Ricardo

Another interesting experience with the dentist. This time I was going for 2 cavities filled. I had just busted with high dose mushrooms about 6 days before and was finally feeling like my clusters that always come out hard at this time of year had faded. When I went into the dentist, no cluster at all. She got me all set up and injected the novicaine/ephedrine (how many people are aware that pretty much ALL novicaine they inject you with also has ephedrine? I didn't until recently...) The shot hurt like hell at first (like usual) then everything went crazy. She obviously hit a nerve with either the needle or just the novicaine mixture, because I had white hot fire trace the entire nerve from the point of injection, up through my face and into my eye. Immediate kip 9 in my right eye. I sat bolt right up and started hyperventilating--the look on the dentists face was absolute horror, she had no idea what was going on. In between breaths I explained that a heavy duty cluster was in full swing and she went to get me ice. Strangest of all, was that my eye went completely numb--yet I still had a kip 9 in that eye. How does that make any sense at all? Reminds me of the story about the guy that had his trigeminal nerve severed and STILL got clusters...The dentist gets back with ice and put it to my head. Unfortunately, it did absolutely nothing, because my eye was completely numb and not feeling the cold. I think I started getting kinda crazy, the whole situation was so surreal--ridiculous pain and completely numb at the same time in the same place, I started to laugh thinking "WTF is going on?!? Is this a dream? If it is, it's a pretty shitty dream..." while rocking back and forth in miserable pain. Now I can't see straight because my numb eye can't focus, and I'm trying to (unsuccesfully) wrestle my Imitrex injector out of my murse. Luckily by now the dentist had the nitrous tank set up and put the mask on. Within less then a minute the pain faded, within 5 it was gone for most of the day. Thank god for Nitrous. It unfortunately did not have the same long term effect that I got the last time I received heavy duty nitrous, and I found myself in a heavy duty cluster cycle within a day or 2. One of the days I found myself getting hit hard at work, by the time I got home and made some mushroom tea I was a wreck, could hardly stand and was so ready to puke it wasn't funny. Worst part about getting all pukey is that I KNOW I'm not going to be able to keep the shroom tea down long enough for it to work it's magic and abort my cluster, so I got out my whipped cream charger and inhaled 3 cartridges worth of nitrous. Instant, complete relief that only lasted a few minutes, but when it wore off my cluster was at a kip 4-5 instead of 8-9, and no more nausea. I drank my tea, busted my cluster and have been much better since then. A long week indeed. At least now I know no dentist ever touches my teeth again without hooking me up to a nitrous tank first. -Ricardo

You know, when I think of it, There is a supplement that I was taking for a little while that I felt lessened the likelihood of me getting hit after having a drink. I can usually have one drink and be all right, but much more than that and I get hit. I don't even remember why I started taking this, I think just for general detoxification purposes...I also don't remember why I stopped taking it...But I remember thinking that it worked, at least enough to make it so I could have about 2 drinks instead of just the one.  N-acetylcysteine, many people take it for hangover prevention. The substance itself does not stay in your body for very long, the one I have heard reccomended (and what I was taking) is this one from Jarrow--it's a muti-layered pill that breaks down slowly to keep the level constant in your body longer. http://www.jarrow.com/product/323/N-A-C_SUSTAIN  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acetylcysteine For an depth write up of what is going on with Alcohol toxicity and how NAC prevents it, check this out... http://www.ceri.com/alcohol.htm One thing I should make clear--if you are a person that gets hit hard by small amounts of alcohol, I really doubt if this is going to prevent you from getting hit. -Ricardo

By far, I have heard this as the biggest reason ch'ers want a drink, not because the want to get drunk, but because they want some semblance of a normal life back. 1eye----No worries, we have all said stupid stuff on here at some point that we wished we hadn't....  (trust me ) -Ricardo

Seriously? Can't we just answer questions without resorting to calling people "pathetic"? He didn't even say anything about getting drunk. just that he wanted to have a drink...And even if he enjoys the inebriation that alcohol provides and wants to experience it again, why does that make him "pathetic"? My experience in life has been this--All my life I have brewed beer or mead, I love the experience and chemistry that is involved, I love the ancient origins of it, and I love tasting the final product that my hard work has made. I find the entire experience beautiful and rewarding, and if I could not imbibe my brew and experience the effects I get from it it would probably make me very sad. (I think it would also make me not so happy to be a newby with 2 posts asking a legitimate question and end up being called "pathetic" or making generalizations that I had not said at all--like saying it was their "first priority to drink after their CH". He in no way said that it was a "priority", or said it was the main thing the ch stops him from doing--he just asked a question) No offense 1eye, just my 2 cents... -Ricardo

http://psychedemia.org/

I bet there is somebody out there that used to own a black cat that is really pissed right now...

