Hi, Has anyone tried colchicine? According to the Davis group article on blood cell deformability, colchicine can affect cell deformability. “Based on extensive literature search, we found only one of the drugs, colchicine, which was prescribed to one patient, has been shown to slightly affect cellular deformability”
Yes, I've tried colchicine. Its often prescribed for periodic fever syndromes, like Familial Mediterranean Fever (FMF). I took it during a really bad flare. At the time, my doctor thought I might have FMF, and he gave it to me to sort of test out whether I did or not. I was really sick at the time, and it had no effect. But I wonder if I should have persisted... I've been reading about this drug since, and it seems that it has general anti-inflammatory properties that might be useful in a lot of diseases involving inflammation. According to this article, colchicine inhibits neutrophil activation and release of IL1 (interleukin 1) - including IL1Beta - and IL8. IL1, especially IL1Beta, seems to be a big player in inflammatory diseases, and I think I recall it has been shown to be elevated in some CFS cohorts. I know this is nothing to do with what brought colchicine to your attention, @Jaybee00. But I think it may possibly be even more to the point?
Just a quick note @Jaybee00 and @Woolie to say I've recently been prescribed Colchicine and the first night I had the best and deepest sleep I've had in years. It was really unexpected and, of course, a very welcome surprise. Because of an unwanted side effect, I had to skip the next day, and I've restarted again this morning, so have nothing else to report at this point. I'll only be on it short term for a couple of weeks at .6 mg twice a day, which differs from the patient talked about below. Here's hoping... According to an older post from Cort: