Searchable Databases
Psychedelics & Pain Database
Autoimmune & Inflammation Database
Psychedelics & Pain Database
Research since the 1930’s into the analgesic effects of psychedelics has shown potential across a wide range of compounds and conditions. Through several proposed mechanisms of actions, from neurological to psychological, psychedelic medicines have been shown to have powerful pain reducing effects across a wide variety of conditions. Data continues to mount in research trials across the globe. Search the database below for pain conditions and keep scrolling for the Autoimmune and Inflammation database.
Have a study to add? Email us at info@psychedelicsandpain.org
| Year | Title | Compound | Condition | Journal | Author |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1930 | Effect of Mescaline on Phantom Limbs: Contribution to the Neurophysiological Consideration of Perception & Imagination | Mescaline | Phantom-limb syndrome | Monthly Journal of Psychiatry and Neurology | Julius Zádor |
| 1962 | Effect of LSD25 on the phantom limb; the problem of body scheme and the therapeutic use of LSD25 on phantom pain. | LSD | Phantom-limb syndrome | Japanese Psychiatry & Neurology | Kuromaru, S., Okada, S., Hanada, M., Kasahara, Y. and Sakamoto, K. |
| 1963 | Prophylactic treatment of migraine by means of lysergic acid derivatives. Triangle | LSD | Migraine | Triangle | Sicuteri, F |
| 1964 | Study of lysergic acid diethylamide as an analgesic agent | LSD | cancer pain, terminal cancer pain, dry gangrene, shingles | Anesthesia & Analgesia | Kast, E.C. and Collins, V.J. |
| 1967 | The effect of LSD on the phantom limb phenomenon | LSD | Phantom-limb syndrome | J-Lancet | Kuromaru, S.,Okada, S., Hanada, M., Kasahara, Y., and Sakamoto, K. |
| 1967 | Attenuation of anticipation: a therapeutic use of lysergic acid diethylamide. | LSD | cancer pain | Psychiatric Quarterly | Kast, E. |
| 1973 | LSD-assisted psychotherapy in patients with terminal cancer. | LSD | Cancer | International pharmacopsychiatry | Grof, S., Goodman, L.E., Richards, W.A. and Kurland, A.A. |
| 1974 | Hypersensitivity to lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD-25) and psilocybin in essential headache. | LSD | Headache | Experientia | Fanciullacci, M., Franchi, G. and Sicuteri, F. |
| 1975 | Facilitation of the Venoconstrictive Action of 5-hydroxytriptamine from Ergotamine, Methysergide & LSD-25 in Humans | Ergotamine; Methysergide; LSD-25 | Headache | Bulletin of the Italian Society of Experimental Biology | Fanciullacci, M. |
| 1977 | Phantom limb pain: Sub‐hallucinogenic treatment with Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD‐25) | LSD | Phantom-limb syndrome, phantom-limb pain | Headache: The Journal of Head and Face Pain | Fanciullacci, M., Bene, E.D., Franchi, G. and Sicuteri, F. |
| 1985 | LSD in the supportive care of the terminally ill cancer patient. | LSD | cancer pain, terminal cancer | Journal of psychoactive drugs | Kurland, A.A. |
| 1994 | Dose-response study of N, N-dimethyltryptamine in humans: II. Subjective effects and preliminary results of a new rating scale. | DMT | Archives of general psychiatry | Strassman, R.J., Qualls, C.R., Uhlenhuth, E.H. and Kellner, R. | |
| 2006 | Response of cluster headache to psilocybin and LSD. | Psilocybin; LSD | Cluster Headache | Neurology | Sewell, R.A., Halpern, J.H. and Pope, H.G. |
