38 replies to this topic

[fluidity]

Hey everyone. I've been having a constant state of inflammation radiating from my gut/liver area which has plagued me for months. I no longer have energy to exercise, focus, no interest in anything(dopamine system is shot), feel much much more isolated and cynical towards everyone, and my ability to memorize and retain information in the long term is practically gone.

 

All of this has plagued me throughout my past year in college and I've only ever been able to find relief from anti-inflammatories/antioxidants but never cure and reverse the condition. 

 

I find the fact that my long term memory retention is gone to be quite alarming since this had happened following some traumatic stress over past memories. It's pretty unusual because while I can recall events from my past quite well, I don't have the ability to do that when it comes to retaining new info. I can be in a lecture one week and completely forget the information the next week if I didn't take notes. My entire college year has been a blur to me due to this and it simply terrifying since I'm not able to really remember or experience life fully.

 

The issue had started when I first began recollecting memories at an alarming rate from the past. This had happened after I had eaten large quantities of raw grapes from a farm. No idea what could of been in them(fungus/heavy metal/microbes) but after a week of eating them I started getting cold hands and cold feet and I was also getting tired every time I ate anything sugary. It had almost been as if I had turned diabetic. This effect had stopped after I quit eating them. Along with that effect, after about a  week of eating them I had a massive unbelievable surge of memories come back to me from the past. It was unbelievable. At the same time I started getting diarhea from bowl movements. All of this had happened after I took a round of antibiotics which I feel may have created an impact on my gut in regards to the flora.

 

Anyways after this had happened the memories never stopped surging back to me, and this was very atypical since I was never someone who dwelled on the past. At the same time I had continued my diet which involved eating around 1 85% dark chocolate bar a day. The saturated fat and sugar was tolerable in the beginning but after about a few weeks after the memories began surging back to me the dark chocolate began giving me infammation and fatigue. It was more like a wired but tired feeling. I couldn't sleep simply because I didn't feel sleepy but at the same time I felt like I had no energy. What worries me about the dark chocolate is that i may have faciliated greater dysfunction in my liver. Not to mention that the cadmium and copper in it also is worth noting as a potentially dangerous aspect. 

As the months went on I dangerously lost more weight, skin got worse almost if it had glycated at an accelerated rate, and not only did I lose interest in exercise but I also couldn't tolerate it. The loss of exercise tolerance wasn't because of not having the available energy but because every exertion, as little as it may have been, made me feel like I was burning up and losing my breath  at a faster rate. All of this points to high oxidation and free radical generation DESPITE very little exertion levels. The free radical damage could be seen on my skin.

 

Today I managed to gain a bit more weight back but the lack of motivation and drive is destroying my life. My libido and arousal is nonexistant and I simply don't feel pleasure from anything anymore. let alone have interest in it. My other symptoms include high blood pressure, high heart rate, and a very directed feeling of tension towards my liver/gut area. These symptoms afflict me everyday and my body is taking a toll when dealing with them. 

 

I'm worried about liver failure here as all of my symptoms and inflammation coming from my liver area point to it. At the same time I'm also quite worried that the daily dark chocolate could have given me copper, lead, and cadmium poisening seeing how many brands have been found with high levels of them. 

 

http://naturalsociet...te-brands-6983/

 

Another side note, I seem to have my sense of urgency and willpower come back to me every single time I go out for a night of drinking. Seems as though the NMDA/glutmamte receptors are being upregulated and now I get my energy to accomplish tasks. Unfortunately this is short lived and only lasts a few days.

 

I really hope I can get back my motivation, drive, and pleasure back in my daily activities. 

 

 

[psychejunkie]

you first need to give a blood test and not jumping to conclusions about receptors/biochemicals!

ask for these data to be tested:

Blood Cell Count/Hematocrit

White Cell Count/Lymphocyte

ALT/AST

T3/T4/TSH

Glucose/Blood Sugar

HDL/LDL

 

Edited by psychejunkie, 26 July 2016 - 08:09 AM.

[fluidity]

I had already done blood tests with a few peculiar  results.

 

First my white blood cell count is always unusually high for no reason. Normal blood cell count has always been normal. Thyroid was normal. Liver enzymes were in the mid range of 50-60th percentile.

 

Glucose was found to be normal at 82 while HDL/LDL were never tested for recently. 

Edited by fluidity, 26 July 2016 - 09:58 PM.

[psychejunkie]

I had already done blood tests with a few peculiar  results.

 

First my white blood cell count is always unusually high for no reason. Normal blood cell count has always been normal. Thyroid was normal. Liver enzymes were in the mid range of 50-60th percentile.

 

Glucose was found to be normal at 82 while HDL/LDL were never tested for recently. 

 

high white-cell count may mean different problems (like fungal or bacterial infection, kidney diseases, autoimmune disease, cancer, immune-system dysfunction, etc)

So the next step is to give a test for key immune proteins (Immune-System Complement Test):

C1, C2, C3, C4 / FB / CH50

 

then, you must pay a visit to an immunologist with test results.

 

Good luck

[sthira]

It could have been some contaminant in the grapes, as you say you ate quite a bit. If this is the case (some herbicide or pesticide you ingested in a large quantity) it's just gonna take time for your body to wash it out.

Have you tried brief stints of fasting? By brief I mean not so much an epic long journey twenty day fast, but rather several short fasts of maybe a day off from all food once or twice a week. Then extend the fasts as it gets easier. Fasting may lower your elevated white blood cell count, decrease your inflammation, and do many other positive things for your system, but of course this depends. Drink water only, rest as much as possible, and give your body the space and time it may need to clear out the pollutant that may have caught your system off guard. At least this method is free of charge and unlikely to mess you up even more.

Edited by sthira, 27 July 2016 - 05:27 PM.