For some people they are just as effective or more. It seems like it all depends on your brain chemistry, and you never really know what will work better for you until you try them both.

One effect of antidepressants can be a reduced effectiveness of the hallucinogens, although I know there are people on here that have gotten it to work for them. One thought I had was that the LSA containing seeds have a major sedative effect, many people take them and go right to sleep. I personally have not taken many pharmaceuticals that have knocked me out as hard as a good dose of morning glory seeds. I have never heard of anyone taking them for insomnia, but it wouldn't surprise me if they worked. There is also good evidence that drugs like the ones we use for busting can fight off depression for months at a time after just one good dose, so maybe the seeds could be a good all around therapy for you. The major caution I would put out there is to remember that to always be careful when you are taking psychedelics during times of great stress, like a marriage breakup. Many people will tell you to just not do it, that there is a danger of doing something stupid like offing yourself...Unless you're feeling really off the wall and out of control of yourself already, I disagree. I think these drugs can help sort out a lot of emotions and let you get back in touch with the reality of your feelings without some of the baggage and hurt that can go along with the situation--but I REALLY think you should have somebody else around to kinda keep an eye on you. Good luck with all that you're dealing with, I hope you can get some relief from your depression, pain, and sleepless nights. -Ricardo

Here's two studies done by Dr. Andrew Sewell, one with Psilocybin and LSD and one with LSA containing seeds. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16801660 http://www.maps.org/research/sewell_2008_aha_lsa_poster.pdf

Another way is to just make tea, you don't actually have to ingest the mushrooms.

I'm betting this is the first step in another amazing chapter of your life. You are an amazing person and I am sure that in time this is going to attract another amazing person that recognizes your true worth. Congratulations on your new found freedom and sympathies for what you've had to go through. That dude sounds like a real douche-bag. -Ricardo

I think that may be the best doctor story I have ever heard

I have to say, that video that you posted 1eye, was frickin awesome. Also very thick with medical jargon, one of the few video's I've watched where I had to keep stopping the video and googleing terms, saying to myself--"what the hell is he talking about?!?" I actually started taking notes, I felt like I was back in school. For a lot of it to sink in, I really think I'm going to have to watch it again...but I got a lot out of it the first time around too. One thing I thought was amazing was that he said something about the tryptamine hallucinogens causing some sort of firing in your brain that was similar to REM sleep. I know with myself, if I miss a good nights sleep it really messes with me--UNLESS I take hallucinogens and stay up all night, then I can get 3 or 4 hours sleep and be fine. Maybe this has something to do with it. I watched this a couple weeks ago and the memory is a little fuzzy, but that really stuck out to me...especially with it seeming like cluster headache and sleep disorders having some sort of connection...but maybe it's just a coincidence. Another thing that surprised me was when he was talking about that effect you were talking about 1eye, where dopamine ends up getting released towards the end of the trip. He said what you had said, that many people want the trip to stop..He went furthur though, saying many people experience a lot of anxiety at this point too...I have never really experienced this, but I wonder if it might be the case with some friends of mine who get anxiety from LSD--gonna have to ask them if it's really just towards the end.  I also wonder, will it help people to know that anxiety might be coming? Maybe just making it a schedule and knowing that your 6 hour mark is coming up and you should probably start some anti-anxiety herbs might help. (maybe) Have other people experienced this anxiety or not too happy about the trip effect after 6 or so hours on LSD? -Ricardo

Unfortunately, in the US many times they can prosecute you for legal substances that LOOK like illegal substances if you haven't labeled them. In other words, you can be arrested and charged for marijuana if they find ANY green leafy substance on you that does not say what it is. One thing they try to claim at times is that you knew what it was, but that you PLANNED on selling it as an illegal drug. Always label your herbs.

Careful--many people (myself included) find that adding mint to your seeds will cause a reaction changing your sedating seeds into something much more LSD like (many people claim this is LSH, and from what I have read I wouldn't be surprised if it was true)Â If you're the type of person that likes to take seeds and go to sleep, I would be wary that this might just keep you up all night. I know I have heard that LSA will degrade with heat, but I have never been able to find anything substantiating that...

