LSD for alcoholism?

[SlipperyPete]

I've been "researching" psychedelics lately for alcoholism, and I'm a little disappointed with the results. I've been able to break a drinking habit with a large dose of mushrooms, but that effect didn't last. I've only done ayahuasca three times, but wasn't able to purge anything meaningful. I'm going to do Ibogaine pretty soon, and I'm looking forward to that. That seems to give people 3-12 months of anti-addictive properties.

Honestly, though, I don't believe in the whole "insight into your illness" aspect of psychedelics. I think every alcoholic knows down to their core that drinking alcoholically is harmful. The benefit lies in the interruption of addiction and ability to stop cravings. Also, Bill W suggested LSD use as a means of obtaining the spiritual experience that is basically required for AA. It's almost impossible to do certain psychs without having a mystical experience, especially psilocybin. I think that's a great thing to experience, but as of now, I don't think the classical psychs (LSD, mushrooms, mescaline) are really a "cure" for addiction

Edit: I forgot to mention that I do believe that psychedelics can help immensely with emotional, mental, and spiritual issues

[spiritwolf333]

Hi SP -Thanks for this objective information. I really am curios about these types of drugs and the potential positive impacts they may have on mental illnesses.

[spiritwolf333]

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/14-days-psilocybin-hallucinogen-in-mushrooms-addiction-treatment/

Fellow sufferers from Alcohol Use Disorder. Please do not give up hope. A lot of new research is now being performed to help us all. If baclofen did not work for you, please consider trying some of the other medications now available. Whatever you decide, please just don't give up hope. A lot more science based information is on the way.

[Alky]

Fellow sufferers from Alcohol Use Disorder. Please do not give up hope. A lot of new research is now being performed to help us all. If baclofen did not work for you, please consider trying some of the other medications now available. Whatever you decide, please just don't give up hope. A lot more science based information is on the way.

Medications are not mutually exclusive, either. I am on gabapentin, baclofen and naltrexone simultaneously. A single medication need not be the end all.

And just my $.02 about 12 step. Despite Bill W.'s use of hallucinogens, AA can work because it provides a support network. If you have a large network of supportive friends and family who can relate to your struggle and are supportive, perhaps AA is not necessary for you. But addiction is centered in the "reptilian" midbrain, as my psychiatrist likes to call it. In other words, a very primitive, non-thinking part of the brain. This is the part of the brain that insures the survival of the species. It's why feel pleasure (a dopamine rush) from a good meal or from sex. Unfortunately, it can also co-opted so we get that same dopamine rush from destructive addictive substances or actions. This part of the brain, again, rooted in survival of the species, will always override you, or the thinking part of the brain.

THIS IS WHY NO ONE WILL EVER THINK AND/OR JUST MEDICATE THEMSELVES OUT OF AN ADDICTION

[bleep]

THIS IS WHY NO ONE WILL EVER THINK AND/OR JUST MEDICATE THEMSELVES OUT OF AN ADDICTION

Got to disagree with you there Alky. For some people, well, certainly for me, this is precisely what happened. There was something wrong with my brain, I took a pill, and it fixed it.

Even if addiction is centered in the reptilian brain, why does that mean it cannot be fixed?

I was extremely fortunate in that many of the scenarios that accompany addiction had not yet manifested - I hadn't destroyed my family, killed someone in a drunken car wreck, fucked everything up, etc., but was on the way to doing it. I think if you have traveled further down the road, then therapy may well be helpful.

The consequences of the addiction create the problems that therapy can assist with, not the addiction itself.

I'm away for a week and so may not respond promptly if a response is required.

[Ne/Neva Eva]

Yep, like bleep, I'm one of the ones who medicated myself out of addiction. I also learned pretty early on that it was important not to make assertions that it can never be done, or that it has to be done, in any certain way.

I took the pills and stopped drinking. Others have not had the same experience.

[spiritwolf333]

Medications are not mutually exclusive, either. I am on gabapentin, baclofen and naltrexone simultaneously. A single medication need not be the end all.

And just my $.02 about 12 step. Despite Bill W.'s use of hallucinogens, AA can work because it provides a support network. If you have a large network of supportive friends and family who can relate to your struggle and are supportive, perhaps AA is not necessary for you. But addiction is centered in the "reptilian" midbrain, as my psychiatrist likes to call it. In other words, a very primitive, non-thinking part of the brain. This is the part of the brain that insures the survival of the species. It's why feel pleasure (a dopamine rush) from a good meal or from sex. Unfortunately, it can also co-opted so we get that same dopamine rush from destructive addictive substances or actions. This part of the brain, again, rooted in survival of the species, will always override you, or the thinking part of the brain.

