Increased use of illicit drugs in a Dutch cluster headache population
Cephalalgia October 5, 2018 Ilse F. de Coo, Willemijn C. Naber, Leopoldine A. Wilbrink et al. 47 citations
People with cluster headache in the Netherlands use illicit drugs more often than the general population: 31.7% reported lifetime use compared to 23.8% in matched controls. Among psilocybin mushroom users, 56% reported a reduction in attack frequency, and 46% reported shorter attacks. Lysergic acid diethylamide users reported frequency reduction in 60% of cases, and heroin users in 50%. Amphetamine users reported shorter attacks in 36% of cases. The authors suggest the higher drug use may reflect genuine symptom relief, placebo effects, personal conviction, or a shared biological basis between cluster headache and addictive behaviors.