Posted by pinksharkmark (196.3.74.236) on September 19, 2000 at 14:57:39:
In Reply to: Shroom Update (three days)-ADVICE NEEDED!!! posted by Graham on September 19, 2000 at 13:46:01:
Since you are a chronic clusterhead, it is not surprising that a single minimal dose didn't do the trick for you. Disappointing, certainly, but not unexpected.
One trick that worked well for Monique's husband, Greg, was to tuck a small piece of mushroom under his tongue at the first sign of a shadow... she said he used a piece about half the size of a pencil eraser. Of course, he was using dried mushrooms rather than fresh ones, so you would probably have to use a bigger piece than that... maybe three times the size of what Greg tried. Monique said that doing this aborted his headache within ten minutes.
If I were in your position, I would take another dose, but a larger dose this time. Rather than using twelve mushrooms, try eighteen. Make sure it has been at least 96 hours since the previous dose. If you still have no luck, take a third dose of twenty-four mushrooms, once again waiting at least 96 hours between doses.
It is unlikely that a dose of eighteen mushrooms would give you much more of a "buzz" than the first dose of twelve did. A dose of twenty-four, however, would probably start to give some detectable effects. Certainly nothing very heavy, but I wouldn't plan on driving anywhere for several hours.
It could very well be the case, Graham, that you may have to repeat this dosage of twelve to eighteen mushrooms once a week for a while in order to stay headache free. It is logical to expect chronic clusterheads to have to dose more frequently than episodic clusterheads.
On the other hand, it is also quite possible that all that is required is a dose slightly higher than the "borderline" doses that episodic sufferers require.
You had said before that you found some fields that were brimming with Liberty Caps. My suggestion would be to pay another visit to these fields and collect as many more as you can find, just in case you need to re-dose on a regular basis.
As for forgetting the shrooms altogether and simply increasing your daily intake of verapamil, well... you can up the dose of verapamil at any time, right? Many here use much more than 240 mg of verapamil daily with no problems.
I think it would be a shame to abandon the mushrooms without at least a couple more tries, though. When you first started taking verapamil, how long did it take for it to start working? I'm betting it took a lot more than a single dose before it kicked in. And I also bet that you had to increase the dose once or twice before you started to get any relief.
You have reported 66 hours (apart from a 5 minute shadow) of pain free time from a single minimal dose of mushrooms. A question... when was the last time you went that long without a hint of a headache? Another question... if you had to take a cup of tea every 96 hours for the rest of your life in order to stay pain free, would it be worth it? Or was the relief you were getting from the standard meds superior?
Hmm... after reviewing the last few paragraphs, I realize that I may sound a bit argumentative here. I don't mean to be. I am honestly interested in your answers to my questions. I do feel, however, that is way too early to abandon the mushrooms completely.
Graham, I thank you once again for posting your results, regardless of whether they are positive or negative. You and Q are the first two long-term chronic sufferers to give us feedback on this treatment, and the information you two are providing is invaluable. Stavi has been completely pain free for two months now, but she had been chronic for only the last year, so her case is not directly comparable. Flash and all the other previous posters were episodic, so again their cases are not directly comparable. Whatever you decide your next step should be, please keep us informed.
Thank you
pinky