Cyclobenzaprine For CFS -- But I Have High Serotonin Already!

[freyasam]

I was just prescribed cyclobenzaprine for chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). The drug is an old tricyclic antidepressant, but it has been used for fibromyalgia and CFS.

Also, it does apparently raise serotonin and 5-HIAA (serotonin breakdown). My 5-HIAA is already high and I'm being tested for carcinoid tumors. My doctor really made it sound like the drug would help my fatigue so I'd like to try it, but don't want to increase serotonin. Maybe at the lower doses he prescribed (5 mg, then 10 mg) it would be ok?

Any thoughts?

 

[zewe]

I WON'T do any of their damn meds. You lack energy, right? Well, ask yourself, why would they give something that damages the mitochondria?

Sorry folks, but asprin is included too.

SEE TABLE 5:

All classes of psychotropic drugs have been documented to damage mitochondria, as have statin medications, analgesics such as acetaminophen, and many others.” – John Neustadt, MD and Steven Pieczenik, MD http://psychrights.org/research/Digest/NLPs/DrugsCauseMitochondrialDamage.PDF)

 

[zewe]

Medication-induced mitochondrial damage and disease.
Neustadt J1, Pieczenik SR.
Author information
1
Montana Integrative Medicine, Bozeman, MT 59718, USA. [email protected]
Abstract
Since the first mitochondrial dysfunction was described in the 1960s, the medicine has advanced in its understanding the role mitochondria play in health and disease. Damage to mitochondria is now understood to play a role in the pathogenesis of a wide range of seemingly unrelated disorders such as schizophrenia, bipolar disease, dementia, Alzheimer's disease, epilepsy, migraine headaches, strokes, neuropathic pain, Parkinson's disease, ataxia, transient ischemic attack, cardiomyopathy, coronary artery disease, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, retinitis pigmentosa, diabetes, hepatitis C, and primary biliary cirrhosis. Medications have now emerged as a major cause of mitochondrial damage, which may explain many adverse effects. All classes of psychotropic drugs have been documented to damage mitochondria, as have stain medications, analgesics such as acetaminophen, and many others. While targeted nutrient therapies using antioxidants or their precursors (e. g., N-acetylcysteine) hold promise for improving mitochondrial function, there are large gaps in our knowledge. The most rational approach is to understand the mechanisms underlying mitochondrial damage for specific medications and attempt to counteract their deleterious effects with nutritional therapies. This article reviews our basic understanding of how mitochondria function and how medications damage mitochondria to create their occasionally fatal adverse effects.

PMID:

18626887

DOI:

10.1002/mnfr.200700075

Same paper here at this favoured source:

Medication-induced mitochondrial damage and disease. - PubMed - NCBI

 

[RayPeatFan777]

It sounds to me as if you Dr is playing a game of 'cook book medicine'

"Well if I look here it says this drug helped 'CFS 'patients. My patient has 'CFS' therefore ill prescribe this drug regardless of any other individual factors at all"

 

[zewe]

This what I've gleaned from my reading about mitochondria.

Mitochondria do not have any inherent repair mechanisms. The mitochondrial chromosome is extremely succeptible to damage compared to the genome of the cell which has multiple repair mechanisms. Most of the mitochondrial protection occurs in the form of desmotase enzymes, and other types of antioxidant agents designed to prevent reactive species. However, once the damage occurs it is there permanently.

In the past, it was said that you could feed and protect existing mitochondria using
nutrients such as resveratrol, carnosine, lipoic acid, L-carnitine, and CoQ10

But these do nothing for mito death/damage.

Newer studies say you can grow new mitochondria with the supplement PQQ.

SEE the following from Life Extention:
Rejuvenate Cells by Growing New Mitochondria | Life Extension

As someone who had fibro/cfs I tried this supplementation [with a few more tweeks] and I believe it helped me with energy crisis.
It IS expensive to do all these sups so, after I felt better for awhile, I stopped...and I felt the same for a couple of months.

However, I will be supplementing again and probably take another break or maybe do the sups a couple times a week.

If I can avoid meds I will because why do the damage in the first place?

I have never met a person who psych drugs helped with these conditions.

 

[aguilaroja]

I was just prescribed cyclobenzaprine for chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). The drug is an old tricyclic antidepressant, but it has been used for fibromyalgia and CFS.
....My doctor really made it sound like the drug would help my fatigue so I'd like to try it, but don't want to increase serotonin. Maybe at the lower doses he prescribed (5 mg, then 10 mg) it would be ok?

Cyclobenzaprine has the brand name Flexaril. It has been used to decades to "relieve" the "spasm" allegedly causing low back pain. It is stated to be chemically related to the tricyclic class of antidepressants. I have rarely seen clear advantage in its use.

"Fibromyalgia" & CFS typically include difficult/disordered sleep. My impression is that the drowsiness side effect of cyclobenzaprine sometimes marginally induces more sleep in some fibromyalgia situations, leading to its alleged benefit.

If you give things a trial, read up on the long list of possible cyclobenzaprine side effects, so it is understood what to monitor for.

"As the true method of knowledge is experiment, the true faculty of knowing must be the faculty which experiences."
—William Blake, All Religions Are One, “The Argument” (1788)

 

[freyasam]

Thanks for the replies. I took the drug four days. It made my facial flushing and burning much worse. So I stopped it. I did, however, like how it reduced my appetite, which is usually too much .

 

[freyasam]

Also, the first day I took it I had a flare-up of low back pain. I've had that for years but the past few months it had died down. Now, it's back .Maybe just a coincidence since the drug is supposed to help muscle pain .

 

[freyasam]

This what I've gleaned from my reading about mitochondria.

Mitochondria do not have any inherent repair mechanisms. The mitochondrial chromosome is extremely succeptible to damage compared to the genome of the cell which has multiple repair mechanisms. Most of the mitochondrial protection occurs in the form of desmotase enzymes, and other types of antioxidant agents designed to prevent reactive species. However, once the damage occurs it is there permanently.

In the past, it was said that you could feed and protect existing mitochondria using
nutrients such as resveratrol, carnosine, lipoic acid, L-carnitine, and CoQ10

But these do nothing for mito death/damage.

Newer studies say you can grow new mitochondria with the supplement PQQ.

SEE the following from Life Extention:
Rejuvenate Cells by Growing New Mitochondria | Life Extension

As someone who had fibro/cfs I tried this supplementation [with a few more tweeks] and I believe it helped me with energy crisis.
It IS expensive to do all these sups so, after I felt better for awhile, I stopped...and I felt the same for a couple of months.

However, I will be supplementing again and probably take another break or maybe do the sups a couple times a week.

If I can avoid meds I will because why do the damage in the first place?

I have never met a person who psych drugs helped with these conditions.

So PQQ helped your CFS? Any other info like dosage and other supps you can share? Thanks