I am writting a POV essay for my english class. The topic will be on the effectiveness of psilocybin for CH. I will be arguing in favor of the application to CH patients. Due to the high controversy of this topic, the majority of my paper will countering the criticism.

I have never used psilocybin to treat my CH, and I never will. I am an addict, and used some "hardcore drugs" in the past to treat CH. I had great success with one drug in particular, but was unable to quit using it when my cycle ended. It took 8 years for me to break the habbit.

I am interested in your criticisms of the use of psilocybin for CH. Please post more than "It didn't work for me." Redundancy is welcomed, so that I can find the main arguements to this topic.

Thanks,

Chris Morrow

Hi Chris,

The only criticism I have for psylocibin is it's illegality.  If I was not having some success in keeping my hits down to a manageable level I might try it anyway.  The primary reason I did not earlier was that my daughter was working with the local police dept, and then my son wanted to be a cadet with them.  I did not feel I could compromise their integrity with me growing it in the house.  The minute i hear of an approved study using it I will be first in line.

Jerry

Edit to add:  I know this is not the criticism you were looking for, but thought you needed both P'sOV.  I did research it thoroughly before making my decision.  I do applaud your recognition of the danger of using it yourself.

You have an excellent point, Joe! It will be quite a challenge to debate, but you just gave my writers block a jump start.

Thanks!

Chris

there are a few of us that are clinically depressed in which the use of mushrooms would not be recommended. they also can't be used if your on any other kind of medications.

never have i ever known mushrooms or lsd to be addictive.

Cool, Chris. Nothing beats the feeling of having completed an assignment that's done well and in which you're truly interested.

Now, where are those p-nut pics?

Ya wanna post the paper???  I'd find it interesting.

Jerry

Here is my first paper. It is a personal narrative. The Psilocybin paper is under a rewrite and I will post it when it is complete (my grade of 95 was not good enough for me).

Christopher B Morrow
Jessica Hutchman
ENG111
3 June 2009

                                         The Devil’s Fury

"Cluster headaches are excruciating unilateral headaches, of extreme intensity. The duration of the common attack ranges from as short as fifteen minutes to three hours or more. The onset of an attack is rapid, and most often without the preliminary signs that are characteristic of a migraine. However, some sufferers report preliminary sensations of pain in the general area of attack, often referred to as "shadows," that may warn them an attack is imminent. Though the headaches are almost exclusively unilateral, there are many documented as cases of "side-shifting" between cluster periods, or, even rarer, simultaneously (within the same cluster period) bilateral headache. They are often initially mistaken for brain tumors and multiple sclerosis until patients are treated with corticosteroids and then imaged." (Wikipedia)

     The headaches have been going on for three days in July of 1996 at 12:11 PM. The Devil is never one minute late.  These were the days filled with fear and anxiety of the Devil.  There is a ritual that I have endured every time we have met in the last thirteen years, yet I still question if it is really going to be a dance or another shadow.  It starts with a droop in my right eyelid, and is followed by tears flowing only from the right eye. Next, I am unable to breathe through my nose; it is similar to a severe allergy attack on your sinuses.  Lastly, the pain begins.  The progression is rather quick, but minutes seem like hours and hours seem like days.  Pressure, the size of my fingertip, is felt on the center of my right eyebrow, and in the next sixty seconds, I am disabled from what the medical community describes as the most exquisite pain known to man. 

     It feels like a burning ice pick has pierced through my eye, and the dance begins.  The pain is blinding.  I scream, cry, bang my head, and my arms flail violently until my hands find my head.  I place one palm over the center of pain and the other at the opposite side of my head.  Now I press with such force, hoping to crush my skull, and then release. This does intensify the pain, however it provides me with a few seconds of much needed relief.  The beast continues to torture me.  I wonder if it will end as it did in days past.  I cannot remember what it feels like to be normal, and I wish just to feel normal, nothing more.  Now, the tears are flowing.  It hurts badly.  I want to die!  The Devil continues. I am unable to fight anymore; there is no strength left, and the pain is still there.  After an hour of this torture, it ends as quickly as it began.  I try to regain my composure, but there is no strength left.  My first cycle is over by the end of July 1996, and I did not seek medical attention due to the fear of how bad my prognosis would be.

     November of 2000, the pain now has a name: Cluster Headaches. I still know it by The Devil, The Beast, or The Demon.  I have seen four different doctors, and the last one figured it out. He has a plan. I’ve had a few hits at 4:17 AM, but I have a diagnosis and medicine.  Life is going well, the Prednisone Taper over the next two weeks resulted in pain free days.

     The steroids ran out and there has been no sign of The Beast, but the shadows are back.  I wake from a sound sleep at 4:17 AM.  I do not believe he is back.  It cannot be.  Oh, Lord!  He is back and madder than ever, and I’m out of meds.  I have been through this suffering for the past four years, and it will end in a few months.  Now it has a name and it is time to find a way to defeat the Cluster Headaches.  I wonder if anyone feels the pain that I do; am I alone?

     Christmas 2008.  I despise the dry winter months.  I know they bring The Devil out, but this year has been the worst to date.  I have four to six attacks each night.  I have not had much sleep, and all of my energy has been drained from the last battle with The Devil.  I do my best to keep my children from seeing, but Anna has viewed it several nights this week.  She doesn’t understand, and she is afraid. She wonders if this will happen to her.  The Devil has found an additional way to torture me now.

     At this point, I have attempted almost every treatment for Cluster Headaches, but there is one that I have not tried.  All of the medicine that I have tried has not yielded long term success.  There are some people out there who are convinced that this treatment works.  It just sounds too good to be true.

     Over the years I have been led to believe that “this pill” and “this lifestyle” will end the pain.  I have been fooled too many times.  I have now joined a group that understands my condition and me.  They seem sincere, but it may turn out to be another scam.  They say medical oxygen will work.  It works for most with cluster headaches, but I keep falling into the small percentage of patients that does not get relief from the medicine prescribed to me.  I am at the end of my rope. I cannot bear to have my children see me this way ever again.  My wife has been a saint, but I can see the burden she must bear during my cycles.

     December 28, 2008 12:12 AM:  He is here, and He is on time.  Get to the oxygen.  Focus.  Breathe.  The Devil is down in thirty minutes, and I did not receive my usual beating.  Maybe it was just a shadow, or did it really work?

     2:47 AM.  He is back, and not a minute late.  The Devil is never a minute late. He comes to me at the exact same time every day, and has done this from the beginning.  I begin to debate. Is it a shadow? I am exhausted.  I have not had a good night’s sleep in weeks.  I do not want to get up.  By 2:51 AM, I know it is not a shadow.  I have no choice but to get up now, and I am running for the oxygen.  The Devil is down in twenty minutes.

     I have never won a battle with The Devil until now.  Throughout thirteen years of suffering, I did not believe I would ever win a battle with The Devil.  I will continue to fight, and I have become a supporter to others with Cluster Headaches.   I have the weapons needed, and have only been bested a few times.  I now understand that the anticipation of the next hit does not rule my life, the greatest success comes from failure, and I have never been alone.  That is the only way to win!

Wikipedia. Version 1.2.  2 June 2009 <Multimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or ;

Well written documentary of your bouts with "the Devil".  I'm looking forward to what you have come up with on psylocibin.

Jerry