it didn't help. We don't know the actual diagnose, we assume it isn't migraine or at least not to the degree her sister has. She's fine with the idea of having drugs into her system as long as she can function and think normally.
amitryptiline is not a triptan and may not be comparable to triptans or something like LSD, even if vasoactive effects via serotonergic activity is part of how effects are mediated. Also it is meant to prevent, which is also different from say injecting sumatriptan to stave off an attack, or breaking a cycle for much longer with something like LSD.
There is sumatriptan in tablets but I'm not sure if they are close to as effective as IM, and your gf would not be the first to have an aversion to injecting.
My dad used to have cluster headaches, and the most effective treatment turned out to be an oxygen tank (Sumatriptan did help, but the attacks were so sudden and intense that oral just didn't hit him fast enough, and he didn't have the stomach to inject it IM) and generally avoiding histamine-rich food duringthose days.
Anyway, psychedelics work for migraines because they are serotonin agonists and thus vasoconstrictors... as are modern "triptan"-type migraine meds which are actually just tryptamines that are more selective for specific 5HT1 receptors. If you look at the molecular structure of sumatriptan you'll see that it's actually an analog of DMT. So if the triptans didn't do enough for her, I would not necessarily expect any wonders from psychedelics.
Yes and effects on the trigeminal system which may not be comparable. Sumatriptan is supposed to work in 96% of cases if injected to stave off an attack, but I'm not sure if it is as effective in breaking a cycle and providing long term relief? For an old friend of mine, it's how he arrived at LSD when he was on sumatriptan. I think he was enthousiastic about it, but of course discovering you love LSD is great in other ways
Which just goes to show you why the naturalistic fallacy is, well, a fallacy - ergolines are rarely, if ever, used for the treatment of migraines or parkinsonism anymore because of the risk of cardiac fibrosis due to 5HT2B agonism.
Granted, if those cluster headaches only appear in phases every few months or so then I doubt the LSA is going to cause any significant damage, but it is still odd to assume that a mycotoxin* would be safer than a triptan-type drug produced by "Big Pharma" (i.e. a company that probably wants to avoid having to pay billions of dollars in legal settlements like Wyeth had to after thousands of people got cardiac fibrosis from Fen-Phen).
* while morning glory is indeed a plant, the psychoactive LSA in it is produced by endophytes, i.e. symbiotic fungi living within the plant
A lot of this was covered already: if it turns out effective you would need such low doses of either LSD, LSA, (or methysergide for that matter) and - especially this: - so infrequently that I don't understand why it would be considered irresponsible even with the cardiac / pulmonary fibrosis in mind.
Methysergide was used as prophylaxis, which means taking it regularly which is a problem with 5-HT2B agents - just like it is with fen-phen. Messes with the development of tissues. The same is not known for occasional use. I am guessing if methysergide could be used effectively to break cycles for long periods, they would have done that and the problems could have been avoided.
Don't try to rationalize considerations of Big Pharma or what they are willing to risk to just keep pushing and marketing something (see Seroxat, and how it's not offered in low dosages necessary to safely taper so that you don't lose it completely), also it's not a matter of safer: as we have both already said sumatriptan has a bit different pharmacology.
I don't like the vasoconstriction of LSA at 'psychedelic' dosages, but I don't think it's safer or unsafer than psilocin or LSD. Which should be safe enough, and I don't want to repeat myself, when you just take it to break a cycle rather than considerable doses say daily, as a prophylaxis... if there is the slight unsafety of occasionally taking a 5-HT2B agent, perhaps - if it is true that nothing else works close to that effective for breaking a cycle for months - that is worth it. Of course up to everyone to decide for themselves, but if people drop by the dozen from LSD and mushrooms from cardiac fibrosis like from fenphen, it is an incredible thing to overlook - although I admit not out of the question that it increases your odds more mildly.
