Histamine issues? Here's your perfect list

[wmonique2]

Hi Babs,

No I haven't tried it. I have started a post about it this last week so it should be posted on the main page. I was actually asking the question because I was intrigued by the fact that it is a biologic----something entirely different and it claims that it can put one in remission. I think it is prescribed for very difficult cases of Crohn's. Joe, one of the members here tried it. Go read the answers. You'll find them interesting. The post is named Humira---the promise of a remission.

Monique

[wmonique2]

Babs,

If you get Elavil make sure to take it in the evening, not before you go to bed. If you take it before sleep, you'll be really sleepy the following day and you won't be able to function. I take it in the evening at dinner time and I don't go to sleep until 11pm.

Monique

[barbiem]

thanks! I am going to my doctor today to ask about it = I have heard if can be quite potent. What is the research behind why it helps the gut/hives?

babs

[wmonique2]

Babs,

Ten milligrams is not potent at all. It doesn't do anything to real clinical depression which is what it is intended for. It helps the gut because it works on serotonin, the feel good neurochemical. Most serotonin is the gut, not only in the brain. It has a calming effect and an anti-anxiety effect. I am not sure that doctors know why or how it works but they know that the standard treatment for IBS patients is with Elavil because it does work. The other thing that I love about it is that it solved my insomnia problems. No more. I sleep straight through :-)

Good luck today at your doc.

Monique

[tex]

Babs,

I'm not aware that it helps with hives, but Serotonin helps to regulate gut motility. Theoretically, it should be more likely to help in C-predominant cases than in D-predominant cases, but that isn't always true, because there are a lot of unknowns involved.

Elavil doesn't work for everyone, obviously. In some cases, it makes D worse, and a few members here can trace the origins of their MC back to when they began taking amitriptyline. We are all different, and what works for one, doesn't always work for someone else. That said, it appears that there are about as many members here who feel that Elavil has helped them to control their symptoms, as there are who claim that it is the cause of their MC.

You might find the article at the following link to be interesting (scroll down the center of the page to where it says "Insights and Ponderings" to see an article about the effects of serotonin on the gut):

Antidepressants: Why do they resolve microscopic colitis symptoms for some patients, but trigger the same symptoms for others?

Tex

[barbiem]

Hi - just went to the drs yesterday about my entire body being covered in these extremely itchy bug bite size bumps. He says doesn't look like hives? Could it be toxins due to me taking charcoal and trying to get out through my skin?

Barb