THIS IS WHY NO ONE WILL EVER THINK AND/OR JUST MEDICATE THEMSELVES OUT OF AN ADDICTION

Alky, you make a very important post. You see, most people who have (or have had) the dis-ease of alcoholism aka/Alcohol Use Disorder, are unable and/or unwilling to ask for help or to even be able to acknowledge that they have a disorder. As an example, just ask any person who has a diagnosed mental disorder if they have a disorder. I think that you will find that the majority will respond that do no have a disorder.

Now, moving on to AA. Certainly, many of us here on this forum did not have the best experience with AA. Some of us did. But again, one must realize that it is very difficult for an 'alcoholic' to ask for help or to even admit that he or she has a problem. So, to go into a room full of fellow alcoholics and admit that you have the same problem that they have can be quite demoralizing to some. Alternatively, to be able to go into an AA room and humbly sit amongst others that are suffering from our disease can really be a positive experience. And, if you have discovered a medication that has relieved you of alcoholism, then perhaps you might have the opportunity to share (quietly) your experience with other sufferers.

We can all talk alcoholism till we are blue in the face. But one fact remains, there is no one single simple answerer to the disorder. For a very small minority, they may have taken a pill and now they are ok -they trot on along in life as if nothing ever happened. But for the VAST majority, a single pill or a mixture was never a sole answer in and of itself. (And I am quite sure that if many in the minority answered truthfully, they would say the same).

Edit: Also Alky, perhaps we all need to consider that many (not all) that still post on the medication thread still drink alcohol and do so in a way that is not so pleasant to remember the following day. This is in no way a statement meant to judge those of us that have this disorder. No, instead, it is only intended to shed light on just how devasting and tricky this disease really is. Please read the posts and the threads of the others who have recently posted on this thread and one might get a better perspective of just how baffling this disorder really is. SW

[spiritwolf333]

Got to disagree with you there Alky. For some people, well, certainly for me, this is precisely what happened. There was something wrong with my brain, I took a pill, and it fixed it.

Even if addiction is centered in the reptilian brain, why does that mean it cannot be fixed?

I was extremely fortunate in that many of the scenarios that accompany addiction had not yet manifested - I hadn't destroyed my family, killed someone in a drunken car wreck, fucked everything up, etc., but was on the way to doing it. I think if you have traveled further down the road, then therapy may well be helpful.

The consequences of the addiction create the problems that therapy can assist with, not the addiction itself.

I'm away for a week and so may not respond promptly if a response is required.

Perhaps Bleep, you might consider yourself one of the lucky ones, not one who had reached a point of total destruction. Please understand that there are many-many alcoholics who have not lost all of their material possessions or family members who suffer from a disease that understood and recognized as such -by few.

As you may have read, or perhaps even understand personally, alcoholism is only a symptom of much other underlying causes. Or, you may be one of those rare cases that you you only drank because you enjoyed the taste and then 'whamo' you found yourself addicted and took a pill and found yourself ok.

Regardless of all of this rhetoric, you indicate that you are one of those who found a single simple solution with a single simple pill and this is important to share.

[anne1232]

http://www.amazon.com/Psychedelic-Healing-Entheogens-Psychotherapy-Development/dp/1594772509/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1414784880&sr=1-1&keywords=psychedelic+healing

[Ne/Neva Eva]

[COLOR=#B22222]...But for the VAST majority, a single pill or a mixture was never a sole answer in and of itself. (And I am quite sure that if many in the minority answered truthfully, they would say the same).

Wait. I'm confused. Spirit, didn't you take a pill, (one pill--baclofen!) to stop drinking? And it worked, and you stopped drinking?

[Alky]

Baclofen by itself didn't work for me and I'm sure I'm not the only one.

[spiritwolf333]

Wait. I'm confused. Spirit, didn't you take a pill, (one pill--baclofen!) to stop drinking? And it worked, and you stopped drinking?

Hi Ne -thanks for pointing out a great point. And again, I apologize for your confusion. In fact, I remain confused about your confusion. I never recall making the statement that I just took one single pill to stop drinking.

You make the statement that 'I took one single pill to stop drinking' And it worked, and you stopped drinking?'. Ne, if it were that simple then I would drink every night and have no worries -right? I guess that I am one of the few on this site that had to do more than 'just take one pill'? Ne, I would drop my part time salesperson position -selling Baclofen if I did not believe Baclofen to be a huge help to the suffering. JK -of course.

And Ne, from your posts, it my understanding that you have only been taking the 'one pill' for many years now to stop drinking. It has worked for you and you are no longer drinking -right? This is exactly the type of information newcomers need to read if they are trying to stop drinking -in my opinion.

[spiritwolf333]

http://www.amazon.com/Psychedelic-He...edelic+healing

Hi anne -thank you for this information. Unfortunately and too often, this type of information gets pushed to the side or thrown out the window simply because of the closed mindedness of the so many people -even closed minds by the ones that this information could help the most.