IAMOGP 1

Just wanted to introduce a new segment into this blog called

I AM MY OWN GUINEA PIG!!! (IAMOGP) -- or eeamogupuh for short.) This should be recorded for the appropriate effect.

I have just found out that our friendly neighbourhood asthma drug called Salbutamol (also known as Albuterol and sold as Ventolin) also helps SMA patients to a certain degree. I am elated to know this because of 2 things:

1) It is cheap

2) It is easily accessible

A fellow medical practitioner, let's call himTinkerbell, from the SMA family group recently gave me and a few others instructions for self dosing. He said that optimal dosage for an adult is 4mg, 3 times a day but to start of with 2mg, 3 times a day so that we can check if there are any heartrate issues as it is a stimulant.

Let's discuss how Salbutamol works for a second, this is all from Tinkerbell by the way:

- Salbutamol is a beta 2 agonist. Beta 2 receptors found in lung and heart muscles. Thus incrreasing heart rate and causes bronchiodilation. Since both are muscles, in theory, it will stimulate all muscles.
The main worry is an increased heart-rate, too fast and it will cause an irregular heartbeat (arrythmia) and the Respiratory specialists will say that it can cause ventilation/perfussion missmatch.

- If you get heart palpitations, drink plenty of water -- I'm guessing it helps you pee out the drugs.

Lower dosage if palpitations happen.

- Optimum dosage would be 4mg, 3 times a day (based on my weight apparently) but to keep things safe, start with 2mg, every 8hours.

And now, some research of my own as to the effects of Salbutamol on SMA...
- (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20837492)
METHOD:
Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a neuromuscular disorder caused by mutations of the SMN1 gene. Based on severity, three forms of SMA are recognised (types I-III). All patients usually have 2-4 copies of a highly homologous gene (SMN2) which produces insufficient levels of functional survival motor neuron (SMN) protein. Recently, evidence has been provided that SMN2 expression can be enhanced in vitro by salbutamol, a β2-adrenergic agonist. This compound has also been shown to improve motor function of SMA patients in two different pilot trials.
RESULTS:
A significant and constant increase in SMN2 full length transcript levels was detected; the response was directly proportional to SMN2 gene copy number.

- Salbutamol for Spinal Atrophy Type 3 

CONCLUSION:
Oral salbutamol has been well tolerated and appears to maintain, and in some cases improve motor performance in SMA III

(Click links for further readings and do a quick Google search for more info)

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Bought Salbutamol from pharmacy.21 tablets (2mg each) costs RM4.20,ergo, cheap as chips. 21 tablets for a one week test, starting tomorrow. I think I'll be doing voice recordings on my thoughts and the effects.

Day 1: 2mg, twice a day
First Dose at 2:14PM
Second Dose at about 10pm
Heart palpitations: None

Restlessness: The usual amount because i have never had a day where I just sit and do nothing.

Thoughts: It's probably psychosomatic but I feel a tad better. Also, keep in mind that I did have an intense work-out session yesterday (Weights went up from 3lb to 4lb -- it's not much for you but it's satan on my muscles) so it might be my body's just chilling out and fixing itself.