DMSO and melatonin?

Roni said...
http://www.krysalis.net/crohn.htm

I just came across this on google. Anyone heard of or try this treatment?

I found that exact same web page about 3 years ago and tried the treatments. Here's what I found:

DMSO. I don't know if it helped or not, because I really couldn't stand the awful taste that DMSO puts in your mouth, so I discontinued use after just one treatment. For those not familiar with it: you rub DMSO on your skin and it is instantly absorbed into the bloodstream - within minutes you taste it in your mouth. Some say it's like garlic or oyster breath, but I'd say it's much worse. Maybe if you love seafood (I don't) you might not mind the taste.

If you want to buy DMSO, you won't find it at drug stores - you get it from retailers who sell horse supplies. DMSO is sometimes called "horse liniment." It can be mixed with other medications and applied directly to the skin - it "transports" most anything through the skin, and this is one way to administer drugs to horses (who aren't keen on swallowing pills or receiving injections). Vets often use it for this purpose. I wish that horses could talk - I'd like to ask them what they think about the taste of DMSO.

DMSO is known to be anti-inflammatory, and thus might be useful for treating Crohn's. The guy at the horse supply store told me that he sells a lot of it to people with arthritis. The only confirmed side-effect of DMSO on humans is the horrible taste, but there might be other issues. Seems to cause brain damage in mice. One big danger: be sure that you don't handle DMSO when you've been handling toxic substances (gasoline, paint thinner, etc) because DMSO will transport any chemical right through your skin into your blood. If you apply it, be sure that your hands are clean (you don't want soapy hands either - soapy blood doesn't sound good).

Since Big Pharma can't patent DMSO, don't hold your breath waiting for drug safety and effectiveness studies. The use of DMSO on humans is controversial, and this is why pharmacies won't sell it. For more info:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dimethyl_sulfoxide

MELATONIN. I take melatonin almost every night. I take it at bedtime because it is somewhat useful for promoting sleep. Your body makes melatonin naturally, but only in the dark (one reason why it's hard to sleep during the daytime).

Several things I've read say that melatonin worsens auto-immune diseases (like Crohn's?) and thus should be avoided. But some claim that Crohn's isn't an auto-immune disease. I can say that my Crohn's has greatly improved a lot in the past year, though maybe not because of the melatonin. I take lingzhi everyday, and swear by it. I made a post about lingzhi here:

https://www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=17&m=1385214&p=1&ord=a

If you want to read more about melatonin:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melatonin

cheers,
Robert

Post Edited (ozonehole) : 9/2/2010 7:09:45 AM (GMT-6)

Hi, I signed up a few days ago over at the RA forum but Ive had Crohn's as well and can shed some light from my own experience.

Melatonin I found good but not great, it allowed me to sleep better which I struggled with, but I found even though it was very deep restful sleep Id wake up after a few hours, just bad for trying to keep a routine. I never had it make things worse, the sleep, and possibly theres more to it than just sleep, definitely helped to some degree.

DMSO is a naturally occurring substance contrary to what people assume because of how it is produced. The production process used just gives us access to large quantities of it. Every animal produces DMSO naturally in some small quantity.

It is something to be careful of in terms of it dissolving harmful toxins and dragging them through your skin. It is the active ingredient in nicotine patches necessary to get the nicotine into your body for example. DMSO will break down in the body and produce its child compound MSM. MSM is actually very helpful on its own, you can get it as powder/capsules to ingest and also a topical cream which I found very useful for psoriasis and RA and Ankylosing Spondilitis.

MSM is also naturally occurring, it shows up on the skin of fruit, however due to current farming practices it is always lost in the washing process, it is very water soluble.

Both hold benefit for the sulphur they release, it is a necessary ingredient for the body to build new cells.

The closest thing I found to describe the taste and smell of DMSO is truffles, the fungus delicacy thing. Because I used DMSO as a medicine that smell/taste is linked and when someone served me a dish with truffles I had to control the urge to empty my stomach hehe.

The best use I found for DMSO regarding crohn's was to dissolve my folic acid and B vitamins in it, then apply it on the underside of my arms/wrist, going straight into my blood circulation.

I found that helped a lot since the bowel is where folic acid and B vitamins gets absorbed and with that area compromised I used DMSO to get the vitamins a different way, it was the only way I was able to get my anemia under control. To make blood you probably already know: iron + Folic acid + B6/12 I think.

Hope that helps