The boring life of Jerod Poore, Crazymeds' Chief Citizen Medical Expert.

Stupid, Tired AND Without Flavor

I had three aurae the last seven days.  There has been no real change in my medications.  I'm still taking brand Topamax, I got a refill of Teva's lamotrigine a couple weeks ago, and the most recent refill of protriptyline was from the preferred  Roxanne instead of Barr.  I've been taking Watson's lame-ass 5mg methylphenidate for the last two months.

The first thing I did is stop the methylphenidate.  That didn't do it.  So I stopped drinking caffeine and doing crossword puzzles.  That worked for a couple of days, allowing me to get the grocery shopping down.  Then on Friday I have another one, and I can't figure out why.  The only thing that was different was the addition of extra nutmeg in my breakfast.

I'm eating cream of buckwheat with bananas.  With my sense of smell diminishing I'm having to overspice everything.  Nutmeg as a seizure trigger?  I know that people get high off of nutmeg, so it's possible.  After I wake up from my lorazepam-induced nap I ask the Google about it.  All I can find in the literature about nutmeg and seizures or epilepsy is an article on using nutmeg oil as an anticonvulsant for toxin-induced seizures in critters.  I was able to find plenty of posts on various epilepsy support sites where people have reported nutmeg as a seizure trigger.  So no more nutmeg for me.  Blander gluten-free banana bread and I may as well forget about gluten-free gingerbread men.  The list of items for the permanent Lent gets bigger all the time.

Maybe if I can find out why nutmeg gets people high I could determine if it's a trigger.  What do I find?

Towards a better understanding of the psychopharmacology of nutmeg: Activities in the mouse tetrad assay  Sure.  Seeing how something affects mice is legit.  Even better they compared nutmeg with marijuana, amphetamines and morphine.

How did they compare the effects of those four substances?  By measuring the ass temperatures of the mice.  Seriously guys?  How the fuck do people get grant money that results in something like this:

While oral administration of all the nutmeg extracts at 500 mg/kg caused a significant increase in locomotor activity, the i.p. administration of DE showed significant reduction in rectal temperature along with a significant increase in tail flick latency at 300 mg/kg

They note various physical reactions, but the study was designed around rectal thermometers.  I wonder if focusing on inserting things into rectums had something to do with how they got their degrees as well as the grant money.

Some of the recently suggested studies from the latest incarnation Crazy Meds forum that no one is likely to do:




I had so many more on previous incarnations of the forum.

I think I went a little overboard by doing the Sunday crossword puzzle.  I should have done yesterday's.  I was feeling off prior to this post, it hasn't been getting any better.  Make that four aurae in eight days.

So I'm stuck, for now, staying stupid, staying tired and mildly depressed, and now with even less flavor.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Dear Jerod,

I'm probably one of those people you saw with a comment on nutmeg as an epilepsy trigger. I can tell you that this particular spice will trigger a grand mal in me in about five minutes after I accidently eat it. I have to be very careful about what I eat and I tend to drive restaurant people a bit nuts about it. My best solution is to ask and if they're not entirely sure, I say "That's just fine, I'll order something else.". My best friend also had the same problem and it took many years to figure it out. Who would have thought that really cool tasting ethnic foods, or Christmas cookies, or some barbecue sauces would knock you down?

If you are looking for things to spice up your meals, there are about a bazillion other things that you can use that aren't as treacherous. I would be happy to make recommendations if you need them.

Matt

Unknown said...

Matt,

I have to be very careful about what I eat and I tend to drive restaurant people a bit nuts about it.

I have so many food sensitivities and allergies (gluten intolerant and allergic to beans and corn) that I've practically given up on eating in restaurants.

Nutmeg is the first food to trigger a seizure, instead of just making me feel awful.

It could be worse. At least I don't have phenol sulfotransferase deficiency. That plus celiac can put one on a nearly food-free diet. Or the truly ketogenic diet, where bacon = desert.

Those are cooking challenges.

At least larazotide worked wonders for the person I know who got the real thing in one of the phase III trials, followed by what was probably the higher dosage in the second part.

Anonymous said...

Good info, thanks, on Nutmeg.

Seroquel has thrown me into type II diabetes. I read somewhere that cinnomon (sp?) can help lower sugar level. Does anyone have any info on that?

Vaporw

Unknown said...

Cinnamon turned out to be a bust when it comes to controlling blood sugar after type 2 diabetes already starts.

It might still work to help prevent type 2 diabetes, but only as part of the usual plan of eating better, exercising more, etc.