Post by Garys_Girl on Dec 22nd, 2008 at 1:15pm
Do you have a doc you can discuss it with? Many neuros that treat CH are "up" on Melatonin.
Gary takes 5mg immediate release and two 3mg extended release all at the same time. According to his neuro, up to 18mg is non-toxic.
However, the lowest dose that works for you is always best.
There are also cautions about melatonin, because it is an OTC "herbal" kind of treatment, it does not meet same quality/FDA standards as prescription drugs. There is a prescription version of melatonin - doc explained it as a "targeted" version of melatonin. It's called Rozerem.
There is also a new drug just approved by the FDA that stimulates the production of melatonin. Melissa posted about it here: START PRINTPAGEMultimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!! You need to
or 
END PRINTPAGE
In the study quoted below, they used 10mg of regular release.
****************************************************
Melatonin versus placebo in the prophylaxis of cluster headache: a double-blind pilot study with parallel groups
M Leone 1 , D D'Amico 1 , F Moschiano 1 , F Fraschini 2 , G Bussone 1
1 Centro Cefalee, Istituto Neurologico "Carlo Besta", Milan, Italy; 2 Dipartimento di Farmacologia, Università degli studi di Milano, Milan, Italy
Correspondence to Gennaro Bussone, Centro Cefalee, Instituto Neurologico "Carlo Besta", via Celoria 11, 20133 Milano, Italy. Tel. +39 2 2394264, fax. + 39 2 70638067.
Copyright International Headache Society
KEYWORDS
Cluster headache • melatonin pathogenesis • prophylaxsi
ABSTRACT
A fall in nocturnal plasma melatonin occurs in patients with cluster headache, suggesting that melatonin may play a role in the promotion of attacks. During a cluster period, we administered melatonin to 20 cluster headache patients (2 primary chronic, 18 episodic) in a double-blind placebo-controlled study of oral melatonin 10 mg (n=10) or placebo (n=10) for 14 days taken in a single evening dose. Headache frequency was significantly reduced (ANOVA, p<0.03) and there were strong trends towards reduced analgesic consumption (ANOVA, p<0.06) in the treatment group. Five of the 10 treated patients were responders whose attack frequency declined 3–5 days after treatment, and they experienced no further attacks until melatonin was discontinued. The chronic cluster patients did not respond. No patient in the placebo group responded. There were no side effects in either group. Although the response rate is low, melatonin may be suitable for cluster headache prophylaxis in some patients, particularly those who cannot tolerate other drugs.
START PRINTPAGEMultimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!! You need to or END PRINTPAGE
*****************************************************
Laurie
Gary takes 5mg immediate release and two 3mg extended release all at the same time. According to his neuro, up to 18mg is non-toxic.
However, the lowest dose that works for you is always best.
There are also cautions about melatonin, because it is an OTC "herbal" kind of treatment, it does not meet same quality/FDA standards as prescription drugs. There is a prescription version of melatonin - doc explained it as a "targeted" version of melatonin. It's called Rozerem.
There is also a new drug just approved by the FDA that stimulates the production of melatonin. Melissa posted about it here: START PRINTPAGEMultimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!! You need to
or END PRINTPAGE In the study quoted below, they used 10mg of regular release.
****************************************************
Melatonin versus placebo in the prophylaxis of cluster headache: a double-blind pilot study with parallel groups
M Leone 1 , D D'Amico 1 , F Moschiano 1 , F Fraschini 2 , G Bussone 1
1 Centro Cefalee, Istituto Neurologico "Carlo Besta", Milan, Italy; 2 Dipartimento di Farmacologia, Università degli studi di Milano, Milan, Italy
Correspondence to Gennaro Bussone, Centro Cefalee, Instituto Neurologico "Carlo Besta", via Celoria 11, 20133 Milano, Italy. Tel. +39 2 2394264, fax. + 39 2 70638067.
Copyright International Headache Society
KEYWORDS
Cluster headache • melatonin pathogenesis • prophylaxsi
ABSTRACT
A fall in nocturnal plasma melatonin occurs in patients with cluster headache, suggesting that melatonin may play a role in the promotion of attacks. During a cluster period, we administered melatonin to 20 cluster headache patients (2 primary chronic, 18 episodic) in a double-blind placebo-controlled study of oral melatonin 10 mg (n=10) or placebo (n=10) for 14 days taken in a single evening dose. Headache frequency was significantly reduced (ANOVA, p<0.03) and there were strong trends towards reduced analgesic consumption (ANOVA, p<0.06) in the treatment group. Five of the 10 treated patients were responders whose attack frequency declined 3–5 days after treatment, and they experienced no further attacks until melatonin was discontinued. The chronic cluster patients did not respond. No patient in the placebo group responded. There were no side effects in either group. Although the response rate is low, melatonin may be suitable for cluster headache prophylaxis in some patients, particularly those who cannot tolerate other drugs.
START PRINTPAGEMultimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!! You need to
or END PRINTPAGE*****************************************************
Laurie