Nimodipine and the Microglia.

[Remy]

Wonder if killing the microglial cells entirely is as good as calming them?

Using this mouse model, they found that treatment with nimodipine had multiple benefits: It decreased the rate of demyelination, increased oligodendrocyte survival, and, as a result, also fostered remyelination of the nerve cells.

Researchers attributed these results to a combination of factors. It is believed that some of the beneficial effects of nimodipine were due to the decreased amount of calcium coming into the cells that can cause damage to the cellular structures and the surrounding cell environment.

In addition, it was found that treatment with nimodipine caused microglia cell death. Microglia are cells in the brain that are involved in the body’s immune response. These cells release molecules such as nitric oxide and reactive oxygen species, which are toxic to oligodendrocytes. Thus, their death is thought to have further improved the cell environment to enable the oligodendrocytes to survive and continue producing myelin. This result was neither expected nor found to be mediated via mechanisms linked to the blockade of calcium.

Full text here: https://www.medicalnewsbulletin.com/potential-new-treatment-ms-fostering-remyelination-nimodipine/

 

[Cort]

Wonder if killing the microglial cells entirely is as good as calming them?



Full text here: https://www.medicalnewsbulletin.com/potential-new-treatment-ms-fostering-remyelination-nimodipine/

interesting. An ME/CFS doctor d'orr I think it is uses Nimodipine as a mainstay in her treatment protocol. I had never heard of it otherwise.

 

[Remy]

interesting. An ME/CFS doctor d'orr I think it is uses Nimodipine as a mainstay in her treatment protocol. I had never heard of it otherwise.

Yes, that was where I first heard of it, in Kristina Downing-Orr's book, Beating Chronic Fatigue.

This document is super useful as well. It compiles everything into a nice, easy to understand summary.

It isn't a stretch to say that I've tried dozens if not hundreds of medications and supplements. Nimodipine, so far, has reduced my chronic daily coathanger pain from a 7-8 down to a 3-4. It never occured to me that a calcium channel blocker would have that effect.

It's still early days so I don't want to count any chickens before they are hatched, but so far this is a clear winner for me. I'm not sure why more people aren't trying it. It was also one of Dr Goldstein's top candidates as well.

 

[Cort]

Yes, that was where I first heard of it, in Kristina Downing-Orr's book, Beating Chronic Fatigue.

This document is super useful as well. It compiles everything into a nice, easy to understand summary.

It isn't a stretch to say that I've tried dozens if not hundreds of medications and supplements. Nimodipine, so far, has reduced my chronic daily coathanger pain from a 7-8 down to a 3-4. It never occured to me that a calcium channel blocker would have that effect.

It's still early days so I don't want to count any chickens before they are hatched, but so far this is a clear winner for me. I'm not sure why more people aren't trying it. It was also one of Dr Goldstein's top candidates as well.

Wow. ..That's superb...

I know you've tried so much. I've been meaning to do a review of that book for ages. (are you up for a blog?)

 

[Cort]

Wow..A 34 page document! That's really something

 

[voner]

.....It isn't a stretch to say that I've tried dozens if not hundreds of medications and supplements. Nimodipine, so far, has reduced my chronic daily coathanger pain from a 7-8 down to a 3-4. It never occured to me that a calcium channel blocker would have that effect.

It's still early days so I don't want to count any chickens before they are hatched, but so far this is a clear winner for me. I'm not sure why more people aren't trying it. It was also one of Dr Goldstein's top candidates as well.

@Remy,

Intriguing. Could you fill in a some details about your symptoms and your experimentation. I see that Nimodipine is expensive here in the USA, has a pretty short half-life and it is a mineralocorticoid antagonist and lowers blood pressure.

https://www.drugbank.ca/drugs/DB00393

 

[Remy]

@Remy,

Intriguing. Could you fill in a some details about your symptoms and your experimentation. I see that Nimodipine is expensive here in the USA, has a pretty short half-life and it is a mineralocorticoid antagonist and lowers blood pressure.

https://www.drugbank.ca/drugs/DB00393

My main symptoms over the years are dizziness, pain, migraines, OI, POTS, and mast cell reactions, along with fatigue. I don't seem to make any hormones very well and have been pre-diabetic for nearly 20 years, managed with a ketogenic diet. I also have low levels of immunoglobulins, namely IgG1 and IgG3 subclasses. I was diagnosed with all the herpes viral infections by the late Dr Lerner and also with Lyme disease at one point, though neither antivirals nor antibiotics produced any lasting improvement in my symptoms.

When I started doing high pass ozone, my doctor noticed that my blood vessels had a tendency to spasm, making the process of removing the blood to ozonate it rather, shall we say, difficult. Once the vessels spasmed, it was impossible to get the blood to come out and I was also prone to ocular migraine symptoms from the spasm in the optic nerve. So we designed a plan to help my vessels relax and I came across nimodipine plus gingko and arginine.

I started researching nimodipine and discovered it wasn't anything new at all. People have been trying it for a long time! But I had hoped it would relax my blood vessels enough to make the experience of high pass ozone easier and what I got was an enormous improvement in the coathanger pain that has plagued me for a decade now.

The Downing-Orr protocol says that nimodipine also removes brain toxins, through increased blood flow and that is why they recommend starting with 1/4 of a 30 mg tablet. But tablets aren't available in the US; only the liquid filled softgels. I did try freezing and slicing the softgel the first day, but was not able to get less than 1/2 softgel and the liquid did not freeze. So I went ahead and tried the full 30 mg and had no problems. Goldstein started his patients with 30 mg, so there was some precedent. I increased to 60 mg a week later, still no problems, even less pain. Many people find 90 mg, 30 mg three times a day, to be the sweet spot so I am planning to increase again but won't be able to do so until after 4/1 for insurance reasons.

I have monitored my BP and it has not changed at all, so far, which goes along with what I've read about nimodipine having a far greater effect on cerebral blood flow than on peripheral (that is where the gingko comes in). My heart rate is similarly unchanged according to my Oura ring data.

It is expensive here and for some reason insurance is reluctant to cover it in many cases. But I have seen it online for as little as $36 for 100 tablets so I guess that is our Pharma lobby at work. I always recommend trying it from a licensed pharmacy first though so one knows what it is "supposed" to do.

 

[Remy]

I will also say that my acupuncturist has been working on that pain for a while now, and she actually gasped when I came in last week because it was so much improved.

 

[voner]

@Remy,

Thanks for your detailed reply, very helpful.

did you notice the effects of nimodipine’s short half-life (1.7-9 hours In that reference I cited) when you were taking one 30mg pill a day?

 

[Remy]

@Remy,

Thanks for your detailed reply, very helpful.

did you notice the effects of nimodipine’s short half-life (1.7-9 hours In that reference I cited) when you were taking one 30mg pill a day?

Yes, I still wake up with pain since it’s been 15+ hours since the last dose and then it improves with the first morning dose and improves again with the second dose. I’m really looking forward to the 1st when I can try three times a day!

 

[voner]

very Intriguing. The vasospasm part make some sense, pain wise.

you have any Allodynia along with the “coathanger pain”?

Please keep us updated. Congrats on finding something that helps and I hope it continues to help.