Posted by drummer (209.105.133.231) on November 22, 1999 at 14:11:05:
In Reply to: Serotonin/Melotonin/Addiction posted by Bob P on November 22, 1999 at 12:41:35:
In my humblest of humble opinions, Cluster Headache is a cascade of events OR a whole bunch of pieces of a puzzle to a BIG puzzle. Bob I absolutely loved your post. I particularly LOVED the last sentence:
“WE’LL JUST KEEP PICKING UP LITTLE TIDBITS HERE AND THERE AND MAYBE SOME DAY ALL THE PIECES WILL FALL TOGETHER”
We have Dr. Goadsby’s excessive Grey matter Hypothalamus thingy piece. We have Michel L’s VERY possible “Myelin sheath” piece. This MAY lead to countless pieces in the whole central nervous system which contains approximately a “shitload” of chemicals and approximately a “shitload” of neurotransmitters.
We also have Michel L’s Viral theory thingy. Dr. Goadsby also says that we need to reconsider calling CH a NEUROvascular headache as opposed to a vascular headache. Dr. Goadsby as well as other Neurologists CLEARLY say that there is an increase in Serotonin DURING the actual Cluster attack itself. We KNOW that the blood vessels dilate during an actual Cluster attack. (That’s why Goadby uses Nitro to induce an attack and Sumatriptan to abort the attack). We have no idea what is going on in our brains before an actual attack in terms of chemicals and neurotransmitters and everything else. It is without question fascinating and quite painful though.
I hope this doesn't sound morbid to anyone, but I plan to donate my brain to Dr. Goadsby when I "shit the bed".
And I have one question for anybody. Does my mood regulate the increase or decrease in Serotonin OR does Serotonin regulate the change in my mood? For example: If my daughter were to be harmed in any way right now: my mood WILL change. What happens first? Does my mood change OR does my Serotonin change?