Ampyra is poison???

[Seasha]

Someone in another thread (about donating blood) mentioned that Ampyra is basically poison and that thought really disturbs me! Does anyone know if this is true?? Please help me set the record straight. Cause if it is, it's headed "down the drain".

[MrsBones]

Someone in another thread (about donating blood) mentioned that Ampyra is basically poison and that thought really disturbs me! Does anyone know if this is true?? Please help me set the record straight. Cause if it is, it's headed "down the drain".

Ampyra does have the same active ingredient as an avian poison, but don't throw it out just because of that. Many, many drugs are based on toxic substances, such as rat poisons, ergot and belladonna, to mention a few. Experimentation has even been done with spider and scorpion venom to treat various diseases. It's the way they are dosed and tweaked that make them safe to use as directed.

You also have to keep in mind, we are not birds or rats. We can test our drugs on animals, but sooner or later, those tests move on to humans. Why? Why not go straight to market if a new drug doesn't kill the lab rats? Animals give us a very basic idea as to functions, safety and efficacy of a drug, but they don't always have the same effects on them as they do us.

Something toxic to them may be beneficial to us or vice versa. Look at how many things we happily and safely eat that could kill our pets...things like chocolate, avacado and grapes, for example.

Basically, my point is what can kill or harm one animal ( a bird in this case) doesn't necessarily have to kill or harm another (human). 4-AP, the compounded original version of Ampyra (still available,BTW) has been safely used for many years. Scientists have long been aware of what doses and formulations are safe for a human. Just don't let your parakeet get a hold of any.

[Redwings]

In Hamlet, Shakespeare said, "There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so." Funny how the name attached to something turns it either good or bad.

Chemotherapy for cancer treatment is a kind of poison, but it's fine-tuned for the purpose and, although it makes people sick by itself, people wanting to survive cancer are willing to to take poison to defeat a greater evil. Nicotine has been used as an insecticide, and ethanol can be poisonous, yet people smoke and drink without much concern about the poisonous effects because they like the other effects they get from those chemicals.

In a parallel life, 4AP is used as an avicide -- bird poison. But in controlled doses, the neurotoxin effect that kills pigeons can be used to counteract the effects of demyelination in humans. When used unwisely in humans, or in particularly susceptible individuals, 4AP and Ampyra can cause seizures. That's a lesser effect of how it kills birds. (Ever stop to think about how insects die when you use bug spray on them?) But when used in a controlled way, the same chemical allows people to walk better and resume doing things they couldn't do otherwise.

But 4AP's double life as a killer and a helper isn't much different than that of botulinum toxin. Botulism can (and does) kill people, but when the toxin is refined and used selectively and appropriately, Botox can relieve spasticity and make people's lives significantly better. Botox has risks, and those risks have to be weighed against its benefits. 4AP and Ampyra are no different.

Seasha, if the semantics of one of 4AP's uses ("poison") bothers you that much, then you're right -- maybe you shouldn't be using it.

[freedom1]

Not sure I remember where I read it but I did read that it is made with bird poison. Don't remeber which one.

However with that being said, unless you grow/farm your own food you are getting all kinds of toxic/poisonous chemicals in everything you eat. The FDA allows for a certain amount of these in our food system. Also the cleaning and personal products you use contain the same things that are then absorbed through the skin.

There is no drug that you can take that doesn't have a trade off in your body. That is one of the reasons I choose not to medicate.

I also buy only organic food, and if vegies and fruit are not in season and I can't buy local I go without. I don't trust that imported food is grown under the same standards that are set in the USA and even here it is questionable. I am also a vegan so I am a little on the extreme side. I use only natural cleaning products and organic and as close to pure in personal products as I can get without making my own because that is not happening.

[M.A.F]

Hello, I took 4AP for 6 months then it tryed to KiLL Me !!!! and almost did. i was in the hospital 28 hrs. 6 hrs of that was ICU.I'm not sure why it happend but it did, i guess i was one of the unluckyMark

[Seasha]

I'm certainly getting an education here! I better understand the reasonings here thanks to you all. Thus said, I'm not so sure this is the right drug for ME.

For years now I have been cleaning up my act, so to speak. Like you, freedom1, I eat organic foods 90+% of the time. I have been fortunate to be able to garden organically for 40 years (canning, juicing, freezing, etc) and I also only buy organic soaps, cleaning supplies, etc. I splurge and only buy good quality supplements too. (I buy 2nd hand clothes to be able to afford this - LOL)

I'm not trying to put a feather in my cap, but what goes into my body is important!!

What brought this topic on is because I'm not even sure Ampyra is helping me. After 8 months, my walking is definitely not better. Hearing about the poison, however controlled it is, might be the straw. Guess I'm questioning the efficacy of this drug for me and I need to make a decision!! My husband says stay on it, which doesn't help. I think my neuro would say it's up to me.

[freedom1]

If you feel the drug is helping than stay with it! If not, than you and only you can make a decision on what to do.

I try to keep everything I use as pure as possible, therefore I use no drugs, not even aspirin. That is not for everyone. For me I think that is the best thing I can do. Again that is not for most. If you don't feel the drug is working for you then maybe you need to revalute what you are doing and what you expect out of the drugs available at this point. I don't read too much on the drugs available since I won't use them so I don't even know that Amprya is supposed to make you feel better.

Just aside, I did try the interferons and copaxone at one point, they made me feel worse than the MS so I gave up on them and tried just keeping my life as pure and organic as possible. So far so good in that I feel no worse while I do believe the MS has moved on, that probably would have happened anyway.

[celeste]

I agree with Sparky10!

Ampyra has been absolutely wonderful for me. I really don't care if it shortens my life because it is making it a better life.