92 replies to this topic

[AlmostEasy]

If You are interrested,I have the Informtions above listed with some others in this thread

http://www.longecity...ts/#entry675796

Thanks!  I'll sift through it here in a little bit, that's a lot of information lol

 

A lot of your symptoms seem stress related, and the substances that you say work well for you, particularly Ashwagandha and Pregnenolone, stick out immediately to me as treatments that are known to be useful for stress related illness. Additionally, 170lbs is kind of low for 6'0". You may actually be experiencing adrenal fatigue.

I'm not recommending you "pig out", but you could try eating more rich foods, try to gain a little weight, and see if that helps even you out a little bit. Stress and low weight go together to aggravate many conditions.

Hey man thanks for reading this over!

 

Now I may be wrong here and may not fully understand how disabling stress can be (which it never was before, I dealt with extreme stress fine before this illness) but it feels much much more serious than that.  It for sure is a thought disorder.  My thoughts used to be like steel, now they're a light fog that disappates when I try to grab onto them and follow them.  It's a very bizzare and queer situation.

 

I'm getting desparate to find something to explain all this so I'm branching out for diagnoses to what could be an extreme reaction to a rare condition that usually doesn't have such an effect, so it very well could be adrenal fatigue but with how healthy and nutritious my diet is I just don't see how it could be :(

I feel my weight is fairly healthy as well, I'm thin for sure but nothing out of the ordinary.  Any type of exercise does not relieve any of my symptoms either, it sometimes exacerbates them temporarily.

 

But as it were I have nothing else to go on so I'll try to increase my portions a wee bit

 

Thanks for the reply,

 

AE

[AlmostEasy]

Well I have a new theory that seems pretty solid and strangely has me excited

 

I'm branching out from what I've been investigating lately and looking more into things related to viruses and neurological infections and have found one that fits my symptoms quite well.

 

Lyme disease.  Little did I know how extreme this could be and little did I know how often this goes untreated and how often it is misdiagnosed.  The late stages of chronic lyme disease are very severe.  Here's a look at the psychological brochure from the ILADS (International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society) website:

Spoiler

 

As you can see (if you've seen my symptom reports in my first post) I don't qualify for all of them, but many I do.  All the cognitive ones I do, as well as anxiety, the sleep problems, shakiness, and the sense of smell distortion.  Memory/word retrieval sticks out as one of my most prominent symptoms as well.

 

Initially I dismissed Lyme disease as a possibility because I was ignorant of how severe it could get and because I have no recollection of ever being bitten or having a rash (this could have happened many many years ago).  Once I saw these stats I began to take it a bit more seriously:

 

Spoiler

 

Then I looked back at which supplements I've used that have helped, which has always been a bit mysterious as the pieces of the puzzle just didn't fit as to WHY these specific supplements were helping and the others did slim to nothing, and found that Ashwagandha has ANTI MICROBIAL properties[1].  This has been my most helpful supplement along with Lion's Mane [2]; although this appears to have a much more subtle antimicrobial property than Ashwagandha.  So my two most powerful supplements for me turn out to have an anti-biotic effect.  It's quite sad knowing that I was so very close to taking a full regimen of Minocycline but stopped due to a bad experience which in hind-sight was attributed to Vyvanse.  I then gave away my Minocycline to someone who had an infection.

 

And it turns out I have an ILADS physican... 1 MILE away from my house.  That's pretty impressive.

 

So like I've been pondering this very well could be an extreme reaction to a rare/uncommon condition.  I'm trying not to get too excited about this and optimistic but it's hard not to

 

I'm checking my insurance out first but am scheduling an appointment whether it's covered or not, I'll update as the info comes in.  Wish me luck!

 

 

Edited by AlmostEasy, 22 July 2014 - 01:35 AM.

[Flex]

After Your post, I´ve read through some acrticles regarding Lyme disease ( Of course not from this sloppy Wikipedia )

I´m not sure, but the Doc can supposedly make a check for antibodies of those bacterias.

So, hopefully You´ve found Your right diagnosis.

 

Btw, I heard that a smell disortion is linked to parkinson among others e.g. the frontal regions.

http://www.ncbi.nlm....pubmed/20635186

 

...Studies have shown that people with psychopathic traits have impaired functioning in the front part of the brain - the area largely responsible for functions such as planning, impulse control and acting in accordance with social norms. In addition, a dysfunction in these areas in the front part of the brain is linked to an impaired sense of smell...

http://www.scienceda...20920115739.htm

 

No offence ;-) I´m sometimes a bit clumsy with my statements

and just trying to help for the cause ( so just a dysfunction of the PFC) if the Lyme test is negative.

I guess this dont make one a psychopath and maybe even I could have a dysfunctional PFC, dont know.

 

 

Edited by Flex, 22 July 2014 - 08:01 AM.

[abcmanomandriepunt1]

I fellt like a psychopath for years when I was burnout and depressed. Now I'm no longer feeling like that for some reason. 

 

I hope it works man.

 

Keep also hypo GABA (Ashwagandha works on GABA), and brain inflammation as options.  I really feel brain inflammation might play a big role in depression, schizophrenia and more.  I fellt so much better after taking prednisone. Not in a hypomanic way but emotional and my negative symptoms decreased big time. 

 

 

Minoclycine works well for inflammation, there's a connection between hyper glutamate, hypo NMDA, hypo gaba and brain inflammation. 

