tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-110824342024-02-28T07:01:49.907-05:00Finding a Holistic Protocol For ME/CFS and Lyme DiseaseThis Blog is about one person's search for a holistic protocol for ME/CFS (myalgic encephalomyelitis / Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) and Lyme DiseaseKurthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13638567143640874267noreply@blogger.comBlogger40125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11082434.post-25368557636646555702019-04-24T22:21:00.000-04:002019-04-24T22:21:29.647-04:00Introduction<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_jpCKgiWpZ_0/SSr5iWh7y7I/AAAAAAAAAAM/jOAmQxm3tLA/s1600-h/kurtrowley.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5272300682349366194" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/_jpCKgiWpZ_0/SSr5iWh7y7I/AAAAAAAAAAM/jOAmQxm3tLA/s320/kurtrowley.JPG" style="float: left; height: 114px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 85px;" /></a>This blog is about one person's experience searching through various combinations of natural medicine and cognitive techniques to find solutions to the devastating ME/CFS (or CFIDS) illness complex, including Lyme Disease. I have received a lot of requests for reports on what I have learned while successfully treating my own case. If you are reading this because ME/CFS and/or Chronic Lyme Disease has taken over your life, I hope you will find some insights here.<br />
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This blog is an attempt to share what I am learning about ME/CFS and Lyme Disease. Therefore my purpose is informational and educational. <span style="font-style: italic;">I am in no way diagnosing or treating any illness, nor prescribing any particular therapy (my Disclaimer). </span>If you have questions, please <a href="mailto:kurtrowley@gmail.com">send me an email</a>.<br />
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<span class="fullpost"><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">More Introduction</span><br /><br />Honestly, I wish some other topic would be so important that I would write a blog about it, maybe my favorite music or how I love good literature. Sadly this disease has taken over my life to a large extent. But fortunately I have had some successes, and mostly stopped the progression of the illness. In fact I have experienced some improvements, I was partly bedridden for several years, but now have recovered limited mobility and some functional improvements.<br /><br />This ME/CFS-Lyme blog begins in December, 2004, when I experienced my first dramatic reversal in over four years when I started the Salt/C protocol. I also discuss a few ideas about what might be causing ME/CFS and Lyme. In late 2005 I experienced more improvement, possibly from the continuing Salt/C, or some ongoing holistic work. But I also had some setbacks, and stopped salt/c. In 2006 I started having great success with EMF blocking. In 2008 I began using a self-talk process to address adrenal-amygdala looping that I believe is caused by the presence of neurotoxins. That lasted for a few years. I started using rehydration therapy in about 2010, and things have been stable since then. I finally updated the blog in 2019. </span><br />
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<span class="fullpost">To get the full content of the blog you must just start with the older posts and read them all. Since I do not post often, that is not as difficult as it may sound.<br /><br />Part of the purpose of the blog is to give hope to others, and to share what I have learned and am still learning, in my quest for the solution protocol to ME/CFS and related conditions, including Chronic Lyme Disease. I explore a wide range of health issues, but try to stick to the goal of finding an effective treatment plan for this disease.</span>Kurthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13638567143640874267noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11082434.post-87587333254593160932019-04-24T22:16:00.002-04:002019-04-24T22:26:43.928-04:00This update is long overdue. Although I've commented on comments over the past few years, there have been no new posts. Because there has not been much change, not much to say. I am still using many of the same treatments I've discussed, and my functional level is maybe a little less due to aging a decade, but no dramatic change there either. As far as supplements, there have been a few new developments. One is that over the past few years I have been making a daily rehydration drink, taking it morning and night. I will summarize the supplements I am currently using.<br />
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<span class="fullpost">The rehydration drink has been the major change over the past years since I was maintaining this blog. The drink is based on a W.H.O. formulation to help third world patients battling dehydration due to cholera or other dehydrating diseases. This is a simple formulation, basically boil a handful of rice in a large pot of water, and add a tablespoon of salt. I am using sea salt (Actually 'Real Salt'), and cook them together. For about the last ten years I have made this weekly, usually in a pot. Recently I started using an Instant Pot pressure cooker, which is easier to cleanup, does not require watching, and is done in an hour or less. </span><br />
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<span class="fullpost">Here are more details, in simplified form, of the daily supplements I am taking for this strange illness: </span><br />
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<span class="fullpost">I am taking no pharmaceutical medications at the moment. In the past Lorazepam and Propanalol have been somewhat helpful, but I found it too easy to become dependent, and too many side effects. But I have to be careful to watch my stress levels, and track my blood pressure now and then, and I do use those meds if I really need them. But most of the time I don't. </span><br />
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<span class="fullpost">I've probably tried hundreds of of supplements over the years, but most do little. However, some supplements do help. Some meditation type self-treatments also are helping. </span><br />
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<span class="fullpost">So here is a categorical list of treatments that have helped the most. And I have been using most of these daily for years now.
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<span class="fullpost"><b>Methylation Support </b> (B6, B12-hydroxo & methyl forms, Methylfolate, Magnesium chloride, Vit C),
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<span class="fullpost"><b>Mitochondria Support</b> (d-Ribose, Goji Berry), </span><br />
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<span class="fullpost"><b>Antimicrobials</b> (too many to list, most used is olive leaf extract, grapefruit seed extract and oregano oils),
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<span class="fullpost"><b>Calming / Sleep aids</b> (GABA, l-theanine, relora, bacopa, hemp seed, inositol, cacao in the morning),
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<span class="fullpost"><b>Aminos</b> (goat milk protein, quinoa), </span><br />
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<span class="fullpost"><b>Rehydration</b> (Real Salt / sea salt, rice broth, cinnamon), </span><br />
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<span class="fullpost">and finally,
the last item is not a supplement, but it is just as important. I am also focusing here on lowing my own stress thermostat, which is primarily:</span><br />
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<span class="fullpost"><b>Brain Rewiring </b> (Ashok Gupta Program, the holistic approach in Dan Neuffer's ANS Rewire book, Nicola Bird's Anxiety Self-treatment Program). </span><br />
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<span class="fullpost">So that's it, the update, after nearly a decade. I will try to write another post sooner next time. </span><br />
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<span class="fullpost">I have tried to focus the last few years on understanding the complexities of this illness, and am thinking over how to explain how I believe we do not actually have a primary pathology, but rather a cluster of dysfunctions that contributes to a core set of symptoms... hopefully soon I'll write on that.
</span>Kurthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13638567143640874267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11082434.post-79178757174474586542010-11-17T12:59:00.035-05:002011-07-11T15:16:03.090-04:00A Multi-B12 Protocol that WorksOne of the sad facts of life with Lyme and/or related CFS co-infections is that these infections are known to deplete B12, and subsequently down-regulate multiple biologic processes dependent on B12. So over the past few years I have tried various B12 therapies, along with everything else reported here (salt/c, MMS, self-talk, etc.). However, none of those B12 approaches worked for me, although a series of methyl B12 injections in 2007 helped with energy while I relocated from the moldy east coast to the dry mountain west. I should probably post about that experience separately, getting to a lower mold and drier climate definitely helped my CFS symptoms. But for some reason I did not connect the dots about the B12 at that time. So for another two years I remained B12 depleted... But not anymore, and B12 is definitely helping this time. The difference is a gradual ramp-up B12 protocol that uses multiple forms of B12, along with methyl form of folate, other B vitamins (particularly B6), and several key supplements that support the methylation cycle. The result is calming of the nerves, better detox, and most importantly, better mental clarity, focus, endurance, and more energy. This B12 protocol is a combination of several other B12 protocols. Of all the protocols I have tried over the years and reported here, this is undoubtedly the best so far. I can now work part-time again, even performing mildly demanding mental work. Post-exertion malaise is significantly reduced. And these improvements appear to be stable, now for about six months. I have gone from 25% functional to 40% functional and at times perhaps 50%. This response is huge, the most improvement I have had in over 10 years. But the protocol is more than just taking B12. I am also supporting the most critical metabolic cycles that utilize B12. Read on for the details!<br /><br /><span class="fullpost"><br /><b>(continued)</b><br />This is a long post, and I realize some people might not be able to read through it very quickly. So here is the short summary. I have found four relatively inexpensive supplements that together seem to address many of the neurological problems in Lyme/CFS (which I will just call CFS from here on). One of the supplements is the biologically active methyl form of B12. These four supplements have helped multiple people, including myself and several family & extended family members. And the four supplements seem to be synergistic, taking them separately is far less powerful than taking them as a group. Being encouraged by the success of those four supplements, I added two more groups of supplements that support the B12 metabolism, including several critical antioxidant vitamins, minerals, super foods, and additional forms of B12. These all seem to have helped improve the effectiveness of the initial four supplements and in fact may be important in allowing the full ramp-up of B12 doses. <br /><br /><b>The Goal - Full Restoration of B12 Levels</b><br />My goal is to eventually be able to take a biologically equivalent dose of the active forms of B12 (both methyl and adenosyl). In other words, this protocol accepts that CFS bodies are not processing B12 properly and therefore the protocol seeks to supply all the active form of B12 that the body needs. However, this is easier said than done. With the B12 depleted, only a trickle is in the body, just enough to sustain life. And as we begin restoring that B12, the body tries to restart many biological processes that have been in hibernation. This creates a high need for certain nutrients that are generally depleted in CFS. Therefore the protocol includes other critical supplements to support the core four, including two other forms of B12! Taking all of these supporting supplements has been important in allowing us to continue to increase the dose of B12, in pursuit of the goal of full biological replacement of the depleted and missing B12.<br /><br /><b>The Theory Behind the Multi-B12 Protocol</b><br />The theory behind this protocol is that the metabolism of B12 has been blocked somewhere. B12 metabolism includes a complicated intake, transport, activation and recycling process, making B12 processing a somewhat fragile part of our metabolism. But B12 is critical for our health, B12 is involved in hundreds of biological processes. Unfortunately B12 can be easily blocked at any step in its intake, transport, activation, recycling, or utilization in the many metabolic processes. The result is that there are many ways B12 can fail in the body. So rather than take many expensive tests and try to find medical or research professionals who understand B12 metabolism and can narrow down my specific B12 problem (there are only a handful of experts and they are expensive), I decided to follow the advice of several well informed CFS patient-researchers and bypass the entire B12 intake-transport-conversion-recycling process by supplementing the active forms. So this protocol is all about getting the activated forms of B12 into the body, bypassing the blockages to B12 utilization, wherever they may exist in the metabolism, and supporting the re-starting of all the processes that are hibernating or on hold due to B12 depletion. And that approach is definitely working.<br /><br /><b>Early Results</b><br />How well is this working? Over the past 8 months I have experienced a significant improvement in my longstanding CFS illness due to this intensive B vitamin protocol. I have gone from being able to work 1-2 hours per day and rarely leave the house, to sometimes working half days and being able to go places again for a few hours at a time, with little post-exertional malaise. I do still need rest breaks during the day and must be careful about over-exertion, but the shift is dramatic. I feel like I am back in the 'real world' again, at a lower level of functioning than before my illness, but no longer a complete prisoner to CFS.<br /><br />My adult daughter with CFS is also experiencing significant improvement on the same protocol. Over the years we have tried various treatments including both traditional drug medicine as well as alternative nutritional and herbal medicine. We have had only very small gains from past treatments. But what we have both experienced the past few months goes beyond anything we have tried before. In my case I have regained the ability to perform mentally challenging tasks, I now sleep soundly through the night and wake up feeling refreshed (usually I have had poor sleep and wake up often, and in the morning feel very tired), and can tolerate foods better, including some carbohydrates that have bothered me in the past, and also can perform low-level physical labor without the usual post-exertional malaise. I can now stand up and walk around again without constantly looking for a place to sit down. Also, I am now working part-time, something I have not been able to tolerate the past 5 years. And the improvements are steady and continuing. There have been some neurological symptom flare-ups but they usually do not last long and generally seem associated with detoxification, immune activation, or starting-up of dormant metabolic processes. Over time the small setbacks have usually been followed by increases in energy, and in fact I have noticed that I tolerate these CFS symptom flare-ups better than before, have enough new energy to get through that without having to stay in bed all day. <br /><br /><b>The Research Behind the Protocol</b><br />The basis of the B vitamin protocol we are following is research into the role of blockages in the methylation cycle in CFS. This includes the folate cycle and methionine cycle. The theory for the protocol is that a B vitamin deficiency, particularly B9 (folate) and B12 (cobalamin), is either resulting from, or causing, an error of metabolism leading to blocks in the methylation cycle. These blocks cause depletions of critical energy, immune and neurological resources, and in theory can produce all the symptoms of CFS and related disorders. Explaining methylation in detail would take about 40 pages, but the quick explanation is that methylation is to the body what Taxi drivers are to New York City. Critical elements in the transport, and processing of many different molecular passengers in the body.<br /><br />The nutrients I selected are those that are both theoretically depleted in CFS, and also readily available and affordable. These nutrients are factors in the suspected dysfunctional parts of methylation (folate/methionine) cycle.<br /><br /><b>Credits for the protocol</b><br />This protocol is original, but parts are borrowed from work by others in the CFS patient-researcher community (Dr Vinitsky, Amy Yasko, Rich Van Konynenburg, and a recovered CFS patient 'Freddd,' who I have consulted with over the phone but prefers to be anonymous). Each of these researchers has added important information for this protocol, and those familiar with those protocols will see that. I have also learned that this approach has much in common with the recommendation of Prof. Martin Pall for treating nitric oxide imbalances (the NO/ONOO- hypothesis for CFS). However, this multi-B12 protocol is not strictly following any of those other protocols. This protocol emerged from a careful trial and error process with several CFS patients (including myself and both immediate and extended family members with varying degrees of CFS), along with close study of the basics of the methylation cycle, which showed me that a few important parts of the cycle were not being supported by each of these other protocols. In addition, I am constrained financially to finding an affordable protocol. So this is an attempt to construct a 'real world' workable combination based on the work of these helpful researchers. I am grateful for the willingness of six family and extended family members to try out parts and in one case the full protocol along with me. Their response has encouraged me that this approach is 'on the right track' for CFS and the related conditions.<br /><br /><b>Could B12 Depletion Produce CFS?</b><br />The reason for the B vitamin problems are unclear, and may be due to a combination of genetics, infections (Lyme, enterovirus, HHV6, etc), toxins, digestive dysbiosis, enzyme problems, loss of intrinsic factor required for B12 absorption, chronic stress, or even hyper sensitivity to environmental factors such as mold and EMF. In fact all of these can be connected with both CFS and B vitamin deficiency (particularly B12). In addition, several infections proven in research to be common in CFS are known to deplete B12, such as Lyme bugs and gut protozoans. Some medications also deplete B12 including SSRIs and tetracyclines.<br /><br />At first I did not believe something as simple as a missing vitamin could cause CFS, but a little research showed that in fact B12 loss can cause severe diseases such as pernicious anemia. The book 'Could it be B12?' by Pacholok & Stuart helped me understand the significance of B12 problems, and how many different conditions it can cause. B12 is involved in hundreds of biological processes and a deficiency can cause a wide variety of problems, making B12 problems very difficult to track down. I recommend that book to anyone who has chronic health problems that doctors can not explain, to help them either identify or rule-out B12 deficiency.<br /><br /><b>The Multi-B12 Protocol - Stage 1</b><br />Now the protocol itself. The protocol is progressive, eventually utilizing multiple forms of B12 and also a few co-factors essential for the B vitamins to work. The following are the core supplements and the brand and dose we are using. The supplement manufacturer/brand may be critical, these are recommended by many people. I have tried other brands of many of these supplements without this positive effect. Also, I believe all the supplements work together. These are all nutrients required for key stages of the methylation cycle. The B6 is important in getting the full effect, particularly helping calm the nerves. Based on experience with multiple people using stage 1, this should be well tolerated by many CFS patients. I am one of the more sensitive patients, have a hard time with many drugs and supplements, and I have a well documented heavy metals problem including mercury, but have had no problems with stage 1.<br /><br />1. <b>Active B12</b> (methylcobalamin), by Jarrow. This type of B12 is active form and supports methylation, is a co-factor in folate metabolism, a co-factor in glutathione production, and also a scavenger. Each person must find their tolerance level for this, I now use a half of a sublingual 5000 mcg tablet 2-3x daily, but had to start with just one quarter of a 1000 mcg tablet (which is 250 mcg) daily and work up to the higher daily doses gradually. There are other brands of methyl B12 that can work, but many are lower-strength. Enzymatic Therapy's product is pretty good, and we had some success with the Vitamin Shoppe generic brand, but nothing compares with Jarrow. The Jarrow product is almost as powerful as Methyl B12 injections (based on my personal experience with both).<br /><br />2. <b>Ester-C</b>, by American Health. This Vitamin C is slow-release and supports the adrenals as well as being essential to the methylation cycle. I take 1-2 tablets (500-1000mg) daily, in the morning and optionally afternoon if tired. This formula seems to do more than much higher doses of other brands of Vitamin C.<br /><br />3. <b>Magnesium Chloride</b> by Alta Health. Magnesium is often depleted in CFS (particularly with Lyme co-infection), so supplementing just makes good sense, even without the methylation connection. I take one tablet daily, usually in the morning. The chloride form is usually well absorbed and is a critical co-factor in methylation. This also seems to help digestion.<br /><br />4. <b>B6</b> by Solgar (250mg) or Nature's Way (100mg). B6 is critical to B12 metabolism and is used in the methylation cycle. One capsule of Solgar or 1-2 of Nature's Way per day. The Solgar brand is more expensive, but also higher dose. I used Solgar for several weeks and am trying the lower-dose Nature's Way product now, as it is more affordable. There is a small but noticeable difference, Solgar seems a little better, but I don't know yet if that is due to brand or dose differences. Some people report tolerance issues with B6, so those who suspect that should probably start with lower doses. I have had no trouble with any dose in this combination of supplements and believe the B6 is being utilized properly in this combination.<br /><br />Within 48 hours of starting these four supplements, on just a 1000 mcg dose of methyl-B12, I experienced a complete change in my neuralogic state. This included a huge reduction in a 40 year-long anxiety problem. I am still smiling about that, and that was just the beginning. After selecting this combination, based on a study of the B12-methylation cycle, I learned that several doctors are using B6 and Magnesium, and others are using methyl B12 to treat children with Autism or Asperger's, with great success. So the fact that this is helping with CFS is at least consistent with some clinical experience in related areas.<br /><br />Continuing the story... Once these supplements were working, after a few weeks, I started noticing that my endurance improved and my immune function seemed better. My continual viral immune response seemed to normalize, and digestion improved. Also, my color returned to normal (skin no longer yellow, teeth now whiter, tongue now red not white, and the rings under the eyes lightened)! But ironically, with these gains I also started getting more recognizable symptoms of B12 deficiency, which I now believe had been present all along but was partly covered by the neuropathy involved in B12 deficiency. Think about that, B12 deficiency produces neuropathy (this is a known fact) which hides the symptoms of B12 deficiency! No wonder this problem can drag on so long without being identified. As the full realization that B12 deficiency was now evident for my CFS, I decided to add supplements to more fully support the methylation cycle and help make up for other deficiencies long-term B12 depletion has probably caused. So that led to Stage 2 of this protocol, the addition of vitamins, including more B vitamins, minerals, and a natural green concentrate.<br /><br /><b>The Multi-B12 Protocol - Stage 2</b><br />After about a month, I started adding a few other supplements that are recommended for sustaining the methylation cycle. Many of these supplements are additional B vitamins and some are antioxidants. Some promote nerve health and some (such as the folate) are recommended by other people using various B-vitamin protocols. These seem very important and I tolerate higher doses of B12 while using these.<br /><br />Here are the sustaining supplements. I arrange these in alphabetical order to help remember to take them all in the mornings. I have included the brand name only where I believe brand makes a difference. If I do not give the dose, I am just taking the recommended daily dosage, or sometimes half of that. These do not all seem equal in importance, I can skip some of them some days without too much effect. But the three in bold are more important.<br /><br />1. Vitamin A (from fish oil). A natural antioxidant. Alternate days with Vitamin D (due to possible interactions)<br />2.1. Active <b>Vitamin B12 (adenosylcobalamin)</b>, called Dibencozide, by Country Life. This is essential to increase energy. This could be in the core supplements, but, I suspect only people with CFS need this while those with Lyme or other related problems without the CFS may not. I take 150 mcg daily (a half tablet). This is another active form of B12, used by the mitochondria in energy production.<br />2.2. Vitamin B complex (naturally balanced). I use a Jarrow product for that, 'B-Right', but probably others would work. Be careful NOT to use a standard B-50 or B-100, those formulas are not balanced and do not seem to have as much positive effect.