8 replies to this topic

[Jason30]

Hi all,

 

I wonder if any of you have any supplement advice to reduce the symptoms of Multiple Chemical Sensitivity?

 

One of the triggers of Multiple Chemical Sensitivity is Formaldehyde. This chemical is difficult to avoid because it's almost everywhere (clothing, books, furniture etc).

I have came across the supplement of Thorn Research 'Formaldehyde relief'. However, this a discontinued product :(

I hope there is an alternative for it?

[Dorian Grey]

Hi Jason, I suffered with MCS for 3 years around a decade ago.   Spent every night scouring the internet for help.  

 

Two leads that helped me you might explore are "Pathological Detoxification" and Thiamine and its relationship with the Blood Brain Barrier.  

 

Pathological detoxification occurs when phase 1 metabolism (cytochrome P450) overwhelms phase 2 metabolism (glutathione/conjugation), causing toxic intermediate metabolites to persist in the body.  It's usually easier to up-regulate glutathione through Vitamin-C, SAM-e and/or NAC than to down-regulate CYP 450 enzymes, but cytochrome modulation is also a doable thing.  PPC (polyenylphosphatidylcholine), in addition to the above mentioned supps seemed to help me through CYP 450 modulation.  

 

Thiamine deficiency is rare today, but when it does occur, the Blood Brain Barrier is one of the first tissues to suffer.  There are many factors that may diminish thiamine uptake, or burn through thiamine reserves.  Anti-Thiamine factors (thiaminase) are present in many foods, tea being a common one, and can cause problems when consumed with every meal.  Carbohydrate and alcohol metabolism are thiamine dependent, and both alcohol and a high carb diet can burn through available thiamine causing transient deficiencies.   

 

Thiamine uptake in the gut is a subject all its own, with many factors affecting it.  It's been a long time since I've dug into this but it is an important factor to explore when Blood Brain Barrier issues are suspect.  Linus Pauling has a page on thiamine that would be a good start.

 

http://lpi.oregonsta...tamins/thiamin/

 

Maintaining a healthy Blood Brain Barrier and/or controlling Pathological Detoxification are the two main things to work on when dealing with Multiple Chemical Sensitivities.  Fix these two things and hopefully, like me, your MCS issues will fade into history.  

Edited by synesthesia, 25 January 2015 - 05:53 PM.

[Jason30]

Thank you for the informative post synesthesia.

 

i definately think that phase 1 detoxification is there thus the term pathological detoxifier suits me because i can't tolerate much caffeine. 2 cups a day before 12.00am otherwise i sleep bad in the night. Plus there is also fibromyalgia, allergies and brain fog.

I am also low in Glutathione (phase 2).

 

What do you think about Curcumin? I have read that it inhibits phase 1 and stimulates phase 2.

 

I am a little bit confused about antihistamine. I am using antihistamine for my allergies every day for 6 years now. When i take it then i feel good for a few hours. Interesting for me to read is that antihistamine inhibits phase 1 detoxification. I also use a quercetin supplement in the summer for my hayfever as well. I have read that quercetin from onions diminish/inhibit phase 1 activity. Do i understand it correctly that these 2 (antihistamine and quercetin) is good for me because it inhibits phase 1?

 

Which supplements are you using besides thiamine? I have came across the following supplement: http://www.inl.asia/detox-formula.html

 

After years i finally feel that i get closer to my source of problems!

 

Thanks again, much appreciated.

Edited by Jason30, 27 January 2015 - 09:28 AM.

[Dorian Grey]

Hi Jason; The problem with CYP450 inducers and inhibitors is there are 57 different CYP450 enzymes and many different drugs, foods and supplements that create interactions.  

 

The trick to finding out which CYP enzymes are giving you trouble is to find out which CYP enzymes have been induced, whether through toxic exposure, disease process or nutritional factors.  Then look for safe ways to inhibit this family of enzymes.  If you google around on CYP450 inducers and inhibitors, you'll find an ocean of information on this...  Too much information!  Hours of fun sorting it all out.  

 

It's difficult to find info on environmental CYP inducers and supplements to inhibit them as most published data pertains to pharmaceutical interactions.  The answers are out there though...  You just have to do the proper searches to locate the proper data.  

 

Here are a couple of links...  The second one shows more supplement interactions.  

 

http://www.ncbi.nlm..../pdf/gkp970.pdf

 

http://www.uv.es/pri...)66-84_Foti.pdf

 

Be CAREFUL if you attempt to start tweaking these enzymes!  A wrong turn could produce unfortunate results!  

Edited by synesthesia, 28 January 2015 - 01:11 AM.

[Luminosity]

I deal with MCS but I'm a lot better.  Building up the tissues of the body helps because it bolsters the blood brain barrier, the lungs, and the surfaces of the digestive system.  This makes them less permeable; more like a normal person.  Not skipping meals is important for that.  Of course avoidance of toxins is the most prescribed treatment.

 

Chinese Medicine, including the diet and lifestyle has helped a lot.  It can make your internal organs function more efficiently, so they detox more normally.  Below is link to my thread on Chinese Medicine.

 

http://www.longecity...nese-medicine/ 

 

As for supplements, it varies by the person but MSM, good C, B vitamins, B6, and magnesium might help.  There are many natural anti-inflammatories for fibro.  Glidosin by Swansons is powerful.  I think it is a glutathione supplement.  It contains wheat.  Different enzymes can be helpful.  If you want to look into enzymes, I have opinions on how to take them and what brands to take.  

