3 ms·

There is some evidence that psilocybin in low doses (much lower than "effective for recreation") can ameliorate or even cure migraines. I mention this as I hav

There is some evidence that psilocybin in low doses (much lower than "effective for recreation") can ameliorate or even cure migraines. I mention this as I have a member of my family that suffers from terrible periodic migraines and I myself experience migraines at least once a year.

soundwave106 11y ago
Many current migraine treatments (such as triptans and ergotamine) are serotonin agonists designed to induce vasoconstriction. The "classic psychedelics" are also serotonin agonists. Migraine treatments target different subparts of the serotonin system than psychedelics do (migraine: primarily 5HT1B/5HT1D vs psychedelics: 5HT2A). However, from what I see, a lot of the classic "popular psychedelics" don't tend to be very selective, and act on a lot of the serotonin system as well as other systems such as glutamate (5HT2A agonism by itself is not necessarily psychedelic). Consequently, LSD for instance seems to have quite an affinity for 5HT1B (with a touch of 5HT1D), and psilocin for 5HT1D (and a touch of 5HT1B). So reports of LSD and psilocin being effective against migraines aren't surprising.