Basically, I have Lyme disease and a few other disseminated infections including Bartonella, Babesia and Mycoplasma. I've tried hundreds of supplements, nootropics and herbs for many years. Here are a few that impacted me in both positive and negative ways.
Magnesium Glycinate/Malate/Threonate w/ (Zinc)- I've taken this for many years and it has helped tremendously. The problem is acutely it make me feel dull but the cumulative effect of taking it over a long period of time has noticeably increase my cognitive ability. I understand it has NMDA antagonistic properties, so a possible negative feedback loop or some sort of re-sensitization of the NMDA receptors? Keep in mind neurologically I suffered from encephalopathy and short-term memory problems, which negatively impacted my behavior and personality. I also had a messed up SPECT scan and high levels of QUIN in the brain which directly agonizes the NMDA receptors.
QUIN is neurotoxic and can cause problems. IDO inhibitors seemed to help acutely by blocking the pathway needed to metabolize L-tryptophan into Kynerenine and then QUIN. Kynerenine might have also been causing some problems because of the counterbalance and the demand for the production of QUIN in the brain from macrophages and microglia so as to inhibit the dissemination of the infection. I also ended up having ANTI-NMDA receptors in my serum, which hadn't passed the blood brain barrier. Might this have to do with the overabundance of QUIN and where my own body creates anti-nuclear antibodies against the over-firing of the NMDA receptors from the secretion of QUIN in order to reach some sort of equilibrium?
I understand high levels of Kynerenine can causes Asperger like symptoms. I was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome a year after me Lyme diagnosis and as of today my symptoms have lessened to a noticeable degree. Keep in mind I never had any neurological problems prior to my Tick bite. I was psychologically sound my entire life.
Nonetheless, Magnesium seemed to inhibit QUIN mechanism of action while re-sensitizing the NMDA receptors that might have suffered damage from the QUIN as well as the excessive amount of calcium in the synapse, which directly over-fired them. I'm sure it has a lot to do with being in a hyperglutaminergic state because MSG, milk or any sort of high glutatmate foods added to the problem and caused significant acute neurological problems. I understand that the glutamate system is not simple. Ionotropic including Kainate, AMPA, Delta, Metabotropic receptors, etc.
Memantine - Helped like magnesium but prolonged usage after several months gave me brain fog.
L-tryptophan also added to the problem and was probrobably metabolized into QUIN and only a small amount Serotonin.
5htp, which does not use the L-tryptophan pathway helped significantly to lessen my depression and anxiety. However, it seemed to lose effect and the neurological symptoms pursued. Possibly because I wasn't addressing the root cause, i.e. the infection and the autonomic immune response to said infection.
Intravenous Rocephin antibiotic - Helped tremendously but was not a cure. I have ceased the IV and my symptoms have returned. This helped me acutely and led me to normalcy, so much so I nearly cried. I looked into its mechanism of action and weirdly enough it has a potent anti-inflammatory effect.
((It increases the expression and activity of the GLT-1 (EAAT2) glutamate transporters in the brain, and thereby enables these glutamate transporters to pull excess glutamate out of the brain. This reduces glutamate toxicity and glutamate overstimulation in the brain. Refs: 1 2 3))
Ceftriaxone (Rocephin) an injectable beta-lactam antibiotic that increases GLT-1 glutamate transporter expression and activity by a factor of 3, which is a huge increase.1 2 3 4 5 6 Ceftriaxone half life is around 7 hours. If glutamate levels were rapidly altered by rocephin then on withdrawal perhaps it could cause severe symptoms?
ALA - Helped a lot. Alpha lipoic acid at dose of around 270 mg to 1370 mg increases glutamate uptake by 20%. 1 Alpha lipoic acid bioavailability is around 30%. Half life is around 30 minutes.
Exercising - The increase in blood flow to the extracellular matrix increased my immune response, whilst taking antibiotics at the time caused horrendous neurological effects, plus the cytokine cascade. This Increased inflammation and pain as my ROS increased as well. This of course helps kill the pathogens.
Ursolic Acid - Helped
Creatine - Helped a lot, possibly because it has some sort of mechanism of action on the Glutamate receptors.
Cordyceps and Ginseng - Worsened my anxiety and neurological symptoms as does caffeine. No idea why. Tried them for many weeks and continued to get worse before stopping. I understand Cordyceps has some sort of effect on AMPA.
Whey protein - Terribly made me worse, has Immunoglobulins which I need because I'm low. Aspartic acid, glutamic acid and cysteine together in high amounts might be the reason for the worsening symptoms.
NAC - Made me worse and I have NO IDEA WHY was it some sort of negative feed back loop? God how I HATE NAC. I've tired three brands and all of them had the SAME effect.
NAG n-acetyl glucosamine - Eradicated my anxiety worked very much like Rocephin, however started to cause problems with my heart, could have been the infection.
Choline - Made me feel terrible, increased depression and dullness. Eggs do the same thing.
Psilocybin - Helped my depression, micro-dosing every week worked great. I stopped recently but it has helped a lot.
Edited by birthdaysuit, 26 March 2017 - 06:12 AM.
