Psychedelics could treat some of the worst chronic pain in the world | Hacker News Reader

Psychedelics could treat some of the worst chronic pain in the world

vox.com

37 pointssea-gold20 comments

Highly doubtful that any psychedelic would cause pain and certainly not as a side effect.

I have used psychedelics all of my life.

I am nearly 70 years old, retired and previously successful in my profession

There are always a few stories being bandied about claiming psychedelics might be harmful.

Compare that to the dangers of most of big pharma's entire portfolio of prescribed drugs and there is no contest about which is less harmful.

Have you read the side of your prescribed medication bottle or packet lately?

There are far more stories about the positive impact of psychedelics.

Psychedelics are amongst the least harmful drugs on the planet.

Unless predisposed to certain mental conditions.

I don't disagree. Psychedelics fit in Schedule V as-defined. Instead, they're Scheduled I and III because of Nixon's war on hippies and African-Americans.

Paroxetine and Venlafaxine seriously fucked me up. The first with rapid-onset serotonin syndrome and the latter with (also temporary) ticks, myoclonus, and vestibular problems. SSRIs are absolute trash, at least for me. The only antidepressant that mostly works on me is mirtazapine, but it also leads to absurd, continuous hunger and a propensity for weight gain.

I avoid delta-8 and delta-9 THC because they don't have overall positive effects on me, but CBD is occasionally helpful (bulk lab pure mixed with MCT oil to a calibrated dosage). For a feeling of wellbeing, Damiana tea is nice and has a pleasant taste.

> There are always a few stories being bandied about claiming psychedelics might be harmful.

> There are far more stories about the positive impact of psychedelics.

Because they're already illegal. People who don't like them have no reason to go out and evangelize

Also because the bad stories are ugly, really ugly. A lot harder to talk about (and less fashionable) than a bunch of made up shit about "seeing the white light" or whatever

But for some reason people who evangelize them are in serious denial about those stories. I highly doubt you could do them for decades and not see some ugly shit

Tangentially related, but I'm currently winding down my SSRI prescription after some psilocybin therapy over 2 months ago that has made me feel normal and sometimes actually happy for the first time in over a decade. It's criminal the amount of time wasted and lives lost to the "war on drugs".

How were you able to take Psylocibin and be on an SSRI? I thought they diminished the effectiveness of the psychedelic.

Makes a ton of sense to me. Dr Sarno was quite aware of the mind body connection and attributed most chronic pain problems to repressed rage. Psychedelics may help with this as effectively as his program.

I’m really not sure why he’s never caught on more

https://youtu.be/cbF2HMXtfZ4

I know that for some (many?) people the mind-body connection is taboo. They'd rather see the body as a separate machine than recognizing that it's affected by psychological processes. A reason could be that they want to avoid dealing with their trauma's, which is would be something you'd have to do if you want to heal such physical ailments.

I'm pretty sure people acknowledge the placebo and nocebo effects.

That's a big "if" so more research is needed. LSD, psilocybin, ketamine, and such should all be trialed for treatment-resistant therapeutic targets. Depression is one that has already been identified and is treated clinically with ketamine. My mom takes a crapton of gabapentin for post-stroke trigeminal neuropathy pain, and it would be excellent if she could take less or none.

What a horrible headline. Psychedelics "could" threat "some" of the worst chronic pain in the world. I "could" be a multi-billionaire. I "could" be the most attractive man on Earth. I "could" be an alien from 100 light years away. Such a statement means absolutely nothing. I'm not even going to get in to how horrible the contents of the article is. It's vox, you should already know to skip it.

At this point any time I see a vox headline claiming something, I internalize it as a data point that the opposite of their claim is probably closer to the truth, and move on with my day.

I guess the difference is that there are not several independent communities praising you as the most attractive man on earth?

Or it could introduce new ones . It is not without side effects.

Introduce new what's? Are you referring to the title or something else?

Nothing is. Even aspirin has side effects for some people including headaches and chest pains.

"If it doesn't fix 100% of the problem it's not worth it"

This is a good point. They could cause hemorrhoids, hip dysplasia, mumps, gynecomastia, hirsutism etc. If you think about it anything could cause anything

I think all this should be taken with a piece of salt. 'reduce millions of people's amount of pain'... What do you think someone who has cluster headache will try when they say you will eat anything including shoe polish to diminish it? Most certainly psychedelics like LSD. If it works, good for them. I'm sure their miles will vary, otherwise much more progress in the treatment of things like cluster headaches would have already been made, both clinically and legislative wise.

My point being, the war on drugs in not really a blocker in this subject.

The war on drugs is a blocker because it’s extremely hard to conduct such studies where people get the option to sign up.

Would you do research on something that could get you a prison sentence for researching it?

And that’s why the war on drugs is inhibiting the subject. Most facilities aren’t willing to go through the process to get permission.

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