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Cluster Headache Help and Support >> Medications,  Treatments,  Therapies >> How does Vitamin C work for clusters?
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Message started by Genever on Nov 8th, 2017 at 9:48am

Title: How does Vitamin C work for clusters?
Post by Genever on Nov 8th, 2017 at 9:48am
Hi everyone, I ended up in the ER last night due to my neurologist’s suggestion. He’s a horrible doctor but that’s besides the point. I have been on the D3 regimen for 2 weeks now. I realized a couple days ago that I hadn’t been taking enough magnesium, so I increased that. I also added Vitamin C. I have 500 mg pills so I try to take one an hour during the day, but back off sometimes because the combo of mag and vitamin c give me stomach issues. In addition to being a great nutritional addition, what purpose does vitamin c serve in terms of cluster relief?

Title: Re: How does Vitamin C work for clusters?
Post by Hoppy on Nov 8th, 2017 at 4:54pm
It's great for colds, saw throats and allergy's, but not listed in the vitamin D regimen, only in the Kirkland Mature Multi.

Hoppy

Title: Re: How does Vitamin C work for clusters?
Post by Batch on Nov 9th, 2017 at 6:57am
Hey Genever,

Hope your trip to the ER went well...  They never did for me...

Regarding Vitamin C (ascorbic acid), my initial thinking was to keep it as an adjunct to the anti-inflammatory regimen so it isn't listed in the table of supplements or shown in the photo of supplements I take.  I did include it in the treatment protocol along with Turmeric (Curcumin) with a recommendation to take at least 2000 mg/day as vitamin C helps prevent cardiovascular disease and both can help with inflammation from any source..

The following link to the video of Dr. Linus Pauling giving a lecture that does a good job explaining the basic physiological requirements for Vitamin C.  It will also give you a smile when he talks about the minimum Vitamin C dose needed to keep us alive saying...  "That's the RDA."  His comments about taking 30 times the RDA for Vitamin C, 18 grams a day and 25 times the RDA for Vitamin D3 (10,000 IU/day)  ended with "...but when I get older... I'll increase it to 50 times the RDA."  He was 92 when he made this video and a vocal critic of the Food and Nutrition Board's proposed RDAs for the A, B, C, and D vitamins as being far too low...

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The role of Vitamin C with respect to the anti-inflammatory regimen is indirect.  In other words, it isn't part of the mechanism of action where the genetically active vitamin D3 metabolite, 1,25(OH)2D3, enables genetic expression of the autocrine and paracrine signaling agents that down-regulate or suppress the expression of CGRP and SP in the trigeminal ganglia and in doing so, helps prevent CH. 

Instead, Vitamin C helps suppress infections (viral, bacterial and fungal) that would otherwise result in additional inflammatory burdens that would compete for available serum vitamin D3 and 25(OH)D and presumably, make it less available to the VDR in neurons within the trigeminal ganglia where we need them most as CHers.

If your CH beast starts jumping ugly out of nowhere from a long period of pain free bliss and Benadryl (Diphehydramine HCL) isn't woking... an infection could be the culprit responsible for the outbreak.  In this case, taking a 1000 mg tablet of vitamin C every 3 to 4 hours during the day with plenty of water might just do the trick in chasing the CH beast away.  As Dr. Pauling said, vitamin C is not toxic, so your cardiovascular system will love you for doing this.

Vitamin C is also an potent antioxident and it plays a role in several enzymatic functions.  I hope this answers your question.

Take care and please keep us posted.

V/R, Batch

Title: Re: How does Vitamin C work for clusters?
Post by Mike NZ on Nov 9th, 2017 at 2:06pm

Genever wrote on Nov 8th, 2017 at 9:48am:
I ended up in the ER last night due to my neurologist’s suggestion.


What was the exact reason for you ending up in ER?

Was it due to something your neuro did / didn't do? Or did he tell you to go to ER?

Title: Re: How does Vitamin C work for clusters?
Post by Genever on Nov 11th, 2017 at 4:31pm
He told me to go because he didn’t think any pills he could give me would help anymore. He said that they could break up the cluster with an IV. Long story short, they didn’t. I ended up going home after a couple hours because I knew they wouldn’t be able to help and I’d rather be in my own bed. After that he prescribed Verapamil. He’s a terrible doctor, I’m on the hunt for a new one.
Still keeping up with the D3 regimen, though nothing really is helping.

Title: Re: How does Vitamin C work for clusters?
Post by Mike NZ on Nov 11th, 2017 at 5:44pm
Hmm, interesting. You're certainly doing the right thing by looking for someone else.

I've been to the NZ version of ER with one migraine that got pretty severe and triptans didn't help which was killed using an IV. Maybe he thought the same might work for CH?

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