| 2009 | Outpatient intravenous ketamine for the treatment of complex regional pain syndrome: a double-blind placebo controlled study. | Ketamine | Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, CRPS | PAIN® | Schwartzman, R.J., Alexander, G.M., Grothusen, J.R., Paylor, T., Reichenberger, E. and Perreault |
| 2010 | The non-hallucinogen 2-bromo-lysergic acid diethylamide as preventative treatment for cluster headache: an open, non-randomized case series. | 2-bromo LSD | Cluster Headache | Cephalalgia | Karst, M., Halpern, J.H., Bernateck, M. and Passie, T. |
| 2011 | The use of ketamine in complex regional pain syndrome: possible mechanisms. | ketamine | Complex regional pain Syndrome, CRPS | Expert review of neurotherapeutics | Schwartzman, R.J., Alexander, G.M. and Grothusen, J.R. |
| 2015 | Indoleamine hallucinogens in cluster headache: results of the clusterbusters medication use survey. | hallucinogens; lysergic acid amide; lysergic acid diethylamide; psilocybin, LSD | Cluster Headache, headache | Journal of psychoactive drugs | Schindler, E.A., Gottschalk, C.H., Weil, M.J., Shapiro, R.E., Wright, D.A. and Sewell, R.A. |
| 2015 | LSD-assisted psychotherapy for anxiety associated with a life-threatening disease: a qualitative study of acute and sustained subjective effects. | LSD | Anxiety, life-threatening disease | Journal of psychopharmacology | Gasser, P., Kirchner, K. and Passie, T. |
| 2018 | Relief from intractable phantom pain by combining psilocybin and mirror visual-feedback (MVF). | Psilocybin | Phantom limb pain | Neurocase | Ramachandran, V., Chunharas, C., Marcus, Z., Furnish, T. and Lin, A. |
| 2018 | Lysergic acid diethylamide and psilocybin for the management of patients with persistent pain: a potential role? | LSD; psilocybin | Chronic pain, persistent pain, pain | Pain management | Whelan, A. and Johnson, M.I. |
| 2019 | Psychedelics: Overlooked clinical tools with unexplored ergogenic potential. | psychedelics | Pain | Journal of Exercise and Nutrition | Machek, S.B. |
| 2020 | Chronic pain and psychedelics: a review and proposed mechanism of action. | classic psychedelics; LSD; psilocybin | chronic pain central pain syndromes, fibromyalgia, neuropathic pain | Regional Anesthesia & Pain Medicine | Castellanos, J.P., Woolley, C., Bruno, K.A., Zeidan, F., Halberstadt, A. and Furnish, T. |
| 2020 | Optimizing the treatment of CRPS with ketamine. | Ketamine | CRPS, complex regional pain syndrome | The Clinical Journal of Pain | Kirkpatrick, A.F., Saghafi, A., Yang, K., Qiu, P., Alexander, J., Bavry, E. and Schwartzman, R. |
| 2020 | LSD overdoses: three case reports. | LSD | Journal of studies on alcohol and drugs | Haden, M. and Woods, B. | |
| 2020 | Low Dose Ketamine Infusion for Comorbid Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Chronic Pain: A Randomized Double-Blind Clinical Trial | Ketamine | Chronic Pain | Chronic Stress | Dadabayev AR, Joshi SA, Reda MH, Lake T, Hausman MS, Domino E, Liberzon I. |
| 2021 | A low dose of lysergic acid diethylamide decreases pain perception in healthy volunteers. | LSD | Pain | Journal of Psychopharmacology | Ramaekers, J.G., Hutten, N., Mason, N.L., Dolder, P., Theunissen, E.L., Holze, F., Liechti, M.E., Feilding, A. and Kuypers, K.P. |
| 2021 | Self-medication for chronic pain using classic psychedelics: a qualitative investigation to inform future research. | classic psychedelics; LSD; psilocybin | Pain, chronic pain | Frontiers in Psychiatry | Bornemann, J., Close, J.B., Spriggs, M.J., Carhart-Harris, R. and Roseman, L. |
