Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36452124›Full record

ArticleBritish journal of pain2022

Analgesic potential of macrodoses and microdoses of classical psychedelics in chronic pain sufferers: a population survey.

Valerie Bonnelle, Will J Smith, Natasha L Mason, Mauro Cavarra, Pamela Kryskow, Kim Pc Kuypers, Johannes G Ramaekers, Amanda Feilding

Open access · greenAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in British journal of pain, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
15citing papers in PubMed
4.0field-weighted citation impact, top 6% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

15 citing papers in PubMed, 23 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Review
  2. Review
  3. Article
  4. Review
  5. Psychedelics and Headache Disorders: an Update.Current neurology and neuroscience reports · 2025
    Review
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Review
  9. Article
  10. Exploring Psychedelics for Unmet Needs in Women's Reproductive Health.Psychedelic medicine (New Rochelle, N.Y.) · 2025
    Review
  11. Review
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.

Valerie BonnelleThe Beckley Foundation, Oxford, UK.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4673-0549
Will J SmithThe Beckley Foundation, Oxford, UK.
Natasha L MasonDepartment of Neuropsychology and Psychopharmacology, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands.
Mauro CavarraDepartment of Neuropsychology and Psychopharmacology, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5216-3157
Pamela KryskowDepartment of Family Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Kim Pc KuypersDepartment of Neuropsychology and Psychopharmacology, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands.
Johannes G RamaekersDepartment of Neuropsychology and Psychopharmacology, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands.
Amanda FeildingThe Beckley Foundation, Oxford, UK.
Maastricht University · NLBeckley Foundation · GBUniversity of British Columbia · CA

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Although several studies and reports have shown the potential analgesic use of serotonergic psychedelics in cancer pain, phantom limb pain and cluster headache, evidence supporting their use for chronic pain is still limited. The past years have seen a considerable renewal of interest toward the therapeutic use of these compounds for mood disorders, resulting in a marked increase in the number of people turning to psychedelics in an attempt to self-medicate a health condition or improve their wellbeing. In western countries particularly, this population of users overlaps substantially with chronic pain sufferers, representing a unique opportunity to evaluate the effects these compounds have on pain and wellbeing. Here, we report results from an online survey conducted between August 2020 and July 2021 in a population of 250 chronic pain sufferers who had experience with psychedelics, either in microdoses (small sub-hallucinogenic doses), macrodoses (hallucinogenic doses), or both. Macrodoses, while less often used for analgesic purposes than microdoses, were reported to induce a higher level of pain relief than both microdoses and conventional pain medications (including opioids and cannabis). Although the effects were weaker and potentially more prone to expectation bias than with macrodoses, our results also suggested some benefits of psychedelics in microdoses for pain management. The reported analgesic effect appeared unrelated to mood improvements associated with psychedelic use, or the advocacy of psychedelic use. Taken together, our findings indicate interesting potential analgesic applications for psychedelics that warrant further clinical research.

Indexed as

chronic painmicrodosingpsychedelicsself-medicationSurvey

Identifiers

PMID36452124
PMCPMC9703241
OpenAlexW4285495569

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.