Psiloscribe

Michael, The best support one can get is support from the people that care about you. I know there are many people that truly care about you here and will support you the best we can. The worst cycle I ever experienced was caused by long term methadone treatments trying to temper an episode. I have a feeling you are were I was years ago. It didn't take too long to get thru the detox but it wasn't pretty. I know you can make it through what it takes. Just like with clusters, you need to make it thru one day at a time, one bad moment at a time. Remembering that it WILL get better and it WILL be well worth it. Also remembering that every day you get closer to the prize. If you ever want to talk on the phone, just IM me and we'll work it out. Be well, Bob

Which reminds me of a song...."Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way / The time is gone / The song is over / Thought I'd something more to say".... Good luck with the bust... Give the 02 battle a second thought. Once you win the fight, it may help for years to come. Plus, the more that fight to get it and win, the easier it will be for future combatants... Bob

Clusters were recorded before there was electricity running through wires over our heads and before automobiles were spraying DDT. Before Nintendo and before Jack Daniel decided to put a black label on his moonshine. Bob

Click your heels together,,,,wishes do come true.... Bob

Happy Birthday Denny. Thanks for all you have done and continue to do. Bob

Thank you all very much. It means a lot to me. It's been a great day. My daughter Tracy presented me with a new grandson this morning. Connor Robert..... Thank you all again, Bob

Happy Mother's Day ladies!! Bob

I have seen that one and it's very interesting. Bob

Thank you Carolyn, Very thoughtful of you. So, I understand you're coming to Chicago in September? ;D Bob

Thank you for posting your story Alex. E 'stato il mio piacere per aiutare Bob

Just wanted to thank the original donor on this and all the people that pulled it together to match the goal. Very cool and very much appreciated. Thank you all, Bob and the Clusterbuster community.

The feds would fight tooth and nail NOT to allow a post from here to be used as any evidence. Federal law does not allow for people using "why" as any evidence of drug use. A post from here would open the trial to the truth of cluster headaches. If I was on trial, I would fight tooth and nail to get my use of mushrooms as my treatment of choice for my clusters and every bit of scientific evidence of it's effectiveness admitted. IMHO, a trial is not a search for the whole truth. The largest arguments are over how much of each other's truths can be excluded. Bob Bitter? Me?

Great thread. This subject is one of my favorites and I've thought about it quite a bit. At this point, IMHO, Brew has nailed some of the points and that we don't "yet" have any evidence that the psychedelics have much to do with it, but.... Even at lower doses, many people are made aware of things around them that they hadn't noticed before. Mostly due to the pain previous years of prescription drug use. (Most of the prescription drugs we use are at very high doses, close to or above common usages) It doesn't take more than a "small" dose of psilocybin to bring some relief and also some tears. Realizing that all these years you haven't been alone. You're supporters have been there all along. Your kids still love you. You look around and realize that you've actually done a good job raising your family or growing into a productive adult. Psychedelics can cause a little soul searching even at low doses. You realize it isn't your fault. It's no one's fault. it's life. We did a little work last year looking at clusters and PTSD and what happens after using psychedelics. The unscientific results were quite staggering. I've always felt that people with clusters have suffered with PTSD even between cycles. Psychedelics are now thought to be very good treatments for PTSD. I have a lot of other thoughts on this but I'll leave it at that Bob

Thank you very much Mystina. It's not easy watching and it's not easy to put yourself out there, thank you. I will send the links to the people at Natgeo. If you can send me links to the others I would appreciate it. You never know which few seconds they may want. if anyone else wants to film themselves but don't have the equipment, Ben from NatGeo will send you a hand held cam to use. This is an opportunity to let the world know what clusters really are and may stop some of that: "Oh I have those once in a while too!!". Bob

Again this year we will be holding several raffles and a live auction at the September conference in Chicago. As always, we truly appreciate the donation of items from individuals and business, we will ensure your generosity is noted during the conference auction and raffle. All monies raised goes directly to ClusterBuster sponsored research into the treatment of cluster headache. If you would like to help with a donation, we ask that you arrange for shipment to Chicago: ClusterBusters, Inc. P.O. Box 574 Lombard Il. 60148 Please note; If for any reason, you'd rather not use the P.O. Box, please contact us via email for a residential shipping address: busterboard[at]hotmail.com The same email can be used if you have any questions about the auction/raffle or the conference in general Thank you Bob

Thanks very much to those that have donated to this goal. I know we did this not too long ago (and we did meet that one, thank you all) and it is a strain but when opportunity knocks I try to answer the door. ;-) We have a little way to go on this one. Thanks Bob

Anyone that is interested in being the supporting actor to Dan's lead role, you've got a couple weeks to get me the footage. ;-) Just a few short seconds is all ya need and no casting couch is involved LOL Bob

Great job Dan. Thank you very much! Bob

FYI, people that have chronic clusters do often go through high and low cycles. High cycle, when you're getting slammed on a regular basis and low cycle when you seem to have some good days and some bad days. Bob

