Positive effects of magic mushrooms
Mushrooms are experiencing a revival: not only do people use them because they want to have a nice trip, there are also many who find that mushrooms can have a positive effect on health. The main focus is still on mental health. For example, research shows that the psychoactive substance psilocybin may be able to help with PTSD, anxiety and depression. But there hasn’t been as much research on the benefits of magic mushrooms for pain. Yet it seems that magic mushrooms can bring relief on that front as well.
Mushrooms for pain: the history
Mind-altering drugs have been increasingly relegated to the doldrums since the middle of last century. Fortunately, in recent years there has been an upsurge in interest in psychedelics. Consequently, more and more research is being done to find ways to treat conditions with these agents. First mainly on a mental level, but now also on a physical level, such as for pain. One of the studies focused on psilocybin for cluster headaches, but now scientists are also looking at whether this substance in magic mushrooms can also be used for chronic pain, fibromyalgia and phantom limb pain. They are mainly conditions that are not yet well understood as to what causes them. Treatment with regular drugs is therefore often not very effective.
Before society started looking at psychedelics more and more with a skewed eye, there was research done on these substances. One of these researchers was Eric Kast. He gave LSD to seriously ill patients, who were suffering pain from various conditions, such as cancer or gangrene. They received opioids and a powerful 100 mcg dose of LSD as treatments. Kast indicated that the opioids did not have nearly as great an analgesic effect as the LSD. Unfortunately, interest in the uses of psychedelic drugs disappeared soon after and no further research was done in response to this fascinating study.
New research on magic mushrooms for pain
Today, fortunately, interest is growing again. There have now been some studies exploring the potential of psychedelics for pain. Tryp Therapeutics has set up a study on the effectiveness of psilocybin and a drug based on psilocybin TRP-8803 (which they produce themselves) in chronic pain. They are working with the University of Michigan. Fibromyalgia causes pain in the joints and can be so bad that a person ends up in a wheelchair. The study is not complete at this time, but it is good that more attention is being paid to this.
The following story is the story of just one man, but one who benefited greatly from magic mushrooms for his pain. Steve Forman grinds some magic mushrooms in a coffee machine every morning, puts the powder in a capsule and takes them with some water. In 2005, he was diagnosed with autoimmune peripheral neuropathy. As a result, he had terrible chronic pain in his feet every day. He visited several specialists and was prescribed all kinds of painkillers. However, nothing was to help.
Except magic mushrooms. Swallowing the capsules of ground mushrooms, he noticed relief from the debilitating pain he had been suffering from for years within half an hour. Now, for the first time in years, he can enjoy hours without pain, he tells himself. He hopes that this “mushroom therapy” as he calls it, will become available to everyone with chronic pain.
There is also research on magic mushrooms for migraines. Participants in the study were required to keep a headache diary. Those who received psilocybin reported noticing a significant improvement in their migraines. There was a reduction in pain and frequency of migraine compared to those who received a placebo. This was an exploratory study, which revealed that a single dose of psilocybin can have long-lasting therapeutic effects.
The role of serotonin
Of course, what is an important question is how it is that psychedelics can possibly be analgesic. One substance that probably plays a role is serotonin, the well-known happiness hormone. When you use magic mushrooms, psilocybin will cause a similar effect to serotonin. That’s the reason you can experience exhilarated, even euphoric feelings during a trip. However, according to researchers, it may also be the reason why psilocybin is analgesic. Apparently, it doesn’t take away the pain, but it changes the way we react to pain.
Scientist Boris Heifets indicates that these drugs work for pain just as they do for depression. They change your relationship with pain, whether mental or physical. Neuroscientist Fadel Zeidan believes that with psilocybin, you’re not just treating a complaint like pain. Rather, you treat the whole person, something he believes modern medical science should do more of.
Using magic mushrooms for pain
For now, it is not possible to draw a clear conclusion about the benefits of magic mushrooms for pain. There is still more research to be done, but fortunately it is being worked on. Should you want to use magic mushrooms for pain, it is good to know that magic mushrooms are actually the safest drugs compared to, say, alcohol, MDMA or amphetamine. Mushrooms can be grown at home with easy-to-use grow kits. Once your mushrooms are ready for harvest, you can harvest them and then eat them fresh or dry them.
If you have doubts about magic mushrooms because of their hallucinogenic effects, you can also opt for microdosing. You then take only a very small dose of magic mushrooms or truffles, so you may notice the health effects, but not suffer from the mind-altering effects. In our shop you will find the organic microdosing truffles From Microdosing XP.