# medial LSD **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 22, 2012, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medial-lsd/625999 "2012-06-22T23:00:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![copperwindow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@copperwindow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/copperwindow)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2012, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medial-lsd/625999/1 "2012-06-22T23:00:53Z")
I have Multiple Sclerosis and my doctor is encouraging me to smoke medical marijuana. The few times I have tried it I felt that it didn’t help with my pain or my muscle spasms, it just got me high. This got me wondering, could doctors start prescribing medical LSD? I don’t think my I’d pay too much attention to my symptoms if I had pink spiders crawling in and out of my nose… ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2012, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medial-lsd/625999/2 "2012-06-22T23:07:40Z")
Is LSD approved by the FDA? That might be a problem if it’s not. ---
**Author:** ![copperwindow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@copperwindow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/copperwindow)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2012, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medial-lsd/625999/3 "2012-06-22T23:12:49Z")
Marijuana isn’t approved by the FDA, but I can still smoke it legally if I want to. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2012, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medial-lsd/625999/4 "2012-06-22T23:35:20Z")
A doctor might put you on to LSD for unbearable migraines. I doubt he’d write a _prescription_, though. It was developed as a headache remedy, and it really works. Of course, its well-known side effects limit its usefulness in this regard, for \*most \*people. ---
**Author:** ![Iggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iggy/32/3364_2.png) [@Iggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggy)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2012, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medial-lsd/625999/5 "2012-06-22T23:48:36Z")
There has been some limited studies recently of the possible medical benefits of LSD for PTSD patients. ---
**Author:** ![ToeJam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dfb087/32.png) [@ToeJam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ToeJam)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2012, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medial-lsd/625999/6 "2012-06-23T22:35:41Z")
LSD is currently a schedule I drug in the united states. This means it is not legally able to be prescribed or used in patients basically. Required findings for drugs to be placed in this schedule: (Per Wikipedia) 1. The drug or other substance has a high potential for abuse. 2. The drug or other substance has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States. 3. There is a lack of accepted safety for use of the drug or other substance under medical supervision. Except as specifically authorized, it is illegal for any person: 1. to manufacture, distribute, or dispense, or possess with intent to manufacture, distribute, or dispense, a controlled substance; or 2 to create, distribute, or dispense, or possess with intent to distribute or dispense, a counterfeit substance.[2] -R ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2012, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medial-lsd/625999/7 "2012-06-23T22:57:51Z")
Well, that’s odd; they use it in _Fringe_ all the time… ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2012, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medial-lsd/625999/8 "2012-06-24T01:32:48Z")
> [@Larry\_Mudd](#): > > A doctor might put you on to LSD for unbearable migraines. I doubt he’d write a _prescription_, though. > > It was developed as a headache remedy, and it really works. Cite? ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2012, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medial-lsd/625999/9 "2012-06-24T05:22:58Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > Cite? Not sure exactly what you are looking for a cite for, so: [LSD was developed as a headache remedy…](http://www.minddisorders.com/Flu-Inv/Hallucinogens-and-related-disorders.html#b) > [@](#): > > LSD was first synthesized by Alfred Hoffman for a pharmaceutical company in Germany in 1938 while searching for a headache remedy. […and it really works.](http://www.neurology.org/content/66/12/1920.short) > [@](#): > > ABSTRACT > > The authors interviewed 53 cluster headache patients who had used psilocybin or lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) to treat their condition. Twenty-two of 26 psilocybin users reported that psilocybin aborted attacks; 25 of 48 psilocybin users and 7 of 8 LSD users reported cluster period termination; 18 of 19 psilocybin users and 4 of 5 LSD users reported remission period extension. Research on the effects of psilocybin and LSD on cluster headache may be warranted. As far as a doctor putting you on to it, I only have a second hand anecdote from a coworker that suffers from debilitating migraines, who was practically outraged that her doctor would suggest LSD when nothing else worked. I don’t really get the outrage, but then I’ve self medicated with MDMA for post-nasal drip, so what do I know?