Cyproheptadine - A Wonder Drug?

[lindsay]

Only after taking care of serotonin did things start to get better for me.

@haidut: this has been my conclusion when it comes to hypothyroidism - you have to take care of gut issues for other measures to work well. taking thyroid never solved my digestive issues and I've been wondering about cyproheptadine. can you please explain how it helped your digestion? also, are there other "over the counter" antihistamines that you've tried that helped as well? cypro requires a prescription here in the US.

 

[haidut]

Only after taking care of serotonin did things start to get better for me.

@haidut: this has been my conclusion when it comes to hypothyroidism - you have to take care of gut issues for other measures to work well. taking thyroid never solved my digestive issues and I've been wondering about cyproheptadine. can you please explain how it helped your digestion? also, are there other "over the counter" antihistamines that you've tried that helped as well? cypro requires a prescription here in the US.

Cyproheptadine kind of calmed my stomach after 2 years on a low carb diet. I would not say it solved all of my issues but it definitely got me in better shape. Alcohol is a big irritant for me so I stopped drinking several years ago, even before starting Peat. The carrot salad also helped initially but lately I have not seen much effect from it so I prefer taking charcoal instead. Taking digestive enzymes, ACV, Pepsin, etc also helps but I think it is more of a question of avoiding the foods that irritate your gut.
I think Benadryl can be helpful since its structure is very similar to cyproheptadine. However, your liver has to be in good shape to handle it. I read about people getting elevated liver enzymes from Benadryl, so you should start with low dosage of maybe 25mg-50mg and see how that makes you feel. I would not take any of the other antihistamines sold over the counter since they all contain chlorine and are bad for the liver. Charcoal should be very helpful, and also aspirin. Aspirin is given often to people when they take niacin to mitigate the histamine flush. So, aspirin is a legitimate antihistamine IMO. Actually, if I had to pick I would take aspirin on a regular basis rather than any of the other anti-histamine drugs since it has many other benefits. Just make sure your stomach can handle it and don't over do it to avoid getting ulcers.
Btw, I think you can get cyproheptadine for dogs without prescription in the US and just like the animal aspirin it should be good for human use.
In summary, it is an ongoing process consisting mostly of avoiding the really offensive foods (fried food and alcohol, as well as spices) and indulging in every once in a while. Taking charcoal with/after the offending food usually brings things under control for me. Cyproheptadine was useful for my "acute" phase but now I feel like it mostly makes me sleepy and I can get better results with other methods above.

 

[lindsay]

Cyproheptadine kind of calmed my stomach after 2 years on a low carb diet. I would not say it solved all of my issues but it definitely got me in better shape. Alcohol is a big irritant for me so I stopped drinking several years ago, even before starting Peat. The carrot salad also helped initially but lately I have not seen much effect from it so I prefer taking charcoal instead. Taking digestive enzymes, ACV, Pepsin, etc also helps but I think it is more of a question of avoiding the foods that irritate your gut.
I think Benadryl can be helpful since its structure is very similar to cyproheptadine. However, your liver has to be in good shape to handle it. I read about people getting elevated liver enzymes from Benadryl, so you should start with low dosage of maybe 25mg-50mg and see how that makes you feel. I would not take any of the other antihistamines sold over the counter since they all contain chlorine and are bad for the liver. Charcoal should be very helpful, and also aspirin. Aspirin is given often to people when they take niacin to mitigate the histamine flush. So, aspirin is a legitimate antihistamine IMO. Actually, if I had to pick I would take aspirin on a regular basis rather than any of the other anti-histamine drugs since it has many other benefits. Just make sure your stomach can handle it and don't over do it to avoid getting ulcers.
Btw, I think you can get cyproheptadine for dogs without prescription in the US and just like the animal aspirin it should be good for human use.
In summary, it is an ongoing process consisting mostly of avoiding the really offensive foods (fried food and alcohol, as well as spices) and indulging in every once in a while. Taking charcoal with/after the offending food usually brings things under control for me. Cyproheptadine was useful for my "acute" phase but now I feel like it mostly makes me sleepy and I can get better results with other methods above.

Thank you for your input!! Unfortunately, I love my wine, but that's usually because I find it helps calm down my stomach..... I have both an underactive & overactive digestion - basically, it's all over the place from day to day. However, the bit about benadryl and aspirin is specifically fascinating - my cocker spaniel has atopical dermatitis. He gets horrible skin outbreaks from allergies, both environmental and food related. I got tired of paying the high prices for the anti-histamine from the vet, so I recently tried the benadryl capsules (without the colorings). They definitely help, but we gave him some aspirin and it was like a wonder drug. He went from crying and whining to sleeping all through the night - at least until it wore off.

The thing is, I don't really have much in the way of food allergies or skin issues, just the occasional seasonal allergies. My nose is usually clear (although I take sudafed to help with that because I've had issues with fluid in my middle ear and it's the only thing that helps). It seems to me that it's more bacterial/estrogen issues in my gut because I felt fantastic after having antibiotics recently - however it was short lived. I wish I could go on a better dose of them that would last longer, but I'm not going back to a doctor any time soon - I just had appendicitis recently. I was avoiding aspirin because I had bruising during surgery - it was really bad. But I think I will take small doses again - the powdered stuff works better than the tablets, I find. And I'm definitely going to continue activated charcoal. I just am not ready to take tablespoons of the stuff yet.....

Anyhow, thank again!

 

[Such_Saturation]

I find that when I feel well wine smells quite unnatural, and the phenols can get me drunk from just a tablespoon. Check out ebastine for a H1 blocker without chlorine, "non-drowsy".

 

[answersfound]

can cyproheptadine be useful for fixing chronic fatigue syndrome?

 

[jyb]

can cyproheptadine be useful for fixing chronic fatigue syndrome?