| 2021 | Anti-inflammatory and analgesic actions of bufotenine through inhibiting lipid metabolism pathway. | bufotenine | inflammatory response | Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy | Wang, J., Xu, D., Shen, L., Zhou, J., Lv, X., Ma, H., Li, N., Wu, Q. and Duan, J. |
| 2021 | Chronic pain and psychedelics: proceeding with caution. | psychedelics | Chronic pain | Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine | Mukhdomi, T. and Mukhdomi, J. |
| 2022 | Analgesic potential of macrodoses and microdoses of classical psychedelics in chronic pain sufferers: a population survey. | classic psychedelics; LSD; psilocybin | Chronic pain | British Journal of Pain | Bonnelle, V., Smith, W.J., Mason, N.L., Cavarra, M., Kryskow, P., Kuypers, K.P., Ramaekers, J.G. and Feilding, A. |
| 2022 | Microdosing psilocybin for chronic pain: a case series. | psilocybin | Chronic pain | Pain | Lyes, M., Yang, K.H., Castellanos, J. and Furnish, T. |
| 2022 | MDMA-assisted therapy is associated with a reduction in chronic pain among people with post-traumatic stress disorder. | MDMA | Chronic pain | Frontiers in Psychiatry | Christie, D., Klosinski, B., Nosova, E., Kryskow, P., Siu, W., Lessor, D. and Argento, E. |
| 2022 | Psychedelics as preventive treatment in headache and chronic pain disorders. | LSD, psilocybin | Headache, chronic pain | Neuropharmacology | Schindler, E.A. |
| 2022 | Psychedelics in the Treatment of Headache and Chronic Pain Disorders. | LSD, psilocybin | Headache, chronic pain | Disruptive Psychopharmacology | Schindler, E.A. |
| 2022 | Knowledge, perceptions, and use of psychedelics among individuals with fibromyalgia. | LSD, psilocybin, psychedelics, classic pyschedelics | Fibromyalgia | Journal of Psychoactive Drugs | Glynos, N.G., Pierce, J., Davis, A.K., McAfee, J. and Boehnke, K.F. |
| 2022 | Beating pain with psychedelics: Matter over mind? | Ketamine; psilocybin | Chronic pain, inflammation | Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews | Elman, I., Pustilnik, A. and Borsook, D. |
| 2022 | If the doors of perception were cleansed, would chronic pain be relieved? Evaluating the benefits and risks of psychedelics. | LSD, psilocybin | Chronic pain | The Journal of Pain | Dworkin, R.H., Anderson, B.T., Andrews, N., Edwards, R.R., Grob, C.S., Ross, S., Satterthwaite, T.D. and Strain, E.C. |
| 2022 | Psychedelics: their limited understanding and future in the treatment of chronic pain. | DMT; Etryptamine; DET; Psilocin; psilocybin; Mescaline; amphetamine; methamphetamine; MDMA); LSD; 1P-LSD; ALD-52 | Chronic pain | Cureus | Hedau, V.N., Anjankar, A.P. and Anjankar, A. |
| 2022 | Psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy to treat psychiatric and existential distress in life-threatening medical illnesses and palliative care. | classic psychedelics; LSD; psilocybin | Palliative care; terminal illness | Neuropharmacology | S. Ross, M. Agrawal, R.R. Griffiths, C. Grob, A. Berger, J.E. Henningfield |
| 2022 | Psychedelic drugs and pain. | LSD, psilocybin, psychedelics, DMT, MDMA. ketamine, ayahuasca, | Chronic pain; pain | Regional Anesthesia & Pain Medicine | Rekatsina, M., Moka, E., Vadalouca, A. and Varrassi, G. |
| 2022 | The therapeutic potential of psychedelic-assisted therapies for symptom control in patients diagnosed with serious illness: a systematic review. | psychedelics, LSD, psilocybin, N,N-dipropyltryptamine | serious illness, palliative care | Journal of Pain and Symptom Management | Maia, L.O., Beaussant, Y. and Garcia, A.C.M. |
