© 2024 41 Pushups, LLC
NEW YORK — Could magic mushrooms be the surprising remedy for a case of long COVID? Researchers are revealing how a 41-year-old woman essentially rid herself of COVID’s lingering effects after self-medicating with psychedelics.
In a fascinating case report, researchers say this patient experienced significant relief from a debilitating case of long COVID after using MDMA and psilocybin — the active compound in magic mushrooms. According to Clinical Case Reports, the 41-year-old was struggling with severe anxiety, depression, insomnia, joint pain, cognitive issues, headaches, and a plummeted libido for months after contracting COVID-19 in early 2022. These symptoms emerged despite the woman being fully vaccinated.
Traditional treatments like medications, therapy, and lifestyle changes provided little to no lasting improvement. So, in a daring move, the woman began experimenting with small doses of MDMA and psilocybin mushrooms under the guidance of a therapist. After her first few doses, she reported up to 80% improvement in her long COVID symptoms of fatigue, pain, and “brain fog.”
Her chronic headaches became much shorter and less frequent. She was also able to return to work and resume her PhD studies. Even when symptoms temporarily worsened, another round of mushroom therapy provided complete symptom relief.
While more research is still necessary, this remarkable case provides a glimmer of hope that psychedelic therapy could help those suffering from the poorly understood condition of long COVID. It is not advised that sufferers self-medicate without speaking to a medical professional. Patients should always discuss treatment plans first with a doctor.
Researchers explain that the 41-year-old woman had been perfectly healthy before contracting COVID in February 2022. Despite being fully vaccinated, she came down with the classic symptoms like fever, cough, and loss of taste and smell. While the infection itself cleared up within a month, the patient still had a wide array of worrying long-term symptoms which doctors now call long COVID.
For the next three months, the woman experienced crippling fatigue, anxiety, depression, insomnia, joint pain throughout her body, cognitive impairment (“brain fog”), headaches, and a stark decrease in sexual desire. Basic medical tests like bloodwork and X-rays showed no abnormalities that could explain her debilitating symptoms.
She tried all the typical remedies like gradually increasing activity, pain medications, massage, fasting, meditation, and other alternative therapies. Some provided very mild, temporary relief, but nothing broke the cycle of unrelenting long COVID symptoms.
At that point, the 41-year-old, who was facing long wait times for a specialist long COVID clinic, decided to try an unconventional approach — psychedelics. Under the advisement of a therapist, she began a carefully dosed regimen of MDMA and psilocybin mushrooms starting in May 2022.
Just days after her first doses, the woman’s condition took an incredible turn. She reported a drastic improvement across most of her longstanding symptoms. Her chronic headaches decreased in frequency from five per week to just one, and their intensity and duration were also greatly reduced. Even when symptoms eventually worsened during a bout of flu, another mushroom dose provided complete relief, allowing her to fully return to work and her PhD program by that fall.
So, what did this treatment feel like to the 41-year-old long COVID patient?
“The patient’s experience while under the influence of MDMA and psilocybin was reported as feelings of being in a childlike state, having an intense connection to nature, and of being in an alternate reality,” the researchers write in Clinical Case Reports.
Although the woman did have nausea and vomiting about 40 minutes after taking the mushrooms, she says that her pain score dropped to “0 out of 10” roughly one hour later.
“The patient was able to return to work and her cognitive function improved, allowing her to resume her PhD studies. The patient’s insomnia also improved, and she was able to stop taking antihistamines.”
Study authors admit that the biological mechanisms behind how psychedelics alleviate long COVID symptoms are still unknown. Some researchers theorize the drugs may reduce neuroinflammation, modulate brain connectivity, and promote neural plasticity — all of which could counter the suspected neuropathic effects of long COVID. Much more study is necessary to confirm this. While psychedelics remain illegal and highly restricted in the U.S., the woman’s remarkable recovery adds to a growing body of evidence that these once-stigmatized substances could hold profound medical potential for treatment-resistant conditions like long COVID.
About the Author
Chris Melore has been a writer, researcher, editor, and producer in the New York-area since 2006. He won a local Emmy award for his work in sports television in 2011.
View Chris’s article archive
5 Pheromone Perfumes That Might Actually Attract Others
Why do giraffes have long necks? Researchers may finally have the answer
Baby talk explained! All those sounds mean more than you think
5 keys to writing an angry email (that still sounds professional)
Study Finds
© 2024 41 Pushups, LLC