 

Below is a link to a blog post of mine about how to "Regrow Cartilage."  I include it because it gives the brands of some of the vitamins I recommend to you, and how I think it's best to take them.  The Type II collagen I take has helped my MCS.  The silica might help too.  All of those supplements might help MCS by building up and normalizing tissues, making them less likely to inflame.  Swanson's and Whole Foods  have liberal return policies if you want to try stuff. 

 

http://www.longecity...grow-cartilage/

 

Long term, rethink the anti-histamines.  They could do more harm than good in the long run.

 

Turmeric, source of curcumin, doesn't agree with me.  It has negative effects for me when taken as a supplement.  Some people are like that, often the same ones that can't tolerate green tea, reservatrol, or some other natural blood thinning substances.   Haven't heard of curcumin or turmeric used for MCS.  Just be aware that it doesn't agree with everyone.  

 

_______________________________________________________

 

Synesthesia,

 

Glad you are better.  Thanks for the heads up on Thiamine, Vitamin-C, SAM-e and/or NAC and PPC (polyenylphosphatidylcholine).  Are there brands, forms, dosages, and ways to take these that you'd  recommend?  

 

  

Edited by Luminosity, 28 January 2015 - 05:57 AM.

[Dorian Grey]

PPC is perishable, so I buy PhosChol direct from Nutrasal.  I believe they are most popular brand and move most product.  

 

SAM-e is also perishable...  I buy in foil blister-packs only.  I prefer lower doses of this taken more often.  400mg is the standard dose, but I've found 200mg available online from major suppliers.  SAM-e is also expensive!  200mg doses cost half as much and work just as well for me when taken a couple times a day.  

 

Thiamine is only absorbed in small amounts in the acidic portion of the duodenum, 1mg or so at a time; thus small doses taken more frequently will give a much better result.  Before I discovered this, I used to take a single B-Complex with 3000% of the RDA for thiamine.  Thought this would surely take care of any deficiency.  Ironically, I used to take it with my morning tea (a potent anti-thiamine).  I now take a very low dose B-Complex without folic acid (which is unwise to mega-dose), three times a day and have gotten much better results.  

 

It was quite difficult to find a low dose B-Complex without folic acid.  A cheap drugstore brand (RightAid B-Complex with B-12) turned out to be the only one I've seen that fit my needs.  

 

Low dose Vitamin-C taken several times a day is also the best way to maintain consistent blood levels.  It's hard to find C in less than 1K doses.  You can either cut the pills or seek out the 500mg doses.  They are out there.  Vitamin-C also greatly increases iron absorption from food/meals.  As men tend to accumulate iron as they age, I consider Vitamin-C an "empty stomach" supplement.  Too much Vitamin-C taken at once will cause loose bowels, but I have had no trouble taking 500mg's several times a day (on an empty stomach).  Consistent blood levels, no loose stools, and no increased iron absorption from meals is the way to go.  

 

I was feeling very old in my late 40's...  Chemical sensitivities, aching back and joints, and insulin resistance / blood sugar problems.  Now, at 58, I'm young again!  I've also been donating blood to lower accumulated iron.  Iron being the ultimate pro-oxidant.  "50 is Nifty" when it comes to ferritin...  Keep ferritin out of triple digits for optimal health!  

Edited by synesthesia, 29 January 2015 - 05:41 AM.

[niner]

Jason, your allergies might be doing more harm than you imagine.  Your formaldehyde sensitivity may be related to the state of your airways and mucous tissues, inflamed by allergens.  Some things to try would be a skin test (from an allergist) to determine which common antigens you react to, and consider the possibility of immunotherapy.  A supplement that you might find helpful is c60 olive oil (c60oo).  It may also help the FMS, and many people see improvement in allergies from it.  We've recently had a report of it being beneficial in CFS/ME, which shares some biochemical features with FMS.  In addition to these things, it should raise glutathione by shifting the balance from GSSG to GSH.

Edited by niner, 29 January 2015 - 01:33 PM.

[Jason30]

synesthesia, i will look into the CYP enzymes. Thanks alot for those links.

 

Luminosity, thanks alot for the tips with the blog link (very informative!). I also notice more complaints when i skip a meal.

I will look into Glidosin by Swansons, i am curious why that supp works out for fibro.

 

Niner, yes i do have airways and mucous tissues ( i use a nasal spray for this).

I did that skin test, i react to dust mites and hayfever. I happen to start next month with immunotherapy for my dust mites allergy.

I have read about c60 olive oil before, that looks promosing. I will look into it later.

 

Thanks again!

[Luminosity]

Thanks Synesthisia.  I will  have to read that more because there's a lot of detail.  If you have any brand names or more specific supplement info you want to share, feel free.  Strange you mentioned tea because I'm into it.  Something to think about.  You never hear that about tea.  

 

Jason30,

 

I used to head the MCS group in my area.  I didn't think that desensitizing allergy shots/drops worked, from what the patients told me.  When asked, they would say that they hoped it worked or thought it worked but weren't sure.  They never really endorsed it.  The ones for allergens seem harmless, but don't let a MD give you shots or drops to desensitize you to chemicals, the ones that contain the chemicals.  That was bad news and made people sick.  It's probably stopped now.  If you have insurance then taking the allergy shots/drops might make your doctor like you more, as they like to make money/feel useful.  If not .  .  .  Personally, if I had insurance, I'd ask for drops and not take them.