| 2022 | The emerging science of microdosing: A systematic review of research on low dose psychedelics | LSD, psilocybin, low dose, microdose | Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews | Polito, V. and Liknaitzky, P. | |
| 2022 | Ketamine psychedelic and antinociceptive effects are connected. | Ketamine | pain, antinociception | Anesthesiology | Olofsen, E., Kamp, J., Henthorn, T.K., van Velzen, M., Niesters, M., Sarton, E. and Dahan, A. |
| 2022 | Novel Research Approaches for Psychedelics and Pain Disorders. | LSD; psilocybin; mescaline; DMT; psychedelics | chronic pain | N/A | Grahl, A. |
| 2022 | Psychedelic Medicine: A Rapid Review of Therapeutic Applications and Implications for Future Research | LSD; psilocybin; mescaline; DMT; psychedelics | Headache, chronic pain | Homewood Research Institute | Rush, B., Marcus, O., Shore, R., Cunningham, L., Thompson, N., & Rideout, K. |
| 2023 | Assessment of Psilocybin Therapy for Patients With Cancer and Major Depression Disorder | psilocybin | cancer, major depressive disorder, MDD, depression | JAMA oncology | Agrawal, M., Emanuel, E., Richards, B., Richards, W., Roddy, K. and Thambi, P. |
| 2023 | Effect Of Hallucinogenic And Non-Hallucinogenic Psychedelic Analogs On Chronic Neuropathic Pain In Mice. | DM506, psilocybin, DOI | neuropathic pain | The Journal of Pain | Koseli, E., Buzzi, B., Choi, E., Honaker, T., González-Maeso, J., Youkin, J., Manetti, D., Romanelli, M.N., Arias, H.R. and Damaj, M.I. |
| 2023 | Are psychedelic medicines the reset for chronic pain? Preliminary findings and research needs. | LSD, psilocybin, psychedelics | chronic pain | Neuropharmacology | Zia, F.Z., Baumann, M.H., Belouin, S.J., Dworkin, R.H., Ghauri, M.H., Hendricks, P.S., Henningfield, J.E., Lanier, R.K., Ross, S. and Berger, A. |
| 2023 | A Retrospective Study to Determine the Impact of Psychedelic Therapy for Dimensional Measures of Wellness: A Quantitative Analysis | LSD; psilocybin; mescaline; DMT; MDMA; ibogaine; psychedelics | Headache, chronic pain | Canadian Military Pain & Rehab Journal | Victoria Di Virgilio1, Amir Minerbi2,3, Jagpaul Kaur Deol4, Salena Aggerwal5, Toufik Safi6, Gaurav Gupta |
| 2023 | Are psychedelics the answer to chronic pain: a review of current literature. | LSD, psilocybin, psychedelics | chronic pain | Pain Practice | Kooijman, N.I., Willegers, T., Reuser, A., Mulleners, W.M., Kramers, C., Vissers, K.C. and van der Wal, S.E. |
| 2023 | Potential analgesic effects of psychedelics on select chronic pain conditions: A survey study. | LSD, psilocybin, psychedelics | chronic pain | European Journal of Pain. | Cavarra, M., Mason, N.L., Kuypers, K.P., Bonnelle, V., Smith, W.J., Feilding, A., Kryskow, P. and Ramaekers, J.G. |
| 2023 | Intravenous psilocybin administration attenuates mechanical hypersensitivity in a rat model of chronic pain. | psilocybin, intravenous psilocybin | chronic pain | bioRxiv | Kolbman, N., Liu, T., Guzzo, P., Gilligan, J.P., Mashour, G.A., Vanini, G. and Pal, D. |
| 2023 | Adapting psychedelic medicine for headache and chronic pain disorders | LSD, psilocybin, psychedelics | Headache, chronic pain | Expert Review of Neurotherapeutics | Schindler, E.A. and Hendricks, P.S. |
| 2023 | LSD and psilocybin for chronic nociplastic pain: A narrative review of the literature supporting the use of classic psychedelic agents in chronic pain | LSD, psilocybin | chronic pain, nociplastic pain | SAMJ Research | J J N van der Walt, MB ChB, FCA (SA); R Parker,MSc (Pain), PhD |
