A new study has found that people who use “classic” psychedelics such as LSD or psilocybin are less likely than others to complain of frequent headaches.
In a recent article in the Journal of Pharmacology the authors concluded that “the results add to the literature suggesting that classic psychedelics could be used as an alternative prophylactic therapy for headache disorders.”
The British Child Development Study, 1958 (which follows the births of one cohort in March 1958) collected 11,419 records from 1999-2000.
They looked at the answers to three specific questions: They asked: “Have You Ever Tried LSD? Also known as Acid or Trips?” Have you tried magic mushrooms?
According to the team’s research, “lifetime usage of classic psychedelics is associated with a 25% reduction in bad headaches.”
The observational nature is limited in what it can tell us.
The researchers wrote that “even though we’ve proposed an association direction, we can’t draw causal conclusions” about the link between lifetime use and bad headaches. It is possible that people with frequent headaches refraining from using classic psychedelics is the reason for the negative correlation found.
The same survey showed, for instance, that low alcohol consumption was linked to a higher risk of bad headaches. The authors in that study interpreted that finding as “individuals with frequent headaches abstaining from alcohol” because alcohol was known to trigger headaches.
In total, 16 % of respondents to the survey said they had frequent headaches. Seventy-one percent of those surveyed were women and only 29 percent male. In contrast, 8.6 % of those with chronic headaches reported using classic psychedelics in their lifetime, compared to 6.5 % of those who did not.
When the team of researchers divided up reports according to gender, they found that headaches and psychedelic use were more common among women.
The authors wrote: “In covariate corrected analyses conducted in both males as well as females individually, we found no association between the lifetime use and bad headaches of men, whereas for women, it was associated with 30 percent less likelihood of bad headaches on a regular basis.”
However, male participants also reported more daily alcohol and other drug usage over the course of their lifetime, which was described by researchers as an indicator of “a less healthy overall lifestyle.”
The authors hypothesized that the association between classic psychedelics and headache is obscured by the disproportionately high drug usage in conjunction with the smaller sample size of the male stratum, reflecting the lower headache incidence in the female population.
One explanation is that the effects of psychedelics on men and women’s bodies may differ in relation to headaches.
The report states that “little is known about the sex difference in physiological responses to psychedelics among humans. However, data from animal model suggests the topic is one worth exploring further.” The report states that “Rodents of both genders showed behavioral differences in their response to psychedelics.” It also noted differences in the cellular and molecular levels (gene expression) as well.
Regardless of what mechanisms may be at play, the team—from Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden—said the findings warrant further study.
The article states that future research should investigate potential prophylactic and possible mechanisms in action of classic psychoedelics for headache disorders, such as cluster and migraine headaches.
A short report published earlier this year by the U.S. Government Accountability Office on the use of psychedelics for medical purposes listed headache disorders among the promising applications.
GAO stated that psychedelics appeared to be promising for certain cancer and headache pain patients. This is because they reduce inflammation by altering the perception of pain through interaction with brain serotonin-receptors.
Rep. Kathleen Paquette of the New Hampshire Republican House shared her experience with cluster headaches and asked for approval to a bill which would eliminate criminal penalties surrounding psilocybin.
Paquette explained that Psilocybin could help “people like me” by interrupting headache cycles and possibly preventing them. It is believed to decrease inflammation in the head, change pain perception, and reset neural pathways which interrupt these painful cycles.
“Very occasional use of small, non-hallucinogenic, microdoses—and at times, even a single dose—has been known to increase remission periods or even stop a cycle completely in its tracks,” she added. A single dose of psilocybin can bring relief to someone after years or decades. This drug has the capacity to restore someone’s ability to care for family members, their dignity, and most importantly, it has the capability to save a life.
Last year the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH), which is part of the National Institutes of Health, also published an informational web page about psilocybin, acknowledging the substance as a possible treatment for alcohol use disorder, anxiety and depression and also highlighted psilocybin research being funded by the federal government into the drug’s effects on pain, migraines, psychiatric disorders and various other conditions.
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