MS and tripping on psilocybin
Yesterday I was the facilitator during a psychedelic trip of a Londoner with MS. This gentleman's past has not been easy for him and of course that does something to this person. So the approach of the trip was to start accepting the past and living more in the now. After all, a life without fears can also help people with various illnesses. Anxiety is a catalyst for very many disorders.
What is MS or multiple sclerosis?
MS is an autoimmune disorder in which the nerve cells of the brain and spinal cord are broken down by macrophages. The result of this is that communication from the brain to other areas will become more difficult. Thus, controlling muscles also becomes more difficult. There is still a lot of uncertainty surrounding MS. We do not yet know the exact cause.
What can help combat MS?
The next thing I am going to write is hypothetical at this point. If you assume that MS is a reaction of the body to clean up damaged cells, then it could be that if you make sure there is less damage, there is less reaction of the immune system. So less inflammation also means less work for the macrophages. Inflammation can be drastically reduced with a lifestyle change. The image below shows the things we should avoid and thus get less inflammation.
Vitamin D against MS
Around the equator, a person is least likely to develop MS. This may have to do with sunlight hours and thus the formation of vitamin D. Moderate sunbathing might just help. Taking supplements with vitamin D or moderate tanning may also help.
Diet against MS
Dieting can do so much good. We have given diet tips against stress and depression before. So the same diet can also help against MS because it helps on three levels. First, this diet reduces inflammation in the intestines and other locations in the body. Second, it indirectly reduces stress. Less stress and cortisol promotes body repair, which is much needed in MS. Third, this diet increases more serotonin and thus releases BDNF.
Read more about the antidepression diet here
BDNF may play key role in fight against MS
BDNF stands for Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor and is a hormone (protein) that stimulates nerve cell repair and the production of new nerve cells. So in MS, BDNF may play a key role in repairing damaged areas. Perhaps the increased concentration of BDNF allows the body to repair faster than the immune system could break it down. If you could combine this technique with a healthy lifestyle and thus less inflammatory response, it might be very helpful.
Read how to increase BDNF here
Psychedelics against MS
The highest possible stimulation of the 5HT2a receptor to release BDNF is the use of psychedelics. So these are really mind-altering drugs (English for medication). Psilocin from magic mushrooms, DMT from ayahuasca or LSD stimulates the 5HT2a receptor such that the concentration of BDNF also goes up significantly. This combination causes neurogenesis, which means the creation of new neurons, at a level unprecedented.
We believe in the beneficial effects of magic mushrooms and magic truffles
Whether shrooms and increasing BDNF can help cure MS remains to be proven. In any case, to me it sounds very plausible that progress can be made with these techniques. So to the question of whether magic mushrooms can help cure MS, at this point we can only answer that we do think it helps.
What do you think about it?
Do you yourself have MS? How do you yourself think it came about? Have you experienced a past with a lot of stress and anxiety? Does vitamin D and little sunlight play a role with you? Do you think our trip therapy could help? Let us know!
Update on psilocybin and MS (2023)
This article was written in 2019 and was updated in February 2023. The new article can be found at the following link:
