Posted by Todd (64.34.202.197) on January 29, 2001 at 20:19:36:
In Reply to: I'm sorry, Bob posted by shelly on January 29, 2001 at 19:48:42:
Many of us "oldtimers" have observed a fairly common occurrence here over the years. I call it the "false cure". I've been episodic for nearly 18 years now. Bear with me while I stretch an analogy here. Episodic CH is much like the common cold. You know what they say about the cold - untreated, it lasts 7 days. With meds, it's gone i 7 days.
All episodes end - with or without treatment, unless the individual "goes chronic". If I happen to start taking difulcan, pred, verap or dingleberries just before the "natural end" of my cycle, I'm likely to subscribe the releif to the "treatment". Next time around, I rush for the old dingleberries right at the start of an episode and WHAM! no help. Now I chalk that up to the ever-changing nature of the beast.
Since many episodics have 2 and even 3 year periods of remission, a couple who tried difulcan a year or two ago don't count for much, in research terms.
Additionally, a number of long term chronics here have had their CH stop, often rather suddenly. Some appear to have been 'cured', perhaps by age or whatever, others have apparently gone episodic.
The shroom treatment deserves consideration for two reasons:
1-as Bob said, the parallels between psilocybin and 5HT are rather striking.
2-Nearly everyone who has tried shrooms have achieved virtual instantaneous relief. Sorry, Pinky and Flash, I think you guys are a bit to quick to dismiss the few failures, but still, the overall success rate is remarkable.
Like Bob, I'm open-minded, yet still skeptical, about the candida theory. In part, this is due to no evidence of a candida overgrowth in myself.
As you continue to dig into this, Shelley, don't overlook another possibility. That is that the difulcan has some other properties which make it effective against CH, separate and distinct from the candida bit. Remember, there is still not ONE single med which has been developed specifically to treat CH. We survive on meds designed for migraines, high blood pressure, depression and a myriad of other illnesses. They just happen to also help CH.
Let me put this another way - many, many people find relief from verapamil, which is primarily a high blood pressure med. To then conclude that high blood pressure is the "cause" or even a contributing factor in CH is just plain wrong.
All this said, I'm thrilled that Bennett is finding relief and I, too, encourage you to continue your search into candida and difulcan. I would love nothing more than to have to retract my skepticism, applaud your discovery, and kiss your feet on the steps of City Hall at high noon, after giving you 3 weeks to draw a crowd. :-)
KTSSU,
T