[StevesPetRat]

Was there pesticide on the grapes, or were they organically grown? Many pesticides are potent AChEi's, and "flood of memories coming back" sounds like an acetylcholine surge. Or perhaps you picked up a fungus or something that inhibits thiamine utilization; a lot of your autonomic symptoms and in particular your reaction to sugary foods screams functional thiamine deficiency. But whatever, these are my pet issues. If you want to check out this thread it covers some of what I did to overcome similar symptoms, though in different circumstances. Thiamine is dirt-cheap to try and a bottle of alpha-GPC isn't too much, either. As a caution, I found magnesium need to increase when I supplemented thiamine.

 

Edit: I re-read your post, and even more details are jumping out at me. For instance, glycation is inhibited by thiamine (even more so by fat soluble versions like benfotiamine or allithiamine). Paradoxically, even though alcohol inhibits thiamine absorption, I believe its metabolism into acetate and eventually acetyl-COA is independent of thiamine, which would mean it makes a reliable energy source for you, unlike glucose, which could explain your short-term recovery after drinking (though it will ultimately make things worse).

 

If I had your symptoms again, I'd buy the smallest bags of thiamine HCl and magnesium citrate from, eg, pure bulk for about $25 total, and try largish doses of 1000 mg thiamine / 200 mg Mg (as roughly 1300 mg of Mg Cit) twice a day; within no more than a week or two (and perhaps less) I would know if this was helpin. Perhaps one could titrate up the doses in steps of 200 mg / 40 mg, if one were feeling cautious, over a week or two.

 

Then, if this restored my energy, I could start to try to figure out what was causing this functional deficiency in the first place... but that's just hypothetical; I'm not a medical doctor and therefore certainly wouldn't tell you what to do.

 

Edit edit: lots of literature on thiamine and immune function, but I haven't dug through it enough to tell whether deficiency would ultimately affect WBC. Deficiency does seem to increase risk of infection, which would, in turn, have the effect of raising WBC.

Edited by StevesPetRat, 28 July 2016 - 12:24 AM.

[fluidity]

Was there pesticide on the grapes, or were they organically grown? Many pesticides are potent AChEi's, and "flood of memories coming back" sounds like an acetylcholine surge. Or perhaps you picked up a fungus or something that inhibits thiamine utilization; a lot of your autonomic symptoms and in particular your reaction to sugary foods screams functional thiamine deficiency. But whatever, these are my pet issues. If you want to check out this thread it covers some of what I did to overcome similar symptoms, though in different circumstances. Thiamine is dirt-cheap to try and a bottle of alpha-GPC isn't too much, either. As a caution, I found magnesium need to increase when I supplemented thiamine.

 

Edit: I re-read your post, and even more details are jumping out at me. For instance, glycation is inhibited by thiamine (even more so by fat soluble versions like benfotiamine or allithiamine). Paradoxically, even though alcohol inhibits thiamine absorption, I believe its metabolism into acetate and eventually acetyl-COA is independent of thiamine, which would mean it makes a reliable energy source for you, unlike glucose, which could explain your short-term recovery after drinking (though it will ultimately make things worse).

 

If I had your symptoms again, I'd buy the smallest bags of thiamine HCl and magnesium citrate from, eg, pure bulk for about $25 total, and try largish doses of 1000 mg thiamine / 200 mg Mg (as roughly 1300 mg of Mg Cit) twice a day; within no more than a week or two (and perhaps less) I would know if this was helpin. Perhaps one could titrate up the doses in steps of 200 mg / 40 mg, if one were feeling cautious, over a week or two.

 

Then, if this restored my energy, I could start to try to figure out what was causing this functional deficiency in the first place... but that's just hypothetical; I'm not a medical doctor and therefore certainly wouldn't tell you what to do.

 

Edit edit: lots of literature on thiamine and immune function, but I haven't dug through it enough to tell whether deficiency would ultimately affect WBC. Deficiency does seem to increase risk of infection, which would, in turn, have the effect of raising WBC.

Interesting point on the pesticide and acetylcholine connection. Never thought about that, and considering how dramatic the surge in memories became, some foreign substance or agent may definitely be at work here.

 

Will certainly look into the Thiamine deficency as well. My problem I've noticed is how my body is dealing with exceptional levels of oxidative stress since I lose the drive and energy to workout IMMEDIATELY after starting and only when I take antioxidants do this condition ameliorate. 

 

I've taken some Vitamin E which was mixed tocopherols and it certainly alleviated a great deal of the inflammation where the pressure feeling around my liver is now gone. 

 

Under the scenario where I do actually figure out this problem and potentially cure it, what are my options for glycation? Could I just stimulate autophagy and skin turnover with large doses of retinol and then use collagen building products to rebuild what was once there?

Edited by fluidity, 28 July 2016 - 02:37 AM.

[Pangea]

Have you tried detoxifying using activated charcoal and sulfur containing foods/supplements?

 

Did you get your liver enzymes checked?  I'd expect those to be high if there was some type of pesticide in your system.

 

I'm recovering from severe black mold exposure, and I've always found R5P (riboflavin 5 phosphate) and chlorella to reduce inflammation and clear my brain fog.  R5P helps to recycle glutathione.

 

Also:  I've heard rosmarinic acid is good for glycation.  Lysine is good for collagen building and healing the body in general, it helped my skin.

[fluidity]

Have you tried detoxifying using activated charcoal and sulfur containing foods/supplements?

 

Did you get your liver enzymes checked?  I'd expect those to be high if there was some type of pesticide in your system.

 

I'm recovering from severe black mold exposure, and I've always found R5P (riboflavin 5 phosphate) and chlorella to reduce inflammation and clear my brain fog.  R5P helps to recycle glutathione.

 

Also:  I've heard rosmarinic acid is good for glycation.  Lysine is good for collagen building and healing the body in general, it helped my skin.

I've tried garlic, however it usually gives me some detox reaction now. Oddly enough my reaction to garlic has changed over time. At first it gave horrible brain fog and loss of coordination. Now I can tolerate it although it feels like it take a toll on my liver.'

Another interesting thing I've noticed. I took vitamin A today as 10,000IU of retinyl palmitate and now I have a huge "immune like feeling" radiating from my chest. It's as if my thymus gland got stimulated and am getting some sort of psuedo-flu, although other flu symptoms aren't present. I likely suspect some part of my immune system might be really really off. 

