Backdating and headaches

Oh my. All day has been awful. I could post more, but the awfulness is just me, nothing else. Headache, yes, God awful messy house, check, don't even want to knit, you betcha.

Today makes up for yesterday's fun.

We can check off 'Frova' as a useful medicine. A sharp blow to the head is just as effective. I'd tried it a few years ago, and it still doesn't work.

Do we want to be technical? Sure we do! Print this off in case you can't sleep tonight, or if you get to have menstral migraines, too.


Relpax sometimes and most times works and is chemically known as C22H26N2O2S.HBr, a 5-hydroxytryptamine 1B/1D (5-ht1b/1d) receptor agonist. High for 5-ht1b, 5-ht1d, and 5-ht1f, medium for 5-ht1a, 5-ht1e, 5-ht1e, 5-ht2b and 5-ht7 and none for 5-ht2a, 5-ht2c, 5-ht3, 5-ht4, 5-ht5a, and 5-ht6.

Frova also sometimes and most times works and is chemically known as C14H17N3O.C4H6O4.H2O, a 5-hydroxytryptamine1 (5-ht1b/1d) receptor agonist. High affinity for 5-ht1b and 5-ht1d receptors.

What does all that mean? Well, if I still have my headache tomorrow, and odds are I will, I can take Relpax at around 2pm, 24 hours after the Frova. If THAT kicks it, we will know it's most likely the 5-ht1f receptor giving me the problems.

What is that receptor? It's explained as thus:
5-HT1F, a Serotonin Receptor, is negatively coupled to adenylate cyclase. Selective 5-HT1F agonists may prove therapeutic in the treatment of migraine headache, lacking the side effects associated with the agonists of the 5-HT1B and 5-HT1D receptors. Expression of the 5-HT1F receptor has been reported in various brain structures, including cortex, hippocampus, trigeminal ganglia, and cerebral blood vessels. Expression in peripheral tissues is limited to uterus, mesentery, and artery. No expression has been detected in heart, kidney, liver, pancreas, or spleen.

Serotonin is:
A chemical, 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), found in platelets, the gastrointestinal mucosa, mast cells, carcinoid tumors, and the central nervous system. Serotonin is a vasoconstrictor, and through its action on cellular receptors, it plays important roles in intestinal motility, nausea and vomiting, sleep-wake cycles, obsessive-compulsive behaviors, depression, and eating. SEE: carcinoid syndrome; selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor.
"Taber's Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary," Copyright © 2005 by F. A. Davis Co., Phil., PA

In a nutshell, the uterus sends out stuff (5-HT1F irritants) which irritates the serotonin accepting neural cells. Frova does not stop the accepting, while Relpax does, for that particlar 5-ht. Zoloft, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, is a good general-purpose 5-ht helper for the above serotoin symptoms, but doesn't really kick the headaches completely. My money IS on the uterus, since I have them like clockwork once a month, unless I'm pregnant. Which, I'm not, which, is why I'm in pain.

My father's migranes may not be due to HIS uterus, though. 'Specially since he doesn't have one. Ha! It's his arteries, since his blood pressure medicine influences his migraines. Logic is fun. So is Googling obscure neurological terms.