Ondansetron

[gretchen]

I am looking at this or Zofran.

 

[kiran]

Zofran is the brand name for Ondansetron

 

[Birdie]

So, I see that online it says to take it with or without food, but to drink a glass of water. The usual dose for this advice seems to be 24 mg used for nausea in chemotherapy... Then, it's sometimes taken 30 minutes before, as well as IV during the chemo.

I wonder if the advice about possible side effects refers to this normal dose. If so, it wouldn't tend to happen with a 1mg dose. But people vary. I'm figuring that the small dose won't cause side effects, but we'll see.

The reduction in serotonin relating to the bowel movements sounds reasonable. And taking cascara seems to be what people have done to counteract that. I haven't read people's experiences except in this thread.

I, however, am already taking cascara. Hmmm.. I am having NO constipation problems right now. Especially since we had root vegs last night. But I will be able to report on ondansetron's effects after I start it...

 

[Birdie]

I started my first dose yesterday pm. So, no morning headache. I have had headaches on awakening for about a week. However, I think those were sinus related. Today, we have clear skies. So, it's reasonable to attribute the lack of headache to the clear weather.

But, at least, we see that 1 mg ondansetron didn't cause a headache for me. At least with the first dose.

I took my second 1 mg dose with breakfast. No unusual symptoms. I feel good. :)

No constipation.

 

[jyb]

The version of Zofran I'm currently testing is packed with annoying ingredients added by GSK (aspartame, artifical sugars, and long named molecules). Even the instructions acknowledges that some ingredients are allergenic and one should warn one's doctor about possible allergies.

Those alone could account for some digestion issues I'm having. Those are, so far, very minor and the mood benefits seem still worth it.

 

[gretchen]

Zofran is the brand name for Ondansetron

Yeah, I actually knew that. My only concern is I'll be disappointed if it doesn't work. I'll back read the thread.

 

[Birdie]

The version of Zofran I'm currently testing is packed with annoying ingredients added by GSK (aspartame, artifical sugars, and long named molecules). Even the instructions acknowledges that some ingredients are allergenic and one should warn one's doctor about possible allergies.

Those alone could account for some digestion issues I'm having. Those are, so far, very minor and the mood benefits seem still worth it.

How interesting!!

It took a while but I finally found the inactive ingredients in mine. Aspartame, gelatin, mannitol, methylparaben sodium, propylparaben sodium and strawberry flavour. Same page says you don't need to drink water to get it down as it dissolves automatically.

And it's recommended not to drink alcohol while on it. I hadn't heard that before.

 

[chris]

And it's recommended not to drink alcohol while on it. I hadn't heard that before.

Hmm. First time I heard about ondansetron it was an article where it was being touted as a hangover cure. Surely a lot of people taking it would still have alcohol in their system, although drinking it and having drunk it hours previously are probably different.

 

[jyb]

A short update on Zofran.

3 days so far, 2mg morning, then evening.

Positive effects:
- Restores mental function when I have brain fog (or despite it)
- 2mg is enough and see results within hours
Negative effects:
- Bowels not happy. I never have digestion issues usually, so I don't know what it means but it seems like constipation
- As a result tried 2mg morning only since sufficient. Strangely, however, last night I had a bit of nausea, so I took 2mg to kill it.

Conclusion: interesting band aid to restore good clarity of thought, but digestion issues seem to restrict its use to short term

 

[Birdie]

I'm still in the first week of 1mg dose twice a day starting dose. No new symptoms.

For a joke, my husband said that shows it's stopped the progression.

 

[charlie]

Success!!

 

[BingDing]

Do y'all have an exit strategy with this? I'm just not clear on the thinking about serotonin antagonists. Knocking down serotonin is clearly a good thing, but are you going to do this for the rest of your lives? How do you know when you've taken enough? Does RP have a broader perspective that helps understand it? Thx

 

[jyb]

1) What is the mechanism by which ondansetron, a serotonin receptor antagonist, would create constipation? Digestion may require some serotonin, but the drug is supposed to antagonize a specific receptor in the brain, not in the GI tract where most of the serotonin is produced.

2) Ondansetron works against 5HT3 receptor. Wouldn't a drug working against 5HT1 be more relevant? Seems like the latter is more related to behaviour.
Edit: actually what it does by acting on 5HT3 is vasodilation which is what we want if affected by stress, it might constrict if it were on 5HT1.

 

[Birdie]

I stopped the ondansetron. I was using 1 mg twice a day. Around Day 3, I got distinctly discouraged and upset. A minor meltdown. I had hints of the same on Day 1 but ignored it.

This used to happen to me every couple of weeks, but after a few months of peating, had stopped.

The upset had been in the morning, so I skipped my night dose. I was already calmed down and stayed that way next day. No lasting effect.

Could be that I'm very high serotonin. Two years ago I was taking tryptophan, melatonin and fish oils.
Think I will stick to other methods of serotonin reduction rather than braving it through with ondansetron. Oh, well.

 

[charlie]

Bummer, wonder whats causing that.

 

[kiran]

Interesting. I wonder if taking something like Ondansetron would increase your need for sugar (and everything else?), for example.

 

[Birdie]

Charlie, I think it's related to what I said about being high in serotonin and I'm old.
I think it's an unusual reaction and that nobody else has to worry about it. Otherwise, Ray would have mentioned it.

 

[Birdie]

Kiran. Good thought.
I was eating sugar constantly tho and all the rest including supps.
My serotonin status when you take into account my serotonin habits and age might be so high that I reacted.
Some people get headaches, I became a headache.

 

[charlie]

Cute.

Poor Mr. Birdie.

 

[gretchen]

I'm wondering how this will work with my essences. On the one hand, I need help. On the other, I'm not about to give up my alchemy. Sounds so pc doesn't it?