[StevesPetRat]

Will certainly look into the Thiamine deficency as well. My problem I've noticed is how my body is dealing with exceptional levels of oxidative stress since I lose the drive and energy to workout IMMEDIATELY after starting and only when I take antioxidants do this condition ameliorate. 
... 
Under the scenario where I do actually figure out this problem and potentially cure it, what are my options for glycation? Could I just stimulate autophagy and skin turnover with large doses of retinol and then use collagen building products to rebuild what was once there?

There is a fair amount of literature about thiamine deficiency causing oxidative stress. It's just my guess, based on similar symptoms (I felt like I had "diabetes without diabetes" too, if that sounds about right, not to mention mental/physical "starvation" for oxygen or blood sugar or something, exercise intolerance, etc...)

I would postpone worrying too much about reversing the glycation until you have figured out the causes. It's an issue that will "keep", you know what I mean? That said, there are a lot, lot, LOT of threads around here about AGE blockers and breakers, and it certainly wouldn't hurt to start on some of the more common / safer nutraceuticals to block further production and maybe start reversing things a little. Again, benfotiamine has lots of evidence as an AGE blocker.

Sorry for not providing detailed links, I'm procrastinating by checking this board... But these things should be pretty easy to find.

[Pangea]

I got the same thing when I had just started detoxing.  A good thing to do is cause a detox reaction, and then take a toxin binder (like activated charcoal, chlorella, sodium alginate, zeolite, clay), and hopefully it will get rid of the detox symptoms.  Otherwise the toxin can stay in your system.

 

It would be helpful to know if you're dealing with a pesticide that was on the fruit, a fungus, or parasite...do you know if they used pesticides on the grapes?

 

Also, if they did a full blood test on you, do you know if they tested IgE, IgA, etc, and eosinophils?

[fluidity]

 

Will certainly look into the Thiamine deficency as well. My problem I've noticed is how my body is dealing with exceptional levels of oxidative stress since I lose the drive and energy to workout IMMEDIATELY after starting and only when I take antioxidants do this condition ameliorate. 
... 
Under the scenario where I do actually figure out this problem and potentially cure it, what are my options for glycation? Could I just stimulate autophagy and skin turnover with large doses of retinol and then use collagen building products to rebuild what was once there?

There is a fair amount of literature about thiamine deficiency causing oxidative stress. It's just my guess, based on similar symptoms (I felt like I had "diabetes without diabetes" too, if that sounds about right, not to mention mental/physical "starvation" for oxygen or blood sugar or something, exercise intolerance, etc...)

I would postpone worrying too much about reversing the glycation until you have figured out the causes. It's an issue that will "keep", you know what I mean? That said, there are a lot, lot, LOT of threads around here about AGE blockers and breakers, and it certainly wouldn't hurt to start on some of the more common / safer nutraceuticals to block further production and maybe start reversing things a little. Again, benfotiamine has lots of evidence as an AGE blocker.

Sorry for not providing detailed links, I'm procrastinating by checking this board... But these things should be pretty easy to find.

 

 

No worries about the links. I've looked at a few of the glycation threads before, and was only wondering if there's any new novel compound or supplement that's in the horizone showing promise. You're right on the postponement.

 

As of now I've taken around 10,000 IU of Vitamin A as Retinyl palmitate and had the most unreal immune reaction ever. Within hours it felt as it I had hyperstimulated my thymus gland. All of the pressure and sensations I got after taking one dose of Vitamin A came about 2-3 hous in and the area right around my thymus kept feeling stimulated non-stop. As time went on depression hit me hard as ever and I was literally in despair  as the immune reaction got stronger and I felt as if my body was having some sort of psuedoflu.

 

I believe some sort of cytokines were stimulated after ingesting Vitamin A (Interleukin 1 for example) and I felt horrible for 2 days straight. Now the immune reaction subsided and I'm back to my anhedonic baseline self.

 

Another thing worth noting is that I have a fungal infection on one toe which seemed to have developed for a year since freshman year of college. It could be possible this has spread on to other parts of my body seeing that when I put apple cider vinegar on it, I felt a mild dull feeling radiate up to my knee 1 hour after application.  

 

I truely believe my symptoms of depression, anhedonia, inability to retain memory, and lack of focus are due to some sort of virus, fungi, or bacterial overgrowth. It all started when I came into college as I'm no longer the same person I once was before it. 

 

I came into college happy, motivated, extremely goal/future focused, social, an amazing memory capability, and had concentration to work on a task for however long I wanted. Now I am the polar opposite of that. I had horrible viral outbreaks during college which eventually lead to me losing all energy, focus, and drive to work on anything. You can say my dopamine system had been obliterated out of existence. 

 

Whenever I got sick I seemed to have had my tonsils become extremely inflammed and swollen, and at one point I kept coughing non-stop for about two weeks due to some sort of infection I caught in the middle of the year. After this infection that's where everything changed and I began losing more and more of my drive and focus. I no longer worked out and lost all motivation for that and began losing my libido. Hormones essentially went down the drain where I was almost never horny(before this in high school I could never stop my sexual urges lol). Also ended up dealing with hair loss and bone loss(I no longer had a square head as it became rounder). 

 

As I mentioned I developed some sort of fungus on my toe which continues on until today and now there is no longer have a toenail and the toe itself is swollen.

 

I can't stand having to go through life with anhedonia and not being able to experience it as I used to. Whether it is Mono, fungus, or some sort of bacterial overgrowth in my body I want to eradicate it out of existance. I really like the stack you put together that helped you regain your cognitive abilities. I'm willing to follow it after destroying whatever pathogen I seem to have acquired during college.

 

Do you have any recommendations for viruses or fungal infections?

Edited by fluidity, 01 August 2016 - 01:48 AM.

[StevesPetRat]

Another thing worth noting is that I have a fungal infection on one toe which seemed to have developed for a year since freshman year of college. It could be possible this has spread on to other parts of my body seeing that when I put apple cider vinegar on it, I felt a mild dull feeling radiate up to my knee 1 hour after application.  
 
