My Brain Hurts

[anigo]

Well, made it to work - no gravol on board this morning, so I'm not quite as zoned, but I'm late to work none the less. Not that it matters, as I usually take the first hour to catch up on everything anyway.

I'm thinking, however, that I might just play hookie tonight from school. I think in all my university history I've missed one class, and that was because I had to go to Toronto for work. This is the class that the prof said I didn't have to hand anything else in because I'd already received a 20/20. We'll see.

I've started taking 5-HTP, dunno if anybody's familiar with it or not, but in addition to it's proposed magical properties of helping you get a good night's sleep, helping you handle winter a little better and helping you not feel like a lunatic that needs carbohydrates, it's supposed to help migranes as well - except it may take a couple of days to a few weeks before it's effective.

On first glance it sounded like one of those things that "if it's too good to be true, it probably isn't", but I did a bit of net research and it's all about that seratonin thing. It also came recommended by one of the counsellors here, and I trust him with stuff like that. It doesn't appear to have any side affects other than a bit of tummy upset, so what the hay. Having said that, I must add the disclaimer that - I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS FOR ANY OF MY LJ FRIENDS. IF YOU TRY IT AND YOU GROW A THIRD HEAD OR SOMETHING, DON'T BE SUING MY ASS. You've been warned.

Ok, off to work.

Comments

[busmann.livejournal.com]

what if I already have another head? will it make it go away?

[anigo.livejournal.com]

No, but it might grow more hair.

[busmann.livejournal.com]

i'd like to have one bald one if that's alright, whilst I have the one with hair also.

[willowlady.livejournal.com]

What is 5-HTP in chemical terms? Canadian drugs often have different names than the ones down here. Anything that raises a person's seritonin level usually helps with a lot of things.

[anigo.livejournal.com]

5-hydroxytryptophan

[64tbird.livejournal.com]

GAZHUNDHEIT!


(cough cough cough oohgod)

[willowlady.livejournal.com]

That's often very helpful for people and safe. This chemical is found naturally in dairy products like milk.

[64tbird.livejournal.com]

I won't sue you but I can't vouch for the Second Head....she gets awfully jealous sometimes.

[eleccham.livejournal.com]

Geff. Not to mention, at least for some of us truly broken people, there might well be another reason that there's insomnia going on... and indeed, it might be serotonin related. But as cerval and I can attest, screwing with it if you don't know what you're doing is... well, a roll of the dice. If it works for you, good deal, your brain's supposed to be able to self-regulate that sorta thing. Mine, well... doesn't do so good on that front.

[64tbird.livejournal.com]

TBird winces and wants to offer a hug but thinks better of it and sits back down

Well, for what it's worth, anigo isn't actually wildly experimenting, so there's not cause for alarm on her behalf. She's in Canada and she works literally surrounded by mental health care professionals. And she has worse migraines than mine, far far far far worse than mine. She hasn't actually found a drug that works for her yet. (I don't think you've ever seen me with a migraine, cerval has. Once. The day of the wacko lawn care people.)

Anyway - she's safe. And your added warning against other people taking this, well, folks, it's my understanding that the eleccham has only casually studied brain chemistry for more than half his life, and being as who he is, that would be basically a doctorate program for you or me. In other words, here lies the voice of knowledge.

Don't play with drugs, no matter how many heads you have, unless you are under a doctors supervision. Perferably a doctor who will actually talk to you.

[anigo.livejournal.com]

Well, not surrounded technically - one on either side and a bunch down the hall. A window to my right and the hall and elevators to my left.

But that's not your point, is it ;)

[eleccham.livejournal.com]

Er. Well, I dunno if I'd go that far on my knowledge of it... I learned some of it out of self-defence, years ago, and then some out of "wow, this is cool, but they really don't have a friggin' clue what's going on, do they", and then didn't have time for some years... and then more recently, had something of a crash course again, but rather than self-defence, let's call it "enlightened self-interest". But, as I found out recently, my periodic insomnia did have a root cause, and dinking with it with most OTC remedies would have been disastrous.

But you're right, that was more in frustration of seeing people (not anigo particularly, just in general) going "well I hear this stuff's the bomb, let's see if it works for me!" not having any idea what that "dopamine" or "serotonin" stuff really is, not realizing they're screwing with their BRAIN CHEMISTRY. So I feel it necessary to put my $.02 in and then back away.

Kinda like the conversation I was having with someone today who watched a GNC salesmonkey try to sell a seven month pregnant lady black cohosh herbal supplements "to help with her cramps" (Braxton-Hicks contractions). Black cohosh is an abortifacient... so my friend stepped in and pointed this out, and explained what that meant, and recommended a competent herbalist.

I'd rather do the "just so you realize..." than have them not know.

[64tbird.livejournal.com]

GAH!
I'm not anything near an herbalist nor do I play one on TV and I know about black cohosh. That is about the scariest story I've heard in a while.

I tried a few different herb-y things for peri-menopause symptoms, but only at the recommendation of my doctor. And when we were going to try putting me on the Pill to fix stuff, I reminded them about the herbal stuff (I can't remember the name of) and they said to definitely stop taking that with the Pill. They'd counter act each other.

I think the advent of easy access to the Internet makes some people feel this is the source for information and they forget they are messing, yes, with their brain and body chemistry, and they forget they are shooting in the dark. They think that because they read it here it must be good. Same with the "salesmonkeys" at GNC and whatnot.

These type of people are not doctors. Feel free to write down their advice, thank them, and go call your doctor for the final decision.

I think the only medical type advice I've ever shared (from my own internist) is the snorting of saline for persistent nasal and sinus problems, but I ALWAYS tell people to talk to their doctors first to see if it's okay. In fact, a little warm saline snort today might get rid of this sinus headache from my cold....