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Cluster Headache Help and Support >> Medications, Treatments, Therapies >> Taurine Supplements
(Message started by: CostaRicaKris on Mar 22nd, 2008, 8:30pm)

Title: Taurine Supplements
Post by CostaRicaKris on Mar 22nd, 2008, 8:30pm
Has anyone tried these?  I'm going through 3-4 Rockstar a day and it's turning into an expensive habit. I haven't tried lugging the O2 tank to work yet  since I get hit worse at night, but I guess that's another option. But I was thinking if I had a couple 500 mg Taurine pills with some coffee, wouldn't that be the same as an energy drink? Have any of you tried that?

Kris

Title: Re: Taurine Supplements
Post by brewcrew on Mar 22nd, 2008, 8:37pm
The only problem I see is that pills take awhile to break down in the stomach, whereas in energy drinks, it's already in solution.

Title: Re: Taurine Supplements
Post by CostaRicaKris on Mar 22nd, 2008, 8:48pm
Hmmm... good point.
I wonder how often I'd have to take them to keep it in my system. Taurine supplements as a preventative??

Title: Re: Taurine Supplements
Post by brewcrew on Mar 22nd, 2008, 8:56pm
Do you have Aldi stores near you? They sell a Red Bull knock-off called Red Thunder. Goes for about 80 cents a can. And, in my humble opinion, it tastes better than Red Bull or Rockstar.

Title: Re: Taurine Supplements
Post by CostaRicaKris on Mar 22nd, 2008, 11:00pm
No :-(  We don't have Aldi's in San Diego. I checked the website, no location within 50 miles.
I appreciate the suggestion
:-)
Kris

Title: Re: Taurine Supplements
Post by superhawk2300 on Mar 23rd, 2008, 1:25am
Bill - same effect as Red Bull, same basic ingredients?

If so I LOVE YOU and so does my wallet!

Title: Re: Taurine Supplements
Post by nani on Mar 23rd, 2008, 1:46am

on 03/22/08 at 20:48:10, CostaRicaKris wrote:
Taurine supplements as a preventative??


Maybe. Read this:

http://www.clusterheadaches.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=meds;action=display;num=1199314505

Title: Re: Taurine Supplements
Post by brewcrew on Mar 23rd, 2008, 7:14am

on 03/23/08 at 01:25:23, superhawk2300 wrote:
Bill - same effect as Red Bull, same basic ingredients?

If so I LOVE YOU and so does my wallet!

Yep, same list and mix of ingredients. You can get a case of it for about $19.

Edited to add: I actually find it to taste a little better than Red Bull. Red Bull seems to have a bit of a musty aftertaste to it, and Red Thunder doesn't.

Title: Re: Taurine Supplements
Post by DragonSlayer on Mar 23rd, 2008, 1:34pm

Just a side note if you try the taurine supplement route.
Watch the energy drink consumption and be sure to figure it in!!!

I added 500mg taurine to the supplement cocktail I was taking and suffered "charlie horses" (muscle/joint pain as Barry describes) after about a week.  I was drinking 3-4 energy drinks to abort the hits every day/night.  I cut out the taurine and reduced energy drinks to one or two a day and after a week the charlie horses went away.
btw I already was taking the Ca/Mg supplements.
There is a delicate balance with the electrolyte levels and you need to be aware of changes.

Title: Re: Taurine Supplements
Post by cash5542 on Mar 23rd, 2008, 1:47pm
My daughter tried 1000mg of taurine with one of the energy Crystal light drinks instead of redbull. She thought the redbull worked faster but her combination tasted better and although slower, just as effective. She is taking 1000mg of taurine every night as a preventitive with good luck. It's cut down the intensity and frequency of the shadows.

Charlotte

Title: Re: Taurine Supplements
Post by Barry_T_Coles on Mar 23rd, 2008, 7:44pm
Perhaps a good time for an update: I’m currently 228 days PF with 33 days to go until I match my previous best & only 137 to be 365 days (quietly hopefull).
Although I am still shadowing there hasn’t been anything that resembles a ramp up “Fingers crossed”.
I would be surprised if anyone was to get a real quick reaction to using supplements; it took me around six months to get my first big break.
Given the length of time it took before I got that first big break I think it would be difficult for an episodic to get a long enough lead up time to prepare for your next battle unless you are sure that the cycle is going to come on at a specific time of the year then you may have a chance of some success.

This still is a trial & will take some time before we would be able to say with some hope of certainty that it is a go’er, but with the good long breaks I am getting I am going to stick with it.

Cheers & PF times
Barry

Title: Re: Taurine Supplements
Post by brewcrew on Mar 23rd, 2008, 7:50pm
The obvious question to me, Barry, is: if it took 6 months to notice any real relief, how can you be sure it was the taurine? A lot of things can change in 6 months. You know, cause-and-effect-type question.

Title: Re: Taurine Supplements
Post by Barry_T_Coles on Mar 23rd, 2008, 10:04pm

on 03/23/08 at 19:50:26, brewcrew wrote:
The obvious question to me, Barry, is: if it took 6 months to notice any real relief, how can you be sure it was the taurine? A lot of things can change in 6 months. You know, cause-and-effect-type question.

Hi Brew
I agree with what you say about 6 months being a long time & a lot can happen; when I say that it took a long time for any real relief I mean not getting big hits daily, there was some noticeable changes soon after starting the Taurine but I think the real change started when I added the Magnesium to the mix.
Only being a newbie at this CH caper I don’t have a lot of history to fall back on & when considered that I got it once then it went away for 5 years before deciding to visit again & going chronic.
Considering the above & my newness it may well be that the period between Dec 04 & Oct 06 may have simply been one long cycle & I may have now settled down to cycling at around every 250 days but only time will tell I guess (I say with tongue in cheek in another 30 years I may be able to give a definitive answer).