<br />3. Vitamin D. I use a D3 product. Also I alternate this with Vitamin A, do not take them the same day (there are some possible interactions)<br />4. Vitamin E. I use a Gamma E complex, but probably any good E will work.<br />5. <b>Methylfolate (activated Vitamin B9</b>). Solgar Metafolin ONLY. This is another essential supplement, but it is so strong that I did not include it in the core supplements, because I believe it could give such a strong reaction that people might get discouraged about the protocol. This brand is an activated form of methylfolate patented by Merck. I take 200 mcg per day, some people take up to 800 mcg. But tolerance varies, this amplifies the effect of Methyl B12, so be careful to ramp-up slowly.<br />6. Green nutrients supplement. I have a variety, and probably juicing vegetables would be best. I believe this is an essential part of the protocol, supplying a broad spectrum of natural nutrients while the body repairs and restarts dormant processes. My current favorite green concentrate is 'Perfect Food' by Garden of Life. This makes a huge difference, if I forget to take this, I can tell within a few hours, so I believe there are many critical nutrients for CFS in this supplement.<br />7. Calcium. I have tried herbal calcium and also sometimes Calcium Citrate.<br />8. Omega oils. I take a 3-6-9 product made from Salmon oil.<br />9. <b>Potassium</b>. I take about 1/4 tsp of potassium chloride, although tablets and capsules are available. This may be critical for some people, due to mineral problems involved in health problems related to B12 depletion. Some days I take an <b>electrolyte solution</b> that has potassium and count that as the daily potassium (I take '40,000 Volts' by Trace Minerals Research).<br />10. Trace minerals. I use a product called 'Concentrace' but probably any good quality trace mineral product will work.<br />11. Zinc. I take one 50mg tablet ONE time per week.<br />12. Choline. I take one gelcap daily of Phosphatidyl Choline. This is a key ingredient in the cellular methylation that protects the DNA from damage.<br /><br /><b>The Multi-B12 Protocol - Stage 3</b><br />Once the two forms of B12 and the supplements in stages 1 & 2 were helping, I added a third form, the natural form, Hydroxocobalamin. The reason to add this is that H-B12 is known to help with brain function and one lingering symptom on this protocol has been mild brain-fog. In fact it seems that at times the methyl-B12 adds a detox burden, but H-B12 seems to often lift that. This is listed as a stage 3 because I suspect some people might not need this, but for those with lingering brain fog after stages 1 & 2, I believe it might be important.<br /><br />1. Natural B12 (Hydroxycobalamin). There are only two brands I have found, one by Perque, and the other by ProHealth. We are using the ProHealth brand as it is slightly less expensive (H-B12 is the most expensive of the B12s). As of this posting I am just using 1250mcg of H-B12 daily (one quarter of a 5000mcg tablet), but it is definitely helping.<br /><br />There is still the cyanocobalamin form of B12 which we have taken in the past, but are not regularly using. This is also a natural form, produced in the liver, but supplementing this produces a cyanide residue that I don't want to deal with right now. However, some people with CFS have used C-B12, and at some point I may try this again.<br /><br /><b>The Multi-B12 Protocol - Extra Support Supplements</b><br />And finally, here are a group of useful extra supplements. These are the only other supplements we are using. These are taken as needed.<br /><br />1. Blue-green algae. I use the Klamath Lake product, primarily to help with sleep. If I wake up too early, one capsule helps me get back to sleep. My daughter uses this as well, for sleep help. This is often recommended for detox and also for ADD, it is very helpful during B12 therapy.<br />2. Oregano oil. This is an amazing product for addressing any viral or bacterial infection. We use this regularly and it seems to often stop a virus. Liquid and gel cap, both work well.<br />3. Olive Leaf Extract. This also is a powerful natural antiviral. I take this every night to help with sleep, and also take extra when I have any viral problems. Liquid or capsule form seem equally effective.<br />4. Chlorella. This seems helpful when there are strong detox reactions. But I can not take it past about 5PM or it can interfere with sleep.<br />5. Guaifenesin. This really helps my daughter with her Fibromyalgia, and seems more effective with the B12 protocol. We are exploring this further as Guai has allowed her to sleep better than she has in years. I tried a full Guai protocol for CFS some years ago with little success, but combined with the B12 protocol this might be worth exploring again.<br /><br /><b>Where to Buy the Supplements</b><br />As for the supplements, I now buy these supplements online from iHerb.com, as do many people on related B-vitamin protocols for CFS. They have the best prices I have found, shipping cost is low, and they ship quickly. iHerb.com also offers a 'referral fee' so every customer is an 'affiliate.' I know, that can be annoying but that is just how they operate. There is no membership fee, if you buy anything they will give you a code you can use to give other people a $5 discount on their first order and receive a tiny referral fee from each subsequent order. My code is MOP379. If you use that you will get a one-time $5 discount. I think their referral discount system is clever, but of course the goal is to find reasonable prices. So far they have the best prices for these supplements that I have found.<br /><br /><b>Next Steps</b><br />Now that this 'Multi-B12' protocol is finally working, I have started to explore some 'next steps' to build on this success. Clearly this type of B12 protocol can only take a person so far. I believe that once the methylation system is working a bit better and B12 levels are normalized, a foundation is set down for further treatment options. Some ideas I am exploring right now are anti-candida protocols, which might finally become tolerable, stronger anti-microbials for Lyme and protozoa co-infections, and a revisiting of some past therapies I have tried that seemed promising. One of the big surprises with this multi-B12 protocol is the enhanced sense of well-being. That may set a foundation for the use of various emotional/spiritual and cognitive healing methods that have seemed promising in the past but now with the B12 may have better ability to help reprogram the brain and the mind/body connection towards healing and recovery. <br /><br /><b>Final Thoughts</b><br />When I first studied B12 protocols, I found the many competing recommendations and the complicated science to be quite discouraging. But actually getting a protocol that works was not as difficult as expected. The only parts that I have had to adjust were the doses of methyl B12 and methylfolate (B9). And sometimes I have to take a second Ester-C. Also, while I am exploring different doses of B6 now that is not due to tolerance issues, but just to find the most affordable dose that works. But on the whole, this is a pretty simple protocol that requires minimal adjustments. I am very curious to find out whether this will work for other CFS patients, or those with related conditions, including basic anxiety, Lyme, and issues related to Asperger's.<br /><br />I am happy to answer any questions about this, I know probably I have not explained things very thoroughly. Eventually I hope to have time to go into more detail, but right now I 'have a life' starting up again, so not much time.</span>Kurthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13638567143640874267noreply@blogger.com38tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11082434.post-6745679606935487092009-06-09T19:29:00.014-04:002009-06-12T15:04:23.191-04:00MMS for CFSMMS, or 'Miracle Mineral Supplement' is a water purifier being used to self-treat a variety of infections and chronic health problems. There is plenty of discussion now on the web about the use of MMS and based on many reports MMS can be helpful for Lyme and also for CFS. However, after some experimentation with MMS I have learned that the standard MMS protocol does not work well, what helps me is to use a very low dose pulsing strategy. Here is what I have learned.<br /><br /><span class="fullpost"><br /><br />MMS appears to be a very powerful self-treatment for infections of all type, the active ingredient is Clorine Dioxide, a powerful anti-microbial. This is a report of my experience with MMS, and not a description of the chemistry or story of MMS. If you do not know much about MMS, I suggest you go to <a href="http://www.miraclemineral.org/">Jim Humble's website</a> and get his free eBook (Part I), or go to other MMS sites, particularly the <a href="http://www.understanding-mms.com/">documentary video site</a>. There are also several videos on YouTube about MMS.<br /><br />Initially, I followed the protocol suggested in Jim Humble's eBook, and worked up my dose by adding a drop or two each day. When I got to about 9 drops I started noticing some pretty strong symptoms. Then I had a problem measuring a dose, and added a few extra drops, I believe I had about 12 drops that day. The resulting Herx 'knocked my socks off.'<br /><br />Apparently, taken in the larger doses suggested for malaria and other serious conditions MMS can make people with CFS quite ill. Presumably this is from the huge die-off, or Herxheimer effect, my symptoms from the larger doses were consistent with what I have experienced many times as die-off or Herx.<br /><br />The improvement in my overall symptoms was quite noticeable, in particular I usually experience a boost in my energy levels, and that lasts through much of the day. In particular, I can tolerate more activity, even some low-level physical activity with less post-exertion malaise. This is perhaps a 15% improvement in energy and activity levels for me, and that has persisted now for about a year. I still have had some low periods and sick days, but overall, MMS has been a consistently positive experience. A few hours after my morning dose, I feel really good, like a neurological release of endorphins of some sort. I have no idea what that is, but it has happened many times several hours after a dose. This is similar to what I have read about with Rife and Magnetic Pulser self-treatments with some people with Lyme. So maybe the MMS was acting strongly against the Lyme. Hard to say.<br /><br />Anyway, here is where I have ended up. The larger doses just are way too much. The detox from the herx becomes unbearable after a few days at 5-6 drops. And I have noticed that when I take regular days off MMS, lower doses produce a productive herx and give me just as much energy boost and 'good feeling' as daily higher doses, but without as much herx detox problems.<br /><br />So, right now I am just taking 1-3 drops of MMS about 4-5 times per week. On the off days I must take Vitamin C in the mornings, that seems to help the adrenals become less depleted during the day. This seems particularly important as Vitamin C can not be taken close to an MMS dose.<br /><br />Here is an example week:<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Sunday - 1 drop MMS</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Monday - 2 drops MMS</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Tuesday - off day, take Vitamin C and mineral supplements</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Wednesday - 2 drops MMS</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Thursday - 3 drops MMS</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Friday - off day, Vitamin C and mineral supplements</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Saturday - off day OR 1 drop MMS</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Every Day - probiotics or active yoghurt (8-12 hours after MMS, so in the evening usually)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Every Day - self-talk and occasionally other herx-management self-treatments (</span></span><span style="font-style: italic;" class="fullpost">see my previous blog posts)</span><br /><span class="fullpost"><br />This protocol can and does at times produce mild herx-type symptoms, so a person using MMS for CFS/Lyme should be prepared for that. I continue using many of the same herx self-treatments I have used for years, and written about previously. This includes self-talk, which I find helpful when the herx gets bad sometimes. The herx from this CFS MMS protocol seems delayed, sometimes it hits 8 hours after the dose, and sometimes it hits 24-36 hours later. I have not found any particular pattern to that, except that with the lower dosing the herx is more tolerable if and when it does hit.<br /><br />One more important observation, when I was first experimenting with MMS I was not taking any days off, and I started having non-herx symptoms that I recognize from past experimental treatments I have tried as mineral depletion and possibly depletion of other resources. So I make sure to take days off every week and supplement with extra minerals at times, and that seems to allow me to tolerate more long-term use of MMS. I have read of people taking the higher doses suggested for serious illnesses for months and even years without breaks, they obviously do not have CFS. So I believe people with CFS need to be very careful with MMS, taking lower doses and pulsing.<br /><br />One other comment, I was studying the Marshal Protocol (Benicar & pulsed low-dose Minocycline against biofilm bacteria colonies) at the time I was first experimenting with MMS, and I learned that a few people have completely recovered from CFS using the MP (this is a subset, many have not had that improvement). So the MP influenced me to try a low-dose pulsing approach. Here is the reason. MMS produces </span><span class="fullpost">Chlorine Dioxide (</span><span class="fullpost">ClO<span style="font-size:78%;">2</span></span><span class="fullpost">), which is the 'active' antimicrobial in the treatment. </span><span class="fullpost">While studying the industrial uses of </span><span class="fullpost">ClO<span style="font-size:78%;">2</span></span><span class="fullpost"> I learned that ClO<span style="font-size:78%;">2</span> is used in industrial applications to destroy biofilm bacterial colonies! Well, as t</span><span class="fullpost">he MP is targeting biofilm bacteria infection, </span><span class="fullpost">this interesting fact made me curious about using an MP style protocol of MMS</span><span class="fullpost"> for CFS. The hope was that low-dose pulsed MMS, which seemed to work for me, might be breaking down some of the biofilm bacterial colonies being targeted by the MP.<br /><br />I have been using MMS on and off for about a year now. The use of regular probiotics, occasional vitamin C and minerals, and self-management of the low-level herx that results all seem very helpful. There have been no negative effects that I can discern, but I am not sure that the improvements are as dramatic overall as some other people claim for their illnesses. Some people are saying that you must take MMS morning and evening for CFS, I have tried that a little, and experimented with evening dosing for awhile. There was some sleep improvement after taking MMS at night. However, I could still only tolerate a cumulative dose of 1-3 drops 3-5 times per week. So I could not take doses morning and night and decided that the increased energy during the day was important and I have stayed with morning doses. I may be a highly sensitive person because I have read that other people using MMS for CFS are taking a dose morning and night.<br /><br /></span><span class="fullpost">After a year now I will continue to take MMS in the morning, roughly following the protocol outlined above. </span><span class="fullpost">One last observation, on the off days I mostly just rested at first, but I am now noticing an occasional immune activation that differs from a regular herx on the days off MMS. So perhaps the MMS is helping the immune system become activated now in some important new way. Time will tell.<br /><br />Overall, I am very impressed with MMS. Based on my experience MMS does help CFS and possibly Lyme. However, for people with poor detox, like most of us with CFS and many with Lyme, smaller dosing and a more conservative schedule than what is recommended by Jim Humble and others promoting MMS seems to be important.<br /></span>Kurthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13638567143640874267noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11082434.post-28891649594284304512008-11-24T11:47:00.017-05:002008-12-30T15:13:13.070-05:00A Novel Therapy - Self-talk for CFS-LymeOver the past few years there has been some interest among members of the CFS community in a number of cognitive therapies for CFS that claim to produce dramatic improvements by resolving a chronic fight-flight response in people with CFS. I have studied two of these therapies, and concluded that there is some validity in their approaches. Not wanting or being able to afford these therapies, I have invented a simplified 'self-talk' therapy that I believe addresses the same core issues as the other cognitive therapies. And it seems to make a significant difference for me. Not a cure, but very, very helpful, my activity level is better than before, and some of my food allergies are reduced. So something has been helped. Here is some background, and an explanation of using self-talk for CFS and/or Chronic Lyme.<br /><br /><span class="fullpost"><br />There are several cognitive programs that have helped people with CFS, such as <a href="http://www.reversetherapy.com/">Reverse Therapy</a> and <a href="http://www.mickeltherapy.com/">Mikel Therapy</a>. But two are focused on stopping the chronic low-level fight-flight response that seems to be part of CFS, and this is consistent with my own discoveries so I will mention them. In particular, the <a href="http://www.lightningprocess.com/">Lightning Process</a> by Phil Parker, and an <a href="http://www.cfsrecovery.com/">Amygdala Retraining </a>program by Ashok Gupta, both in the UK, have produced some amazing results, per testimonials. Gupta has also produced a peer-reviewed journal article (published in Medical Hypothesis) and a formal clinical study (currently in review) that shows an amazing 67% full recovery rate over a year's time. Both programs identify a brain dysfunction as the core issue in CFS, in particular a dysfunction involving the amygdala and hypothalamus. They claim this dysfunction can be accommodated and new brain pathways can be created that circumvent the amygdala-adrenal 'looping' problem that may be causing CFS in a major subset of people with the illness.<br /><br />After following several online discussions, and corresponding with people who have tried both programs, I became convinced that these types of cognitive approaches were being oversold but lead to improvements for many people with CFS, and near remission for a few. Therefore, this seemed worth further exploration. So over the past year I have learned what I could and tried some of the ideas from both programs. I definitely experienced some improvement, and at times dramatic temporary improvements from trying what I knew of both programs. My daughter who has CFS also experimented with the ideas from these programs, and they helped her to some extent as well.<br /><br />So, could CFS be caused by a type of looping error in the brain? Many of the ideas in these two programs are consistent with my own theory of neurotoxins creating an anxiety-type disorder in the brain, leading to CFS and Lyme symptoms. So I searched for a way to address a 'looping' problem that I believe is caused by neurotoxins, but I did not want to spend the money, or travel to London, to use these treatments. What I have discovered is a very simple method of stopping the adrenal-amygdala looping using 'self-talk.' While this does not seem to produce an effect as powerful as the claims made by Parker and Gupta, and has not been a 'cure' for my CFS or Lyme, it really has significantly helped me. I have shared this with 15 other people with CFS and/or Lyme, and some have been helped, so I would like to share a little of what I am learning. I am also writing an ebook describing the use of self-talk to stop destructive adrenal-amygdala looping and hope to post that to my blog eventually. But for now, here is a brief summary of using self-talk for CFS and Lyme ...<br /><br />The theory behind the use of self-talk for CFS is that neurotoxins are affecting the parts of the brain that regulate the fight-flight response. This is where I differ from Parker and Gupta, they both identify the pathological brain looping as a learned pattern. While they acknowledge the effect of illness on the problem, they seem to believe that it is the stress of illness or other stress-related factors that produce the brain looping. My view, based on studying CFS and Lyme, is that the illness produces neurotoxins that then combine with a susceptible brain type and create brain looping.<br /><br />I believe Parker and Gupta have produced useful treatments that can re-train the brain's chronic fight-flight response, but they apparently have not identified the role of neurotoxins in the original looping problem. The self-talk process I am using now shares some elements of the Parker and Gupta approaches, but addresses the role of the neurotoxins more directly.<br /><br />First some quick background. As I have identified earlier in this blog, CFS and Lyme share many symptoms and biological patterns with Anxiety disorders, particularly the fight-flight response. Chronic anxiety disorders also produce nearly the same biological signature in a person as CFS. This includes glutathione depletion, depletion of B vitamins, digestive problems, low blood flow to the brain, kidneys and other organs, brain fog, adrenal depletion, chronic exhaustion, and so on. I do not believe this is a coincidence, rather it suggests that these illnesses all involve a common mechanism, a chronic activation of the fight-flight response.<br /><br />The idea that CFS involves chronic fight-flight activation is the basis of the adrenal-amygdala looping problem addressed by Parker and Gupta in their respective therapies. If we add the idea that neurotoxins are the basis of the chronic fight-flight activation, we have a more probable explanation of why the Parker and Gupta approaches work than they have provided. I can not really explain this thoroughly in a blog post, but will put that in my ebook. In essence, neurotoxins are toxins that alter nerve function. When they are present, the nerves will mis-fire, and if this is a chronic situation, there will be chronic problems. If neurotoxins are causing a chronic up-regulation of the amygdala, a continual low-level fight-flight response could result. This might be at least partly treated by learning cognitive processes that calm the amygdala continually. That is in fact what I believe happens with the Parker and Gupta approaches, that they are unknowingly addressing a neurotoxin problem.<br /><br />So why use self-talk instead of their approaches? I believe that the simplest solution is often the best one. If CFS (and Chronic Lyme) involves a chronic activation of the amygdala by neurotoxins, and if this can be at least partly treated by re-training the brain's response to the neurotoxin, then a simple treatment that directly targets the problem may be adequate. I won't go into details of Parker's or Gupta's approaches, they are probably quite effective at the retraining of the amygdala, but they are not directly targeted at continual neurotoxin activation of the fight-flight response. If we need to treat the brain's response to chronic low-level neurotoxins, then I think it best to address that issue directly. Self-talk is an elegant and very simple approach to doing that.<br /><br />And what is self-talk? How does this work? Self-talk is a form of intrapersonal communication, meaning a person is both the sender and receiver of a message. In essence, a person tries to alter or create new subconscious memory. Self-hypnosis, NLP and meditation are common methods of intra-personal communication. Self-talk is a simplified form of intrapersonal communication using a repeated conscious message. By thinking a repeated message in words a person is able to focus the brain on a specific meaning. Elements of the subconscous mind are always alert, so as that message plays across the conscious mind the subconscious elements of the brain become aware of the intended meaning. With repetition the subconscious memory accepts the message as real and important, and adjusts its responses accordingly.<br /><br />The subconscious mind does not have the ability to reason or directly process conscious information, it uses a slower form of memory that recognizes subtle patterns in the environment, the internal body chemistry, or our thoughts, and triggers a semi-automatic response. Thus the primary challenge in altering subconscious responses is to create new subconscious memories. Repeating a self-talk message consistently either when symptoms appear or at certain times of the day will lead to gradual alteration in the subconscious memory. Then as the amygdala accesses the subconscious memory to recognize patterns, new patterns will be available and amygdala responses can be changed. Self-talk can be a very effective method for creating these new subconscious memory patterns, and thus altering amygdala responses. This apparently includes altering the amygdala's response to neurotoxins.<br /><br />For self-talk messages to help treat CFS or Lyme symptoms, they must change the subconscious response to neurotoxins. This subconscious response is based on the brain's conscious response to neurotoxins over a long period of time. Given enough time, neurotoxins will have caused the amygdala to create a large number of danger messages in the brain. These danger messages will have become attached to many aspects of life, daily routines, career, relationships, and even hopes and dreams. Therefore to counter this continual pattern of danger messages, a person must insert new messages into the amygdala, messages that will directly oppose the many existing danger messages caused by the presence of neurotoxins. The new messages must cause the amygdala to believe that something has changed, that the person is no longer in danger, that they are safe. This shift must be strong and constant, so a person must persist with the new messages long enough to re-condition the amygdala to continually believe that even in the presence of neurotoxins, it is safe in every way.