I truely believe my symptoms of depression, anhedonia, inability to retain memory, and lack of focus are due to some sort of virus, fungi, or bacterial overgrowth. It all started when I came into college as I'm no longer the same person I once was before it. 
 
I came into college happy, motivated, extremely goal/future focused, social, an amazing memory capability, and had concentration to work on a task for however long I wanted. Now I am the polar opposite of that. I had horrible viral outbreaks during college which eventually lead to me losing all energy, focus, and drive to work on anything. You can say my dopamine system had been obliterated out of existence. 
 
Whenever I got sick I seemed to have had my tonsils become extremely inflammed and swollen, and at one point I kept coughing non-stop for about two weeks due to some sort of infection I caught in the middle of the year. After this infection that's where everything changed and I began losing more and more of my drive and focus. I no longer worked out and lost all motivation for that and began losing my libido. Hormones essentially went down the drain where I was almost never horny(before this in high school I could never stop my sexual urges lol). Also ended up dealing with hair loss and bone loss(I no longer had a square head as it became rounder). 
 
As I mentioned I developed some sort of fungus on my toe which continues on until today and now there is no longer have a toenail and the toe itself is swollen.
 
I can't stand having to go through life with anhedonia and not being able to experience it as I used to. Whether it is Mono, fungus, or some sort of bacterial overgrowth in my body I want to eradicate it out of existance. I really like the stack you put together that helped you regain your cognitive abilities. I'm willing to follow it after destroying whatever pathogen I seem to have acquired during college.
 
Do you have any recommendations for viruses or fungal infections?

This sounds so familiar; it's basically what happened to me when I got mono in college.

Whatever you do for your fungal infection, don't take terbinafine. That stuff absolutely ruined my health. I would use ACV or even raw honey (works amazingly for foot odor) topically.

 

Foods, supplements, and drugs I might look into would be garlic (raw cloves, crushed or chewed up, burns like hell), coconut oil, ginger, olive leaf, cat's claw, nystatin, CMX001, L-lysine, boron, and possibly iodine or KI (make sure to take 200-400 mcg of selenium if you take appreciable doses of iodine to protect your thyroid from the increased oxidative stress). EBV which causes mono is a herpesvirus, so pay attention to this food list. According to Braverman's book, EBV lowers circulating levels of tyrosine; I got a pretty great response from supplementing it.

 

Good luck.

 

[fluidity]

 

Another thing worth noting is that I have a fungal infection on one toe which seemed to have developed for a year since freshman year of college. It could be possible this has spread on to other parts of my body seeing that when I put apple cider vinegar on it, I felt a mild dull feeling radiate up to my knee 1 hour after application.  
 
I truely believe my symptoms of depression, anhedonia, inability to retain memory, and lack of focus are due to some sort of virus, fungi, or bacterial overgrowth. It all started when I came into college as I'm no longer the same person I once was before it. 
 
I came into college happy, motivated, extremely goal/future focused, social, an amazing memory capability, and had concentration to work on a task for however long I wanted. Now I am the polar opposite of that. I had horrible viral outbreaks during college which eventually lead to me losing all energy, focus, and drive to work on anything. You can say my dopamine system had been obliterated out of existence. 
 
Whenever I got sick I seemed to have had my tonsils become extremely inflammed and swollen, and at one point I kept coughing non-stop for about two weeks due to some sort of infection I caught in the middle of the year. After this infection that's where everything changed and I began losing more and more of my drive and focus. I no longer worked out and lost all motivation for that and began losing my libido. Hormones essentially went down the drain where I was almost never horny(before this in high school I could never stop my sexual urges lol). Also ended up dealing with hair loss and bone loss(I no longer had a square head as it became rounder). 
 
As I mentioned I developed some sort of fungus on my toe which continues on until today and now there is no longer have a toenail and the toe itself is swollen.
 
I can't stand having to go through life with anhedonia and not being able to experience it as I used to. Whether it is Mono, fungus, or some sort of bacterial overgrowth in my body I want to eradicate it out of existance. I really like the stack you put together that helped you regain your cognitive abilities. I'm willing to follow it after destroying whatever pathogen I seem to have acquired during college.
 
Do you have any recommendations for viruses or fungal infections?

This sounds so familiar; it's basically what happened to me when I got mono in college.

Whatever you do for your fungal infection, don't take terbinafine. That stuff absolutely ruined my health. I would use ACV or even raw honey (works amazingly for foot odor) topically.

 

Foods, supplements, and drugs I might look into would be garlic (raw cloves, crushed or chewed up, burns like hell), coconut oil, ginger, olive leaf, cat's claw, nystatin, CMX001, L-lysine, boron, and possibly iodine or KI (make sure to take 200-400 mcg of selenium if you take appreciable doses of iodine to protect your thyroid from the increased oxidative stress). EBV which causes mono is a herpesvirus, so pay attention to this food list. According to Braverman's book, EBV lowers circulating levels of tyrosine; I got a pretty great response from supplementing it.

 

Good luck.

 

Thanks.

 

I'm suspecting it truely is a viral infection that seems to have altered my immune system in a detrimental manner. Especially considering my immune reaction to retinyl palmitate, I'm beginning to believe all of my inflammation issue stem from a disrupted immune system.

 

The only other thing I imagined my inflammation coming from was my mercury amalgams. However I had them removed, and even spent over a week eating garlic everyday to chelate. At this point I don't think the immune dysfunction is coming from mercury.

 

Honey also helps me a lot in the department inflammation when I consume it orally.

 

I'd like to ask another thing which is how would I be able to induce autophagy in my immune cells in order to combat the spread of EBV. If I somehow had my infected B cells proliferate in a certain part of my body, wouldn't it be a good idea to get rid of them somehow?

[Blackkzeus]

How are you sinuses? Do you have any head pressure? 

[jack black]

Have you tried N-acetyloglucosamine? Powerful anti-inflammatory modulator. Low dose naltrexon is supposedly good too. How about the NSAIDs like ibuprofen?

