I ran across this article - ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...
a bit technical but further down it talks about apoptosis of leukemia cells. Does anyone have any input on taking Melatonin - I am taking 10mg at night to help with sleep. Just a curious question. I am on W&W two years in so far. White count has been staying between 16 and 19.
As was covered in a previous post on this topic, the article you referenced only mentions CLL in respect of melatonin serum levels and shift work, not apoptosis. See: healthunlocked.com/cllsuppo...
Neil
So I am not hurting myself by taking a couple of melatonin gummies at night to help me get to sleep? Is that what I am hearing back from you?
Intriguingly, there isn't any research, so no one knows. There's a similar serum level observation with vitamin D levels and CLL, which is being researched.
The issue is that you can have a correlation without causation and if there is a causative relationship, which comes first? Does CLL lower serum melatonin, or does lower melatonin increase the risk of developing CLL? Does increasing serum melatonin slow or increase the CLL tempo, perhaps because CLL is 'using up' melatonin? CLL cells are more fragile than healthy B cells and apoptosis can be triggered by lots of substances in vitro (that is observing what happens to CLL cells when they are removed from your body and exposed to the substance). The problem is, that when you take what killed CLL cells in vitro, it's often difficult to get the killing concentration in your body or 'in vivo'. CLL cells also die easily in the peripheral blood, but they establish a protective microenvironment in the nodes, where they multiply and replace those that undergo apoptosis in the blood.
Given the lack of study interest, it's probable that the amount of melatonin you are taking is of no consequence and you are sensibly just being over cautious. You report your white blood cell count as stable, but look at your absolute lymphocyte count for a more accurate determination. (Changes in four other white blood cell types confuse the picture if you just track your WBC). If your absolute lymphocyte count isn't showing a noticeable upward trend and there aren't noticeable increases in your spleen and nodes and your bone marrow is good, (no noticeable downward trends in any of your haemoglobin, platelets or neutrophils due to CLL infiltration), then you can sleep well. I doubt you'll find anything of consequence.
Neil
If Melatonin stops working. Try cannabis oil. It's worked wonders for me over the last 5 years and still does. I had to get off most supplements as I found it worsened some of the side effects ( stomach acids especially) of Imbrutinib.
The problem with CBD oil for some of us is that it. has over 530 drug interactions, including BTK inhibitors, such as Acalabrutinib, Ibrutinib, etc. Several of these interactions are "major" and can lead to serious harm or even death.
- drugs.com/drug-interactions...
More specifically: healthunlocked.com/cllsuppo... concludes that cannabis may encourage the movement of CLL cells from the blood into the nodes, spleen and bone marrow, where they propagate.
Are there any cases of CBD interactions with other medications actually causing death? i cannot find any?
"While generally considered safe, CBD may cause drowsiness, lightheadedness, nausea, diarrhea, dry mouth, and, in rare instances, damage to the liver. Taking CBD with other medications that have similar side effects may increase the risk of unwanted symptoms or toxicity. In other words, taking CBD at the same time with OTC or prescription medications and substances that cause sleepiness, such as opioids, benzodiazepines (such as Xanax or Ativan), antipsychotics, antidepressants, antihistamines (such as Benadryl), or alcohol may lead to increased sleepiness, fatigue, and possibly accidental falls and accidents when driving."
health.harvard.edu/blog/cbd...
Thank you for your swift reply, I am likely to begin O and V next year so was wanting to see if CBD oil would be contraindicated.
Hi, I was diagnosed with CLL in November last year. I did research and started taking 12mg melatonin each night. My wbc count is now stable. Yet not one of the consultants will entertain the fact there is a link. … keep researching x
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