SSRIs, psychs and cluster headaches

[Disowned]

my mom suffers from debilitating cluster headaches, and takes Prozac for depression. i was discussing with her treatment options and suggested that she take some HBWR seeds, and she considered. the only problem is that i have heard that psychedelics interact badly with SSRIs, could anyone explain potential dangers of taking them? i really don't want her going thru these again, apparently it is the worst non lethal pain a person can feel.

 

[pseudononamouse]

I'm not sure how SSRIs and psychedelics interact, but note that to get the cluster headache prevention, she does not need to take enough to make her trip.

You might want to look into melatonin too. I'm not sure how it interacts with Prozac though.

 

[The Smoking Man]

my mom suffers from debilitating cluster headaches, and takes Prozac for depression. i was discussing with her treatment options and suggested that she take some HBWR seeds, and she considered. the only problem is that i have heard that psychedelics interact badly with SSRIs, could anyone explain potential dangers of taking them? i really don't want her going thru these again, apparently it is the worst non lethal pain a person can feel.

They don't interact harmfully (unless the antidepressant was an MAOI), but SSRIs can greatly diminish the potency of classical psychedelics due to them having to compete with serotonin more for binding sites and receptor downregulation caused by the increased serotonin activity over time.

 

[Disowned]

^ok yea that makes alotta sense^

and mouse, I had her try the melatonin thing, I think it kinda worked but I think she thought it was bullshit and stopped taking it.

anyone else got experience with psychs and SSRIs or clusters?

 

[any major dude]

SSRI's generally have higher affinity for serotonin receptors than psych's, so more psych is needed to reach the same effect. I'm not sure how well melatonin would work as its a 5-sub-trypt. However 4-sub-trypts are effective headache treatments, see MAPS and clusterbusters. Triptan class migraine medications are basically non-psychedelic 4-sub-trypts, but do cause a headchange, according to people I know who've taken them. However there is a problem with both triptans & psychedelics being used in this fashion. IIRC the receptor that when agonized causes vasoconstriction (specifically in the noggin i believe) is 5ht1b. Tryptamines & triptans agonize this receptor, the blood vessels constrict & the pain goes away. Unfortunately when used often (this may occur with infrequent usage as well, but I'm not aware of it) the patients tend to experience "rebound headaches" which is basically the headache returning, sometimes worse, once the drug has worn off. I think these drugs do show some promise, but they're definitely not a wonder cure. Yet.