[StevesPetRat]

I'd like to ask another thing which is how would I be able to induce autophagy in my immune cells in order to combat the spread of EBV. If I somehow had my infected B cells proliferate in a certain part of my body, wouldn't it be a good idea to get rid of them somehow?

Fasting (H₂O only) for 3 - 4 days does that. (This isn't the exact link I had in mind, but you can dig more if curious.)
 
But I'm not so sure the benefits are universal for EBV, 1, 2, 3

 

I forgot, Shilajit was suggested to me. In large doses, it seemed to induce a "herx-like" reaction (not truly a herx, that applies only to gram negative bacteria). And I did feel somewhat better afterwards. Who knows, though?

 

I would at least ask your doctor to test you for EBV. Just because the test indicates that you don't have IgA or IgM (indicating new infection) doesn't mean it's not playing a role, as it can reactivate readily enough. High levels of IgG can be indicative of reactivation.

 

Lastly, IL-10 is an interesting immunomodulatory interleukin, with both pro- and anti-inflammatory effects. EBV hijacks it, making a "half-active" version of the molecule (selective agonist for one subset of receptors, essentially), turning on a low-grade immune response, seemingly as a way to keep itself from growing out of control and killing you (which is a poor survival strategy for the virus; they tend to evolve to become less lethal). 4, 5, 6. I list a few ways to increase IL-10 activity here.

[fluidity]

How are you sinuses? Do you have any head pressure? 

Actually they are a bit clogged usually. I find it pretty weird since I rarely ever take notice of it but I know for sure that back in high school I never had clogged sinuses unless I had an acute infection.

 

Have you tried N-acetyloglucosamine? Powerful anti-inflammatory modulator. Low dose naltrexon is supposedly good too. How about the NSAIDs like ibuprofen?

Yeah I've heard of it and am hoping to try it out in the future sometime after taking care of the root cause of my inflammation. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

 

I'd like to ask another thing which is how would I be able to induce autophagy in my immune cells in order to combat the spread of EBV. If I somehow had my infected B cells proliferate in a certain part of my body, wouldn't it be a good idea to get rid of them somehow?

Fasting (H₂O only) for 3 - 4 days does that. (This isn't the exact link I had in mind, but you can dig more if curious.)
 
But I'm not so sure the benefits are universal for EBV, 1, 2, 3

 

I forgot, Shilajit was suggested to me. In large doses, it seemed to induce a "herx-like" reaction (not truly a herx, that applies only to gram negative bacteria). And I did feel somewhat better afterwards. Who knows, though?

 

I would at least ask your doctor to test you for EBV. Just because the test indicates that you don't have IgA or IgM (indicating new infection) doesn't mean it's not playing a role, as it can reactivate readily enough. High levels of IgG can be indicative of reactivation.

 

Lastly, IL-10 is an interesting immunomodulatory interleukin, with both pro- and anti-inflammatory effects. EBV hijacks it, making a "half-active" version of the molecule (selective agonist for one subset of receptors, essentially), turning on a low-grade immune response, seemingly as a way to keep itself from growing out of control and killing you (which is a poor survival strategy for the virus; they tend to evolve to become less lethal). 4, 5, 6. I list a few ways to increase IL-10 activity here.

 

I see. Well seems as though the depression and mood changes are affected by my digestive system here without a doubt. I took some taurine and glycine which are known to be good for liver, and the feelings of sadness and lost of esteem have been ameliorated. It's as if depression never hit. However even in the neutral state I'm currently in the feelings of joy and happiness are still not there. 

 

I recently took spirulina to help detox liver and after being constipated for 2-3 days with headaches and other bad symptoms, I had by far one of the most unusual stools ever. It was bascially a stool with a lot of "red and fleshy looking material" on top of it. This looked really weird because it looked as if it something shred my liver into a bunch of fluffy pieces then passed it along with a stool. It also did not smell like a stool at all, it had a horrible odor of something resembling rotting flesh or organic material. 

 

I can only guess this may be either undigested food, however this type of stool only ever came whenever I tried to clear out my colon. Along with that I essentially eat the same food everyday and have normal stools 95% of the time. I'll be trying oregano oil capsules then see what happens next.

 

I honestly just want to recover my well being, cognition, appearance, personality, and motivation I once had in high school. Whatever pathogen I contracted after my final year in high school certainly took a toll on me and now my entire college experience is being ruined as a result of it. I really do appreciate all of the help. Once I visit some docs this week I'll update on how blood tests turn out. 

[Ames]

Suspecting inflammation, have you tried the obvious road of potent antioxidants?

 

I absolutely don't recommend N-Acetyl Cysteine for long term use, but it has its uses in one-off doses; especially if the liver is at issue. Sometimes nothing else will do, especially if you feel like you ate something relatively toxic or have been taking a substance long term, like many NSAIDS (my prior issue), that will stress your liver to the point that it needs help recovering:

 

take 500 mg of N-Acetyl-Cysteine. Don't repeat unless you feel an abatement of symptoms, but not a complete remission. If so, repeat in another week or so. If nothing happens, or there is complete remission, do not repeat.

 

Take 1-2 grams of Vitamin C every day for one week. Adjust up if you don't feel a difference day-to-day, and adjust down if you can't sleep. At that dose range, but especially toward the top end, you should feel a dopaminergic effect.

 

Take 5,000 mcg of Dry Vitamin A (Solgar or other) with one drop of Now brand Vitamin D drops, which is 100 mcg of D. I specify the Now Brand because I know the dose per drop. Though, any 100 mcg/drop brand will do.

 

Skip the NSAIDS and other measures until you try these supplements, imo. I'd try them one at a time,  a different one each week for three weeks so that you can gauge what each one does.

 

To determine what you should take based on your perceived worst symptoms:

 

The NAC tends to take care of liver tox issues.

 

The C  at a higher dose tends to take care of dopaminergic/mood issues, and is also a potent antioxidant in general.

