Clonidine Diary (for RRMS)

[Anonymoose]

I put on my first patch yesterday @ 4:30pm. Less than 24 hours later I have noticed positive effects.

I'm not getting hungry-sick. You know, the dizzy, dying feeling you get when you don't eat soon enough? My appetite is greatly decreased. I am hungry at the right times but get full much faster. I was able to do the Walmart marathon and go out to lunch without experiencing the usual activity induced buzzing in my hands. No strong urge for my afternoon nap either.

All of this could be placebo effect, except for the lack of hand buzzing. I always get buzzy hands from activity. I'm not missing them at all today!

[jimmylegs]

nice diary. it'll be daily i bet, right? jk xo

[Anonymoose]

You really think I will notice new improvements to report on a daily basis?! Wow! I didn't realize you had such faith in clonidine.

Is there a supplement for cattiness? Lol. We might both need some of that.

[jimmylegs]

mrowr ;)

[Anonymoose]

Not to disappoint jimmylegs, I have a new improvement to report. Pre-clonidine, my neck would always be a little sore and would get really sore after dinner. I thought it was tired of holding up my head. Yesterday, I had no soreness in my neck at all. This morning, it is still blissfully painless and loose.

How would clonidine do that?

[jimmylegs]

*cough*placebo*cough* ;) hehe
i have no idea

[Anonymoose]

*Snort* I highly recommend everyone go out and get a placebo then. I feel like a cat dozing in the sun. Everything just feels so...comfortable, like when that MS hug finally subsides and you roll around in bed like a dog going..."Ooooohhh that feels sooo good!" Don't tell me you don't do that too! (that didn't sound right without the "like a dog" part)

Nothing exciting to report today (lol...you were right...I'm such a dork!). I've got better energy, no need for naps, going to bed later w/o exhaustion and I sleep much more soundly. Ho Hum.

[jimmylegs]

sounds like what magnesium did for me..

b/c of that, i looked at the list of clonidine actions, it works on tons of things that would be issues in magnesium depletion. interesting.

[Anonymoose]

Week 2 observations:

-I just finished cleaning the entire basement and my hands aren't buzzing (still numb though)!
-I still have the surface numbness of my arm and sometimes legs that started whilst on CAP (b12 overload??).
-Hunger-sickness still gone. I had 1/4 cup of muesli with a dash of rice milk @ 6am and forgot to eat until 2:30pm...and I still wasn't sick! Lyndacarol, can you explain this??
-I'm also forgetting to go to bed.
-Neck is still pain-free.
-Current dose of clonidine wasn't enough to keep cycle related pseudo-exacerbation completely squashed but it was very much muted. I'm thinking of asking doc for eplerenone for that week to see if that keeps things quiet.
-Libido was never low but it's increasing.
-Trips to the loo decreased by at least 50%. Drinking the same amount. Odd.

[lyndacarol]

Anonymoose – I don't have an explanation for the hunger-sickness disappearing and still being gone. I have not felt hunger for YEARS – I have chalked it up to my elevated insulin (perhaps insulin resistance or leptin resistance) or to the fact that I try to have a protein at every meal (Protein is digested slowly and is supposed to ward off hunger.). I eat a small meal when it is time to eat.

If you think of a good reason for this, let me know please.

Do you think it is possible that the clonidine has acted on your pancreas to reduce insulin secretion? Might this then improve the symptoms as you have observed?

[Anonymoose]

By hungry sick, I don't mean I get super hungry. I mean I get sick if I don't eat....dizzy, sick to my stomach, weak...I melt. If I eat a piece of fruit, I'm good to go after a little bit. Is that like when a diabetic needs to down sugar because insulin is too high?

I have no idea why it's having this effect, I was being lazy and hoping you would know the answer.

[lyndacarol]

By hungry sick, I don't mean I get super hungry. I mean I get sick if I don't eat....dizzy, sick to my stomach, weak...I melt. If I eat a piece of fruit, I'm good to go after a little bit. Is that like when a diabetic needs to down sugar because insulin is too high?

I have no idea why it's having this effect, I was being lazy and hoping you would know the answer.

I did misunderstand; I thought you meant super hungry. I think you are right in the comparison to a diabetic – the Blood Sugar Control System is out of whack: I think the insulin is too high (excess insulin a.k.a. insulin shock) and the blood sugar is too low (hypoglycemia). The sugar in the fruit raises the blood sugar and ties up some of the insulin – creating a better balance. You might try more protein, too; it will help to maintain that balance longer.

Insulin shock (excess insulin or hypoglycemia) is marked by pallor, weakness, pounding heartbeat, chills/sweating, pounding pulse, but not usually abdominal pain, vomiting, or thirst (though not necessarily ALL). A blood glucose measurement is usually < 50 mg/dl. (Do you have a glucose meter?) This sounds to me like what you are experiencing.

[Anonymoose]

So, that can't be insulin resistance, can it? Maybe I'm not there yet?? It's a continuum?

[lyndacarol]

As you say, you may not yet be insulin resistant.

Yes, there is a continuum: first, the pancreas produces more insulin than the body needs (due to a high glucose diet OR diseased/inflamed pancreas OR pregnancy OR receiving the BCG (Bacillus Calmette-Guérin) vaccine against tuberculosis repeatedly OR other reasons yet to be discovered).

Next, with the flood of insulin around them, the cells are "beaten into submission" and continue taking in glucose. But then the cells become insensitive or "resistant" to the ever-increasing insulin. The insulin is no longer effective at getting the glucose into the cells. With glucose still floating around in the bloodstream, the pancreas continues to pump out even more insulin to do the job. More insulin, more resistance. Until the pancreas just quits!

All the while the insulin is ramping up, the insulin resistance is becoming greater and greater. More and more glucose is remaining in the bloodstream – this is type II diabetes. The end of the continuum comes when no more insulin is produced – this is type I diabetes.

[NHE]

As you say, you may not yet be insulin resistant.

Yes, there is a continuum: first, the pancreas produces more insulin than the body needs (due to a high glucose diet OR diseased/inflamed pancreas OR pregnancy OR receiving the BCG (Bacillus Calmette-Guérin) vaccine against tuberculosis repeatedly OR other reasons yet to be discovered).

Next, with the flood of insulin around them, the cells are "beaten into submission" and continue taking in glucose. But then the cells become insensitive or "resistant" to the ever-increasing insulin. The insulin is no longer effective at getting the glucose into the cells. With glucose still floating around in the bloodstream, the pancreas continues to pump out even more insulin to do the job. More insulin, more resistance. Until the pancreas just quits!

All the while the insulin is ramping up, the insulin resistance is becoming greater and greater. More and more glucose is remaining in the bloodstream – this is type II diabetes. The end of the continuum comes when no more insulin is produced – this is type I diabetes.

The exact cause of type 1 diabetes is unknown. In most people with type 1 diabetes, the body's own immune system — which normally fights harmful bacteria and viruses — mistakenly destroys the insulin-producing (islet) cells in the pancreas. Genetics may play a role in this process, and exposure to certain viruses may trigger the disease.

Once the islet cells are destroyed, you'll produce little or no insulin.

In type 1 diabetes, there's no insulin to let glucose into the cells, so sugar builds up in your bloodstream, where it can cause life-threatening complications.

The cause of type 1 diabetes is different from the cause of the more familiar type 2 diabetes. In type 2 diabetes, the islet cells are still functioning, but the body becomes resistant to insulin, or the pancreas doesn't produce enough insulin or both.