Migraine headaches are a debilitating condition impacting 10% of the US population yet as of now, no effective cures and sustainable treatments have been identified.
While anecdotal evidence suggests that select 5-hydroxytryptamine 2A (5-HT2A) receptor ligands, including psilocybin, may have long-lasting therapeutic effects after limited dosing in headache disorders, controlled investigations are lacking. A group of researchers recently conducted an exploratory double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over study of the impact of psilocybin therapies on migraine headaches. The results of the study published by Big Think, although preliminary, are promising:
"In the two weeks after taking the psilocybin, most participants did report significant decreases in migraines compared to baseline and the placebo session.
"The percentages of subjects who had at least 25%, 50%, and 75% reductions in weekly migraine days were as follows: 80%, 50%, 30% after psilocybin, and 20%, 20%, 0% after placebo, respectively," the researchers wrote. "Psilocybin and placebo significantly differed at the level of at least 25% reduction."
Interestingly, these reductions weren't correlated with how strongly the participants felt the psychedelic effects of psilocybin. That suggests migraine sufferers don't need to take a large dose of psilocybin and therefore experience its intense and potentially unpleasant hallucinogenic effects to reap the benefits from it." While further research is warranted to better understand and further verify these benefits, this confirms the experience of many of my clients who have noticed a reduction in migraine headaches while following their personalized microdosing protocol. If you or someone you know is struggling with migraines, microdosing can be a fairly safe and effective treatment strategy to consider.