Actually it's coming from the molecular structure of LSD, because it has both a tryptamine "backbone" AND a phenethylamine "backbone"...This makes it so it can hit the receptors for both. http://www.drugs-forum.com/photopost/data/537/LSAbackbones.png Ain't that the truth!  Recently when I was reading Stanislov Grof's "Realms of the Human Unconscious, Observations from LSD research" he says   "The search for the typical, mandatory pharmacological effects of LSD was an important aspect of my analytical work on the LSD data. The result of this quest was rather surprising; after analyzing over thirty eight hundred records from LSD sessions, I have not found a single symptom that would be an absoloutely constant component in all of them and could be thus considered truly invariant." Truer words have not been spoken, we all owe them a debt of gratitude...Especially when they are willing to do what they do in the face of all our drug war propaganda. -Ricardo

Thanks for that post, I haven't gotten a chance to watch it yet but I'm definitely going to....I've seen some other things with David Nichol's and he seems like an amazing dude. A year or two ago I stumbled on the info about LSD boosting dopamine as well as serotonin...and the effect that LSD has on me made a lot more sense. I get more energetic, and my brain feels a bit more "streamlined". The biggest mystery too me about my experiences started to make sense to me too--Mainly "how come I can take MORE mushrooms if I take LSD too?" Like a lot more... Cause it's a lot like taking a bit of stimulant like cocaine or amphetamine (both dopamine boosting substances) with your mushrooms. This also touches on one of the cooler aspects of LSD, that it is a very "atypical" tryptamine. Some people have argued that it is not even a true tryptamine (I disagree) I think the most accurate assesment of it I've seen is that it is a tryptamine with phenethylamine (class of drugs that mescaline, MDMA, and all the "2C" drugs live in) qualities, but when you really look around you find people making convincing arguments that it is just a tryptamine, that it is both, or that it is neither and deserves to be it's own thing. Here's a link to a bunch of people talking about it... https://www.dmt-nexus.me/forum/default.aspx?g=posts&t=8150 And while we're talking about it, I have to admit that I've wondered if combining Psilocybin with an MAO inhibitor is causing dopamine release too--only because when I take mushrooms it feels so much more LSD like. Just a theory.... Thanks again for posting that 1eye, I'm looking forward to watching it. -Ricardo

D'oh! http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2012/04/feds-shutter-online-narcotics-store-that-used-tor-to-hide-its-tracks.ars?src=fbk

Finally available on YouTube, pretty sure that other link has been taken down http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rs6h7XX5T8U

I think Larry Keel has set up permanent residence in my head... "How bout some love for everyone? too much reality and not enough fun when it seems the end is drawing near... do not fear... see the sun" http://larrykeel.bandcamp.com/track/love

None at all, to anyone. I understand why I've upset some people and I'll try and make it happen less often. I'm sure part of the problem is that I didn't take the time to point out any of the obviously really great parts of the website...It does look good, and it does make it easier to find the info posted. On the next update I would love to be able to add some suggestions, links, or maybe references, but if that's not needed I understand. I really am very thankful for all the people who have contributed their time, money, and effort to this site and this recent update. I'm sorry if I haven't shown that clearly enough, but I do. -Ricardo

I wasn't trying to imply that her case was mild, just that her case was ONE case....Obviously if they are giving you Ketamine in the ER for any type of headache it's got to be a bad one. My real point was that she was misunderstanding what I had said, and was saying Dr. Krusz was wrong without really understanding the study he did. Sorry. I don't know how to balance challenging the inaccuracies with keeping everybody happy. -Ricardo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=nITLob098W8

Dr. Sewell was referring to a study done by John Claude Krusz with a small number of cluster headache patients. In his study, he found that IV ketamine abolished the ongoing cluster headache episodes in all 4 cases treated. No one at any point has ever said that ketamine works 100% in all cluster headache sufferers. In fact, I don't think there is any drug that has been found to work 100% of the time for cluster headaches, ever. No offense meant, but before we call out an esteemed cluster headache researcher and say he's "wrong", we should probably read the abstract that we are claiming is wrong. http://www.sbcefaleia.com/component/content/article/94-61th-annual-meeting/59-iv-ketamine-in-the-clinic-to-treat-cluster-headache As far as your experiences, maybe you are one of those people it just won't work for. My guess is that they did not give you a big enough dosage, seeing as how you didn't feel much of an effect. I know with me, sometimes the ketamine does not get rid of the pain, but I sure as hell feel the effects! I also highly doubt that the study Dr. Krusz did was on mild cases of cluster headache patients--he convinced people to try an experimental, untested study with a drug that many many people really hate in high dosages. My guess would be that people that sign up for these kind of studies are usually not mild cases of cluster headache. Purple--I really appreciate all your support  I also really appreciate all the PM's I've gotten from people that are hesitant to post support in public -Ricardo

Have you had contact with migraine sufferers that have gotten relief from busting? I have always suspected that it would help, but have been reluctant to recommend to some friends with migraines because I had never known anyone that had success with it--I would love to hear more about this.