This link will take you to the thread I started about the trial & will give an idea of some of the minor changes I noticed.
http://www.clusterheadaches.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=meds;action=display;num=1146013283

Cheers
Barry

Title: Re: Taurine Supplements
Post by Mybelle on Mar 29th, 2008, 1:16pm
Hi Barry, How much magnesium were you adding to the taurine supplement? and did you ever try Benadryl? I didn't realize that it took time for the taurine to change things in your system........PFDAN,  ::)

Title: Re: Taurine Supplements
Post by Barry_T_Coles on Mar 29th, 2008, 10:18pm
Hi belle

I have never taken meds for CH (Just my preference)Edited to ad: I did try Imigran tablets last time around but found them to slow to work.

I was initially taking the Taurine & Magnesium as directed on the bottle, 500mg each 3 times a day with meals; I continued that until I went into a high cycle in June last year.
One thing that you will have to be aware of is that Magnesium will block the intake of calcium and may cause as it did in my case muscle & joint aches & pain, after talking to my Doc about this I switched to a magnesium/calcium combination that got rid of that little problem.
After my last high cycle I decided to lower the intake & rotate the times that I take them, I call it morphing before the beast does, and increase that if I start to shadow heavy, so far it seems to be working.
When looking for these supplements you should try & get the chelated ones as they are already broken down ready for absorption by the body.

I have read as much as I can find about Taurine & Nani picks up other little gems every now & then & there are some interesting points that come out & one is that when Taurine hits the bile acids in your gut it changes to H2O2, or hydrogen peroxide, if you follow up on that trail you start to find other interesting little gems like the one below & this makes me think that maybe the reason Red Bull & other drinks work so well is the sudden creation of those extra 2 oxygen molecules (my theory only).

Please remember that if you are taking any other meds talk these thing over with your Doc first as they may interact & cause some other problems.
Cheers & PFDANs
Barry

http://www.garynull.com/Documents/Arthritis/Hydrogen_Peroxide_Therapy.htm

Dr. Edward C. Rosenow, author of 450 published medical papers and associate at the Mayo Clinic for over 60 years . . . proved [more than] 70 years ago (1914) that bacteria could be found consistently in the lymph nodes that drain joints (J.A.M.A., April 11, 1914). He was probably the first scientist to postulate that H2O2 would help arthritis because of its ability to supply oxygen to oxygen-hating organisms causing arthritis (Streptococcus viridans)."

Title: Re: Taurine Supplements
Post by Mybelle on Mar 30th, 2008, 3:41pm
Who knew? It all seems like it's a crapshoot when it comes to different treatments and why they work on some and not on others - or why they work period! I'm sure the great folks on this website work harder at finding a cure than any pharmaceutical company or researcher in this world - and that's saying alot for someone who has just joined here as a supporter of a sufferer - my hat is off to you all and my prayers are that a cure will be found - not just treatments to try. Have a great Sunday :D

Title: Re: Taurine Supplements
Post by MJ on Mar 30th, 2008, 6:23pm
Article Date: 18 Jan 2008
"Taurine is one of the most plentiful amino acids in the human brain, but neuroscientists are still puzzled by just how brain cells put it to use. Now, a team of researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City has uncovered a prime site of activity for the molecule, bringing them closer to solving that mystery."

"while the amino acid is made naturally by the body, it's also a much-touted ingredient in so-called "energy drinks" such as Red Bull. "Its inclusion in these supplements is a little puzzling, because our research would suggest that instead of being a pick-me-up, the taurine actually would have more of a sedative effect on the brain,"

Read the full article here.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/94393.php

Title: Re: Taurine Supplements
Post by Barry_T_Coles on Mar 30th, 2008, 7:35pm
Thanks MJ

Really interesting article, I tagged the site to keep an eye on future development.

Cheers
Barry

Title: Re: Taurine Supplements
Post by Mybelle on Mar 31st, 2008, 1:41am
It was interesting -- but it seems there are more questions than answers - we thought taurine was a missing link in CH'ers, but it seems that maybe they don't have enough of it......what I don't understand is we all know when to go to bed and when we're sleepy we sleep and get up when it's time to get up....so what this article tells me is that taurine and caffeine together calm the brain (?) - benadryl and melatonin the same....sounds like a midnight cocktail to me! ;)

Title: Re: Taurine Supplements
Post by Barry_T_Coles on Mar 31st, 2008, 3:36am
Hi Belle
Here’s basically what Melatonin does.

In humans, melatonin is produced by the pineal gland, a gland about the size of a pea, located in the center of the brain on the dorsal surface of diencephalon. The melatonin signal forms part of the system that regulates the circadian cycle by chemically causing drowsiness, but it is the central nervous system that controls the daily cycle in most components of the paracrine and endocrine systems[22][23] rather than the melatonin signal (as was once postulated).

If you want to have a read of the full article here’s the wikipedia link.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melatonin

Cheers
Barry

Title: Re: Taurine Supplements
Post by Mybelle on Mar 31st, 2008, 10:00am
Thanks Barry - I didn't understand most of it, what I did understand is that it is a preventative for clusters - and with Benadryl and taurine - it seems to be a great nightcap for my husband - 3 nights with no hits and only shadows during the day - in the early part of the morning..........Cheers to you :D



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