<br /><br />The only type of thoughts that will directly counter a neurotoxin-based danger message in the amygdala are clear opposing thoughts. To be precise, only a strong message that communicates the specific thought 'I am safe' or 'I am alright' can defeat the danger message. This simple message of safety must be adapted to daily triggering circumstances and adapted to one's symptoms, then repeated many times each time a circumstance or symptom occurs. An entire self-talk approach can be constructed to help a person compensate for the effect of neurotoxins on the amygdala across all elements of daily living and in all thought processes. This personalized self-talk approach must be repeated often enough that the subconscious mind believes that the person is in fact safe, and that even if neurotoxins are present, they pose no real danger.<br /><br />These are simple ideas, the amygdala is a simple organ, when the subconscious mind sees a pattern that matches a danger signal, it reacts by triggering the amygdala. So the subconscious mind must see patterns of safety to stop the amygdala from reacting, and that is what self-talk can provide, a compensation for neurotoxin-induced messages that provoke the amygdala.<br /><br />I have developed a somewhat formal approach for identifying the most appropriate self-talk messages for CFS and Chronic Lyme. The messages must be tailored to the individual, each brain creates a different set of danger messages, and they must be identified and properly countered. In many cases I believe the brain actually is in a chronic superstitious (or self-delusional) state due to the presence of the neurotoxins. So you must find ways to ground yourself and break through the false danger signal patterns that have been constructed by the brain over the years, in order to stop the perpetual fight-flight reaction. This is not a simple task, but when it works, it really helps.<br /><br />More to come, hopefully I will have the ebook written soon.<br /><br /><br /></span>Kurthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13638567143640874267noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11082434.post-76655145846618182572007-06-08T18:04:00.000-04:002007-06-08T18:12:58.534-04:00Neuroendocrine list discusses Lightning ProcessDue to the interesting and positive results people are having with some neurocognitive therapies for CFS, particularly the Lightning Process, I have started moderating a Yahoo list that discusses this type of therapy. The list also discusses endocrinological aspects of CFS, which seem closely related to the fight-flight hypothesis I wrote about in 2005. The list is available at: <a href="http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/CFSFMNeuroendocrine/">http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/CFSFMNeuroendocrine/</a><br />Here is a brief description of the topics discussed on this list.<br /><br /><span class="fullpost"><br />From the Yahoo group CFSFMNeuroendocrine: "Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia and related conditions involve disturbances in the primary regulatory mechanisms of the body. This usually includes hypothalamic dysfunction, thyroid problems, adrenal exhaustion and immune imbalances. Detoxification errors are also common, along with chronic infections, all contributing to an overload on endocrine and immune system resources."<br /><br />"The purpose of this group is to help members better understand the neuroendocrine involvement in their conditions. The group is an open forum for topics related to neurological, endocrine, immune, detox and similar elements of CFS and FMS type conditions. For example, informational or treatment topics related to the brain, adrenals, thyroid, pituitary, sympathetic or parasympathetic nervous system, immune response, energy regulation, circadian rhythms, related emotional and cognitive processes, etc. This includes discussion of how suspected pathologies, environmental toxins, electromagnetic disturbances, and other relevant biological or behavioral problems influence the bodies of people with CFS, FMS, MCS and related illnesses."<br /><br />The Links section of the list contains useful information for those studying the Lightning Process, along with Neuroendocrine views of CFS.<br /></span>Kurthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13638567143640874267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11082434.post-1171770342637417982007-02-17T22:41:00.001-05:002009-07-01T14:08:25.781-04:00Cautions about Salt/CA number of reports of serious negative reactions to trials of salt/c have been appeared recently, prompting me to carefully re-evaluate safety issues related to the protocol. Although I had some worrysome symptoms myself initially on salt/c, including some heart palpitations, chest pain, occasional upper left arm pain and kidney area pain, most of that went away when I lowered my dose, or when I took supplements to support each of those systems. I had attributed those events to the herx response so often mentioned in the salt/c forums and although I was worried about the symptoms from time to time, the benefits from salt/c were often substantial and I believed the idea that these were normal herx symptoms. However, after receiving several reports of serious reactions to salt/c, I decided to do some homework. And what I found has changed my views of salt/c significantly.<br /><span class="fullpost"><br /><br />The views of salt/c safety were initially based in the idea that historically our ancesters consumed a LOT of salt. In retrospect, that was not a very scientific basis for the safety of salt/c. After some research into safety issues, I have compiled the following list of cautions regarding salt/c safety, particularly for people who may unknowingly have salt intolerance, or related problems. This may be a small percentage of people trying salt/c, but they should not be ignored. Everyone needs to know because there is no way to guess who will be at risk. This should be clear as you read through the list. I believe these points are ESSENTIAL to share with anyone considering a trial of salt/c. Please note that these are based on my own study of the research, and should only be considered as potential issues, and certainly not the final word. Hopefully serious researchers in the biological sciences will eventually weigh in on the safety of salt/c.<br /><br />1. Salt intolerance symptoms are different from herx symptoms. A herx from killing the Lyme bacteria is well-documented and can involve low-grade fever, slight increase in general symptoms, some immune activation (cold symptoms), things like that. In contrast to this, based on reports, a salt intolerance event can involve kidney area pain, severe thirst, edema, extreme mood swings (possibly due to electrolyte imbalances), heart or chest area pains, palpitations, left arm pains, severe shortness of breath, visual disturbances, motor problems, etc.<br /><br />2. If you have symptoms of salt intolerance you should stop salt/c IMMEDIATELY and begin drinking extra water to help flush out the excess sodium. Just ramping down may not be adequate.<br /><br />3. Salt intolerance is a type of poisoning. What may be happening is that the aldosterone levels are unable to suppress to allow the body to remove excess sodium. This means the sodium levels are building up to a high level. So even a low dose of salt may be having the same effect on a salt intolerant person as if they had taken a very, very high dose of salt.<br /><br />4. When a body can not regulate sodium levels well, chronic intake of salt may create hypertension. This is known to damage the kidneys over time. Therefore, a salt intolerant person who persists with salt/c may be putting their kidneys at risk of injury.<br /><br />5. Human tolerance for salt varies tremendously, by as much as 300%. Therefore some people may benefit from doses of salt that may be dangerous for other people. We are not at all uniform in our ability to eat salt. So if you have symptoms of salt intolerance, take them seriously.<br /><br />6. People who have pre-existing risk factors, such as kidney problems or potassium deficiencies, may be much more at risk of intolerance of salt/c, and this is probably amplified if they also have a genetic ACE mutation. Even if a Lyme sufferer's kidneys are relatively strong, they might still be unable to tolerate salt/c, due to an overload of toxins from Lyme or other co-infections, mineral balance problems leading to low potassium (which is certainly possible with some mineral-depleting co-infections), or endocrine regulation problems in the adrenals. Also, kidneys do not produce symptoms until they have lost 70-80% of their function, so some people with kidney problems may not even know they have that risk factor. And they may have no awareness of low potassium levels. Therefore, nobody can ignore the possibility that they may have unknown risk factors that contraindicate salt/c. So everyone trying salt/c should become aware of the difference between salt intolerance and herx, and monitor their response accordingly.<br /><br />7. The lowest research-based level at which salt becomes toxic and can cause symptoms and some damage is generally given as 0.5g/kg (see the first reference below for this). The lowest number where salt becomes a lethal poison is 1.0g/kg, just double the toxic dose. [reference: <a href="http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/">http://ToxNet.nlm.nih.gov</a> ] Therefore, for a healthy 60 kilo person (132 lbs), this means the toxic dose starts at 30g. That would presumably be a single 30g dose. The Salt Institute says that a teaspoon of salt weighs 6 g. Therefore, 5 teaspoons of salt taken over a short period of time would be considered a toxic dose. Since nobody is recommending salt/c be taken in doses that large, we would seem to be safe. However, remembering the huge variation in salt tolerance, consider the extreme scenario where a person is salt sensitive (has the ACE mutation), and also has low potassium or a diminished kidney function (for whatever reason, including overload). Their toxic dose may be much lower, perhaps only 1-2 teaspoons could<br />have the same effect on them as a 5 teaspoon dose on a health person. Some people on salt/c have reported taking 1 teaspoon doses at a single time. This could be a toxic dose level for some people. Although this would not be a lethal dose, their kidneys might be damaged from a dose this low (see references below for information about ways the kidneys are damaged from excessive salt). Also, remember that a lethal dose starts at double the toxic dose. These people might tolerate a low dose of salt/c, but should probably NOT be on a therapeutic dose of salt/c.<br /><br />8. The research literature about health effects of salt includes cases where salt became poisonous because the person was under-hydrated. If a person is not drinking adequate fluids, a dose of salt/c may have an amplified effect. This is another route to creating a toxic response to salt/c. Therefore, if a person is not willing or able to monitor their fluid intake, they should not be on salt/c.<br /><br />9. Large doses of salt increase the excretion of metals. In fact, large doses of salt are recommended for lithium intoxication, to get the lithium out of patients who have had drug overdoses. If a person has poorly functioning detoxification, such as bad methylation and low glutathione, and also has a toxic metals load, this could cause problems and compound the herx effects. Also, some metals could be redistributed if the detoxification system can not handle the load of metals releaased by salt/c. On the other hand, if a person has good metals detox and clearance, salt/c might actually be beneficial for reducing metals load. But there are many genetic variations in detoxification potential so this is VERY unpredictable on a case-by-case level. Genetic testing is available to assess methylation status (see the links on the Yahoo list '<a href="http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/CFS_Yasko/">CFS_Yasko</a>').<br /><br />10. Due to the risks mentioned above, prudence indicates that people on salt/c should be following a slow ramp-up protocol precisely, and then tracking and monitoring their symptoms. They should be writing doses, and symptoms down in a log, in order to provide objective data to help them determine the type of reaction they are having. Given the hopefulness many people have towards salt/c, there may be some tendency to forget how 'bad' a person felt, so brutal honesty is required in this type of logging of the experience of the protocol.<br /><br />11. If a person tends to have problems following protocols and is unable or unwilling to precisely follow the ramp-up, and track the results carefully, they should not be on salt/c. In particular this applies if they are taking the granulated salt in water and sipping it throughout the day. That can cause some people to take larger doses at one time than they realize. A better strategy is to make each dose separately, so there is no risk of overdosing when sipping throughout the day.<br /><br />12. IF a person has ANY reason to suspect that they have heart or kidney weaknesses, or that they may have the ACE mutation (most people with CFS may have this), or if they know that they have any other the risk factors, they should not be on salt/c without careful monitoring of their progress, and if possible medical supervision. In fact, if any very unusual symptoms emerge that are not part of an ordinary herx (mild increase in symptoms), they should probably re-consider using salt/c until they better understand their own risk factors. Treating new symptoms that they have never experienced before with supplements may be hiding an underlying salt intolerance.<br /><br />13. A number of studies have correlated high salt intake with a variety of cancers, most often stomach cancer. Although there may be other factors in the diet of the people in those studies (I believe the main studies are Japanese), this should give everyone a small pause about salt/c. If a person knows that they are in a high risk category for cancer, such as having stomach cancer in their immediate family, they should consider carefully whether salt/c is for them.<br /><br />14. A 'cowboy up' or 'tough it out' philosophy of ignoring strong herx symptoms and just pushing oneself through seen in some online discussions could be extremely dangerous for people who happen to be salt intolerant. This notion should be banned from any online discussion of salt/c since salt intolerant people could be harmed as a result. The fact that simply enduring and ignoring strong herx symptoms works for some people does not mean it is safe for all. Cowboy up is like playing Russian Roulette, gambling that you are not the person with the bad salt genes, overloaded kidneys, etc.<br /><br />15. People with CFS often have diminished bloodflow in the kidneys, one study shows that bloodflow is about 50% of normal, for most people with CFS. Therefore, a person with Lyme who also has CFS may be at higher risk for any treatment that produces strain on the kidneys. In my own case even after nearly two years of salt/c, I only tolerated a half dose strategy, meaning I only was able to tolerate half of the suggested salt/c doses. In retrospect, that may have been due to this kidney bloodflow issue with CFS. Therefore a person with CFS who decides to take a chance on salt/c should probably set a lower target dose, half dose seems to work for some with CFS.<br /><br /><br /></span>Kurthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13638567143640874267noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11082434.post-1167439044530583962006-12-29T19:37:00.004-05:002009-11-24T14:17:29.484-05:00Pulsing Salt/C - it's working<span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;color:blue;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial;color:blue;" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">[<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">IMPORTANT</span> - I am leaving this blog post up as a historical insight into my efforts with salt/c, but I have reversed many of my views on salt/c since this post. The improvements I mention below did not last and I eventually had to stop salt/c entirely. I now believe it is critical that a person experimenting with salt/c be careful and be familiar with the risks of the protocol. For some people salt/c may have serious risks. Please see my post 'Cautions about Salt/C, also the 'Warning Label' section in my 'Executive Summary of Salt/C']</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">I am much improved, to the point where I am trying to work again.</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Still not back to my old self, that will take some time, but at least not bedridden and housebound all the time now.</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> So time to share what is making the difference. I have made a few important changes, including pulsing salt/c and adding some important adjuncts.</span></span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:100%;" ></span><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-family:Arial;">First the EMF blocking. The EMF hat still helps, and does give good results, but I do not seem to need it as often.<span style=""> </span>I wear it when I feel lousy.<span style=""> </span>I have a daughter (early teenager) who has some CFS/<span class="SpellE">Lyme</span> type symptoms and she steals my hat when she has headaches, and that stops them often.<span style=""> </span>I don’t use the shirt much anymore, but for a time it was helpful.<span style=""> </span>I believe the EMF blocking did help something heal, it provided a step up the ladder, so to speak.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-family:Arial;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-family:Arial;">Now the pulsing. I went off salt/c for about 3 months, and was fine at first, but then started to decline again.<span style=""> </span>So now I am back on a full dose, for the past few months, and that is better than ever.<span style=""> </span>Partly I tried this because of <span class="SpellE">Klinghardt’s</span> views on salt/c, and it did help.<span style=""> </span>I am also about to start <span class="SpellE">Modifilan</span> (for the second time), to help remove metals.<span style=""> </span>I like <span class="SpellE">Klinghardt’s</span> general methods, but use alternative supplements to achieve the same goals, like the <span class="SpellE">Modifilan</span>, for example.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-family:Arial;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-family:Arial;">I was on antibiotics for a year, about six years ago.<span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span>Antibiotics don’t fix chronic <span class="SpellE">Lyme</span> in people like me for some reason.<span style=""> </span>I don’t trust them <span class="GramE">much,</span> they gave me <span class="SpellE">candida</span> problems which I still battle. <span style=""> </span>I am about to try SF722 to battle the <span class="SpellE">candida</span>.<span style=""> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-family:Arial;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-family:Arial;">In addition to salt/c, this time I added a high-quality colloid silver (<span class="SpellE">MesoSilver</span>) and colloid gold (<span class="SpellE">MesoGold</span>).<span style=""> </span>Also I am taking Juice Plus.<span style=""> </span>The combination is VERY powerful, equivalent to taking antibiotics, maybe better, because it does not seem to destroy the friendly flora.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-family:Arial;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-family:Arial;">So I am narrowing down a bit to a small protocol that seems to have a lot of power.</span></span></p>Kurthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13638567143640874267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11082434.post-1142373579550270252006-03-14T16:33:00.000-05:002006-05-24T14:20:05.720-04:00My EMF-Blocking Experiment<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Arial;" >After a recent post on a CFS experimental discussion group I decided to try an experiment to determine whether I am sensitive to EMF (electro-magnetic field), and particularly to the microwave radiation from cell towers (cell towers are open-air microwave emitters). The person who posted, </span><st1:personname><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Arial;" >Paul Doyon</span></st1:personname><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Arial;" >, an American English professor at a </span><st1:place><st1:placename><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Arial;" >Japanese</span></st1:placename><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Arial;" > </span><st1:placetype><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Arial;" >University</span></st1:placetype></st1:place><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Arial;" > claimed that leaving cell phone tower range caused his CFS to go into complete remission. He additionally claimed to have studied the EMF issue and determined that CFS was largely influence or even caused by EMF pollution. I decided to test his claims so I purchased an EMF-blocking hat and have been wearing it during most of the day for the past month. The results have been shocking.<br /><br /><span class="fullpost">What is most shocking to me is that nearly ALL of my symptoms are slightly improved when I wear the hat. So what is this all about? After studying the issue a bit, I am now starting to suspect that ambient EMF may be provoking CFS symptoms, and that people with CFS who have a high biotoxin load (including heavy metals) are somehow more susceptible to EMF. Since we know that people with CFS are often pathological detoxifiers, they will tend to have a higher toxin load. What if the ambient RFR and EMF pollution in our modern world is more hazardous to people like us?<br /><br />First, some basic science and information about EMF. The following video presents some compelling evidence. (I am NOT promoting the product described at the end of the video and do not know if their products work, but find the video to be a very useful introduction to the topic).<br /><br /><a href="http://www.emf-health.com/">http://www.emf-health.com/</a><br /><br />That video is fascinating. I love the animations of the EMF waves, and think people need to think about EMF that way, it is simply a form of light that penetrates everything non-metallic. Some people believe that the Pineal gland is sensitive to this type of EMF 'light.' I have wondered whether one connection to CFS is that we have an over-sensitive or toxic Pineal gland, thus the Pineal interprets some types of EMF as a threat. This could create a perpetual fight-flight response (I speculated about that fight-flight response in my ‘CFS Theory’ entry, but have not made the connection to EMF until recently). Certainly, many people with CFS are over-sensitive types, perhaps that extends to sensitivity to EMF.<br /><br />There are also many studies showing a wide range of subtle biological effects from EMF exposure, including many Russian studies of a ‘Radio Wave Sickness’ with symptoms that parallel CFS. Here is a paper summarizing some of this research.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.goodhealthinfo.net/radiation/radio_wave_packet.pdf">http://www.goodhealthinfo.net/radiation/radio_wave_packet.pdf</a><br /><br />And, one other important effect of EMF is to de-polarize the blood. This is particularly a problem with the use of cell phones. Here are some photos showing how this blood clumping progresses after cell phone use.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.buergerwelle.de/pdf/cluster.jpg">http://www.buergerwelle.de/pdf/cluster.jpg</a><br /><br />This photo is really amazing. The first photo is blood before making a 90 second cell phone. The next pictures are right after, 20 and 40 minutes later. The last two photos are from a person standing 1.7 meters away from a person making a 90 second cell phone call, with blood during and 20 minutes after the call. My German is a bit rusty but I was able to read through the text. The blood was drawn from an ear capillary, presumably to be near the cell phone exposure. What they said was that after the cell phone exposure the blood became depolarized and therefore the erythrocytes clumped together and had lower oxygenation capacity. Yes, this reversed after 40 minutes. But clearly the normal functioning of those cells was suspended for a time. And what if a person makes or is near a cell phone transmission every 40 minutes? Yikes!<br /><br />Clearly every use of a cell phone inflicts a temporary electrical injury and lowers oxygen in the blood cells, particularly those in the brain. Well, what about the other electrical elements of the body? The nerves, for example? I think cell phones should carry a health warning on the side, much like a pack of cigarettes. But probably that will not happen for a long time, after more clear identification of their role in disease, lengthy public awareness campaigns, legal battles, involvement of the US Surgeon General (for the US), etc. Just for fun I searched the US Surgeon General’s website. There is not a single reference in any report to EMF (nor related keyword combinations), and the only reference to cell phones was a warning about them distracting drivers. So maybe we should not use cell phones except in emergencies. Also, if they are so dangerous when held up to our heads, what about the chronic low-level exposure from cell towers? I believe the EMF blocking hat is helping with this chronic exposureI purchased the hat from Less EMF.