Potential analgesic effects of psychedelics on select chronic pain conditions: A survey study

This survey study (n=170) aimed to understand the effectiveness of classical psychedelics in treating chronic pain conditions compared to conventional treatments. The analysis focused on five specific conditions: fibromyalgia, arthritis, migraine, tension-type headache, and sciatica. Results showed that, except for sciatica, participants reported better pain relief using psychedelics than with conventional medication. Specifically, full psychedelic doses outperformed conventional treatments, while microdoses provided significantly better relief for migraines and comparable relief for the other three conditions.

Abstract of Potential analgesic effects of psychedelics on select chronic pain conditions

“Background Chronic pain is a major cause of suffering and disability and is often associated with psychiatric complications. Current treatments carry the risk of severe side effects and may lead to limited or no relief at all in a relevant portion of this patient population. Preliminary evidence suggests that classical psychedelics (e.g. LSD and psilocybin) may have analgesic effects in healthy volunteers, and in certain chronic pain conditions and observational studies reveal that they are used in naturalistic settings as a means to manage pain.

Methods In order to gain insight on the effectiveness of such compounds in chronic pain conditions, we set up a survey addressed to chronic pain patients inquiring about psychedelic use and the relief levels achieved with both conventional treatments, full psychedelic doses and microdoses. We analysed data related to five conditions selected based on diagnostic homogeneity within each of them: fibromyalgia, arthritis, migraine, tension-type headache and sciatica.

Results Except for sciatica, volunteers reported that psychedelics led to better pain relief compared to conventional medication in all examined conditions. More specifically, full doses performed better than conventional medication. Microdoses led to significantly better relief compared to conventional medication in migraines and achieved comparable relief in the remaining three categories. Implications for future research are discussed.

Conclusions Full doses and microdoses may hold value in the treatment of some specific chronic pain conditions.

Significance Psychedelic substances are receiving increasing attention from the scientific literature because of evidence showing beneficial effects on several measures related to mental health in clinical samples and healthy volunteers samples. Previous evidence suggests that people suffering from chronic pain are using psychedelics to seek relief and the present paper presents the results of a survey study investigating their use and analgesic effects among individuals suffering from fibromyalgia, arthritis, migraine, tension-type headache and sciatica.”

Authors: Mauro Cavarra, Natasha L. Mason, Kim P. C. Kuypers, Valerie Bonnelle, Will J. Smith, Amanda Feilding, Pamela Kryskow & Johannes G. Ramaekers

Summary of Potential analgesic effects of psychedelics on select chronic pain conditions