 

The A tends to take care of skin issues, and is also a potent substrate/antioxidant for neuronal function. You should almost always take it with D, unless you will be getting a lot of sun. When taking it with D, I tend to like a 20:1 ratio. The 5,000 mcg dose of A may make you need to sleep earlier or more frequently. You should definitely notice enhanced sleep. That effect may abate with further doses. If it doesn't. and becomes an annoyance, cut the 5,000 mcg pill in half and take 2,500 mcg of A with one 100 mcg drop of Vitamin D. Personally, I only repeat the dose when I feel the effects of the Vitamin wearing off with either normalized sleep or higher inflammation. That is, once per week or less. Though, you will find what works best for you with experimentation.

 

The first time that you take A, you can also try a higher dose of around 25,000 mcg to build it up in your body, after which I would lower it to 5,000 mcg. You will likely want to anyway, given the increased need for sleep that it will confer. 

 

If I were in your shoes, I would try the supplements in this order:

 

1. NAC

2. C

3. A+D

 

With an eye for the A+D being what you may eventually either stay at lest semi-regularly or for the fact that it might take the longest to discern the net effects. The NAC and C are more immediately quantifiable for me and also, for me, more appropriate as as-needed tools.  

 

I also like high dose Thiamine and low dose Riboflavin. High dose biotin may also do something for you. Though, consider these last suggestions secondary ones. The afore suggestions are primary.

 

I always recommend taking supplements, but especially these (the first 3), away from bedtime. That is, anytime from when you get up to around 4 p.m., with earlier generally being better.

Edited by golgi1, 10 August 2016 - 02:40 PM.

[fluidity]

Suspecting inflammation, have you tried the obvious road of potent antioxidants?

 

I absolutely don't recommend N-Acetyl Cysteine for long term use, but it has its uses in one-off doses; especially if the liver is at issue. Sometimes nothing else will do, especially if you feel like you ate something relatively toxic or have been taking a substance long term, like many NSAIDS (my prior issue), that will stress your liver to the point that it needs help recovering:

 

take 500 mg of N-Acetyl-Cysteine. Don't repeat unless you feel an abatement of symptoms, but not a complete remission. If so, repeat in another week or so. If nothing happens, or there is complete remission, do not repeat.

 

Take 1-2 grams of Vitamin C every day for one week. Adjust up if you don't feel a difference day-to-day, and adjust down if you can't sleep. At that dose range, but especially toward the top end, you should feel a dopaminergic effect.

 

Take 5,000 mcg of Dry Vitamin A (Solgar or other) with one drop of Now brand Vitamin D drops, which is 100 mcg of D. I specify the Now Brand because I know the dose per drop. Though, any 100 mcg/drop brand will do.

 

Skip the NSAIDS and other measures until you try these supplements, imo. I'd try them one at a time,  a different one each week for three weeks so that you can gauge what each one does.

 

To determine what you should take based on your perceived worst symptoms:

 

The NAC tends to take care of liver tox issues.

 

The C  at a higher dose tends to take care of dopaminergic/mood issues, and is also a potent antioxidant in general.

 

The A tends to take care of skin issues, and is also a potent substrate/antioxidant for neuronal function. You should almost always take it with D, unless you will be getting a lot of sun. When taking it with D, I tend to like a 20:1 ratio. The 5,000 mcg dose of A may make you need to sleep earlier or more frequently. You should definitely notice enhanced sleep. That effect may abate with further doses. If it doesn't. and becomes an annoyance, cut the 5,000 mcg pill in half and take 2,500 mcg of A with one 100 mcg drop of Vitamin D. Personally, I only repeat the dose when I feel the effects of the Vitamin wearing off with either normalized sleep or higher inflammation. That is, once per week or less. Though, you will find what works best for you with experimentation.

 

The first time that you take A, you can also try a higher dose of around 25,000 mcg to build it up in your body, after which I would lower it to 5,000 mcg. You will likely want to anyway, given the increased need for sleep that it will confer. 

 

If I were in your shoes, I would try the supplements in this order:

 

1. NAC

2. C

3. A+D

 

With an eye for the A+D being what you may eventually either stay at lest semi-regularly or for the fact that it might take the longest to discern the net effects. The NAC and C are more immediately quantifiable for me and also, for me, more appropriate as as-needed tools.  

 

I also like high dose Thiamine and low dose Riboflavin. High dose biotin may also do something for you. Though, consider these last suggestions secondary ones. The afore suggestions are primary.

 

I always recommend taking supplements, but especially these (the first 3), away from bedtime. That is, anytime from when you get up to around 4 p.m., with earlier generally being better.

Taking A+D has been on my list of future stacks to include for general well being and bone health. I'm also going to be adding vitmain e and magnesium. This should confer plenty of benefits along with taking spirulina which itself acts as a liver detoxifying agent and a source of vitamin k. 

[Blackkzeus]

Have you tried taking thiamine?

 

[fluidity]

Have you tried taking thiamine?

I have 100mg in a B-complex which does help me quite a bit. However haven't bought the powder for megadosing as I'm low on funds right now. 

[rikelme]

fluidity, I was in a very similar place. I too had silver (amalgam) fillings, throughout my life (removed last one few months back).

 

My wellness started to deteriorate gradually, but constantly, starting a year back from now. My motivation, vigor, optimism, libido, digestion, personality - all went south. I was literally a shadow of myself from a few years back.

 

My kitchen counter tops slowly became full of various supplements: Ayurvedic and TCM herbal extracts, minerals, hight quality vitamins, superfoods, you name it. I must have spent around $2k on sups in the last couple of years... Nothing seemed to help. Yes, I would get some benefit, but it would fade away after a while.

 

And then... somehow I stumbled upon thesupermandiet.com. Read every single word Alex wrote in his unique style. Then read it again, making sure I understand everything he wrote. Then I watched all Dr Dietrich Klinghardt I could find on YouTube. Read almost his whole website. And only then I started to follow his plan, that he so openly shares with everyone.