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.lessemf.com/personal.html"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);font-family:Arial;" >http://www.lessemf.com/personal.html</span></a><br /><br />There are other vendors online selling the same hat. The hat is rather ordinary-looking, and some people might not like the Kaki color. But it is helping. I felt an effect within 24 hours, mostly a relaxing type of effect in the middle of the head/brain. It continued for a few days before I noticed that I was sleeping better, had more energy and endurance, and my mood was hugely improved. That lasted for about two weeks, then I got a kind of ‘herx’ and immune activation. I also did not get many symptoms from a terrible viral illness that went through our area, I had several children home from school, one for over a week with a bad virus, high fever, etc. All I had was sniffles and some mild pains. My college-age daughter has CFS and is not wearing the hat, and she was very sick for several days with this virus. Ordinarily I would be in bed for a week with something like that.<br /><br />After about two weeks I tried wearing the hat at night, it seemed to help sometimes, but hard to tell. I decided to only wear the hat when I am sitting or standing (vertical), just in case the sewn-in steel threads can reflect waves, becasue if they do, and you lay down, the hat might function as a parabolic mirror and reflect into the head from the bottom. Anyway, I now do not wear it at night, and that seems OK.<br /><br />But the BIG surprise was after about three weeks, when I noticed (and my wife also noticed) that I am starting to gain weight again. I lost a lot of weight, to an unhealthy level with my CFS, and have really struggled to gain small amounts. So to gain weight just from EMF blocking is very significant. And this is not just fat, I am gaining muscle mass, and it has continued now for the past six weeks (At this writing).<br /><br />I am starting to become sensitive of the effect of the hat, I notice ringing in the ears, more pressure in the head, and other symptoms increasing when I take the hat off. My brain just feels better with the hat, does not happen with other hats. I have been wearing the hat for about a month now, and it is still helping. I do sense some cycling, perhaps from immune system working again. I have ordered more EMF-blocking clothing (a shirt) and will report any additional effects from that.<br /><br />So how could this be working? One idea is that certain types or frequencies from chronic exposure to certain low-level EMF (probably the two cell towers a half mile from my house) may suppress the Pineal and thus lower its production of MSH, melatonin and DMT, rendering us more vulnerable to neurotoxins of all sort. MSH is probably the primary culpret (Melanocyte-Stimulating Hormone). Based on Shoemaker, MSH is the master control hormone. When it is lowered, the entire HPA system will not work properly. MSH controls melatonin and endorphin production. It also regulates part of the immune system, the cytokine pathways including some WBC functions (our major immune response). And it regulates the pituitary, and the cytokine (immune) response in the skin, GI tract, nasal membranes and lungs. MSH controls other hormone systems as well. Incidentally, Shoemaker also says that the low MSH also could lead to a higher need for salt, due to regulation problems with a substance called ADH. So that may be one reason why the salt therapies are helpful.<br /><br />In my own case I am finding that EMF avoidance/shielding is a very helpful combination. I actually went to the dentist after wearing the hat for a month and have started being able to walk farther than I have in a long time, maybe a few years. There has been less post-exertion malaise even when I can tell that I shift to aerobic metabolism. Also, I seem to be detoxifying more significantly, possibly even experiencing a 'herx' effect after about 5 weeks wearing the hat, that lasted for about a week. Maybe my MSH levels are improving from the EMF blocking, and maybe some part of the immune system is returning to normal function, or trying to come back on-line. That would be nice.<br /><br />Since I originally wrote this post, I have continued to improve, gaining more weight and clear thinking. I have been wearing an EMF-blocking mesh over a T-shirt most days and at night for about a month. As of this writing, two months have passed since I started with the hat, and I have gained about 8-10 pounds, mostly muscle, and am more than an inch taller than when I started. Yes, that is not a typo. My eating habits have not changed and no other treatment has changed. I had scoliosis as a teenager, and I have been gaining muscle mass in my back, and I believe that is straightening out my back. There may be other factors as well, such as strengthening of connective tissue. There is much more going on here than I have seen with ANY treatment I have ever tried in my 10 years of full-blown CFS. EMF blocking has reversed my long-term muscle-wasting! I realize that this result may be caused by synergy with my other treatments, so I will list the major treatments I am continuing during this trial of EMF-blocking. I am using a low-dose of Salt/C daily (about 6-8g), take systemic enzymes (including Wobenzyme, Serrapeptase, Nattokinase), and a few amino, herbal and mineral supplements. Also, I use meditation and emotional processing methods regularly. But none of these, nor dozens of other treatments I have tried have produced this effect in the past. I believe the EMF blocking is responsible for my rapidly improving health.<br /><br /><br />OTHER LINKS: Here are some great links I have found on the topic of EMF and chronic health problems.<br /><br /><a href="http://wireless-action.blogspot.com/2006/03/largest-biological-experiment-ever.html"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);font-family:Arial;" >The Largest Biological Experiment Ever</span></a><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Arial;" >, by Arthur Firsterburg, MD - this is an eye-opening description of what EMF, particularly wireless digital, may be doing to our brains. If you read nothing else about EMF, <b>read this!<br /></b><br /><a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=asc9WJt1RFk4&refer=us"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">The FDA finally wakes up, Just announced April 6, 2006</span>.</a><b> </b>The FDA is investigating cell phone safety after significant reports of increased brain cancer risk! This amazing development will hopefully be the beginning of the end of the ignorance of EMF health risks, particularly digital signals from cell phones. The FDA is certainly sending the right signals. Hopefully they will call the FCC on the carpet for what they have allowed to happen to us. Time to sell those wireless telecom stocks...</span><p></p></span></span></p>Kurthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13638567143640874267noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11082434.post-1136926343395544842006-01-10T15:44:00.000-05:002006-01-10T16:06:45.236-05:00More Temporary Remission StoriesI posted awhile back about some temporary remissions that seems possibly associated with a helminth infection as a co-factor of CFS. Well, I have collected a few more interesting stories. These may point to a common mechanism, perhaps the result of the biotoxins from certain infections, or maybe from other sources...<br /><br /><span class="fullpost">In one case a couple both had MCS and CFS and they moved to a 'clean' house in <st1:place>S. Florida</st1:place>, and got about 80% better within a day or two. I don't believe it lasted though.<br /><br />Another case I know of is a person who is traveling around Central and <st1:place>S. America</st1:place> and he finds that in some locations he is well and others he is immediately ill. He believes that closer to the equator, near the ocean, and sometimes near a hydro-electric power plant are all better locations for him.<br /><br />Yet another case is of a person who decided that his CFS was caused by cell phone towers, he had three towers within a half mile of his house. He moved up into a cabin in a mountain area where there were no cell towers near and he got well!When he goes back into 'cell phone' territory he gets sick again, almost immediately. I did some research about that issue and discovered that the wave-length used by cell phones is about 6 inches, the width of a typical adult head! So cell phones really do fry our brains... (oh great). But the question is why just certain people would be susceptible to this? My theory is that some infections disrupt the electrolyte balance, thus lowering our natural magnetic shield (which I believe is produced by pineal gland).<br /><br />And here is another one, a woman I know got well for about a week after drinking a bottle of NingXia juice over the course of a few days, it is Wolf Berry juice in a blend with a few other fruits, from <st1:country-region><st1:place>China</st1:place></st1:country-region>. Her full strength returned. But she could not afford to continue that.<o:p></o:p><br /><br />Also, I know two people who have had sustained recovery, both are recovered about 95% from CFS, and one was nearly bedridden. In both cases they corrected diet, fixed digestive issues, and one boosted her glutathione as well (with whey protein). But these are all typical things people do for CFS. What they believed made the major difference was that they both went through major emotional and spiritual work. One of these woman used essential oils (aroma therapy) and extensive positive affirmations. Both worked through a lot of emotional processing. I doubt that emotional problems caused their CFS, as I knew them both before they got ill, but somehow by generating very strong positive emotions they were able to defeat some aspect of the disease.<br /><br />My working theory about a common denominator in these stories is that something happens to the pineal gland early in the disease, perhaps from an infection that we are unable to defend against due to genetics or immune-modulating infections. There may be many ways to help the pineal situation. Strong positive emotions may support the pineal as it is a 'mind-body' gland, a bridge between our thoughts and our physiology. Also, the pineal is sensitive to magnetic fields, possibly explaining the locations effect. And the pineal is highly sensitive to toxins, particularly if the blood-brain barrior has been compromised, possibly explaining rapid recovery in a clean house. This seems consistent with the first group of temporary recovery stories I posted, as DMT is produced by the pineal! So what is wrong with our pineal gland? And, could this be the mechanism that is most affected by a biotoxin load, helping produce the chronic panic/anxiety load that creates the CFS symptoms? </span>Kurthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13638567143640874267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11082434.post-1125869304623328162005-09-04T17:25:00.000-04:002006-01-05T10:11:47.663-05:00My New Theory about CFS (really cool!)Over the past few weeks I have started developing theory that CFS and closely related conditions are primarily a prolonged subliminal, biologically-induced fight-flight response, caused by a chronic biotoxin load, with differentiation of responses based on genetics. I do not mean the type of fight-flight in which a person is frightened by a thought or stress event, but rather a subclinical (or subconscious) form, where a physiological fight-flight, or panic-type response is triggered by certain chemicals in isolation of any anxiety-provoking stimulus. Therefore, the term ‘panic’ or ‘panic/anxiety’ in this theory generally refers to a fight-flight response that is primarily chemically triggered.<br /><br /><span class="fullpost"><br />Research shows that subclinical panic/anxiety (the fight-flight response) can be chemically induced in a large subset of the population, and is not always an emotionally or intellectually-based phenomenon. It is a biological form of panic/anxiety that may accompany exposure to chemical triggers, which I here hypothesize may be more common among people with genetic biotoxin detox pathway errors. This includes people who have poor detoxification of biotoxins produced by molds, fungi, certain bacterial and parasitic infections, and also some artificial biotoxins such as organophosphates (pesticides).<br /><br />Because of the poor detoxification, the infections or exposures to biotoxins need not be extreme. For example, a person with these types of genetic problems may have a very low-level chronic infection of a biotoxin-producing organism, a level of infection that may actually be common in the population. However, people who can detoxify these biotoxins never develop the symptoms of CFS, while those genetically predisposed to not detox well will sooner or later become chronically ill. Perhaps a trigger event occurs, such as an illness or life-stressor, and stress can lower the immune response which may allow a small surge in the biotoxin load, overloading their detoxification pathways. Additionally, recent research suggests that some people with CFS may have genetic immune system defects that lead to a higher load of biotoxin-producing infections. Since there is not much you can do to correct the genetics involved, if you have these problems it is critical to continuously treat any exposure to biotoxins. And that is where we begin.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Is subclinical biotoxin-triggered panic/anxiety a major cause of CFS?</span><br /><br />I believe that biotoxins may be the chemical trigger for a subliminal chronic panic/anxiety state that can become a major cause of the major symptoms of CFS. I must credit Dr. Ritchie Shoemaker with some of the ideas behind this theory [1]. He has pioneered the clinical treatment of genetic biotoxin pathway errors in his studies of mold illnesses. However, his protocol does not address the possibility of a profound anxiety/panic response to the biotoxin load, nor the possible effects of such a response. Therefore, when I discovered (accidentally) some surprising similarities between the physiological strains involved in both CFS and Panic/Anxiety disorder, I decided to study the issue to determine whether other treatments, combined with those recommended by Dr. Shoemaker, might be important.<br /><br />As I conducted a search of panic disorder research I found more and more evidence that the two are closely related. Such as the fact that chemically-induced panic may produce no overtly recognizable panic/anxiety symptoms, but still have all of the physiologic effects [2]. Thus there are subtypes of panic, including those who sense an anxiety state and those who do not. This is consistent with the variation in anxiety sensation in CFS. Or the fact that many of the deficiencies of chronic anxiety/panic match those found in CFS, including magnesium, B12, B6, serotonin, and GABA. Also, several up-regulations that occur during panic/anxiety are glutathione [3], hydrocortisone [4] and diastolic heart function [5], issues also involved in CFS. Coagulation increases under a panic/anxiety load, there may be immune suppression, and tension will limit blood-flow to the gut region, lowering gut immune functions, all common problem areas with CFS. Therefore, the question about similarity of the conditions seemed to have a sold answer. There are close similarities in physiological response, suggesting that CFS may be strange type of Panic/Anxiety, perhaps provoked by a biotoxin load and leading over time to exhausted glutathione, adrenal and diastolic heart function.<br /><br />Now that I knew the conditions had many common points, I worked through possibility that an extended period of panic/anxiety, provoked by a relentless biotoxin load, could in fact produce the multi-stage developmental pathway of CFS. For example, with CFS there is often high adrenal function for a time, followed by a crash. This is what we would also expect with prolonged panic/anxiety, based on Selye’s work with adrenal exhaustion. Diastolic heart dysfunction has recently been identified clinically in CFS. In the case of prolonged panic/anxiety, we would expect that the heart would adapt to accommodate the diastolic load. This would be a natural response to keep out of heart failure, and would actually be an adaptation and not necessarily a dysfunction. Logically, the victim of a long-term biotoxin-based anxiety/panic syndrome would be both agitated and fatigued, which is also typical of many CFS cases. The similarities between the developmental pathway of CFS and the hypothetical result of prolonged biotoxin-induced panic/anxiety were too compelling to ignore. I have not found any other explanation for CFS that can so thoroughly match the data as this hypothesis. The strain of long-term biotoxin load combined with a long-term panic/anxiety response could certainly be responsible for a majority of the problems and dysfunctions found in CFS research. The more I learn about biotoxin illness and panic/anxiety, the better this all fits together. Even if this hypothesis only is correct for a subset of people with CFS, it certainly is a large subset, and so I decided to attempt to create a treatment plan based solely on this hypothesis.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">How can we treat this?</span><br /><br />If biotoxin-induced panic/anxiety is the cause of CFS, then what is an ideal treatment? I believe the logical treatment of a biotoxin-induced panic form of CFS would be to first support the deficiencies that result from a chronic panic/anxiety response. Once those deficiencies were addressed, the major secondary problems of the disorder should be treated. For example, if the person has hypercoagulation resulting from the chronic subclinical fight/flight condition, or from the biotoxin-producing infection, then any coagulation load must be reduced and removed from the vascular system. Additionally, if key organ or glandular systems are down-regulated then they must be supported (but probably only conservatively as there is still a biotoxin load and over-supporting those systems could increase toxicity levels). Once these secondary issues were being addressed, then detoxification of biotoxin load could be gradually boosted. Then, with better biotoxin detox, it might finally be safe to treat the biotoxin sources (including removing environmental exposure and treating any toxic infections), and clean up any remaining biotoxins. The final task would be to repair the free radical damage and gradually recondition the body up to normal functional responses, giving time for systems to adapt to wellness. I think those are the main goals. They are far from simple goals, but they are also not as complex and expensive as some current treatments for CFS that either focus on just one aspect of the illness, or attempt to prop-up nearly every major physiological function.<br /><br />If this hypothesis is correct, then our primary task is to solve the biotoxin load, resolve the damage from the prolonged panic/anxiety state, and support healing. But this is not a straightforward task. A confounding problem in treating CFS as a biotoxin-induced panic/anxiety problem is that the biologic panic/anxiety response will worsen if the biotoxin load increases during treatment. In fact, Shoemaker identifies this as the cause of the ‘herx’ phenomenon, as the biotoxin load triggers the releases of inflammatory cytokines (immune cells). Additionally, if the person with CFS perceives the physiologic panic/anxiety state and overreacts, this produces an amplified feed-back loop because of the toxic state of the nervous system. Perhaps this is the cause of the exaggerated emotional swings sometimes seen during treatment of biotoxin-producing infections, such as Lyme disease. Therefore, we must also treat any subclinical panic/anxiety reactions to the treatments themselves, to avoid amplifying any panic/anxiety or related symptoms.<br /><br />I am working on a meta-protocol that would address CFS and Lyme from the viewpoint of a subclinical fight-flight, or panic/anxiety reaction to biotoxins. I hope to post on this topic again soon!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">References</span><br /><br />[1] Shoemaker RC. (2005). Mold warriors: Fighting America’s hidden health threat. Baltimore: Gateway Press, Inc.<br /><br />[2] Schmid NB, Forsyth JP, Santiago HT, Trakowski JH. (2002). Classification of panic attack subtypes in patients and normal controls in response to biological challenge: implications for assessment and treatment. J Anxiety Disord.;16(6):625-38.<br /><br />[3] Kuloglu M, Atmaca M, Tezcan E, Ustundag B, Bulut S. (2002). Antioxidant enzyme and malondialdehyde levels in patients with panic disorder. Neuropsychobiology.;46(4):186-9.<br /><br />[4] Coplan JD, Goetz R, Klein DF, Papp LA, Fyer AJ, Liebowitz MR, Davies SO, Gorman JM. (1998). Plasma cortisol concentrations preceding lactate-induced panic. Psychological, biochemical, and physiological correlates. Arch Gen Psychiatry. Feb;55(2):130-6.<br /><br />[5] Koszycki D, Zachardko RM, Le Melledo JM, Bradwein J. (1998). Behavioral, cardiovascular, and neuroendocrine profiles following CCK-4 challenge in healthy volunteers: a comparison of panickers and nonpanickers. Depress Anxiety.;8(1):1-7.<br /><br /><br /></span>Kurthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13638567143640874267noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11082434.post-1122241858832919052005-07-24T17:40:00.000-04:002007-02-22T16:24:31.496-05:00Executive Summary of Salt/CFor those who just want a quick overview of how the Salt/C protocol works, here is an 'Executive Summary,' as it is being used in the Yahoo LymeStrategies group. This is simply a summary of what is working for many people who are using Salt/C. I am not a medical professional so therefore this is intended as a report and not advice for any health problem.<br /><span class="fullpost"><br /><br />OVERVIEW<br /><br />Salt/C is as simple as it sounds, taking the right salt with a good quality vitamin C product. The basic protocol is as follows. People usually begin with 1g per day of salt and 1g per day of vitamin C, and then gradually ramp up (increase the dose) over a period of weeks or even months to around 8-12g per day of each taken throughout the day. The rule of thumb for maximum target dose for most people with Lyme is 1g for every 15 lbs (6.75 kilos) of bodyweight. People who also have CFS should target a lower dose, which will be explained below. The rule of thumb for how fast to ramp up is to GO SLOWLY. Unlike ‘quick fix’ treatments we have all been conditioned to expect in medicine, this is a gentle and gradual, but very powerful treatment. Regaining your health through Salt/C is no race; everyone improves at their own rate.<br /><br />THE SALTS<br /><br />The best salts for Salt/C are the "CMC" brand salt tablets featured on LymePhotos.com, also <a href="http://www.mcssl.com/app/aftrack.asp?afid=285365">Krystal Salt</a> (Hunza or Himalayan), or <a href="http://www.realsalt.com">RealSalt</a>. Some people use Celtic sea salt and a few other unprocessed natural salts. The Krystal Salt is probably considered the most powerful and effective, and has a nearly perfect mineral balance. People using the CMC salt usually add a liquid mineral supplement as the CMC tablets are a pure NaCl formulation (pharmaceutical grade), and extra minerals are needed to offset the high sodium levels. Most people using Salt/C do not even CONSIDER using Table salt. Not only will that not work right, but 12g per day could be harmful due to the additives it contains. There is no agreed-upon best vitamin C product. Some people do better with natural preparations of vitamin C, others do better when bioflavinoids are included (slower release, such as Ester-C). But most people are able to use a standard vitamin C product successfully.<br /><br />THE RAMP-UP<br /><br />The period of time in which people ramp up to full dose is dependent on how well they feel as they take the salt. When they feel very poorly at a dose, usually they stay at that dose until they feel better again, and then increase the dose again. Or they may lower your dose until they feel better, then try increasing the dose again later. Some people can ramp-up to their full dose within 1-2 weeks, adding 1g per day, some add only 1g per week, and some people take many months to get to higher doses. The full dose varies, generally people target 8-12g, some go higher. This is based on body mass, the rule of thumb given is 1g per 15 lbs of body weight. However this is an arbitrary rule based only on anecdotal evidence. For people who are or suspect they might be salt sensitive, a much lower target is suggested, possibly half the amount of salt, or 1g per 30 lbs of body weight. Most people will feel a little better the first few days, but then gradually feel worse. This is defined as a ‘die-off’ reaction from killing pathogenic bacteria and other bugs, or a ‘Herxheimer’ effect (‘herx’ for short). For some people the herx involves exacerbation of symptoms they have had before. For others it involves completely new symptoms, often neurological in nature. The herx symptoms also tend to ‘flare-up’ every 3-5 weeks during Salt/C. The people who have succeeded in full remission of Lyme Disease have remained on the full protocol for at least 9 months, and up to 2 years. Some have chosen to remain at full dose after reaching "symptom-free" from Lyme, others have reduced to just a low "maintenance dose" (average 3 grams/day) and remained symptom-free.<br /><br />THE WATER<br /><br />Be sure to drink lots of pure water, sometimes with balanced trace minerals if possible (such as 'Concentrace' by www.TraceMinerals.com). Drink whenever you feel thirsty. Salt/C is an unsafe therapy if a person does not or can not drink a lot of water to flush out the excess salt. The rule of thumb is 8 oz of water for every 1g of salt. For people with weaker kidneys that may not be enough. So drink extra water, be sure to stay properly hydrated.<br /><br />HELPFUL ADJUNCTS<br /><br />Most people using Salt/C are also using other natural treatments as adjunct. This is usually customized to the needs of the individual, and often the adjuncts are designed to help manage the herx symptoms. Some common areas for adjuncts include detoxification enhancement (gentle liver cleansing), metal binding (Chlorella, Spirulina, etc.), immune enhancement, anti-candida supplementation (Candex or Candidase, or others), glutathione boosting (whey proteins, Recancostat), adrenal support, heart support (cayenne or combination heart supplements), and natural antibiotics (colloid silver, oregano oil, olive leaf extract, etc.) . Some people are using Salt/C in combination with prescription medications, and in some cases Salt/C appears to enhance the effects of the medication.