| 2023 | Persons With Spinal Cord Injury Report Peripherally Dominant Serotonin-Like Syndrome After Use of Serotonergic Psychedelics | psychedelics | SCI, spinal cord injury | Neurotrauma Reports | Stephanie Karzon Abrams, Brenden Samuel Rabinovitch, Rayyan Zafar, Aly Shah Aziz, Nicholas Paul Cherup, David W. McMillan, Jessica L. Nielson, Evan Cole Lewis |
| 2024 | Pharmacology of Classical Psychedelic in Mouse Models of Chronic Pain | DOI, psilocybin | paclitaxel-induced peripheral neuropathy, chronic Inflammatory pain | The Journal of Pain | M. Imad Damaj, Eda Koseli, Belle Buzzi, Yogesh Rakholia, Melissa Lewis, Javier González-Maeso |
| 2024 | Suspension of Short-lasting, Unilateral, Neuralgiform headache attacks with Conjunctival injection and Tearing (SUNCT) symptoms with ayahuasca and serotonergic psychedelics | Ayahuasca, serotonergic psychedelics, LSD, DMT | SUNCT, SUNHA | Headache | Jonathan Leighton, Cyril Petignat, Brian E McGeeney |
| Year | Title | Compound | Condition | Journal | Author |
Psychedelics, Inflammation, & Autoimmune Database
| Year | Title | Compound | Condition | Journal | Author |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Serotonin 5-HT2A receptor activation blocks TNF-α mediated inflammation in vivo. | (R)-DOI | Inflammation | PloS one | Nau Jr, F., Yu, B., Martin, D. and Nichols, C.D. |
| 2015 | Psychedelics and immunomodulation: novel approaches and therapeutic opportunities. | Classic psychedelics, DMT, LSD, MDMA | Immunomodulation | Frontiers in immunology | Szabo, A. |
| 2017 | Psychedelics as medicines: an emerging new paradigm. | Serotonergic psychedelics, Classic psychedelics, 5-HT2A receptor agonists. psilocybin, LSD | Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics | Nichols, D.E., Johnson, M.W. and Nichols, C.D. | |
| 2017 | Psychedelic drugs in biomedicine. | Classic psychedelics, LSD, psilocybin | Trends in pharmacological sciences | Kyzar, E.J., Nichols, C.D., Gainetdinov, R.R., Nichols, D.E. and Kalueff, A.V. | |
| 2018 | Psychedelics as anti-inflammatory agents. | (R)-DOI, 5-HT2A agonists, Classic psychedelics | Inflammation | International Review of Psychiatry | Flanagan, T.W. and Nichols, C.D. |
| 2018 | The effects of hallucinogens on gene expression. | Serotonergic psychedelics, Classic psychedelics, 5-HT2A receptor agonists. psilocybin, LSD | Gene expression | Behavioral Neurobiology of Psychedelic Drugs | Martin, D.A. and Nichols, C.D. |
| 2019 | Effects of psychedelics on inflammation and immunity. | LSD, psilocybin, MDMA, ayahuasca, classic psychedelics, cannabidiol, DMT | Inflammation, Immunity | Advances in psychedelic medicine: state-of-the-art therapeutic applications | Szabo, A. |
| 2019 | 5-HT2 receptor activation alleviates airway inflammation and structural remodeling in a chronic mouse asthma model. | (R)-DOI | Airway inflammation, Asthma | Life Sciences | Flanagan, T.W., Sebastian, M.N., Battaglia, D.M., Foster, T.P., Cormier, S.A. and Nichols, C.D. |
| 2019 | Activation of 5-HT2 receptors reduces inflammation in vascular tissue and cholesterol levels in high-fat diet-fed apolipoprotein E knockout mice. | (R)-DOI | Inflammation, vascular, cholesterol | Scientific Reports | Flanagan, T.W., Sebastian, M.N., Battaglia, D.M., Foster, T.P., Maillet, E.L. and Nichols, C.D. |