I have indeed found it useful for some serious fatigue problems, although I never had CFS according to the strict definition. I see it more as a bandaid though. Pregnenolone has powerful effects on brain energy too, overall I like it better than cypro so far because its effects are more consistent and more general.

 

[BobbyDukes]

haidut: Get you, maybe i should try 3mg cypro tonight then and see if it has an effect

In terms of using Tianeptine as reducing serotonin, wich one of cypro and tianeptine is best?

Get you, how is the cypro trial going now?

 

[Such_Saturation]

can cyproheptadine be useful for fixing chronic fatigue syndrome?

I have indeed found it useful for some serious fatigue problems, although I never had CFS according to the strict definition. I see it more as a bandaid though. Pregnenolone has powerful effects on brain energy too, overall I like it better than cypro so far because its effects are more consistent and more general.

I think cyproheptadine is better for a "pit-stop" when you need one (unless you develop tolerance) because it will ruin the day after you take it. You will be in a cloud, and I think this might be due to reduced dopamine.

 

[BingDing]

I pretty much agree, SS. If I take cypro for several days in a row, I sleep for 12 hours and am a zombie during the day. Tianeptine is a much better serotonin antagonist for me.

 

[haidut]

can cyproheptadine be useful for fixing chronic fatigue syndrome?

I have indeed found it useful for some serious fatigue problems, although I never had CFS according to the strict definition. I see it more as a bandaid though. Pregnenolone has powerful effects on brain energy too, overall I like it better than cypro so far because its effects are more consistent and more general.

I think cyproheptadine is better for a "pit-stop" when you need one (unless you develop tolerance) because it will ruin the day after you take it. You will be in a cloud, and I think this might be due to reduced dopamine.

I've been wondering about the same thing, since a bigger dose of cyproheptadine also makes me feel like a zombie. The wikipedia page says cypro is an antagonist at several dopamine "receptors", which would explain the zombie effect. However, anything that antagonizes dopamine you would expect to raise prolactin too, and that's not the case with cyproheptadine. In fact, it is sometimes given to lower prolactin. So, not sure what's going on here...

 

[jyb]

can cyproheptadine be useful for fixing chronic fatigue syndrome?

I have indeed found it useful for some serious fatigue problems, although I never had CFS according to the strict definition. I see it more as a bandaid though. Pregnenolone has powerful effects on brain energy too, overall I like it better than cypro so far because its effects are more consistent and more general.

I think cyproheptadine is better for a "pit-stop" when you need one (unless you develop tolerance) because it will ruin the day after you take it. You will be in a cloud, and I think this might be due to reduced dopamine.

I've been wondering about the same thing, since a bigger dose of cyproheptadine also makes me feel like a zombie. The wikipedia page says cypro is an antagonist at several dopamine "receptors", which would explain the zombie effect. However, anything that antagonizes dopamine you would expect to raise prolactin too, and that's not the case with cyproheptadine. In fact, it is sometimes given to lower prolactin. So, not sure what's going on here...

From what I remember, the initialisation effect is huge. For example, I first took a few mg's and I slept a bit excessively the next day or two, but months later I take taking many dozens of mg's (yup, I experimented with huge doses too) and didn't even notice a drowsy effect.

 

[BobbyDukes]

I took 4mg yesterday afternoon. Ended up sleeping well.

Today though, I have had the headache from hell it seems, as the cypro has been leaving my system. It may be the 800g of potato I ate yesterday (ate it without fat). Or it could be a combination of the two. Who knows.

Some apple juice this morning made the headache go away for about 20 mins; then I ate some cheese (all I had on hand for protein), and it came poinding back, worse than ever. Aspirin did nothing. Nor did coffee (I thought to lower serotonin). I ended up taking 400mg of ibuprofen to kick its ****, and that was the end of my headache. Good night, Vienna.

Anyway, there's a running commentary right there for my day, today.

 

[Such_Saturation]

I think serotonin can call dopamine in certain areas.

 

[cantstoppeating]

I took 1.5mg before sleeping and slept as usual. The next day however I truly felt like a zombie. The feeling is best described as 'depleted'. If exhaustion is like a dull fatigue after a day of hardwork, depletion is like a dull fatigue without the day of hardwork -- it feels like all my energy has been sapped out of me without having accomplished anything. I would have been satisfied laying in bed and watching paint dry all day.

Very strange and I'm not sure what to make of it so I'll be dropping it until I do some more research.

 

[Peata]

I took 1.5mg before sleeping and slept as usual. The next day however I truly felt like a zombie. The feeling is best described as 'depleted'. If exhaustion is like a dull fatigue after a day of hardwork, depletion is like a dull fatigue without the day of hardwork -- it feels like all my energy has been sapped out of me. I would have been satisfied laying in bed and watching paint dry all day.

Very strange and I'm not sure what to make of it so I'll be dropping it until I do some more research.

Not sure how long you've been taking it, but this zombie feeling wore off for me after a while, as i adjusted to it. But it was intense in the beginning. You could try cutting back to 1/2 mg. and raising dose slowly.

 

[Aspekt]

Also try taking it a few hours before bed instead of at bedtime. If I take it too late my mornings can be sluggish.

 

[north]

Where do you guys get cypro? Any online site shipping internationally?

 

[Such_Saturation]

The point for me is: taking it continuously was never the point, so building tolerance is besides the point.

 

[TheHound]

would cyproheptadine be a good option for someone trying to put on weight? I just turned 20 years old and would like to gain a good 20 pounds

 

[haidut]

would cyproheptadine be a good option for someone trying to put on weight? I just turned 20 years old and would like to gain a good 20 pounds

That's one of the reasons it is unofficially prescribed for - weight gain for people with poor appetite or trouble putting on weight.