 

In short (but please watch at least Dr Klinghard video talking about BioPure's products - he succinctly describes his protocol in the video): 

1. remove all silver fillings; it's absolute must to remove it safely (see details at thesupermandiet.com)

2. start using intestinal adsorbents:

• enterosgel (you can get it on Amazon & ebay); buy two 225g tubes for 10 day cycle (10 days on, 3 months off); enterosgel binds to virtually all known toxins; it extremely safe to take - it is even prescribed to pregnant and nursing women and babies (in UK)
• protect the kidneys with: wild garlic extract (amazon) and galactose (only from Germany, but you can find in on Ebay)
• lypo-spheric glutathione by livon labs - 2 satches per day
• high quality chlorella (biopure.us is one of the best) - be very careful and start VERY slow and listen to your body
• active charcoal
• zeolite
• clay
• lipospheric gluthathione 
• shilajit
• stop watching porn and try to abstain from sex (and masturbation) for at least a week

Lypospheric Gluthathione alone helped me tremendously. Afer starting Enterosgel I was literally reborn. Do not take chlorella without wild garlic extract, galactose, and enterosgel and clay. You'll risk damaging your kindeys for life (not because of chlorella but because of toxins and heavy metals that will be extracted through the kidneys and not binded by silica in your gut).

 

Read the superman, watch and read Klinghard. Report in a month

 

All the best and good luck to you my friend!

Edited by rikelme, 13 August 2016 - 05:40 AM.

[Blackkzeus]

fluidity, I was in a very similar place. I too had silver (amalgam) fillings, throughout my life (removed last one few months back).

My wellness started to deteriorate gradually, but constantly, starting a year back from now. My motivation, vigor, optimism, libido, digestion, personality - all went south. I was literally a shadow of myself from a few years back.

My kitchen counter tops slowly became full of various supplements: Ayurvedic and TCM herbal extracts, minerals, hight quality vitamins, superfoods, you name it. I must have spent around $2k on sups in the last couple of years... Nothing seemed to help. Yes, I would get some benefit, but it would fade away after a while.

And then... somehow I stumbled upon thesupermandiet.com. Read every single word Alex wrote in his unique style. Then read it again, making sure I understand everything he wrote. Then I watched all Dr Dietrich Klinghardt I could find on YouTube. Read almost his whole website. And only then I started to follow his plan, that he so openly shares with everyone.

In short (but please watch at least Dr Klinghard video talking about BioPure's products - he succinctly describes his protocol in the video):
1. remove all silver fillings; it's absolute must to remove it safely (see details at thesupermandiet.com)
2. start using intestinal adsorbents:

• enterosgel (you can get it on Amazon & ebay); buy two 225g tubes for 10 day cycle (10 days on, 3 months off); enterosgel binds to virtually all known toxins; it extremely safe to take - it is even prescribed to pregnant and nursing women and babies (in UK)
• protect the kidneys with: wild garlic extract (amazon) and galactose (only from Germany, but you can find in on Ebay)
• lypo-spheric glutathione by livon labs - 2 satches per day
• high quality chlorella (biopure.us is one of the best) - be very careful and start VERY slow and listen to your body
• active charcoal
• zeolite
• clay
• lipospheric gluthathione
• shilajit
• stop watching porn and try to abstain from sex (and masturbation) for at least a week

Lypospheric Gluthathione alone helped me tremendously. Afer starting Enterosgel I was literally reborn. Do not take chlorella without wild garlic extract, galactose, and enterosgel and clay. You'll risk damaging your kindeys for life (not because of chlorella but because of toxins and heavy metals that will be extracted through the kidneys and not binded by silica in your gut).

Read the superman, watch and read Klinghard. Report in a month

All the best and good luck to you my friend!

Are you saying all your problems stemmed from having silver fillings ?

[rikelme]

 

Are you saying all your problems stemmed from having silver fillings ?

 

 

Silver fillings, pathogens (who thrive in our weaken by toxin and heavy metal bodies), bio and ambient toxins, aluminum, lead, chloride, fluoride, PCBs, etc.

 

Boosting your own detoxifying system and removing as much as possible toxins from our bodies is the key.

 

This is not my theory, I'm just summarizing lifelong work of few remarkable and brave people who dedicated their life helping us, mortals.

[Blackkzeus]

So how much better do you feel nowadays compared to before you detoxified your body?

[Michael Rian]

This sounds like me, before I found out I had Crohn's Disease. Just thought I would mention that, maybe to rule it out?

Was there pesticide on the grapes, or were they organically grown? Many pesticides are potent AChEi's, and "flood of memories coming back" sounds like an acetylcholine surge. Or perhaps you picked up a fungus or something that inhibits thiamine utilization; a lot of your autonomic symptoms and in particular your reaction to sugary foods screams functional thiamine deficiency. But whatever, these are my pet issues. If you want to check out this thread it covers some of what I did to overcome similar symptoms, though in different circumstances. Thiamine is dirt-cheap to try and a bottle of alpha-GPC isn't too much, either. As a caution, I found magnesium need to increase when I supplemented thiamine.

 

Edit: I re-read your post, and even more details are jumping out at me. For instance, glycation is inhibited by thiamine (even more so by fat soluble versions like benfotiamine or allithiamine). Paradoxically, even though alcohol inhibits thiamine absorption, I believe its metabolism into acetate and eventually acetyl-COA is independent of thiamine, which would mean it makes a reliable energy source for you, unlike glucose, which could explain your short-term recovery after drinking (though it will ultimately make things worse).

 

If I had your symptoms again, I'd buy the smallest bags of thiamine HCl and magnesium citrate from, eg, pure bulk for about $25 total, and try largish doses of 1000 mg thiamine / 200 mg Mg (as roughly 1300 mg of Mg Cit) twice a day; within no more than a week or two (and perhaps less) I would know if this was helpin. Perhaps one could titrate up the doses in steps of 200 mg / 40 mg, if one were feeling cautious, over a week or two.

 

Then, if this restored my energy, I could start to try to figure out what was causing this functional deficiency in the first place... but that's just hypothetical; I'm not a medical doctor and therefore certainly wouldn't tell you what to do.

 

Edit edit: lots of literature on thiamine and immune function, but I haven't dug through it enough to tell whether deficiency would ultimately affect WBC. Deficiency does seem to increase risk of infection, which would, in turn, have the effect of raising WBC.

 

I am a huge fan of Thiamine, it is so interesting!!