An anonymous member has generously made a donation to ClusterBusters with a challenge. They will match all donations up to a total of $1000. Folks, that's up to $2K to help us continue to look for ways to treat cluster headache. We currently have several projects either in progress or we would like to start on, including BOL, treatment/medication survey and others. Yes, these are difficult times for many, so if you can help to match this contribution please do so. The link to PayPal is below, every bit helps. "A drop is the potential for us to do good. After a certain time, the drops fill the bucket." Even a dollar through paypal helps fill the bucket. We have a month to meet this goal as April 15th is the deadline. Tax day! On behalf of all the Clusterbusters and non-busting cluster sufferers and their families, Thank you all. Bob

I've been working with the producers trying to put together a show we can all be proud of and show the cluster story; The next request offers a way for more people to participate and includes people that are not using the "busting" methods as well as those that are. What they would like to do is produce a montage of short clips of people going through a cluster attack on film. Sort of something to show the face(s) of clusters. My guess is that in the end, it wouldn't be more than a few seconds of "face" time for each person. Of course you will be anonymous. The points they hope to illuminate are the wide range of people that suffer from the disease as well as showing that there are many people suffering and not just a few people using psychedelics to treat a rare disease. If you'd like to participate, here is what you would need to do. Film yourself (or have someone do it) on anything you have handy, your cell phone, a video recorder etc. It doesn't have to be long or contain anything you don't want to show. Let me know you have a clip either in a PM here or my email (psiloscribe at yahoo dot com) and we'll work out the details on getting it to NatGeo. if we can transfer it online we will do that or natGeo will pay for shipping a thumb drive ...or....? Whatever works. Feel free to spread the word Thanks ;-) Bob

wow, OK, where to start. It's obvious your GP has no idea how devastating and painful clusters can be. The only other option is that she does know, and doesn't care. I hope that wouldn't be the case. If she is the one that diagnosed clusters, I'd be worried. She probably thinks they are migraines that come and go. To make you wait three weeks to start trying to get 02 for you is ridiculous. Topamax is NOT an abortive and is supposed to be taken every day. Doses should be started out low (100mg a day or less. Some people need to start at 25mg a day) and built up to a therapeutic level. This is usually the point where you forget where your car keys are but you know what a car is. If you find your keys and try to start your toaster with the door lock remote, your dose is too high. It is not your GPs job to decide if you should get a script depending on if the insurance company will cover it. Its her job to write the script and to make the insurance company cover it as a medical necessity. Treximet is for migraines, not clusters. Its a slow acting tablet. Too slow to treat an attack and by the time the next attack comes around, it's worn off. Treximet is nothing more than a "patent play" used by the manufacturer to extend its patent on Imitrex. A study showed that Imitrex, when taken along with Naproxen (a simple tablet of Aleve) was a little more effective for migraines. Instead of simply telling people to take an Aleve along with their Imitrex tablet, they made a tablet with both and charged more money for it. (and got new patent protection on their exorbitant pricing structure) If your insurance company thinks you have migraines based upon what you've been prescribed, they may NOT cover the 02. It is sad, but there are many doctors out there that don't have a clue as to what clusters are or how to treat them. Bob

OK, I'm missing something here. The GP agrees that 02 is effective, so WHY didnt you get a script? The Trex is supposed to be enough? Rather than use the 02 while seeing if the topamax will work, you get to try it without having something that does work? You can't abort every attack with Trex and 02 is safer than trex. ...so... WTF? What am I missing? Bob If I'm missing nothing, I wouldn't have left without a script for 02.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20928025.400-earliest-evidence-for-magic-mushroom-use-in-europe.html EUROPEANS may have used magic mushrooms to liven up religious rituals 6000 years ago. So suggests a cave mural in Spain, which may depict fungi with hallucinogenic properties - the oldest evidence of their use in Europe. The Selva Pascuala mural, in a cave near the town of Villar del Humo, is dominated by a bull. But it is a row of 13 small mushroom-like objects that interests Brian Akers at Pasco-Hernando Community College in New Port Richey, Florida, and Gaston Guzman at the Ecological Institute of Xalapa in Mexico. They believe that the objects are the fungi Psilocybe hispanica, a local species with hallucinogenic properties. Like the objects depicted in the mural, P. hispanica has a bell-shaped cap topped with a dome, and lacks an annulus - a ring around the stalk. "Its stalks also vary from straight to sinuous, as they do in the mural," says Akers (Economic Botany, DOI: 10.1007/s12231-011-9152-5). This isn't the oldest prehistoric painting thought to depict magic mushrooms, though. An Algerian mural that may show the species Psilocybe mairei is 7000 to 9000 years old.

Not a problem CHFather, I knew what you meant. Personally, I think that Clusterbusters is the closest thing to an answer for you. OUCH is also out there Bob