Colchicine side effects or herx reaction

[Bladean]

I have mild cfs, for 15 years now. Past lyme, Candida or latent EBV (i have high EBV igg, arround 200), may be the probable causes. I also test positive for genetic test HLA-5. (but I dont have any Beçet symptoms)

I just started colchicine 0,5mg daily, I feel less fatigued these days but my mood has changed dramatically, my anxiety, OCD, insomnia and depression is on the roof...

Any has experienced with the colchicine use? I dont see those side effects on colchicine box label, that can be an Herximmer reaction?

Thank you

 

[Judee]

@pattismith talks about taking it in this thread: https://forums.phoenixrising.me/thr...hapaliya-et-al-2022.87423/page-2#post-2441049

Maybe she can give you some feedback.

 

[pattismith]

I have mild cfs, for 15 years now. Past lyme, Candida or latent EBV (i have high EBV igg, arround 200), may be the probable causes. I also test positive for genetic test HLA-5. (but I dont have any Beçet symptoms)

I just started colchicine 0,5mg daily, I feel less fatigued these days but my mood has changed dramatically, my anxiety, OCD, insomnia and depression is on the roof...

Any has experienced with the colchicine use? I dont see those side effects on colchicine box label, that can be an Herximmer reaction?

Thank you

I take colchicine. but I don't suffer of anxiety so my experience won't help you.
It may be that when the sleepiness is lifted, some symptoms that were hidden might show up.

 

[Bladean]

thank you for the replies. Let's see over time how it develops

 

[bob800]

FYI, Colchicine is shown to be a GABA antagonist in vitro: https://jpet.aspetjournals.org/content/284/1/95.short

I find Colchicine to have a similar effect on me as valacyclovir: starting with the regular therapeutic dosage, the fatigue and "fog" is lifted so dramatically that it is unpleasant and anxiety-inducing. Cutting the tablets into quarters eliminates this negative effect for me, while still lifting the fatigue. (But, neither of these drugs works for more than a day or two for me, as they no longer lift the fatigue even at full dosage).

that can be an Herximmer reaction?

Herx reaction has a specific definition within the context of severe bacterial infection: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jarisch–Herxheimer_reaction. Unfortunately, this term is frequently misused on Internet forums in any context where a drug/supplement has side effects that are hard to explain.

 

[Bladean]

I read that in vivo, the ratio of colchicine to cross BBB it's very low, to explain this GABA antagonism, I think also if colchicine had in vivo gaba antagonism would have side effects listed in label like convulsions, also anxiety at least on me not correspond to half life of the colchicine.
I suspect that an specific stimulation of immune system, would disrrupt SNC

 

[bob800]

I think also if colchicine had in vivo gaba antagonism would have side effects listed in label like convulsions

Good point. But by the same token, if Colchicine were some kind of immune stimulant that caused the same side effects, why wouldn't that be mentioned on the label?

The reality is that reactions of CFS patients to drugs are very difficult to explain. I think the reactions are real, but most explanations (including my own attempts) are probably wrong. We have no useful model for the pathophysiology of CFS. The best we can do is find commonalities in drug classes to which we respond poorly or well.

The BBB point is always vexing when trying to explain the CNS effects of drugs that do not normally cross the barrier. Goldstein speculated that these drugs may act upon peripheral nerve tissue, which then indirectly stimulate the CNS via spinal/cranial nerves. Another idea is that these drugs induce the peripheral production of a rapidly diffusible signaling molecules like nitric oxide or adenosine, which then diffuse into the CNS.

I wish more research attempted to analyze the idiosyncratic response to drugs in CFS. It seems like most viewpoints fall into one of two extremes: the reactions are purely due to somatization, or the reactions are due to the presence of some hidden infection. My guess is that both of those explanations are wrong.

 

[Bladean]

Good point in both directions. Maybe people with cfs have an different penetration of BBB, and or the stimulation of immune system produces reactions not seen in "normal" people.
I hope that with time, my sides goes down but not the positives.. let's see

 

[junkcrap50]

Colchicine interacts with a lot of medications, so you should use one of the online drug interaction checkers to check it against your med list. Perhaps a drug interaction is causing herx-like symptoms.