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        New Message Board Archives >> Medications, Treatments, Therapies 2003 >> Regarding Maria's last post
        
(Message started by: thomas on Oct 15^th, 2003, 7:32am)

Title: Regarding Maria's last post
Post by thomas on Oct 15^th, 2003, 7:32am

Has anyone tried melatonin in conjunction with a seratonin re-uptake inhibitor? Just a wild guess that I'm going to try this week. I tried melatonin last night had a 5 on the Kip scale at about 1:30am. Took a zomig- went back to sleep in 20mins, slept like a baby.

Title: Re: Regarding Maria's last post
Post by maria9 on Oct 15^th, 2003, 3:14pm

Thomas,

I have another suggestion for you to try to help raise serotonin levels. Some research has shown that light therapy in addition to SSRIs is more effective in combination than either single treatment on it's own for treatment of depression. Try exposure to 10,000 lux bright light (a light box) 30 minutes per day between 6-9 am. Can't hurt to try and side effects are minimal.

Maria

Title: Re: Regarding Maria's last post
Post by vig on Oct 15^th, 2003, 3:58pm

Hey cool! I WAS wondering if these tanning spas would be effective for light therapy. Especially mid winter for SAD. Do you know?

Title: Re: Regarding Maria's last post
Post by thomas on Oct 15^th, 2003, 4:13pm

Thanks Maria. What I really want to know, after reading all of the stuff about low melatonin and seretonin levels in ch patients, is has anyone tried the two together? It seems to me that it may be a good combination. Say melatonin and paxil. I just talked to my nurse today - the neurologist was at outreach all day. He is going to get a script for paxil for me today. Then I'm going to try the two together and see if it helps. It seems logical to me that it could be beneficial to some of us. I was wondering if anyone else had tried it, so I would know what I might be in for.

Title: Re: Regarding Maria's last post
Post by lelacks on Oct 16^th, 2003, 1:21am

I also tried the melatonin, but although I can't attribute it to one thing, that night, I had a horrible time. Maybe because it helped me sleep faster (usually insomniac) leading to REM, when CHs usually hit. However, I tried it early on in my cycle, and it didn't seem to affect me. One thing I do notice is this, though, and I was wondering if anyone else did...with or without the CH in the middle of the night, I can't seem to get through a normal nights sleep without waking up. Maybe its the anxiety of waiting for it to come? Anyway, I'd like to hear if your attempts work. It seems that anything involving less drugs seems worth trying. Good luck and God bless.

Title: Re: Regarding Maria's last post
Post by thomas on Oct 16^th, 2003, 7:39am

I went to the pharmacy last night to get my paxil - I need prior authorization. I'm mad. Am calling the doc today to see what's up. Two nights on the meletonin and only one ch so far - pretty heavy shadows this morning though.

Title: Re: Regarding Maria's last post
Post by eyes_afire on Oct 16^th, 2003, 4:51pm

Hi Thomas. At one time I was taking Paxil and melatonin. I wasn't really gung ho about the melatonin and was only taking the recommended 3 mg. Neither of them did anything for my CH. For me, Paxil caused a whole nother problem that took a long time to resolve. To this day I still curse the name of the doc that prescribed Paxil. I hope you find something that works. Whatever you do, make sure you do lots of research on the meds you plan to take. The docs may not be 'fully informed'.

Incidentally at around the same time I was trying to expose myself to 'full spectrum lighting' for 1 hour each day in the morning. I don't think it did a damn thing... except later on I found a better use for my 'full spectrum light'....

--- Steve

Title: Re: Regarding Maria's last post
Post by thomas on Oct 17^th, 2003, 7:26am

Well so far I have had 2 1/2 nights of uniterupetd sleep - thank God. In one of my moments of lucidity, I had this thought; Since not everyone reacts the same to treatments and meds, maybe ch is caused by different things in different people. Maybe mine is a lack of melatonin and seratonin. Maybe someone else's are caused by lack of o2 in the blood or any myriad of problems.

Title: Re: Regarding Maria's last post
Post by floridian on Oct 17^th, 2003, 8:38am

Melatonin has a show a moderate sucess rate as a prophylactic in some studies (50%), but no success in other studies. With a better understanding of melatonin, the sucess rate might be boosted.

While there is a low level of melatonin in cluster heads, the amount is not the only factor. Because it can reset biological clocks, the timing for taking melatonin could also be important, In CH, the circadian cycle tends to run 1 hour ahead of schedule.

Time released melatonin may be more useful than the slam-bam of a quick dissolving dose. While melatonin is seen as non-toxic, people with sharp night-time melatonin peaks are more likely to have apnea and related problems (which may actually CH trigger). Ordinarily, cluster heads have an abnormally flat graph of melatonin production.

Tryptophan might be even more useful, as it is a precursor of melatonin. Numerous studies show that tryptophan increases melatonin production, and this could be more in tune with the natural rythms of the body than a dose of melatonin.

Low melatonin has been linked to poor posture and scoliosis - and cluster heads have low melatonin, even out of a cycle. This could be the next poll - how many cluster heads are chronically criticized for poor posture??

Title: Re: Regarding Maria's last post
Post by thomas on Oct 17^th, 2003, 9:12am

I have poor posture.