Posted by Flash (194.73.188.47) on September 19, 2000 at 16:53:15:
In Reply to: Shroom Update (three days)-ADVICE NEEDED!!! posted by Graham on September 19, 2000 at 13:46:01:
OK a couple of things that you may have already ascertained if you've read my entire history of posts over the years.
I discovered this treatment by accident during recreational drug use about 7 years ago. I was taking a full recreational hit of LSD. When I switched to shrooms I started with a full hit and then worked down to the minimum I felt I could get away with.
What is the difference between a chronic and an episodic? (Rhetorical question) The episodic has periods of remission. Why is this? It's certainly a possibility that a chronic is caught in a very viscious circle. The longer someone has been chronic, the more out of whack their system might be. This may not make scientific sense, but there's certainly a logic to it!
What I'm getting at is that perhaps it's harder for a chronic to break the cycle. It may require a higher dose of shrooms initially. Subsequently you might get away with smaller doses.
It may even be that you only need to repeat the low dose a few times, although both Pinky and Q have reasons for believing that this wont work.
Back to my own experience. I deliberately skipped the shroom treatment in 1997 to test whether the CH wold come back. It did :( And stupidly I hadn't preserved any shrooms that year (false confidence - I didn't really believe my own theory at the time), anyhow the attack came exactly 12 months later and it was the MF of all attacks. Due to the time of year (Christmas) I couldn't even track down any LSD to abort it, so I stupidly used analgesics, these caused awful rebnound HAs. In fact I didn't know what a #10 was until then... In September 1998 I went looking for shrooms. I couldn't get the right type, only those other ones that look similar but aren't as strong. I waited until a new CH episode started, this was in October, I let it get well under way. Then I did the experiment with the whiskey, beer and the less potent shrooms (I'm either brave or stoopid), anyhow the shrooms aborted the HA, but I was left with shadows for another 48 hours before the cluster fully aborted. This is not dissimilar from your situations.
What I'd do is:
1) Personally I'd stop the verapmill (but like I said, I'm either brave or stoopid). Perhaps it isn't one of those things you can just stop overnight, I don't know - you'd have to find out.
2) I'd wait until a week after the first dose just to give it time.
3) Then I'd try it again, but don't go over 18 shrooms at this time. The effects will be similar, but slightly more pronounced.
Up at the 25 shroom level things start to get a tad 'different'. It's better to drink the solution over a 30min period, this makes for a smoother onset and a shorter duration. The effects of 25+ shrooms would be much more noticeable. It no longer feels like just a couple of beers. 25 shrooms is the starting point for recreational use.
One other important point, and this is something that Pinky and I appear to disagree on: under no circumstance would I consume the mushrooms raw. The may contain parasites that can cause problems. This may only be a particular parasite found it the Liberty Cap, but personally I wouldn't risk it. I know people that have taken them raw, and nothing bad happened to any of them, but there is certainly a risk, and I don't believe it's one worth taking. The risk of gastric upset also varies from species to species, and Liberty Cap isn't the most edible thing out there!
On the whole I think the feedback is verging on positive - I guess the new priority is to discover whether a significant dose will break the cycle of a long term chronic. Then we need to establish whether a reasonable period of remission occurs after the cycle is broken. I'd put a 14 clear days (and nights) down as a break in the cycle. I'd hope that subsequently the chronic sufferer would get at least 3 months remission. This would make the treatmenr viable. I'd then hope that the minimum dose could be used to prolong the remission indefinately. However we still haven't suceeded in breaking the remission in either instance.
Graham - I am in the UK too, so email me if you'd like to be in phone contact. This may be a good idea if you intend taking a higher dose.
Flash