| 2019 | Microdosing psychedelics: More questions than answers? An overview and suggestions for future research. | Microdose, Microdosing, Classic psychedelics | Journal of Psychopharmacology | Kuypers, K.P., Ng, L., Erritzoe, D., Knudsen, G.M., Nichols, C.D., Nichols, D.E., Pani, L., Soula, A. and Nutt, D. | |
| 2020 | Structure–activity relationship analysis of psychedelics in a rat model of asthma reveals the anti-inflammatory pharmacophore. | 2C-H | ACS Pharmacology & Translational Science | Flanagan, T.W., Billac, G.B., Landry, A.N., Sebastian, M.N., Cormier, S.A. and Nichols, C.D. | |
| 2020 | 5‐HT2 Receptor Activation Differentially Modulates Linker Histone Kinetics and Histone Deacetylase Activity. | (R)-DOI, psilocin | Linker Histone Kinetics, Histone Deacetylase Activity | The FASEB Journal | Flanagan, T.W., Billac, G.B. and Nichols, C.D. |
| 2020 | Psychedelics as a novel approach to treating autoimmune conditions. | Classic psychedelics | Immunology Letters | Thompson, C. and Szabo, A. | |
| 2021 | The DMT and psilocin treatment changes CD11b+ activated microglia immunological phenotype. | DMT, psilocin | BioRXiv | Kozłowska, U., Klimczak, A., Wiatr, K. and Figiel, M. | |
| 2021 | Associations between lifetime classic psychedelic use and cardiometabolic diseases. | Classic psychedelics | Cardiometabolic Disease | Scientific Reports | Simonsson, O., Osika, W., Carhart-Harris, R. and Hendricks, P.S. |
| 2021 | Pharmahuasca Reduces ROS Production and inflammatory Gene Expression in the Brain in a Model of PTSD: Exploration by RNA Sequencing. | Pharmahuasca | Gene expression | ACS Chemical Neuroscience | Kelley, D.P., Venable, K., Billac, G., Destouni, A., Ebenezer, P., Stadler, K., Nichols, C., Barker, S. and Francis, J. |
| 2022 | Psilocybin induces acute and persisting alterations in immune status and the stress response in healthy volunteers. | Psilocybin | Immune status, stress response | medRxiv | Mason, N.L., Szabo, A., Kuypers, K.P., Mallaroni, P.A., de la Torre, R., Reckweg, J.T., Tse, D.H., Hutten, N.R., Feilding, A. and Ramaekers, J.G. |
| 2022 | From psychiatry to neurology: Psychedelics as prospective therapeutics for neurodegenerative disorders. | Classic psychedelics, psychedelics | Neurodegenerative disorders | Journal of Neurochemistry | Kozlowska, U., Nichols, C., Wiatr, K. and Figiel, M. |
| 2022 | Differential Regulation of Inflammatory Responses Following 5‐HT2 Receptor Activation in Pulmonary Tissues. | (R)-DOI | Inflammation | The FASEB Journal, 36. | Flanagan, T.W., Billac, G. and Nichols, C.D. |
| 2022 | Psychedelics as potent anti-inflammatory therapeutics. | Classic psychedelics, psychedelics | Inflammation | Neuropharmacology | Nichols, C.D. |
| 2022 | Psychedelics and anti-inflammatory activity in animal models. | (R)-DOI, psilocybin | Inflammation | In Disruptive Psychopharmacology | Flanagan, T.W. and Nichols, C.D. |
| 2023 | Preclinical perspectives on the mechanisms underlying the therapeutic actions of psilocybin in psychiatric disorders. | Psilocybin | Neuropharmacology | Wulff, A.B., Nichols, C.D. and Thompson, S.M. | |
| 2023 | Subacute effects of a single dose of psilocybin on biomarkers of inflammation in healthy humans: An open-label preliminary investigation. | Psilocybin | Comprehensive Psychoneuroendocrinology | Burmester, D.R., Madsen, M.K., Szabo, A., Aripaka, S.S., Stenbæk, D.S., Frokjaer, V.G., Elfving, B., Mikkelsen, J.D., Knudsen, G.M. and Fisher, P.M. | |
| Year | Title | Compound | Condition | Journal | Author |