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Psychedelics for migraine & cluster headache: what the evidence shows

Migraine (recurring, often one-sided headaches with nausea or sensitivity to light) and cluster headache (short, extremely painful attacks around one eye that come in bouts). These are the only headache types with published psychedelic trials so far.

Last reviewed 23 October 2026Re-checked every month1 substances with published evidence

Where are these treatments legal?See country-by-country rules on our Psychedelic Therapy Legality Map

Substance by substance

One card per substance, strongest evidence first. A substance that isn’t here has no published clinical evidence for this condition yet.

Psilocybin

Early research

Tiny controlled studies with mixed results.

In a 10-person placebo-controlled study, one dose reduced migraine days over the following two weeks.1

In cluster headache, a small trial didn't show a clear drop in attack frequency, though a later blinded extension phase did.23

Everything psilocybin has been tested for →

Keep reading

Could Psychedelics Help Treat Chronic Pain?Early evidence on psilocybin and ayahuasca for chronic pain, and where the methods fall short.Read the article Did Psilocybin Change My Relationship With Chronic Pain?A journalist on how a psilocybin retreat shifted her relationship with chronic pain.Read the article Microdosing FAQ: Theory Meets PracticeThree practitioners answer the most-asked questions about microdosing: benefits, side effects, practice.Read the article Research databaseNew studies, summarisedHundreds of papers on psychedelics and mental health, each with a plain-language summary and key facts.Browse the database

Sources

Numbered in the order they appear above. We only use peer-reviewed papers, official company announcements (for trial status and topline results), regulators and trial registries.

  1. Schindler EAD et al. Exploratory controlled study of the migraine-suppressing effects of psilocybin. Neurotherapeutics. 2021Journal
  2. Schindler EAD et al. Exploratory investigation of a patient-informed low-dose psilocybin pulse regimen in the suppression of cluster headache: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Headache. 2022Journal
  3. Schindler EAD et al. Psilocybin pulse regimen reduces cluster headache attack frequency in the blinded extension phase of a randomized controlled trial. J Neurol Sci. 2024Journal