<br /><br />THE WARNING LABEL<br /><br />Although many people are improving using Salt/C, and a few consider themselves 'cured', people also have had serious negative reactions. One person with MS had a worsening of her condition and lost her ability to walk. A few people appear to have had mild kidney damage and mild vision disturbance. This is a small minority, but every person counts. So here are some contraindications and warnings.<p></p><p style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">First the contraindications. People with a known history of hypertension, heart or kidney disease, or with CFS (those with ACE mutations) should probably skip Salt/C, or only should use very small doses, and track medical indicators to ensure it is safe for them. People with MS also should probably skip Salt/C, at least until more information is available about the one failure case.<br /></p><p style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">Now the warnings for those well enough to try Salt/C. Probably everyone on salt/c should have a weekly BP check (self-administered, cuffs are not very expensive). If there is ANY concern about the safety of salt/c, a person should probably have regular kidney function testing, with an advanced test for microalbuminuria on occasion (a test for albumin in the urine). And make sure to have an eye exam and physical with heart exam at some point early in the protocol, and maybe regularly during the protocol. Also, a warning about water is in order. If a person does not drink adequate water, the effect on the kidneys is the same as if they increased their salt dose. For those with weak kidneys this could be problematic. If a person is not regular in their water drinking habits, they should create a tracking log or some other mechanism to ENSURE that they get a proper amount of water, at least 8 oz for every 1g of salt, or more.<br /></p><p style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">Salt/C will produce some devastating herxheimer responses. These may obscure symptoms of salt intolerance. Therefore it may be important to go off Salt/C regularly and make sure that any strong symptoms can subside on their own and no new chronic health problems are emerging. The symptoms of salt intolerance or salt toxicity can vary. Based on a brief scan of the research and reports from people believing they are having salt intolerance symptoms, these could include unusual pains or functional limitations appearing in the heart, kidneys, eyes, or nerves. In particular, kidney area pain, severe thirst, edema, extreme mood swings (possibly due to electrolyte imbalances), heart or chest area pains, palpitations, left arm pains, severe shortness of breath, visual disturbances, or motor problems. Some of these types of symptoms can be the result of a herx so the presence of symptoms does not automatically indicate salt intolerance. Therefore, if a person has these symptoms, or other problems related to the organs mentioned that do not seem like a die-off response, they should be careful to record them, lower their Salt/C dose and see if the symptoms improve. If symptoms do not improve, they probably should stop Salt/C and seek medical testing.<br /></p><p style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">The reason for these warnings is that salt is a toxin at very high doses. A dose of .5g/kg is considered unsafe by toxicologists. This would be 30g for a 132 lb person (60kg). Nobody on Salt/C should be taking that high of a dose, so we would seem to be safe. However, some people are hypersensitive to salt, for several reasons including a common mutation in the angiotensin system genetics (ACE). For these people, the effect of salt may be amplified, so they can be harmed by high doses. And the damage is not trivial, potentially including heart, kidney, eye and nerve injury. So why do we even want to take Salt/C then? Because for most people taking natural salts in the doses recommended is safe, and the potential benefits can be dramatic. But for a minority the risk is too great. These people will generally respond to a high salt dose with elevated BP, so regular BP checks are a first line of defense. And the other testing recommended should help ensure the safety of Salt/C. Remember that most ordinary people consume 9 g of salt daily anyway. So the salt doses on Salt/C are not as scary as this cautionary information might sound, but for those with salt sensitivity, an issue independent of Salt/C that affects people everywhere, these are important concerns.<br /></p>For those concerned about this, but still interested in Salt/C, tests for the ACE gene mutation are available from several labs, so if a person is very worried about this they can get their DNA evaluated.<br /><br />I strongly suggest that EVERYONE who tries Salt/C keep records of their symptoms, being brutally honest about the results they are happening. That may be helpful in decision-making about ramping-up, ramping-down or discontinuing the protocol during episodes of brain fog that can occur during the herx.<br /><br />Good luck!<br /><br /><br />DISCLAIMER<br /><p style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">I am not a doctor and am just sharing an anecdotal protocol that has helped some people. I have made every effort to provide a balanced view of the risks and rewards of Salt/C. Ultimately you are responsible for what you take into your body. If you have any concerns about Salt/C, please consult with a qualified healthcare practitioner before making changes to your diet as discussed in this protocol.<br /></p></span>Kurthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13638567143640874267noreply@blogger.com61tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11082434.post-1121551154560524562005-07-16T17:54:00.000-04:002005-07-16T21:46:25.776-04:00Is Salt/C a form of human pickling?<p>I have been thinking about pickling for some reason so I looked through some pickling recipes. And here is what caught my attention. There are two common forms of pickling, slow fermented and fast. Both processes use salt and acid to produce the preservation effect. Slow processes use a small amount of acetic acid (vinegar) and lactic acid (a product of fermentation). Fast processes use a lot of acetic acid plus salt. And since slow can use acetic OR lactic acid, it seems that a variety of acids will work. Interesting, isn’t it? I wonder if ascorbic acid (from Vitamin C) has a function similar to acetic acid when combined with salt. Someone posted recently to the Yahoo LymeStrategies group about vinegar enhancing the effect of Salt/C… Could Salt/C be a human pickling process? After all, unlike cucumbers, humans have salt in their veins, maybe we are living pickles already… :0<br /><span class="fullpost"><br />LymePhotos says that salt taken alone is an age-old remedy, but if you look at pickles, Salt/C could also be an age-old remedy, if ascorbic acid can be compared to acetic/lactic acids, as present in pickled vegetables. And the plot thickens…<br /><br />Here are the ingredients from a slow pickle recipe:<br /><br />8 cups water<br />¼ cup vinegar<br />½ cup salt4 pounds of 4-inch pickling cucumbers2 tablespoons dill seed or 4 to 5 heads fresh dill2 cloves garlic (optional)2 dried red peppers (optional)<br />2 teaspoons whole mixedpickling spices (optional)<br /><br />And here are ingredients for a fast recipe for sweet pickles, using all vinegar with no water, perhaps to manage the effects of the sugar on bad bacteria:<br /><br />5 quarts (about 7 pounds) 1½-inch cucumbers½ cup pure granulated salt8 cups sugar1½ quarts vinegar¾ teaspoon turmeric<br />2 teaspoons celery seed2 teaspoons whole mixed pickling spice2 cinnamon sticks½ teaspoon fennel (optional)2 teaspoons vanilla (optional)<br /><br /><br />Did anybody notice the ‘other’ ingredients? They use peppers. Some of us have added cayenne pepper, interesting J. They add pickling spices that have medicinal value, such as turmeric, fennel (licorice), and garlic. Also these are common ‘supplements’ that I and others use. Certainly some of that is for flavor, but I find it interesting that those ‘flavors’ are also medicines to us.<br /><br />Here is a link for fast pickles: <a href="http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/5000/5345.html">http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/5000/5345.html</a><br /><br />And for fermented pickles: <a href="http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/5000/5342.html">http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/5000/5342.html</a><br /><br />So perhaps we are pickling ourselves in a real sense following the fermented process. We even add the protiotics, fermenting our gut.<br /><br />I guess the only remaining question is whether we are dill or sweet pickles :).<br /><br />Humor for the day, or a useful clue? Wish I knew. Vinegar has been used to treat stomach acid problems and to lower infection levels in AIDS patients. So perhaps there could be a 'pickle protocol' for CFS-Lyme, Salt/Vinegar anyone? </span></p>Kurthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13638567143640874267noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11082434.post-1120691807195372102005-07-06T18:58:00.008-04:002009-01-06T18:29:15.836-05:00The Science of Salt/CWhat is the science behind Salt/C? How does this simple protocol help people with Lyme Disease and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, when so many other protocols fail? I think the most accurate answer is that nobody really knows. But there are many possible explanations. I have collected some that I find most interesting. Here are a few scientific explanations that seem plausible.<br /><span class="fullpost"><br />1 – The Salt/C dose temporarily elevates blood salinity, which causes osmotic shock to certain vulnerable bacteria (they are dehydrated after being forced to take in more salt than they can excrete)<br />2 – Salt powers certain white blood cells, particularly the neutrophils, which use the salt to kill certain bacteria<br />3 – Salt alkalinizes the blood slightly<br />4 – We are salt deficient due to an infection that alters aldosterone/adrenal levels, perhaps because the bug prefers a lower sodium environment, and the salt/c improves that situation<br />5 – Salt has a detoxifying effect at a cellular level, as this is a player in osmotic processes (this may be very helpful with intercellular infections like Borrelia or mycoplasma, as the salt gets into the cell and may work against those pathogens)<br />6 – We are somewhat dehydrated due to infection/toxin load, and the salt allows us to absorb more water (this might be particularly helpful for the lymphatic system)<br />7 – Salt addresses gut dysbiosis, killing many pathogens and promoting growth of good bacteria (the same effect as using salt in fermentation of some foods)<br />8 – Some parasites, particularly nematodes (as shown on LymePhotos.com) are known to be sensitive to salinity levels and they will move to areas of the body with their favorite salinity, moving away from salt doses<br />9 – One study demonstrated that nematodes can be paralyzed by high doses of salt, so perhaps this allows the immune system to find and destroy them<br />10 – A salt shock causes a burst of adrenal activity, as the adrenals must signal the kidneys to desalinate the blood a bit, and dump the excess<br />11 – Once the adrenal activity from the initial salt dose is finished, the salt allows the adrenals to rest, as ordinarily they must work harder when we are sodium deficient (because they must produce a hormone, aldosterone, to keep the sodium in circulation longer when deficient)<br />12 – We all have an infection-induced form of something called ‘channelopathy’ which means that our electrolyte ions are dangerously low, and the salts help restore that (this is the basis of the Spanish product ‘Recup’ that has reversed FM/CFS for some people over the course of 1-2 years, although they do not include the infection part)<br />13 - The ascorbic acid boosts white cell production, and the salt then powers the cells, so it is a win-win situation<br />14 – We are making up for decades of salt deficiency, and the body simply has to work though the things it would ordinarily have taken care of over those decades. This may include EMOTIONAL issues that we have not been able to process properly due to lack of electrolytes and thus low or unbalanced neurological and brain activity (maybe this explains why past emotional events sometimes emerge during Salt/C herx, we are being prompted by the emotional brain to deal with it now that we have salt).<br />15 – Many body fluids rely on salt, such as blood, sweat, and tears, (perhaps also lymphatic fluids?) and because we tend to be salt deficient, when we correct that deficiency all of these fluids work better.<br />16 – The good salt is finally pushing out bad salts and other bad minerals and toxins, and it is those bad salts and toxins that have allowed us to be sick. Sort of like putting good gas into a car after years of bad gas, it has to burn out the bad stuff.<br />17 – Many (or most?) people with Lyme are sodium and potassium deficient, and because cellular metabolism is powered by a sodium-potassium pump action, this leads to lower cellular function.<br />18 – Salt helps relax muscles, and this has many positive effects, for example this could reduce detox load, and also lower load on the heart<br />19 – Salt is a corrosive agent and actually may address problems with hypercoagulation, or other build-ups that are common with Lyme and related diseases.<br />20 - Salt provides a key building block for stomach acid. This improves digestion which is often compromised with this illness. The relevant formula is that the Salt (NaCl) mixes with water and carbon dioxide, producing hydrocloric acid and sodium bicarbonate. This is expressed as: H2O + C02 + NaCl == NaHCO3 + HCl.<br />21 - Salt provides sodium bicarbonate (see formula above), a known antimicrobial, used sometimes in dentistry to treat periodontal disease. This is a particularly interesting explanation since the combination of sodium bicarbonate and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) has been used with great success in treating difficult periodontal infections. Since neutrophils (immune cells) make their own H2O2, perhaps the availability of sodium bicarbonate provides an additional boost to their function.<br />22 – Salt/C may be a natural form of the ‘Marshall Protocol’ in which two medications are used to address infected blood cells. The MP uses an anti-inflammatory drug (Benicar) and a mild abx like Minocycline. Vitamin C has anti-inflammatory properties and may act somewhat like the Benicar and salt is a known broad-spectrum anti-microbial (see 21 above) and may act like Minocycline.<br />23 - Salt increases the enzyme elastase in our tissues which punches holes into the microbes and parasites and makes them vulnerable to our immune mechanisms (per Robert Bransford's article in Townsend).<br />24 - Natural forms of salt may address some of the mineral loss associated with mercury toxicity.<br />25 - Salt enhances blood volume, which can dramatically help some people with CFS and Lyme. Dr Paul Cheney, an expert in CFS, strongly advocates using sodium/potassium drinks at least twice a day to increase blood volume. This is related to his current hypothesis of cardiac involvement in CFS and low stroke volume (from a diastolic heart dysfunction) that he is finding in people with CFS. His recommendation (http://www.gookinaid.com/) is similar to Recup, with both sodium and potassium salts. This can also be made at home by using equal parts of regular salt with a potassium salt (a salt substitute works). Here is a link to the <a href="http://www.virtualhometown.com/dfwcfids/archive/cfsjul05.pdf">homebrew version</a> from Dr. Cheney's June 2005 talk on cardiac issues in CFS (search for 'Gookinaid' in the document).<br />26 - A salt dose that raises blood salinity will lower the level of aldosterone, allowing the salt to be evacuated. Is it possible that something ELSE is also allowed to be evacuated? Maybe the perpetual high aldosterone levels from sodium depletion (which most Lymies have) is having some secondary effect, retaining some toxin in the blood perhaps, and the salt dose relieves that. Therefore a small salt dose could trigger a detox effect. And when toxins leave, more are queued up to be evacuated later, and toxin movement generates a lot of various symptoms…. So maybe the salt dose is helping eliminate bad minerals – including metals.<br />27 - The body is an electro-chemical device, producing extensive electrical fields and charges. Some people have theorized that subtle energy fields in the body are essential for cell-to-cell communication and immune functions. Also, many people are quite sensitive to electromagnetic fields. Salt is a strong electrolyte, and with a sodium dificiency some of the fields of the body may be weak. Therefore, Salt/C may be restoring electrical fields and thus enhancing any biologic and/or control processes in the body that rely on those fields.<br />28 - Salt water is a high alkalinizing drink. Alkaline drinks have the know effect of impeding the excretion of Vitamin C, therefore prolonging its action. As Vitamin C is known to have a powerful immune-enhancing effect, taking the C with Salt water may produce a multiplier effect, in which the effective dose of C is much higher than the actual dose. Reference: <a href="http://www.seanet.com/%7Ealexs/ascorbate/198x/smith-lh-clinical_guide_1988.htm">Clinical Guide to the Use of Vitamin C.</a><br />29 - Salt and water may provoke increased lymphatic fluid flow, through the mechanism of increased blood volume. This is becasue excess blood plasma leaks from capillaries and that forms the basis of the lymphatic, or interstitial fluid. There is more lymphatic fluid in the body than there is blood. And most of the Lyme toxins end up in the lymphatic system since that is where the body processes lipids, and Lyme toxins are lipid-based. If this thinking is correct, then increased lymphatic flow will have a detoxifying effect.<br />30 - Salt may block certain immune complex binders (possibly Cq1). This is based on a patent by Schutzer, MD (US patent #5187065) . Schutzer was using a combination of salt and Boron to create a new test for Lyme Disease. Exactly how this could be a mechanism for Salt/C is unclear, but there is some phenomenon here that relates salt and Lyme, so it is interesting.<br />31 - Vitamin C helps recycle GSH (Glutathione, a primary natural antioxidant), which is usually low in people with CFS and Lyme. Taking Vitamin C every few hours may have a significant positive effect on the GSH status and thus increase detoxification potential.</span>Kurthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13638567143640874267noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11082434.post-1116789549519927322005-05-22T15:06:00.000-04:002005-05-22T15:19:09.530-04:00The adrenal-sleep connectionMany people with CFIDS and/or Lyme Disease have sleep problems. Often they search for ways to help sedate themselves to sleep better, or ways to restore proper melatonin production, or address imbalances. There is another possible explanation that fits CFIDS and Lyme becasue of the adrenal exhaustion common in these conditions. People with depleted adrenals often can not sleep well because adrenals support sleep. They often <strong>can</strong> finally sleep once they start on cortisol replacement. In fact this has been a popular discussion on an adrenal list I belong to - how many of the people can sleep finally after years of sleep difficulties, once they get the proper adrenal support. And salt IS an adrenal support. It is almost as good as cortisol. I have been on both cortisol and salt/c and have experienced that it is the same type of benefit, the adrenal support helps the sleep (in my case and in others also). Probably also the salt is improving the digestive dysbiosis which means less toxins to detox during the night. But if this is the primary benefit, it will probably wax and wane as you herx. So how do you know if your adrenals are shot? Is there a test? Or is it obvious if you are living in chronic fatigue and pain that they're gonners. And what about cortisol replacement? Is that safe? Here is what I have learned about these questions.<br /><span class="fullpost"><br />The primary symptom of exhausted adrenals for me is that energy ‘runs out’ early in the day (say, around 12-2 PM), I feel horrible when I get an ordinary virus – like I might die, and any stress at all saps so much energy that I must lay down. Also, sleep problems and chronic kidney-area pain or lower back pain whenever I lay down and relax. There are others but I would say these are primary. The problem is that when adrenals are exhausted they have actually lost some of their capacity, and therefore a person with exhausted adrenals is living with a condition that is basically a sub-clinical form of Addison’s Disease. I believe that a LOT of late stage Lymies have this and do not realize that it is an actual injury to the adrenals that should be addressed separately.<br /><br />Also, one of the most telling symptoms is to lose all body hair from the lower legs, and eventually the upper legs as well. This is a strong indicator of adrenal exhaustion, but it reverses when the adrenals heal. BTW, my adrenals are slowly healing on salt/c, but I still have to treat them, and I must support them well during bad herx cycles.<br /><br />There are several tests, the most useful is the Adrenal Stress Index (ASI), which is a very simple saliva test you take at home and send to the lab. You take several samples over a 24-hour period. This shows the levels of many adrenal hormones, and compares them to normal. A typical person with adrenal exhaustion has levels about half of normal, although sometimes there are reverse levels also (one time of day the cortisol is too high, another time of day it is too low), which show general regulation problems from chronic infection load. Most doctors who are ‘into’ natural medicine know about this test. A good place to get the ASI test based on a phone consultation is <a href="http://www.chronicfatigue.org/">http://www.chronicfatigue.org/</a> – they have reasonable rates and are a non-profit treatment center for adrenal-related issues.<br /><br />Cortisol is a hormone that is involved in adrenaline production, it is a safe supplement to take, but if a person takes too much the body may become dependent. However, there was controversy over this drug early on because its over-use caused problems. Then a Dr. Jeffries proved a number of years ago that a level not exceeding half the biological dose is safe and will not alter the body’s metabolism in any negative way. Taking too much is a problem because when we have high adrenal levels the immune system is depressed. There was a lot of misinformation about this about 20-30 years ago, and that still persists in the minds of many medical practitioners.<br /><br />Some recent research has proven that about half of the people with chronic fatigue syndrome have adrenal glands that are half the size they should be based on body mass. I don’t think the reason is clear yet, either atrophy or genetics, but it was a surprise to learn this. Some people just seem to have low adrenal capacity. And as adrenals are taxed heavily with chronic infections, this is a big issue.<br /><br />There are other ways to boost the adrenals, such as licorice root and salt. Because I have chronically exhausted adrenals and probably have lost some adrenal function (For now anyway) I must take adrenal support every day. On days when I go off salt (I try to take a day off now and then to rest the kidneys), I must take cortisol (Cortef) or a lot of licorice. The typical healthy adrenal gland makes 40mg of cortisol per day. I usually take 5-10mg of cortisol on days off salt, or days with high stress. So probably my daily adrenal production is lower than it should be by at least that amount. Many people take 20mg daily, and for some this has completely reversed their health problem (usually chronic fatigue type issues).<br /><br />Historically, licorice was the natural treatment for Addison’s, because it acts as a re-uptake inhibitor for adrenaline. Some people treat only with licorice and adrenal extracts. I use very small amounts of licorice only because large quantities of licorice increase estrogen and lower testosterone levels. But in small quantities it does not seem to be a problem.<br /><br />There are many other herbs that can be helpful in treating adrenal exhaustion. If you are serious about this topic I would recommend getting the book ‘Adrenal Fatigue’ by James Wilson (he is unique, he is an ND and DC with a PhD in nutrition). There are dozens of books on the subject but this one seems to be one of the most highly regarded, and his program does help many people, without using cortisol.<br /></span>Kurthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13638567143640874267noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11082434.post-1116272600849539192005-05-16T15:28:00.000-04:002005-06-15T22:14:29.646-04:00Review of several Salt-based ProtocolsThis is my quick review of the current salt-related protocols for treating Lyme Disease, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and Fibromyalgia. Rumor has it that a number of physicians are conducting small-scale clinical trials of some variations on these. Will be interesting to see how that turns out.<br /><span class="fullpost"><br />Each of these includes the basic combination of Salt and Vitamin C. There are various theories about why this works, but for the most part this is a synergistic 'discovery.' If you are interested in using Salt/C, I recommend reviewing most or all of these sites. One important warning though, I believe that there is one major omission in all of these, and that is that they lack any special kidney support or consideration for kidney health. While there is some controversy about this, my own experience has been that the kidneys need to rest from the higher Salt levels now and then. So I take one or two days a week off the protocol, and also take a full week off if my kidneys start to ache. However, some people seem to have little or no kidney distress from Salt/C. So caution is indicated, but hope for the best. Some people are recovering from these protocols alone, and some are improving a lot by combining Salt/C with other treatments. However, nobody claims that Salt/C is a cure for any of the conditions being treated. Most of the protocols, with the exception of Klinghardt, include indefinite use of the Salt/C.