Posted by Hampton on June 22, 1998 at 10:37:57:
Hi All,
Have had serotonin on the brain so to speak. Cluster
cycle started about 3 weeks ago. You all know the
drill. Got unbearable quickly 2-3 per day; noon, evening
and night. Started Imitrex which worked well at night
but poorly during the day. Started prednisone(40mg/day
quick taper over 10 days) and verapamil(240mg/day).
This provided effective relief for 1 week but headaches
returned 1 per day but milder.
Began the research journey which we all take. I am convinced
that serotonin provides answers based on the success of
SSRIs and the triptans. Serotonin agonists tend to work
by both acting on serotonin receptors that cause vasoconstriction,
and by controlling pain messages sent by irritated nerves.
The SSRIs create more free serotonin by preventing the
uptake of serotonin by the receptor after the receptor has
been activated. Triptans activate the vasoconstrictiong
receptors directly in the absence of serotonin.
I bought myself some serotonin precurser(5-HTP) which you
here all kinds of miracle stories about. I am still on the
verapamil which I believe is providing the bulk of the
vasoconstriction, but I think the 5HTP is generating an
increase in my free-serotonin much like an SSRI would.
This combination has seemed to work well in controlling
the pain. I still get some of the sensations associated
with my c/h/a but without much pain.
I am not completely convinced that 5HTP raises free-serotonin
by a whole lot because of all the blood-brain barrier
business. However, this might be worth a try.
I have detected no real negative side-effects from the
5HTP(100mg) but the stuff is fairly expensive at the
healthfood store.
Has anybody had any success manipulating their serotonin
levels using 5HTP or some other therapy? Am I confused
on any of the fundamentals here?
Hampton