Re: For what it's worth (personal experience)

While Hericium erinaceus [Lion's Mane fungus] is a favourite of mine...
(it's so distinctive as to be practically unmistakable, and I've taken it
home and eaten it every time I've found it for the past 15 years - probably
well over 8 pounds of it in total over that time)...

.... it's also true that I was diagnosed with MS just 11 years ago, and that
its attendent symptoms have persisted and progressed despite chronic and
fairly prodigious consumption of these fine, fleshy fungal fructifications.

Mind you, I eat them (and thoroughly enjoy them) for their taste and texture
alone... so I'm not gonna whine about them just because they've been an
utter failure for me as MS medicine. :-)



dwheeler@xxxxxxxx wrote:

First, I am neither a MD nor MS patient...now.

About August, 1985 I began developing odd symptoms, which I never went
to a physician about. So I have no independent confirmation of these
symptoms. While walking one leg would typically go completely numb in
mid-stride. I would be walking, then lying on the ground. I would
remember only that the reaction was _very_ quick.

This symptom - sudden complete numbness of legs or fingers - is
sometimes attributed to MS. At first, the numbness lasted only 3-5
seconds, and quickly disappeared. But at least for me, it never really
went away. From once or so in a week, to 4 or more times each day, the
instances continued in duration and frequency. After 4 months, I
became quite nervous over simply crossing a street, wondering whether
I would reach the other side.

I then started going out with friends to find mushrooms. A hobby that
has since become somewhat obsessive.<G> I found during these fungal
forages a common edible mushroom, rated as safely edible in many field
guides: Hericium erinaceous. After reaching a positive identification
several times in different field guides, I felt it safe to sample this
fungus.

In mycology (the study of mushrooms), eating any new mushroom should
be done with caution, and this was the very first time I was going to
sample this mushroom. I first cooked about 1 teaspoon of the fungus in
a little butter, and had it on toast.

Within 24 hours, I developed a fever. I mild fever, but a fever
nontheless. It never reached over 102 degrees, and I was never very
uncomfortable with it. But I presumed it had something to do with
eating the supposedly save mushroom. Coming down with a fever is
considered to be a symptom of mushroom poisoning. (See Mushrooms:
Poisons and Panaceas) So my consumption of Hericium erinaceus did not
continue for at least 3-4 years.

Here's the odd thing. After the fever, I have never had any symptoms
of sudden numbness since. I investigated Hericium erinaceus, trying to
find out why I came down with a fever, and what, if anything, it had
to do with my symptoms.

About that time, I also reading about the medicinal aspects of fungi.
In the US Hericium erinaceus is not often consumed, although it is
easily cultivated (see Stamets and Chilton's The Mushroom Cultivator).
While it is not well documented, and even less studied (how many
people out there even know how to grow mushrooms?), this particular
mushroom is strongly suspected of being an immuno-activator:
something that stimulates the body to produce an immune response.

Does it? I can't say. But I have eaten Hericium erinaceus several
times since, and have never had a fever afterwards. And the numbness I
experienced (along with the fear of crossing streets) disappeared
within a week after eating Hericium erinanceus, and has never
returned.

Anecdotal? Absolutely. Is the mushroom safe to eat? For most people,
yes, provided you are not allergic to many mushrooms.

Am I glad I ate the mushroom? OH, YES!

BTW, I'm not going to tell you I grow this mushroom, and where to
order it from. You'll have to find a source for yourself. Or not.

Many physicians make light of anecdotal material like the above. But
Dr. Andrew Weil has done some serious research into medicinal fungi,
as have Dr. Denis Benjamin and Christopher Hobbs.
New medical treatments often require following up on such anecdotal
material.

The above is my personal experience, and should not be construed as
anything else.

Daniel B. Wheeler
past president, Oregon Mycological Society
past president, North American Truffling Society


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