<br /><br /><strong>Original Salt/C protocol</strong> (Lyme-focused protocol by anonymous recovered<br />persons, posted in 1999, their story has been validated) - <a href="http://www.lymephotos.com">http://www.lymephotos.com</a>. This is probably the site that 'started it all.' The careful experimentation and following a hunch payed off in a major way. The people who discovered this protocol are continuing at full dose, and staying well now for 6+ years. </span><br /><span class="fullpost"><br /><strong>Enhanced Salt/C protocol</strong> (more comprehensive, includes immune-boosting,<br />detox, Rife, etc., by Marc Fett, recovered from Lyme Disease) -<br /><a href="http://www.fettnet.com/lymestrategies/">http://www.fettnet.com/lymestrategies/</a> . Marc is now using a reduced level of Salt/C and is continuing to stay well. Many other people are experiencing success from this protocol. Marc adds a lot of extras to Salt/C including supernutrients, multimineral supplements, immune boosting, etc.<br /><br /><strong>Enhanced Salt/C group</strong> (Discusses Marc Fett protocol, Marc moderates) -<br /><a href="http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/lymestrategies/">http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/lymestrategies/</a>. This group is reporting great success with Salt/C. This is a support-oriented group, and people working through the herx response are able to get useful feedback from others who are ahead of them on the protocol. Most of the people in this group have purchased Marc Fett's 'e-book' about his Enhanced Salt/C protocol. The group also discusses the original Salt/C protocol and other related topics.<br /><br /><strong>Recup</strong>, a Sodium/Potassium/Calcium/Magnesium blend (Alfred Blasi<br />protocol, recovered from severe FM/CFS) </span><span class="fullpost"><a href="http://www.alfredblasi.net/eng/experiencia/ingles.HTM">http://www.alfredblasi.net/eng/experiencia/ingles.HTM</a>. This is the web site containing Alfred's story of recovery from a nightmarish Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue condition. There are links on this page to the manufacturer of the mineral supplement Alfred invented. Alfred's patent rights were donated to ongoing research into the use of his protocol. The manufacturer is in Spain.<br /><br /><strong>Recup group</strong> (Discusses Blasi, FM/CFS, Alfred participates from time to<br />time)<br /><a href="http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/AlfredblasiprotocolFMSCFS/">http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/AlfredblasiprotocolFMSCFS/</a> . This is a Yahoo group dedicated to discussion of the Blasi protocol. This is a support group of sorts, and people get help working through issues related to using Recup for FM/CFS.<br /><br /><strong>Dr. Klinghardt Protocol</strong> (Uses Salt/C as a 3 month parasite cleanse<br />adjunct, Lyme-focused) <a href="http://www.neuraltherapy.com/word/Lyme1204.doc">http://www.neuraltherapy.com/word/Lyme1204.doc</a> . This is a doctor-recommended protocol with many improvements reported, my own MD recommends this protocol. Incidentally, Klinghardt also has a neurotoxin cleanse protocol, and<br />heavy metal recommends. See:<br /><a href="http://www.neuraltherapy.com/articlesProtocols.asp">http://www.neuraltherapy.com/articlesProtocols.asp</a> </span><br /><p><span class="fullpost"><strong>Experimental Salt/C discussion group</strong> (Discusses Salt/C for all conditions) <a href="http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/salt-n-c/">http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/salt-n-c/</a><br />This yahoo group discusses Salt/C treatments in general, mostly for CFS/ME type conditions. This is a new group (May 2005).</p></span><span class="fullpost"><p><strong>Co-Cure Salt Page</strong> (Discusses natural salt) <a href="http://www.curezone.com/foods/saltcure.asp">http://www.curezone.com/foods/saltcure.asp</a><br />Although not a protocol, this page is a wonderful explanation of why we need, and are deficient in, the minerals contained in natural salts. If you are considering using ANY salt protocl, I highly recommend reading this page.</p><p></p><br /></span>Kurthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13638567143640874267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11082434.post-1109381821956869312005-05-02T20:19:00.000-04:002005-07-16T17:53:59.476-04:00Starting the Salt/C protocol<p>Here is my experience over the first few months of using a Salt/C protocol. This is a 'reduced' salt load protocol. Because I am over-sensitive to most treatments, and seem to have weak kidneys, this is a very conservative approach, and it seems to be working as well as the more aggressive protocol that some people are advocating. Please note that I worked up to this serving of Salt/C very gradually, over several weeks. I started out at just 1g of salt per day, and 500mg of Vitamin C every other day. Being gradual with this is important because of the possibility of a die-off reaction as the salt begins powering the immune system to kill the Lyme bacteria (or possibly even killing bacteria directly in some locations in the body, such as in the digestive system). <span class="fullpost"></p><p>I take 4g of salt and 1.5g of vitamin C per day. I alternate between natural whole salt, and salt tablets. The salt tablets are 1g. The natural salt is granular, like table salt, but it is from an ancient sea. For the granular salt, 4g is about one teaspoon. I take a half teaspoon just before breakfast, a quarter teaspoon before lunch, and a quarter in the late afternoon. If I have very low energy I add an extra eighth teaspoon at diner. I do NOT use table salt, only medical grade pure salt tablets, or natural 'whole salt' such as <a href="http://www.realsalt.com">RealSalt</a> or <a href="http://www.mcssl.com/app/aftrack.asp?afid=285365">Krystal salt</a>. The Krystal salt is probably the best, based on reviews from a lot of people using Salt/C. Also, I take each serving of salt in a glass of water, at least 8 oz. The vitamin C I use is Ester C, which is a slower release. I take 500mg of the Ester C with each 1g of salt, for the 1.5g vitamin C per day. This is generally considered a safe dose of vitamin C, although some doctors prefer 1g per day (important for those who have a history of kidney stones, for others much higher doses seem to be fine). </p><p>Several groups are advocating much higher doses of Salt and Vitamin C for Lyme, I have their links on the <a href="http://kurtsprotocol.blogspot.com">blog main page</a>. They believe a therapeutic dose is 12g of salt and 12g of vitamin C per day. I have not tried that high of a dose yet, and am hoping that this lower and somewhat safer dose will continue to work for me. Perhaps some people need more, I know we are all unique. Some people may do better on the full 12g protocol. I'll describe my experience of starting the Salt/C protocol, and also include some information on the different salts I have tried.</p><p>According to reports by people using the salt/C treatment, at first most people experience some extra fatigue, some sleep during the day for a few days. This happened to me a few times, and I NEVER have slept during the day before. Even as a child I could not often sleep during the afternoon nap time. So the salt must really be having an effect. However, I found that I cant take it in the late evening, or it actually keeps me awake at night. Different people respond differently. Some people have the opposite response, and take the salt at night to help them sleep. </p><p>New symptoms may appear on Salt/C, particularly in the early weeks, but old ones diminish, so there is some sort of trade-off, probably due to the bacteria moving around. Many people feel little pin pricks around the body and on the skin, and the belief is that this is co-infections, parasites trying to escape the salt. Some people experience small bumps on the skin, such as on the back or arms or chest. They feel like insect bites, and some hypothesize that they are due to parasites, microfilarial worms, trying to exit the body.<br /><br />There is a silver lining to all the flare-up, or symptom worsening on this treatment; the salt/C treatment gives most people more strength so they are more able to tolerate the die-off effect better. That is true in my case. I feel a little better almost immediately on the salt, and can tolerate the die-off better than I ordinarily would. This is unique among ALL of the Lyme treatments I have ever tried or read about. Virtually all of the other treatments make you both sicker and weaker at the same time, and you have to endure a lot to get better slowly.<br /><br />Here are some other possible reactions to salt. Sometimes there are some heart palpitations when starting the salt, that is normal and will eventually resolve, and they are not too bad. It probably has to do with the shock of the nerves working properly again, and the body making adjustments as the bacteria load increases. Usually it passes quickly, but when that persists, I prop myself up on a few pillows for a half hour and rest, and then it passes. Does not happen often anymore, and some people never have this particular symptom. I also have experienced a heart mini-palpitation sometimes when I change position, usually when I lie down, I believe this is an adjustment, it does not persist. The Lyme bacteria often infects the heart, so that may be involved. That is then a good sign, if it is removing an infection from the heart area! </p><p>Another common symptom worsening from the salt is joint pain, I have had a little of that, not too much though. Also, some people get more vision disturbance events and have strange persistence in their vision (something they look at that is bright persists for 10-20 minutes after they look away from it), but that just means the bugs are dying and releasing their toxins, and the body clears that up regularly. Also, be aware that all of these reactions happen with ANY successful Lyme treatment.<br /><br />Again, one major benefit of the salt is that you are stronger on the salt. This is due to the support of adrenals by salt. Also, there are some major and immediate symptom reductions, for instance, my anxiety level is about 50% reduced when I take salt. I have no idea why this is, but I am glad for that. Also, my digestion immediately improved, within a few days. I did have some worsening of Candida symptoms for the first week, then they started improving, and now are much better than before, and that is common. Also, the viral load appears to be reduced. Certainly a good sign.<br /><br />I did have a Lyme diagnosis before starting Salt/C. I know some people have started the protocol because of their suspicion that they had Lyme. Apparently, with Lyme, you can get a positive result regardless of whether you are on treatment, so some people do start the treatment before they are diagnosed. If their symptoms worsen, that can be taken as a sign of Lyme die-off, although most will still want or need a test result. </p><p>I started my Salt/C experiment very slowly. The LymePhotos website recommends 8-12g per day of salt, and that works for some people, but others appear to need much less. I am only taking 4g per day, and I increase to 6-8g per day once every few weeks which I believe provides a 'pulse' and knocks down the bugs. I have read in some places that the Lyme bacteria reproduces on a 30 day cycle, it is very slow, but very hardy. So the 'pulse' approach maybe effective, even if there is only one or two pulses per month. </p><p>People who have been sick for a long time have a very high load of the Lyme bacteria, and need to whittle that down slowly. I am definitely in that group and have a very high load. There is a vision test that can show how high a person's Lyme load is. That is at <a href="http://www.chronicneurotoxins.com">www.chronicneurotoxins.com</a>. I flunked that test only after I started treating the Lyme. I had taken it earlier and passed the test. The difference apparently is that some people detox the Lyme neurotoxins well, and then they will only show the neurotoxin presence when they are killing off the bacteria. </p><p>There are three types of salt that are known to work by people using Salt/C. These are CNC salt tablets (by Consolidated Midland), RealSalt (<a href="http://www.realsalt.com">www.realsalt.com</a>), and <a href="http://www.mcssl.com/app/aftrack.asp?afid=285365">Hunza (Krystal) Salt</a>. The dose for the RealSalt or Hunza Salt is ¼ = 1g. The CNC tablets are 1g already. I am rotating between RealSalt and CNC tablets. I also am using the Hunza salt, and believe it is the best of the three. CNC must be ordered through a pharmacy, but no prescription is required. The tablets are very convenient and seem important at first, they are medical grade unprocessed salt.<br /><br />When I use the salt tablets, I take extra minerals with the salt. I take ¼ teaspoon of Concentrace with each 1g CNC salt tablet. Concentrace is a liquid mineral supplement that is balanced with all necessary trace minerals, it is available at most vitamin stores (<a href="http://www.traceminerals.com">www.traceminerals.com</a>). If you use the CNC tablets extra minerals such as Concentrace are critical with each dose. If you use RealSalt or Hunza, you will already be getting some minerals, and you do not need as many extra mineral supplements, probably just a daily mineral tablet.<br /><br />The CNC tablets must be ordered through a pharmacy, or purchased online. No prescription required, but they are usually not a stock item. Here is a source: <a href="http://www.americarx.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=16769">AmericaRx</a> . I get them at a local pharmacy. Very cheap, $6.99 for a bottle online, a dollar more through the local pharmacy, but no shipping cost if you order from the pharmacy.<br /><br />In spite of the appearance, table salt is NOT natural salt. It is usually a Sodium-Chloride (NaCl) extract from sea salt. What we are sold as table salt is an extract from real salt. Like something from a chemistry lab, not from the earth. We need the real thing. Most people tolerate natural salt well, because that is nothing but a collection of minerals, and we need all of them. On the other hand, many people react to table salt, including with high BP, because of its unbalanced (complimentary minerals are missing) and adulterated nature (the addition of fillers, stabilizers, and use of bleach for coloration). Some sea salts are good, but some are processed similarly to table salt, including the bleach. A few people have tried Celtic and French sea salts, which are not processed, and think that works for the protocol. However, they are not as pure and may contain harmful metals or toxins from polluted ocean water. The mined salts (RealSalt and Hunza) do not contain those as they are ancient sources.<br /><br />I do not get digestive upset from the salt, but some people do at first, until the stomach starts healing and gets stronger. Those who are sensitive and want to use CNC dissolve the tablet in water, and sip it slowly over a half hour or so. That works for some people. But for some people that makes the stomach worse, and they do better taking the salt serving all at once. I just use RealSalt or Krystal salt in water, but I can also take the CNC tablets straight. BTW, I was on HCL for digestion before the salt. After the salt, no more need for HCL. The CL in HCL comes from salt.<br /><br />Regarding adrenals, most people with CFIDS and/or Lyme have adrenal exhaustion. I do take a larger dose in the morning to help the adrenals. I started initially at 1-2g per day on CNC tablets. Then I worked up to 8g per day for a few days, and had a massive herx and could not take salt for several days. Finally I tried RealSalt for a month, then I settled down to current dose levels with Krystal salt, which seems quite effective. I may increase again in a few weeks, still learning. </span></p>Kurthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13638567143640874267noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11082434.post-1114786601571853392005-04-29T10:52:00.000-04:002005-04-29T10:56:41.573-04:00Fermented Cabbage Recipe - for correcting malabsorptionHere is a recipe for fermented cabbage, a very powerful natural probiotic, and very helpful with digestion. I believe this recipe was the major factor in the reversal of my very severe malabsorption problem.<br /><br /><span class="fullpost"><br />1. Purchase vegetable culture. I get mine from <a href="http://www.mercola.com/forms/veggie_starter.htm">Mercola</a>, but there are other sources. Some people say that cabbage will culture on its own also because there is acidophilus on the plants already, but I always use a commercial culture.<br /><br />2. Purchase FOS (fruit sugar) powder (or you can use sugar to start the culture – I get FOS from <a href="http://www.bodyecologydiet.com">www.bodyecologydiet.com</a>, I use the FOS because I am very sensitive to regular sugar)<br /><br />3. Purchase 4-5 quart jars and lids (or you can get special fermentation jars that are heavier, but I use quart jars all the time and they work fine. </span><br /><span class="fullpost"><br />4. Cut up a head of cabbage (organic if available, but regular works also) into thin strips. When I want a big batch I use two heads of cabbage. Save a few pieces of cabbage whole, to roll up and use in the tops of the jars (more on this below). If you have sensitive or pickiness about taste, you may add seasonings, garlic, other vegetables, etc. I am not selective about taste and like the regular fermented raw cabbage. Some people can not stand that flavor though and need to create a nicer ‘recipe.’<br /><br />5. Prepare about 1 cup of culture solution, this is one packet of veggie culture mixed with one scoop of FOS (or about 1 tablespoon of sugar if you don’t use FOS) in a half cup of warm water. Let sit for about 20 minutes, to get the culture started<br /><br />6. Then puree about a cup of cabbage in a blender, and mix in with the culture solution<br /><br />7. Mix the culture/puree in with the sliced cabbage (this is best in a very large bowl) until the cabbage is all moistened with the culture.<br /><br />8. Put the cabbage into quart jars, and smash down to eliminate air and get as much cabbage as possible in each jar. Usually one large head of cabbage will make 4-5 quarts. Put a rolled-up piece of whole cabbage in the top, to act as a type of filler and keep the fermenting cabbage compressed as much as possible. You want as little air as possible in the fermenting cabbage.<br /><br />9. Put the lid on tight (but not too tight or you may have difficulty opening it again because leakage will tighten the ‘seal’ a bit!). If you are using a fermentation jar with a metal clamp on the top the lid will be very tight, but you can more easily open it because it uses downward pressure on the lid and not a screw-top. But you don’t need to use a special fermentation jar or jug, an inexpensive quart jar, or even a used mayonnaise jar, works just fine.<br /><br />10. Set aside for one week, at room temperature. It will ferment. Every few days, turn the jars upside down for a few minutes to re-moisten the cabbage well. I like to place mine on the tops of the kitchen cabinets, where they will stay nice and warm, be out of the way, but also remain visible so I remember to retrieve them after a week!<br /><br />11. Refrigerate the jars after a week, this slows down the fermentation, but does not completely stop it.<br /><br />12. Eat about 1 tablespoon with each meal, this is the most powerful probiotic I have ever found, and I have taken a LOT of them. For the first few days there may be some burning sensation in the intestines as the cabbage changes the terrain. If this is intolerable, stop for a day, or take a half teaspoon or less with each meal, then work up slowly.<br /><br />---------------------------<br /><br />The effect of this is quite amazing. I had severe muscle wasting and had lost all my body fat, and immediately started gaining weight again. I already was on a good diet, had taken supplements many times for dysbiosis, and had worked on stress reduction, and probably those measures also were important. Also, I make and take Kefir with each meal which probably helps as well. But it was the fermented cabbage that made the big difference. My wasting did not reverse until I started using this.<br /><br /></span>Kurthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13638567143640874267noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11082434.post-1114786213036779382005-04-29T10:37:00.000-04:002005-04-29T10:50:13.040-04:00Role of Adrenal Exhaustion and Cortisol in CFIDS/LymeOne of the apparent results of my long-term chronic infection is adrenal exhaustion. This is a complicated problem that must be addressed in order for more complete healing to take place. The primary symptom of exhausted adrenals for me is that energy ‘runs out’ early in the day (say, around 12-2 PM), I feel horrible when I get an ordinary virus – like I might die, and any stress at all saps so much energy that I must lay down. Also, sleep problems and chronic kidney-area pain or lower back pain whenever I lay down and relax. There are others but I would say these are primary. Here are some of the things I have learned about the adrenals and treating this problem.<br /><br /><span class="fullpost"><br />When adrenals are exhausted they have actually lost some of their capacity, and therefore a person with exhausted adrenals is living with a condition that is basically a sub-clinical form of Addison’s Disease. I believe that a LOT of late stage Lymies have this and do not realize that it is an actual injury to the adrenals that should be addressed separately.<br /><br />Also, one of the most telling symptoms is to lose all body hair from the lower legs, and eventually the upper legs as well. This is a strong indicator of adrenal exhaustion, but it reverses when the adrenals heal. BTW, my adrenals are slowly healing on salt/c, but I still have to treat them, and I must support them well during bad herx cycles.<br /><br />There are several tests, the most useful is the Adrenal Stress Index (ASI), which is a very simple saliva test you take at home and send to the lab. You take several samples over a 24-hour period. This shows the levels of many adrenal hormones, and compares them to normal. A typical person with adrenal exhaustion has levels about half of normal, although sometimes there are reverse levels also (one time of day the cortisol is too high, another time of day it is too low), which show general regulation problems from chronic infection load. Most doctors who are ‘into’ natural medicine know about this test.<br /><br />Cortisol is a hormone that is involved in adrenaline production, it is a safe supplement to take, but if a person takes too much the body may become dependent. However, there was controversy over this drug early on because its over-use caused problems. Then a Dr. Jeffries proved a number of years ago that a level not exceeding half the biological dose is safe and will not alter the body’s metabolism in any negative way. Taking too much is a problem because when we have high adrenal levels the immune system is depressed. There was a lot of misinformation about this about 20-30 years ago, and that still persists in the minds of many medical practitioners.<br /><br />One interesting study showed that people with chronic fatigue syndrome may have adrenal glands that are half the size they should be based on body mass. I don’t think the reason is clear yet, either atrophy or genetics, but it was a surprise to learn this. Some people just seem to have low adrenal capacity. And as adrenals are taxed heavily with chronic infections, this is a big issue. (reference: Psychoneuroendocrinology 1999 Oct 24(7):759-68, Small adrenal glands in chronic fatigue syndrome: a preliminary computer tomography study. Scott L V, Teh J, Reznek R, Martin A, Sohaib A, Dinan T G [8 patients tested] )<br /><br />There are other ways to boost the adrenals, such as licorice root and salt. Because I have chronically exhausted adrenals and probably have lost some adrenal function (For now anyway) I must take adrenal support every day. On days when I go off salt (I try to take a day off now and then to rest the kidneys), I must take cortisol (Cortef) or a lot of licorice. The typical healthy adrenal gland makes 40mg of cortisol per day. I usually take 5-10mg of cortisol on days off salt, or days with high stress. Many people take 20mg daily, and for some this has completely reversed their health problem (usually chronic fatigue type issues).<br /><br />Historically, licorice was the natural treatment for Addison’s, because it acts as a re-uptake inhibitor for adrenaline. Some people treat only with licorice and adrenal extracts. I use very small amounts of licorice only because large quantities of licorice increase estrogen and lower testosterone levels. But in small quantities it does not seem to be a problem.<br /><br />There are many other herbs that can be helpful in treating adrenal exhaustion. If you are serious about this topic I would recommend reading the book 'Adrenal Fatigue' by <a href="http://www.adrenalfatigue.org/">James Wilson</a> (he is unique, he is an ND and DC with a PhD in nutrition). There are dozens of books on the subject but this one seems to be one of the most highly regarded, and his program does help many people, without using cortisol.<br /><br />A good place to get the ASI test based on a phone consultation is <a href="http://www.chronicfatigue.org">www.chronicfatigue.org</a> – they have reasonable rates and are a non-profit treatment center for adrenal-related issues.<br /></span>Kurthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13638567143640874267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11082434.post-1114183056330452762005-04-22T10:56:00.001-04:002009-06-30T15:07:11.951-04:00Using Intuition Methods to Help TreatmentFrom time to time I have used various <em>Intuition Methods</em> to help identify which supplements or treatments might be good for me, or to find new treatment directions entirely. I now use this as a helpful way to provide insights, and sometimes to guide, but not to replace my rational and logical approach to problems. The primary method I will describe here is a form of muscle-testing or kinesiology. This intuition method has been helpful in learning to manage my illness, although there are some limitations.