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PTampanensis
Prof.



Registered: 05/02/23
Posts: 28
Loc: Parts Unknown
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Let's talk pain?
#28414493 - 07/30/23 08:59 PM (5 months, 26 days ago) |
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Greetings!
I get headaches and/or backaches fairly often so I started a search, here and elsewhere, for natural analgesics (pain relievers). While mushrooms are supposed to help with cluster headaches, my limited experience is that while they have benefits for anxiety etc they do little to no good for stress/sinus headaches.
Kratom seems to be a workable tool (I'm talking purchased powder or home-grown ground leaves here not extracts). My plan would be to not use it more than once a week to avoid the addiction and tolerance issues. I read in here (somewhere I believe) that you may not have to up the amount for pain relief like you would to keep getting the euphoria (I'll settle for pain relief lol). Anyone know anything solid on that?
Kava also seems legit as maybe a twice a week thing. It hasn't hit me too much yet, but I understand that it has a reverse-tolerance thing going on where it will get increasingly effective with the same amount? Also, the kava kava tisane (tea) I bought doesn't really list the amount of kava or related alkoloids it contains so it may just not have enough.
Alcohol seems to mess up some of the other possibilities here so I'm not really considering it for pain relief--indeed I seem to be drinking less lately.
I've read that turmeric and black pepper can actually help with pain, perhaps inflammation-type pain, and I did get some supplements along these lines. On the other hand, this combo may have some kind of (potentiating?) effect with kratom? Any thoughts on any of that?
Betel nut and chewing on leaves/nuts of various other sorts doesn't seem to useful and/or the cost/benefit considerations don't seem to be in their favor.
Willow bark seems comparable to aspirin, and while aspirin is processed, I'm not too worried about it.
Wild lettuce seems to be mentioned quite a bit as an analgesic but I'm not finding a great, informative post on it--nor am I looking to take up smoking of, well, anything at this point.
Any other things I should be considering or important information I'm missing?
Gracias.
-PT
PS: I am editing this here and there to add other things I see in the message boards and/or I otherwise try for pain.
Edited by PTampanensis (08/02/23 12:18 PM)
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Eminence



Registered: 07/25/10
Posts: 16,623
Loc: Richmond, VA
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Not really of any help with exactly what you're asking, but for a couple simple tips on preventing tension and sinus headaches that helped me in the past; work on your posture and make sure your neck back and shoulder muscles are healthy, not tight all the time, for tension headaches. Make sure to drink enough water, for sinus headaches. Just saying this because tons of people have bad posture and also don't get enough water a day.
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Kmacmo
The aborted pin



Registered: 08/14/19
Posts: 1,675
Loc: Central hemisphere
Last seen: 1 hour, 11 minutes
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Do you know what the root cause of the pain is? That will help you decide what the best course of action is. Could just be something simple like diet or exercise
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PTampanensis
Prof.



Registered: 05/02/23
Posts: 28
Loc: Parts Unknown
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Re: Let's talk pain? [Re: Kmacmo]
#28414824 - 07/31/23 07:56 AM (5 months, 26 days ago) |
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Hmmm. I may have chosen the wrong community to post this in (lol).
-PT
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CookieCrumbs
Fucked off to the pub


Registered: 12/10/11
Posts: 14,146
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Most if not all of us have used subatances for pain and addressing the root cause and improving lifestyle always has the best results.
But if it's substance specifically you want to know more about I've used a bunch of different legal herbs. Kratom has been best for everything but the headaches and upper gi (stomach) pain.
I'll dose the lowest effective dose every 2-4 hours when in pain. Been doing it for years. The key is to aim for taking the edge off the pain, not to try to eliminate it. Using when I can tolerate the pain by other means was a poor idea and I try very hard not to do that anymore. My tolerance had gone up and I was dosing more than double or triple my lowest effective dose every hour.
These days I mostly take it before bed so I can sleep when I'm in pain. The key with kratom is to keep your dose low, no matter how often you dose. If you find you're not having the results you used to it's time to stop. Regardless of your course of action paying attention and listening to your body is key. Even when in alot of pain I won't take large doses of kratom ar night because then it keeps me up and is counterproductive to the whole reason I'm taking it. To sleep.
Psilocybin knocks my headaches out like nothing else. But mine are migraines. And those and cluster headaches seem to be the type mushrooms will treat best.
Caffeine and aspirin may be of benefit for sinus headaches and help most tension headaches too though. Or if you want to stick to herbs caffeine and willow bark tea. Though I'm not sure why you wouldn't just buy low dose aspirin at that point. Aspirin is so simple it's basically just isolated from the willow bark. Not super complicated chemistry and a big reason why aspirin is one of the oldest pharmaceutical medicines.
I've read lots of people got muscle pain/tension relief from turmeric but all high dose turmeric did for me was give me muscle spasms that sucked alot.
For back pain I would highly recommend trying topical treatments. Even if it's a nerve/disk/vertebrae issue alot of the pain comes from muscles tensing up. What works best will be trail and error but common options are menthol, capsaicin, cbd. I've also had relief from doTERRAs deep blue muscle rub which is made from wintergreen, peppermint, camphor, ylang ylang, camomile, and some other things. It also seems to work for headaches coming from the temple.
But I prefer the patches over the ointments for back pain.
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Free time is the only time
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Eminence



Registered: 07/25/10
Posts: 16,623
Loc: Richmond, VA
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Kratom can work well for pain but speaking of headaches..too high a dose or taking too many days in a row, kratom can actually give me headaches.
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CookieCrumbs
Fucked off to the pub


Registered: 12/10/11
Posts: 14,146
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Re: Let's talk pain? [Re: Eminence] 1
#28415912 - 08/01/23 08:08 AM (5 months, 25 days ago) |
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Yeah lots of pain medications can cause headaches. And cause GI problems which can also contribute to headaches. Why I stress listening to your body and making adjustments if something isn't quite right.
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Free time is the only time
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PTampanensis
Prof.



Registered: 05/02/23
Posts: 28
Loc: Parts Unknown
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I keep digging but oddly (to me anyhow) I'm finding way more things that might help my GAD (GABA, passionflower, etc) than I am things that treat pain. Looks like it's Advil for tonight .
-PT
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