 

Long-Term Treatment with High-Dose Thiamine in Parkinson Disease: An Open-Label Pilot Study. - PubMed - NCBI

 

Evidence for a central cholinergic effect of high-dose thiamine. - PubMed - NCBI

 

Case Report: High-dose thiamine improves the symptoms of fibromyalgia

 

Pharmacokinetics of high-dose oral thiamine hydrochloride in healthy subjects

 

High-dose thiamine improves fatigue after stroke: a report of three cases. - PubMed - NCBI

 

High-dose thiamine improves the symptoms of Friedreich's ataxia. - PubMed - NCBI

 

High-dose thiamine therapy counters dyslipidemia and advanced glycation of plasma protein in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. - PubMed - NCBI

 

Preliminary findings of high-dose thiamine in dementia of Alzheimer's type. - PubMed - NCBI

 

 

Thiamine and Fatigue in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases:

An Open-label Pilot Study

http://online.lieber...9/acm.2011.0840

 

[fluidity]

New update: In regards to my immune system being dysfunctional, I find that the inflammation gets much WORSE on probiotics. Whether it's yogurt, kefir, or some other fermented food, the gut inflammation on seems to intensify and the apathy augments as well. This makes me think that perhaps my gut flora may be compromised or something of the like.

 

What confuses me however is the lack of detoxification from my liver as any supplement I take I seem to be quite sensitive to. Not only that but the reaction to spirulina, and the really weird red pieces in my stool are also alarming. 

 

I'd hate to believe that somehow this is hepatitis, an unresolved mono infection, or a fungus that keeps growing. If anyone has experience with what I just mentioned please let me know how your experience compared to mine.

 

 

 

[jonathan-g]

( EDIT: just to be sure, I am not a scientist, and this is nothing but utter speculation on my part )

 

You know what I think? I think you have damage to the LOCUS COERULEUS.

 

This is a tiny cluster of cells in the brain, and it generates almost 100% of the norepinephrine in the brain. 

 

I don't think your dopamine system is shot, I think your norepinephrine system is shot, permanently. Here's some things to think about:

 

1) The locus coeruleus is a tiny cluster of cells, and it is considered by scientists to be ESPECIALLY SENSITIVE to inflammation and oxidative stress. There are many illnesses that result in damage to this area, because it is so fragile.

2) Damage to 25% of the cells in this region, results in a 50% reduction in norepinephrine in the brain. So thats pretty sensitive!  

3) Norepinephrine has a major role in helping people create new memories, via Cyclic AMP. It is highly active in the hippocampus. Damage this tiny cluster, and it deeply affects your ability to learn and retain new information, because memories are not being consolidated correctly.

4) Norepinephrine has a major role in MOTIVATION, COGNITIVE AROUSAL, VIGILANCE and what could unscientifically be called "The Joy of Being Alive." It very likely is the primary neurotransmitter responsible for emotions like "excitement", although dopamine also plays a role. Without norepinephrine you are antisocial, weary, lacking motivation energy, and displaying impaired motor activity. 

5) In addition to impairing the creation of new memories, we would expect you to display  BIG PROBLEMS in these areas: (a) working memory, and (b) geographical / geospatial memory.

 

If you walk around a large building, like a shopping mall, are you easily confused and bewildered by where you are going? If someone gives you a list of numbers and asks you to repeat the numbers 10 seconds later, are you far worse at that now then before this damage started? If so, that might be reason to believe it is permanent damage to the LC.

 

 

Edited by jonathan-g, 17 August 2016 - 06:57 AM.

[fluidity]

( EDIT: just to be sure, I am not a scientist, and this is nothing but utter speculation on my part )

 

You know what I think? I think you have damage to the LOCUS COERULEUS.

 

This is a tiny cluster of cells in the brain, and it generates almost 100% of the norepinephrine in the brain. 

 

I don't think your dopamine system is shot, I think your norepinephrine system is shot, permanently. Here's some things to think about:

 

1) The locus coeruleus is a tiny cluster of cells, and it is considered by scientists to be ESPECIALLY SENSITIVE to inflammation and oxidative stress. There are many illnesses that result in damage to this area, because it is so fragile.

2) Damage to 25% of the cells in this region, results in a 50% reduction in norepinephrine in the brain. So thats pretty sensitive!  

3) Norepinephrine has a major role in helping people create new memories, via Cyclic AMP. It is highly active in the hippocampus. Damage this tiny cluster, and it deeply affects your ability to learn and retain new information, because memories are not being consolidated correctly.

4) Norepinephrine has a major role in MOTIVATION, COGNITIVE AROUSAL, VIGILANCE and what could unscientifically be called "The Joy of Being Alive." It very likely is the primary neurotransmitter responsible for emotions like "excitement", although dopamine also plays a role. Without norepinephrine you are antisocial, weary, lacking motivation energy, and displaying impaired motor activity. 

5) In addition to impairing the creation of new memories, we would expect you to display  BIG PROBLEMS in these areas: (a) working memory, and (b) geographical / geospatial memory.

 

If you walk around a large building, like a shopping mall, are you easily confused and bewildered by where you are going? If someone gives you a list of numbers and asks you to repeat the numbers 10 seconds later, are you far worse at that now then before this damage started? If so, that might be reason to believe it is permanent damage to the LC.

You know what, I think you are definitely on to something here. It may be true after all since many of the symptoms you are mentioning correlate with my experience. For example, I forget where I parked my car much much more easily. This is bad. Along with that the geospatial memory loss definitely seems to be at play here. And yes the list of numbers is definitely me at this point. Before college I actually had a great memory when it came to number lists. Now however I'm not even able to reproduce half of the memory capabilities I once had.

 

I could definitely blame inflammation and oxidative stress for this.

 

My question now is how would I got about recovering this area in the hippocampus?

 

I notice a bacterial/fungal infection has to be present in my current state given that gut flora seems compromised, and the excessive plaque on me teeth indicate this greatly(Here's another thing I never had tooth problems back in high school). 

Edited by fluidity, 17 August 2016 - 08:37 AM.