<span class="fullpost"><br /><br /><strong>My Discovery of Intuition Methods</strong><br />Learning the best role of intuition methods was an interesting experience. When I first started using this and other related methods, I got quite excited about the ease of getting 'answers' to difficult questions. And I did find help in some new directions, particularly working through the emotional side of this disease, resolving some past problems and developing better coping strategies for dealing with the stress of the illness. I started feeling that I might be able to use intuition alone to get better. But then I had a negative experience where I followed advice from an intuition method without thinking things through enough rationally, and stopped several treatments all at one time. Basically, rather than evaluating carefully what 'made sense' I followed the intuition blindly. The result was a complete reversal of my progress and an immediate decline, I became bedridden again in one week! I learned a powerful lesson from this. Although I had benefitted significantly from intuitive methods, in this case I should have spent more time reasoning through what I learned and thought carefully about whether it was a good idea to stop so many useful treatments all at once, and start an untested treatment without carefully thinking things through. After some introspection I made a major shift in my use of intuitive methods, and put the rational mind back in control. I adjusted my perspective about the role of these intuitive methods and now I am more comfortable with their value. I realize now that I should have tested the new ideas more carefuly. My final conclusion from this experience was that intuitive methods are <strong>like advisors or consultants </strong>from an unknown source. Sort of like getting free advice over the Internet :). Intuitive methods help us better perceive our own deepest feelings, impressions, or intuitions, and maybe are indeed reflective of a higher wisdom connected with our inner being. But I think we should be cautious about taking literally the suggestions from these methods. Intuitive inputs can be helpful in pointing out things we might not have considered, and sometimes they can help us get through tough times. But we may not want to put these methods 'in charge' of key decisions.<br /><br />I realize now that I came to over-rely on intuition out of frustration with this disease. After using a rational approach for many years with little success I tried to switch my emphasis on finding solutions to intuitive methods, and probably expected too much from intuitive methods. Now I realize that we should only use intuition as an input to our <strong>reasoning process</strong> in decision-making. I like to think that the mix of reason to intuition should be about 10:1. We need intuition, but it should not control our destiny alone. Therefore, I now restrict intuition to a 10% role, meaning it contributes 10% to the decision-making process. I still need to base 90% of my decision on logic, reason, and then use hard work to make things work, to get well. Nature gave us both reason and intuition, and I believe we need both. Ignoring either intuition or reason altogether is foolish, because human reason often needs the guidance of intuition (or conscience), and human intuition needs the logic of reason in order to accomplish good things. Ok, enough philosophy, on to the methods!<br /><br /><strong>The Preliminary Stuff</strong><br />There are many books and websites devoted to muscle testing. What I present here is a synthesis, based on a year-long search and learning experience. These methods work well for me and for others. I will describe them in simplistic terms because I think they are simple. Someday when I have some time I may add some pictures to this, but really, the instructions should be easy to follow, anyway I hope so.<br /><br />One warning. While I do believe in the value of systematic intuition methods, I must warn that the results can be somewhat subjective. In research conducted with muscle testing, the general conclusion is that a large number of tests by a broad group of people can produce completely consistent information on simple questions of value (see <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1561709336/qid=1114183980/sr=1-3/ref=sr_1_3/102-3718004-4553723?v=glance&s=books">Power Vs. Force</a>). However, on an individual basis, it is not completely reliable. Some people may be better suited than others to succeed with Intuition Methods, one must be able to be completely objective and let the intuition speak without hinderance. And there are some unknowns about the source of the answers. However, with those caveats, I can say that it has been helpful to me.<br /><br /><strong>Definition of Muscle-testing</strong><br />Here are a few of my own thoughts, from my experience with the intuition method of muscle testing. I view muscle testing as a method of enhancing your intuition about the truth of statements related to your health. Muscle testing is based on the idea that our human energy patterns know the truth of all things related to our life, particularly regarding health. I like to think of it as a similar phenomenon to that measured by a polygraph, or lie detector test. A polygraph measures physiological changes such as blood pressure, EEG, or heart rates after a truth statement or a question is posed. Research has shown that these semi-autonomic responses often change when a person makes a false statement. I believe that the negative response of a person's energy polarity may be one of the causes of the changes measured by a polygraph. Like a polygraph, muscle testing involves the use of a physical response to determine the truth of a question. And like a polygraph, some sort of invisible energy is likely involved. So really, this is not as much of a fringe science as might seem, at least in this interpretation. Muscle testing may simply be a form of polygraph-like measure of truth that relies on kinesthetic response...<br /><br />Operators of polygraph equipment learn how to read each person's responses, asking simple questions at first and learning how their body will react. With muscle testing a similar principle is involved. You must first ask a few questions, and then determine whether the testing will work for you. Generally you should first ask questions that reflect simple truths, such as "will muscle testing work for this question?" Or, "Is the sky blue today?" Then progress to questions like "Is this supplement good for me to take right now?" Or, "how much of this should I take, one tablet?" Or even "do I have a Candida problem today?" You can muscle test a wide range of questions, people have even studied history, learned about the relative importance of various human attributes, and even studied the level of maturity of religions through muscle testing. Most people who have studied muscle testing agree that you can not get accurate results if you ask about the future (sorry, no accurate data will be given on tomorrow's stock market prices, this has been tried already...).<br /><br />Muscle testing is believed by many to be a result of communication from a higher intelligence present within the body energy. Thus, muscle testing can be viewed through the lens of belief in a higher intelligence in the universe that communicates with us through our own bodies. But even if you do not believe that, muscle testing still appears to work! Even skeptics can use muscle testing. Research shows that the level of belief in the test is not a factor in obtaining accurate results. I usually meditate silently for a few seconds before muscle testing and try to feel at peace, just to be sure that the proper feelings are involved and I will learn the truth. You should try to develop an unbiased feeling toward the question before muscle testing, as strong feelings towards the question could interfere with the body's response. If you doubt the answer, test again, or try again at a later time when you are in a different mood. Or ask someone you trust to test the question for you.<br /><br /><strong>My 5 Favorite Forms of Muscle Testing</strong><br />There are many forms of muscle testing. Some people succeed with one form and not another form, and some people can not succeed at all. The common forms I have tried are arm, finger rings, foot swinging, and leaning. I have also invented one form of my own, which I call the heart test. There are other forms as well. Here is a brief description of five forms I have tried. A few of these work better for me than others, but each person is unique, so you may want to try them all and determine what will work best for you:<br /><br /><strong>Arm testing</strong> takes two people usually, although some people can succeed alone. For an arm test, you hold the arm out to the side, steady, and another person makes the 'truth statement' and tries to lower the arm by pressing a few fingers lightly on it. The person being tested should be the person with the health problem if possible, although you can ask any question about anything. For example, in the book 'Power vs. Force' this type of testing was used determine the level of maturity of various world religions, and the relative importance of a list of human characteristics. This method works for me sometimes, but I find it difficult because I have a hard time discerning how much force I am using. Maybe some people are more coordinated in this area. This is the original form of muscle testing and much is written on this (books).<br /><br /><strong>Finger rings</strong> are probably the simplest and quickest. You make a ring with thumb and forefinger of one hand, and then make the truth statement and try to separate the thumb and forefinger with the other hand. Separating the thumb and forefinger can be done either by placing the thumb and forefinger of the other hand inside the finger ring and trying to spread them apart, or simply by placing one finger from the other hand inside the ring and trying to push or pull that finger out of the finger ring. The ring will be quite solid with truth, and hard to open. The ring will be easier to separate after making a false statement. One variation on this is to make two interlocking finger rings and try to pull them apart, again hard to separate is true, easy to separate is false. This works sometimes for me, but I am often not certain, maybe I am just not coordinated enough for this method, hard to say.<br /><br /><strong>Foot swinging</strong> works well for young children, it also takes two people. You have them set with feet dangling about 10 inches apart, and then you hold their feet in your hands. You extend both thumbs and make the truth statement then swing the feet together gently. If true, your thumbs will touch easily, if false, you will have difficulty touching thumbs on the first swing. This is a complex form and I have heard a good explanation of how it works based on energy polarity. This method does not work well for me because I can not hold my thumbs out very long, but some people use it almost exclusively.<br /><br /><strong>Leaning</strong> works by holding a supplement, or a paper with a word or question over your heart, then relaxing and making the truth statement about the object (for example: 'this supplement is good for me now'). The relaxing part is very important, that allows your body to talk to you. I take a few seconds and make sure the shoulders drop and are relaxed. Before making the truth statement, think clearly about the possible responses, and then identify where you will lean if the answer is true or false. For example, imagine that you will lean forward for a true answer, and lean to the left for a false answer. Then make the statement and relax. If you find yourself leaning forward, your body is saying yes and if it leans to the left, your body is saying no. No movement means no preference, and movement to any other area means that you have not asked the right question, or the answer is neither yes nor no. You may ask additional questions to know more. Also, you may define more possible responses any way you like. For example, when testing how much of a supplement to take, you might in your mind view the lean as if you were standing on a clock, and each hour of the clock could be the number of tablets, or servings to take. Leaning is a versatile test; you can use this in a store, office, etc., to see if something is right. This is also a very useful test because of the larger number of possible answers and flexibility.<br /><br /><strong>Heart testing</strong> is my favorite form and it is powerful. I discovered this quite by accident and it is very useful. I always use this form for the hardest and most important questions. I like to use the knuckles of one hand to keep track of my options while using heart testing. This allows you to focus more easily on the different options or choices that face you, by using each knuckle to represent a different choice. You then touch each knuckle with the forefinger of the other hand, reviewing in your mind a different option or choice for each knuckle. For some reason, this closing of the circuit of the right and left hands often enhances the power of this test, and placing different options on the knuckles makes it more concrete to the mind/body, and enhances the separation of the sensations of the answer in the heart chakra area (just to the left of the physical heart, in the chest). The answer takes the form of positive (warm, comfortable) or negative (cold, uncomfortable) feelings in the chakra region. I usually take a few seconds and take stock of my feelings and sensations in the heart charka after each knuckle is touched, there is often something to learn even from the wrong answers. This method has helped me a lot.<br /><br /><strong>Final Thought</strong><br />With ANY of these tests, remember that muscle testing is only a method to help you access and better understand <em>your own intuition</em>. And as with all intuition, it is important to run the results through the filter of reason, and make sure the results makes sense before acting on them. As I discussed above, one good way to look at the muscle testing, or any intuitive method, is as an advisor or consultant. We are still the main character in our life story and I believe we are intended by nature to make our own decisions. I don't believe nature provided intuition as a replacement for logic and reason, but rather as a natural 'force' that should work together with reason and contribute to our personal and social progress.<br /><br />Good luck!<br /></span>Kurthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13638567143640874267noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11082434.post-1114101322715005332005-04-21T11:45:00.000-04:002005-04-21T12:54:27.116-04:00Do spontaneous temporary remissions provide clues about CFIDS?A number of years ago I experienced a spontaneous remissions of virtually ALL of my CFIDS symptoms. I have had waxing and waning of symptoms before but this was quite different. I had taken a medicine to treat pinworms because of a family member with an infection (they treat the whole family for this). We were told to take a medicine called 'Vermox' two times, a week apart. The continual heavy fatigue, insomnia and other symptoms just vanished about 12 hours after the first dose. This lasted for a full 24 hours. I was incredulous, but did not realize that the Vermox was the cause until after the second dose a week later, when it happened again. I spoke with my doctor, an Internist, and he had no explanation. At this time I had no idea that co-infections would become a probable explanation for CFIDS, and my doctor did not know what to think. Eventually I forgot about this, because the drug is so toxic that it could not be used regularly or therapeutically. But just in the past few months I have heard other similar stories, and at first I did not connect all the dots. But now I think there are some clues here about at least one element of CFIDS, and possible infections with Helminth parasites...<br /><br /><span class="fullpost"><br />Helminths are a class of parasite usually found in the third world. There are good Helminths and bad Helminths. Some can make humans very sick. Some are used to control insect populations. Several different people, including myself, have used substances that can alter or stop helminth activity resulting in partial, temporary, or even complete recovery from CFIDS.... Here are the details.<br /><br />1. Hans (from Switzerland) posts to a CFS research list I monitor and participate in. Hans has CFIDS and went to Central America where he used Ayahuasca, a native narcotic drink used to stimulate visions and shamanistic healing journeys. Ayahuasca contains DMT, a hormone-like substance that is used in agricultural research to alter the metabolism of the Nematode, a Helminth. DMT is also a street drug in some places, a powerful narcotic. After taking the Ayahuasca healing drink, Hans experienced a significant 'spiritual journey' not unlike a psychedelic drug trip. Hans described this as a type of emotional purging, followed by a significant period of peace and serenity. Hans fully recovered from CFIDS for a few hours. He got his normal strength back, could think clearly, had all his faculties back, could pick up heavy rocks, etc., with no post-exhertional milase. He really did get well for several hours. Hans used the Ayahuasca three times with the same experience each time. Apparently DMT is also a natural human hormone released by the Pineal Gland in the brain. We don't understand much about its effects. Hans theorizes that we may be able to treat CFIDS with DMT, or something like that. What an incredible experience! Hans is trying to learn more about this, and so am I. I thought this was interesting, but then wondered about other possible effects of DMT. Here is what I have found so far. DMT is used in agriculture to change the activity levels of Nematode parasites, a member of the Helminth family! Here is a link to the use of <a href="http://www.bspp.org.uk/ICPP98/1.14/3S.html">DMT to alter Nematode metabolism</a>... I believe that the DMT may have somehow altered the activity of a parasite load Hans is carrying. I can not prove this, but some other stories suggest to me that this is possible... Read on...<br /><br />2. Kurt (me) has CFIDS and took Vermox (described above) which is another powerfulanti-parasitic for pinworm and probably other parasites (Nematodes?) and fully recovered from CFIDS for a few hours. I did this two times, a week a part, same experience both times. But Vermox is very toxic, not a long-term treatment option. Did the Vermox stop some unknown parasitic activity for a few hours, besides its killing of any pinworms?<br /><br />3. Nil, another CFS experimental group member, has CFIDS and took Ketrax, another anti-parasitic with similar effects to Vermox, and 'felt human' again. She tried this also several times with the same effect. Unfortunately, like Vermox, Ketrax also is toxic and not a candidate for a long-term therapeutic agent.<br /><br />4. Nancy has Lyme Disease (with CFS symptoms of course) and identified multiple Nematode parasites exiting her body when she took high doses of Salt. Here is her website, called <a href="http://www.lymephotos.com/">LymePhotos</a> which includes photos of some organisms that look like Helminths. Anyway, Nancy took salt in the theory that if Salt keeps Cows immune to Lyme (proven fact), then maybe it can help people. Nancy recovered fully from Lyme Disease after long-term use of salt. Dozens of people with Lyme are having positive effects from Nancy's protocol, and some are fully recovered, a Yahoo group is focused on this protocol (Lyme Strategies). Many of these people report similar experiences to Nancy's, including the exiting of nematode type parasites from the body during the salt therapy. Also, salt is a definite long-term treatment option, at biological doses. Although using high salt doses is controversial, most current sources agree that Nancy's dose is reasonable and tolerable by most people - humans with healthy kidneys can handle up to 30g of salt per day according to <a href="http://www.saltinstitute.org/">The Salt Institute</a>.<br /><br />5. Other people with CFIDS have taken Flagyl, another anti-parasitic, and had some remission, but then most have stopped because Flagyl has some 'issues' including neuropathy (Kurt also tried this but did not get nearly as much improvement as with the Vermox and had to stop with severe neuropathy). Several people on the online CFS research group have reported this.<br /><br />These experiences suggest to me that CFIDS may involve a Helminth invasion. Maybe there area bad Helminths involved as co-infections in CFS/CFIDS and Lyme. OK, there are several possible alternate explanations here, one of which is that the immune system may be simply not functioning when loaded with anti-parasitics. Certainly that is a possible explanation for the Vermox, Flagyl, and Ketrax, but Nancy and others on Salt/C alternate between herx and improvement as they recover, and so clearly the immune is still alive and well for them. This leaves us with the real possibility that some, or maybe even many people with CFIDS and related illnesses have Nematode Helminths as a co-infection, or maybe even as a primary element.<br /><br />But Helminths are not supposed to be a problem outside of Africa and third-world countries, right? Think again. Some species of Nematodes are considered 'harmless,' so they are used in agriculture to kill insects (huh?). They are sprayed right onto our crops.. See <a href="http://www.ippc.orst.edu/biocontrol/biopesticides/nematodes.htm">this scientific article</a> on the incredible truth. We are definitely exposed to Helminths through our crops. If this is true, then we should have been told, and consumers should have been warned years ago to wash their vegetables with anti-parasitic washes (saline water or GSE work), and also to use parasite treatments occasionally (maybe a yearly cleanse), as is done in the third world. So for all you sleuths. what's goin' on here?<br /><br />Do we have Nematodes that are making some of us sick? Maybe some of us do not have good natural defenses against these critters. OR maybe there is some other explanation. But something is in this data, these are strange 'coincidences.' I have wondered for years why I got well briefly from Vermox. Maybe finally the explanations surfacing. Maybe the problem has been Nematodes all along. And finally, what happens when a person has Nematode infestation? Well, for starters, Salt/C seems to help... and maybe there are other therapies that will help. </span>Kurthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13638567143640874267noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11082434.post-1112232183693594412005-03-30T20:14:00.000-05:002005-05-14T23:31:43.460-04:00Is CFIDS a Complex Mind-Body Problem?A new study (March 2005) has found that people who have chronic fatigue syndrome respond at a lower rate to placebos than patients with other diseases, including migrane headaches, ulcers, and reflux. The paper was published in the March-April issue of Psychosomatic Medicine. I find this quite interesting because it suggests that the mechanism that improves health through positive expectations is not working well for people with chronic fatigue. Some significant part of the mind-body healing mechanism is not working. While some would interpret this to mean that CFS involves a physiological mechanism that can not be influenced by thought, I turn the issue around and wonder why the mind-body healing mechanism does not help CFS at least as much as it helps other very difficult conditions. Even people with completely physiological problems with no 'mind' involvement, such as broken bones, can have better healing with mind-body therapies. So the fact that these therapies do not help people with CFS really is intreaguing. <span class="fullpost"><br /><br />One possible conclusion is that the type of placebo they used was not designed properly for CFS. There are practitioners using much more complicated mind-body treatments that do indeed appear to work for some people with CFS (PWC), such as Reverse Therapy. While other quite complicated mind-body treatments such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), have mixed results. The only conclusion I believe we can safely draw is that CFS is in its own category of disease, and if mind-body treatments are to help at all, they must probably be carefully designed around the specific pathologies involved. Such as the common problem of a neurotoxin load from Borrelia infection (one study shows this to be present in 80% of CFS illnesses). Ordinary mind-body treatments for a complex condition like CFS are just inadequate.<br /><br />Maybe a more complex mind-body treatment would work better, or at least could be a powerful adjunct. My own experience is that this is the case, and that most PWC are dealing with emotional and mind-body issues as well as the physical aspects of their illness. Some of these emotional and mind-body issues may have emerged from the strain of the co-infections, while others may have already been present and are being amplified by the illness. I was in denial of this for many years, and was amazed when I started looking deeper into the mirror. I was missing key emotional processing skills prior to my CFS, and had used my intellect alone to manage emotional crisis in the past. There was a lot more baggage than I realized. This did not probably CAUSE my CFS, I am convinced that the Borrelia (Lyme Disease) was the primary factor, but I believe it helped the Borrelia in some peculiar ways. Perhaps the Borrelia neurotoxins were more disruptive to me becasue of my pre-existing weakness in this area.<br /><br />I would not discount the possibility that a strange neuroimmunological interaction is taking place between cognitive and physiological elements of this disease. For example, stress may be managed poorly (perhaps becasue of missing emotional skills as I just described in my own case, or perhaps in some cases because of genetic predispositions). A high stress event may then lower immunity even further, allowing pre-existing co-infections to take hold. Then co-infections produce neurotoxins that de-stabilize the hypothalamus. The mind-body begins to become 'mis-wired' and is feeding us symptoms that are out of proportion with the actual threats to our health. The pituitary and adrenals respond and the body becomes conditioned to over-response to any threat. Over time this wears down certain body functions, such as digestive, glucose management, adrenal, and detox systems. This weakening leads to even stronger feedback to the hypothalamus telling the mind-body that something is wrong, and every new symptom is like a jack hammer to the brain, to try and get us to 'fix what is wrong.'