LSD Found to Reduce Anxiety in Terminally Ill Patients

[Formaldehyde]

That is the inherent problem with it being manufactured by amateurs instead of by highly regulated pharmaceutical companies. The dosage and the noxious byproducts are quite hit and miss. It is also why many people prefer psilocybin mushrooms or peyote.

 

[BvBPL]

The experience of Wayne Ritchie and the like demonstrates that pharmaceutical impurity is not the only reason for bad trips.

 

[Winston Hughes]

I have yet to even meet a single "acid head" based on the definition of the word.

Well, I've known maybe twenty people who fitted that description at some point in the past, and they themselves have known many more. These are people for whom regular tripping forms an important part of their lives, both creatively (all are artists and/or musicians) and socially.

I should add, though, that most of the guys I'm still in touch with are now more inclined - when possible - to use other hallucinogens (such as ayahuasca and mescaline) instead of LSD. Partly, this is because the environments in which they trip have changed over time (fewer illegal raves, more communing with nature), and partly because the quality of acid available these days is apparently not what it used to be.

The stories of people jumping out of windows and such are largely apocryphal.

But only 'largely'. Alongside those I've mentioned who did come to actual harm:

I've seen a guy wandering towards a railway track, saying he wanted to hug a train (thankfully, someone else had something shiny with which to distract him).

I've seen someone get pulled from a car by his friends after attempting to drive off whilst completely out of his mind, convinced that, despite his inability to see the road, God would ensure his safe passage.

I've had to pick up a friend of mine (along with his passengers) who convinced himself that his car didn't need fuel because "it runs on love", and so refused to stop at a service station.

I've had to confiscate a friend's toothbrush and ban him from going to the bathroom without a chaperone because he'd brushed his teeth seven times in less than an hour, and his gums had started bleeding.

I've had to convince the same friend that telling off an extremely large, heavily-tatooed, and distinctly menacing Scotsman for selling him a 'dodgy' bacon sandwich would be an error, not least because there was nothing wrong with the sandwich - he just wasn't hungry. (This friend in particular has a habit of doing and saying very odd things whilst tripping - curious because, when sober, he gives the impression of being the most ordinary, conventional guy you'd ever meet).

 

[El_Machinae]

Woah, that really was a small study. Group size of 8? Huh. Now, I'm blanking on how to do power analysis on nonparametric experiments, but something people need to remember.
Most studies are designed to have a 'accidental rate' of 5%, which means there is (roughly) a 5% chance that an experiment will yield a 'false positive' even if there is no effect. This could easily be one of those.

Does that mean it shouldn't be replicated? Not at all. That's what pilot studies are for after all.

I am of the strong belief that 'suffering mitigation' for the terminally ill is a moral commandment. And, after that, cure the condition that causes the terminal illness.

 

[Hygro]

Another study among many showing how psychedelics + therapy = unusually successful therapy. So far I've seen this with LSD, Psilocybin, and MDMA.

 

[El_Machinae]

Ketamine, too. For depression.

 

[FriendlyFire]

How many of those who have mostly or completely negative perceptions of the drug have any actual personal experience with it?

Because as far back as ancient times the properties of drugs like opium were well known drug to deal with pain and medical properties but were controlled carefully due to its extreme addictive and side effects properties ?

 

[Tahuti]

Ketamine, too. For depression.

Ketamine isn't a controlled subtance though, since it is actually used to sedate animals.

 

[Narz]

Lucky terminally ill patients get to have all the fun!

Nice to see you still here, Dawgphood.

 

[CavLancer]

Was in a hospital where they gave me morphine for pain. I really like the stuff, a great pain killer and attitude adjuster. Addictive, so they say. I was only on it for a few days and while I definitely missed the stuff it could not be termed withdrawal.

I did resolve however that if I was ever dying and in pain I'd go to the stuff again in a heartbeat. I'd spend my last days floating in joyful expectation of leaving this planet and even feel good about the transition process. I'd feel good about the first anyway but the transition, actually dying, isn't a pleasant thought. But! if I can get morphine with little life ahead to worry about addiction, its the answer to fear of death.

 

[El_Machinae]

It's now considered common knowledge in the pain community that morphine (et al) aren't addictive if they're used to actually manage physical pain. People can quit cold-turkey after months. But, once people start using it for the high, then it becomes addictive.

 

[Borachio]

^ I've heard that. I'm really not sure it's true at all.

There's something illogical about saying "once people start using it for the high, then it becomes addictive" since, I think, once you're addicted you're no longer using it for the high, but to avoid the pain of withdrawal.

Still, what do I know? I did get addicted to dihydrocodeine (which is a morphine derivative, I believe - I could be wrong.). Although getting over it was certainly less troublesome than nicotine addiction.

My mother was certainly addicted to morphine for the last ten years of her life. And I don't ever remember her being "high".

 

[Gucumatz]

DSL found to increase anxiety in terminally slow patients.

 

[El_Machinae]

Oh, yeah, I'd for sure recommend acting as if it's not true.

 

[Borachio]

Pardon? What do you mean? I think I detect a note of sarcasm.

 

[El_Machinae]

Nope, none. I'd treat opiods with caution at all times.

 

[CavLancer]

It's now considered common knowledge in the pain community that morphine (et al) aren't addictive if they're used to actually manage physical pain. People can quit cold-turkey after months. But, once people start using it for the high, then it becomes addictive.

Wonderful. Such results are fascinating as they take into account intention of the individual. How intention interacts between a substance and a cell is what I find remarkable. Now I'm going to make a leap. Its as if the person needing the stuff for pain doesn't need to be punished for its use while the self involved stud looking for another thrill needs some correction.

 

[Rashiminos]

For most people the use of LSD to open oneself is both premature and risky.

I've seen someone get pulled from a car by his friends after attempting to drive off whilst completely out of his mind, convinced that, despite his inability to see the road, God would ensure his safe passage.

I've heard a similar account in which the affected person described the road as looking substantially different than it looked to the passengers in the same car.

 

[Narz]

For most people the use of LSD to open oneself is both premature and risky.

What do you mean by premature? Actually while I'm here, what do you mean by risky?

 

[Rashiminos]

What do you mean by premature? Actually while I'm here, what do you mean by risky?

Premature in that LSD-use mimics a rare, but natural process, and risky in that a user may undergo a permanent change in personality, possibly developing psychosis.