<br /><br />My own search is for a combination mind and body treatment. I believe we have acquired a disease 'system' and must treat all aspects to get better. I spent a few years as a computer programmer early in my career, and remember how tough it was to find 'bugs' that involved both software and hardware problems. I believe that may be what we are dealing with and why neither the hardware-only (physiological) nor the software-only (mind) treatments are working for CFIDS. A unique combination may be required. This is consistent with a lot of holistic approaches, and some of them do seem to work, but few have been designed specifically for CFIDS/FM/Lyme, and none that I have found are up-to-date in both the mind and body arenas. So I am trying to incorporate a new combination, what we NOW know about both mind and body goes way beyond what was known when holistic treatments were first discovered. Maybe it is becoming feasible to successfully treat both the mind issues (which are amplified out of normal proportion by the neurotoxins in the Borrelia), and the body issues (the co-infections).<br /><br /></span>Kurthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13638567143640874267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11082434.post-1110666882745363912005-03-12T16:57:00.000-05:002005-04-11T17:57:56.366-04:00A protocol for solving anxietyAnxiety was one of the most significant challenges I faced with CFIDS-Lyme. This is probably because the neurotoxins from the co-infections amplified a childhood-based anxiety response. As part of solving my own CFIDS-Lyme I have had to deal with a lot of anxiety issues. I have written about getting off benzodiazapine drugs for anxiety. Here is a more thorough description of what I would consider to be the anxiety protocol that I followed. It was holistic, meaning it involved a lot of work on multiple levels of the illness. <span class="fullpost"><br /><br />Probably my first attempt to solve the anxiety was to use meditations. I listened to a few soundtracks, tried breathing exercises to calm myself, and things like that. My initial reaction was 'this will never work.' I felt that way becasue I could not even calm my mind enough to listen to one of the meditations all the way through, let alone actually work through them. I was in pretty bad shape, I can see that now. Finally, I found binaural beat soundtracks. This is a special relaxation technology, where sounds with slightly differing frequencies are played in each ear, setting up a resonating 'brain wave' in the head that can be quite calming. The break-through for me was that after I down-loaded a free sample off the internet, I found that I could actually relax, even with all the tension from this illness. This was the first step on the road to finally solving most of my life-long anxiety problems, and even solving my anxiety about having anxiety, which is the worst kind.<br /><br />Initially I used the program offered by <a href="http://www.centerpointe.com">www.centerpointe.com</a>. I only selected CenterPointe because I didn't know any others. I think their product is very good, but I stopped using it after a few months because I had learned what I needed to, my brain had learned to relax. I think that is the goal. It takes a few months. I also purchased the Insight/Focus programs from <a href="http://www.mercola.com/forms/insight_focus.htm">http://www.mercola.com/forms/insight_focus.htm</a> and they worked as well for me as the first level of CenterPoint. There are other brands also, one that looks interesting is <a href="http://www.mind-tek.com/">http://www.mind-tek.com/</a>. And a lower cost version is available at <a href="http://www.hypnosiscds.com/">http://www.hypnosiscds.com/</a>. There are some differences between the various systems, but I don't think it matters which you use if you goal is simply to teach the brain that relaxation is possible. My approach to binaural beat to was to use the soundtrack for a few months while the body adjusted to relaxing (there was some detox, both physical and mental/emotional), then gradually taper off, and try to start relaxing the mind without the soundtrack. I found I could do that with a little effort after 2-3 months. Basically I used the soundtracks to train my mind. And it worked. The training method I used was to listen to the soundtrack, then turn it off and try to maintain the same relaxed state as long as I could. I also would meditate at times on my own, and think about the soundtrack, and over time I started to experience the same relaxation response from thinking about it as from listening to the soundtrack. I felt like the first battle was won, I could relax on queue, as part of a meditation. But I did not want to have to always take a half hour of meditation to get relaxed, so there was clearly more to accompllish...<br /><br />I realized that while I now had the skill of relaxing, I was still regularly sending my body messages to be tense. I was having to use the relaxation skill too often, and I did not have time to be continually battling my own body. So the next thing I did, was to start using a guided imagery technique to try and retrain my subconscious mind to stop sending tensing messages. I used the program from <a href="http://www.panic-anxiety.com">http://www.panic-anxiety.com</a>, called 'The Linden Method.' This method included a very good meditation soundtrack. There are other good methods as well, including some using 'neuro-linguistic programming' which seems very similar. The idea was to re-program the SUBCONSCIOUS mind to stop interpreting events as threatening and stressful. And this particular approach worked for me, I felt that I was communicating with my fundamental, subconscious programming, and was stopping the tension and stress signals that had been causing the anxiety. After a few months of using the Linden Method, I found I could use the method's soundtrack to help me get to sleep at night. This was very important, I finally got over anxiety/panic responses to herx, and to life in general.<br /><br />Next, I realized that although I now could relax, and had solved some major elements of my anxiety response, I still had some problems. There were still times when I just would become tense during the day, usually involving my work or interactions with my family. So I decided to work through some emotional processing / emotional release. Earlier in my illness I had learned an emotional release process from Pam Robinson (<a href="http://instituteofhealingarts.info/">http://instituteofhealingarts.info/</a>). One of her facilitators came to my area and I went through several sessions and learned the basics of 'emotional processing. So I already knew how to work through 'emotional release.' This time, as I reviewed my past I looked for the causes of my reaction to career and family stressors. This took several months. I discovered some important details about my early life interests that I had effectively burried. As I discovered this I re-prioritized some aspects of my life that were stressing me. I actually changed career directions as part of this. Next I found that I had established a co-dependent relationship with some family members. This was a bit of a shock becasue I had always felt highly independent, but I was really using them as a crutch emotionally. So I made some changes, and resolved many of the issues I uncovered. This was a HUGE break-through and my entire illness started turning around. I had major herx from this, particularly from the re-prioritization and career change, I think it relieved so much of my stress response that it freed major immune resources. The entire emotional processing took about 3-4 months. I got VERY tired during this time, but felt the body was healing.<br /><br />Finally, after I started feeling that I was ready to 'recover' I discovered the use of a hot pack around the neck. That was the clincher, and allowed me to finally sleep without seditives, which I had taken for 7 years. The hot pack was very important, helping me to train the neck and shoulder muscles to relax, even during herx / detox times. The 'training' took about four months, after which time I actually could sleep without any assistance, without the hot pack, meditations or any medications. Additionally my anxiety response was mostly gone. I still get some of the 'trigger' symptoms for the anxiety, such as pressure in the chest area, but I now realize that is a detox response, and it generally does not progress into any kind of anxiety.<br /><br />As I went through each of these holistic treatments, the binaural beat relaxation therapy, the guided imagery to re-program the subconscious mind, the emotional processing, and the use of the hot pack, I viewed them as 'the solution' and for the first three, moved on to the next feeling like the treatment had somehow failed, because I was not yet well. But now as I look back I can see that these treatments were in a useful sequence, and all were necessary in solving the anxiety riddle.<br /></span>Kurthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13638567143640874267noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11082434.post-1110307999447402172005-03-08T13:53:00.000-05:002005-04-11T18:00:55.206-04:00Getting off benzodiazepines (for sleep/anxiety)<p class="mobile-post"><span style="color:#333333;"></span><div class="Section1"><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#333333;">When I first was given a prescription for a benzodiazepine, my doctor warned me that some people thought they could be addictive, but he did not believe that they usually were. He said they were intended for short-term use, and should only be taken every other day if possible. Another doctor later told me that his clinical intent when using this type of medication on an extended basis was to give the patient time to 'work things out' and let the body and the neurochemistry recover. I asked what I should do to recover, and he did not know, he only said that some people recovered on their own. Over time I learned that the situation was far more complex than appeared. I am not against using benzo drugs, but I now realize that patient education about how to solve the <em>real </em>problems behind the need for benzo is what is desperately needed. So I will tell my story in hope of helping someone wrestling with the benzo beast. </span><span style="color:#333333;"><span class="fullpost"> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#333333;">When I started using benzo I was experiencing the beginning of a crushing case of CFIDS. I had not slept well for over a year, and had actually gone without sleep for a week several times. The benzo drugs saved my life. Over the years I tried most of the major types of benzo, and I became dependent on them, but not addicted. My thought was always 'if only I could sleep naturally, I would not need them.' And that was true. The few times I could sleep without them, I did not need nor take them again until I had insomnia. A few times I also took them for anxiety. I tried natural sleep aids, and some helped. A few were good enough to replace the benzo for a day or two, but not for very long. Eventually I came to rely on the benzo. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#333333;">The experience of getting off benzo was not what I had expected. The first time I seriously tried to get off them I was not prepared. I actually had severe digestive upset the next day, and received some acid damage to my stomach as a result. So I decided to take a slower route and find ways to gradually make the shift. But I could not just 'get off' the benzo. It was not like a habit, like breaking a sugar habit. It was a biological dependency. My life depended on the use of the benzo. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#333333;">Eventually I learned that the benzo drugs and similar ‘sleep’ and ‘anxiety’ medications can sedate the digestive and immune systems as well as the rest of the nervous system.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I think this is a primary reason to find alternative treatments.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> For a long time I thought of benzos as sleeping pills. I tried most of the different formulations, settling on Ativan most of the time. However, eventually I learned that </span><span class="SpellE">benzos</span> are actually anti-anxiety meds, and not true sleep inducers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>They stimulate GABA binding, which has a calming effect on the CNS.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> Our digestive system produces benzodiazepine, so taking benzo drugs is an enhancement of what should be a natural process. So I</span>f a person needs <span class="SpellE">benzos</span> to sleep, they probably have a primary anxiety problem and may not be producing or releasing the benzo properly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> This does not mean that the person will be aware of the anxiety problem, although I was partly aware. Sometimes the anxiety is a background noise, part of our automatic response to stress, discomfort or pain. But still, it is anxiety and panic responses that are what is being treated by the benzo. And the discomfort causing the anxiety response certainly could be caused or aggravated by CFIDS or Lyme </span>co-infections, because of the neurotoxins and the continual detox and neurological discomfort.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> I came to believe that i</span>f I could solve the anxiety, then perhaps I could sleep naturally again without the benzo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> This turned out to be true, but only when </span>the anxiety was solved 24x7, not just for a few hours at night.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><?xml:namespace prefix = o /><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#333333;">Here is what I eventually learned. In order to get off <span class="SpellE">benzos</span>, a person has two choices.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> #</span>1. <span class="GramE">replace</span> them with something else; #2. <span class="GramE">solve</span> the original cause and eliminate the need for them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I tried #1 and found that sedating my self with any other drug or herb or hormone (melatonin) had side-effects and was not a long-term solution.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><span class="GramE">Just dodging the bullets.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Sooner or later you have to work through #2 to fix the problem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#333333;">And to fix #2 I had to solve ALL anxiety and tension in my life, AND find a way to re-learn to relax while going to sleep, even when I did not feel well or have pain or had stress in the day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>And this is hard with co-infections because they aggravate any anxiety/tension you feel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>But it is possible, I am evidence of that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I was the worst of the worst cases.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I had absolute insomnia for 7 years with only one period of remission for about 6 months when I first went on <span class="SpellE">antibiotics</span>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>And it just got worse and worse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I would have died without the <span class="SpellE">benzos</span>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I realized that I was failing at finding the cause.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>So I focused on lots of holistic changes, a LOT of them over about a year long period, and that finally released the stress/tension response to the co-infection toxins and allowed me to sleep naturally again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>And getting off the <span class="SpellE">benzos</span> improved my digestion immediately, and my immune system came back to life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I believe the better sleeps is allowing a more natural healing process to progress now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#333333;">And this holistic approach included adding minerals (the salt/c protocol) which were important, going through 9 months of deep-level emotional processing, used a guided anti-anxiety meditation for about 6 months (purchased from </span><a href="http://www.panic-anxiety.com/"><span style="color:#333333;">www.panic-anxiety.com</span></a><span style="color:#333333;">), and using a hot pack around the neck 24x7 for relaxation, which was critical.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Also, I addressed my mental hyperactivity (a form of ADD) using meditation methods I created to help re-learn how to have balanced brain usage, and that was very important.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I eventually re-trained my body and I now can relax again, and even have slept during the day sometimes, which I have not ever done before in my adult life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I know now that I have finally started to ‘overcome’ a life-long problem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>And I believe the solution is tied to learning 24x7 <span class="GramE">relaxation</span> and re-training the mind-body to rest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#333333;">So getting off benzodiazapine turned out to be a complex, multi-year holistic struggle. But the beast can be defeated. In the process of solving my anxiety problem I made significant progress with my other major health problem, CFIDS. I am sure that the improved immune response from getting off benzo is helping my body fight CFIDS better. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#333333;">One final note, I am not angry about benzo, I still keep it around and have used it a few times for one night, when I was very sick, had a bad day, or was too agitated and stressed to sleep. However, I have not needed it after that. What really bothers me is the lack of patient education about using this drug, and many other drugs. Perhaps the patient situations are too unique and individualized, or perhaps there really is insufficient understanding right now about this type of illness to train patients. But in my case, I know I could have benefited greatly from some guidance through this complicated recovery path. I have not really explained the full details of what I had to work through, maybe sometime I will write that up more fully, but I hope at least I have shared the main idea. These types of drugs do not solve any of the causes of stress related disease. Without a lot of holistic work to solve the underlying issues, these drugs can create a monster. And there is a lot of general guidance about dealing with the holistic issues, but little overall guidance for getting off of these medications. Without addressing the whole problem, I believe that most people in my situation will find the challenge of getting off of benzo to be overwhelming. </span></span></span></p></div>Kurthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13638567143640874267noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11082434.post-1110306342409439142005-03-08T13:14:00.000-05:002005-04-11T17:59:56.126-04:00Why a holistic approach?I believe one of the handicaps we all face with this disease (or these diseases if you believe there are more than one), is the modern medical paradigm of "reductionism" in which we analyze and study the minute details of whatever we can measure, and generate medical "factoids" from that and then try to find a treatment from those factoids. Sort of like the blind men and the elephant, with each CFIDS treatment being one blind man, and the disease being the elephant. My own improvement only started when I decided to start addressing the whole elephant, and that required a holistic approach. Holistic does not mean just wishing oneself to be well, or imagining wellness into being through intention. Holistic simply means to take an integrated, whole-person approach to a disease. Holistic medicine honors the incredible complexity of the human, and respects the interconnectedness of each of our systems, organs, thinking processes, feelings, and relationships. <span class="fullpost"><br />When I review all that I have learned about CFIDS, the co-infections, the depressed endocrine system, the metabolic dysfunctions, the self-regulation problems, and the cognitive impairments that are both causes and effects of some aspects of the disease, I do not see how any treatment that is not holistic can hope to improve the overall health of a person with CFIDS or Lyme. Part of these co-factors for our illness seem to come from the changes in the world around us, and the changes over the past 30-50 years have been drastic and most are irreversible. We can not remove the toxins from our environment very easily, we can not take away the threat of future infections from powerful super-bugs and possibly bugs engineered to evade our immune systems. We can not remove the stress of living in a world that both embraces and rejects pluralism, and the natural conflicts, international tensions, and local challenges those bring. Maybe over time the human race will improve, but we need to find ways to survive in the here and now. We live in the present.<br /><br />So even if I can imagine ridding my body of all co-infections, toxins, and reducing my stress levels, I can not prevent these triggers from occurring again. I will be re-exposed, I will have heavy stress again, we all will, and we have not acquired any kind of biological immunity. There is no immunity to super bugs, or toxins, or super yeasts and fungi, or life stress. So how do we fight this long-term battle? By changing ourselves, by becoming one of the people who can survive in this challenging world, by becoming like those who have not succumbed to this disease. By being stronger and better. This is an obvious holistic challenge.<br /><br />So what is this holistic approach then? What do we need to work on? We need to work on all levels of this disease. We need to identify the 'whole person' problems that made us susceptible to infection, solve those problems, correct the damage where possible, assist the immune system where possible, kill the co-infections we can without upsetting the body's inner ecology, assist with the detoxification where needed, restore proper nourishment, and promote healing by re-training the body and mind. And I believe that for many or most people with CFIDS today, the whole person problems involve a combination of biological, emotional, mental, and even spiritual issues. As I have reviewed the CFIDS literature I have found people who claim to have gotten well by focusing on just one or two of these holistic areas. And there really are stories that are convincing. Some have gotten well by changing their stress levels, some by detoxification, some by lots of antibiotics, some through resolving long-standing emotional issues, some through spiritual renewal. But usually, when you get the whole story you discover that they did more than just work on that one area, they either had already worked on the other issues previously for some other health problem, or they were not aware but actually were working on all of these areas.<br /><br />So I believe that a holistic approach is the only real solution, a long-term change. A holistic treatment is not like a drug or supplement, the results are not immediate and are only drastic when you look back a year or more and realize the changes. But the holistic treatment stays for life, it is a permanent change, and I believe and hope it can give us back much of our lives, for many years to come.<br /><br />Here is one other angle, one more reason I believe a holistic approach is the only sensible approach for a complicated disease in a complicated system such as the human body-mind-soul. My background includes a decade as a computer programmer. Sometimes I like to think of this disease in terms of my experience as a programmer, designing and debugging complicated software systems. Even the most capable and skilled computer programmer will run into some system problems once in awhile, as a software system design gets highly complicated. This usually happens over years, as software is maintained. Eventually you get to a point where the system needs some restructuring. And 'holistic' thinking about the problem is often required in order to understand the nature of the system, any problems or limitations that are occurring, and how best to rebuild the system to work better.<br /><br />When conducting a restructuring of a complicated software system you must revisit all elements of the original design. Has the purpose of the system changed? Are there new requirements that have emerged over the years? Are the existing processes adequate or do they need to be updated? Are there chronic errors or problems that need to be addressed and have languished, and been patched-up again and again? These last issues, chronic problems, are often the stimulus to rebuild the system. And the rebuilding will take a variety of forms, from changing the environment to re-writing much of the basic software that guides the system. This is really a holistic type of treatment plan for the software, and I believe this is somewhat parallel to the circumstance of a person with CFIDS. There is no part of our existence that should not be carefully scrutinized, no sacred cows, we need to be open to the truth about our situation and condition, and not protect ourselves from the truth. The cure is change, without change, we will just treat the symptoms, until the system fails entirely. Change is mandatory for rebuilding any complex system.<br /><br />I am not suggesting that we abandon the biologically-focused treatments that are helping us. Quite to the contrary, those may be essential components of a holistic treatment. However, I do believe that over time, as we begin to recover, our need for the biological treatments will be reduced and maybe some can eventually be discontinued. They are crutches only, and not a long-term solution. The solution is healing and eventually recovered wellness, and I believe that requires a holistic approach. </span>Kurthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13638567143640874267noreply@blogger.com0