 

* There's also the immune system. Mushrooms like lion's mane are known to boost the immune system. Higher immune system functioning might result in lower inflammation. Inflammation is there when the body is fighting a foreign substance, like a bacteria. More immune, might be less bacteria, and less inflammation.

 

Less bacteria = less inflammation. 

 

Depression is highly linked to inflammation and immume system dysfunctioning. Although it's probably autoimmune in depression.

Edited by tylerdurden, 25 July 2014 - 12:53 PM.

[mono]

Hey man while I encourage the research I just thought I'd share some of my experience.

Had to get some inpatient treatment as my pdoc was away, whilst the doctor on site was brilliant in regards to side effect empathy he totally disregarded the different pharmacology profile of each AP stating they all did the same thing. I tried to explain my interest in different mechanisms but he wouldn't have any of it, though he did admit it may be his own ignorance...

My actual pdoc, has let me trial a bunch of meds, as long as I showed him some legitimate data that backed up its use. He encouraged my use of glycine, trialled me on mirtazapine and let me try stims - as a SZ!

I think it's just about finding the right doc my friend.

But anyway if you find something that works.. Brilliant! I've only had success with prescription meds so far

[AlmostEasy]

After Your post, I´ve read through some acrticles regarding Lyme disease ( Of course not from this sloppy Wikipedia )

I´m not sure, but the Doc can supposedly make a check for antibodies of those bacterias.

So, hopefully You´ve found Your right diagnosis.

 

Btw, I heard that a smell disortion is linked to parkinson among others e.g. the frontal regions.

http://www.ncbi.nlm....pubmed/20635186

 

...Studies have shown that people with psychopathic traits have impaired functioning in the front part of the brain - the area largely responsible for functions such as planning, impulse control and acting in accordance with social norms. In addition, a dysfunction in these areas in the front part of the brain is linked to an impaired sense of smell...

http://www.scienceda...20920115739.htm

 

No offence ;-) I´m sometimes a bit clumsy with my statements

and just trying to help for the cause ( so just a dysfunction of the PFC) if the Lyme test is negative.

I guess this dont make one a psychopath and maybe even I could have a dysfunctional PFC, dont know.

 

 

I've looked at parkinson's before and I feel I match the cognitive (they seem to be all fairly similar in many different disorders) but again don't match the other dominant Parkinson's symptoms.

 

As for the psychopath thing, I don't think so, the only relation between them and I is that potentially the same part of our brain happens to be dysfunctional like you mentioned.  I'm probably one of the most in control people that I know.  My brain is just a little goofy atm!

 

That smell thing I see in a lot of disorders too, even in some of my theories such as Low T and Lyme disease.  The troubling thing about Lyme disease is that it's such a blanket symptom list, it includes so many possible things.  It's a very broad spectrum disease that can affect many many different parts of the body, where the bacteria decide to reside.

 

I fellt like a psychopath for years when I was burnout and depressed. Now I'm no longer feeling like that for some reason. 

 

I hope it works man.

 

Keep also hypo GABA (Ashwagandha works on GABA), and brain inflammation as options.  I really feel brain inflammation might play a big role in depression, schizophrenia and more.  I fellt so much better after taking prednisone. Not in a hypomanic way but emotional and my negative symptoms decreased big time. 

 

 

Minoclycine works well for inflammation, there's a connection between hyper glutamate, hypo NMDA, hypo gaba and brain inflammation. 

 

* There's also the immune system. Mushrooms like lion's mane are known to boost the immune system. Higher immune system functioning might result in lower inflammation. Inflammation is there when the body is fighting a foreign substance, like a bacteria. More immune, might be less bacteria, and less inflammation.

 

Less bacteria = less inflammation. 

 

Depression is highly linked to inflammation and immume system dysfunctioning. Although it's probably autoimmune in depression.

Yeah if all else fails I'm going to give Minocycline a proper run.  I did have a little stint with it but it overlapped with me trying Vyvanse which was a disaster so that experiment became useless.

 

I do have something called Banderol on the way which is a highly potent anti microbial herbal mixture, a piece of the "Cowden Protocol", and if I have any Borrelia Burgdorferi (Lyme bacteria) in my system it could then cause a Herx reaction (massive release of toxins from dying bacteria causing acute symptom exacerbation); a diagnostic tool of sorts.  If this doesn't happen but I receive significant positive results then I can probably assume that it's bacteria/inflammation related.  Very interested to see what happens there, should be in in a week tops.  If nothing happens, well then, I wont be very surprised about that either.

 

I was a bit disappointed when Reishi didn't do much for me.  I'd heard so much raving and ranting about it helping everything gut related and I had built up a lot of expectation for me to react to it because of the likely possibility of my gut/immune system being impaired.  It's possible that it still is of course but Reishi's effect was fairly insignificant.

 

Hey man while I encourage the research I just thought I'd share some of my experience.

Had to get some inpatient treatment as my pdoc was away, whilst the doctor on site was brilliant in regards to side effect empathy he totally disregarded the different pharmacology profile of each AP stating they all did the same thing. I tried to explain my interest in different mechanisms but he wouldn't have any of it, though he did admit it may be his own ignorance...

My actual pdoc, has let me trial a bunch of meds, as long as I showed him some legitimate data that backed up its use. He encouraged my use of glycine, trialled me on mirtazapine and let me try stims - as a SZ!

I think it's just about finding the right doc my friend.

But anyway if you find something that works.. Brilliant! I've only had success with prescription meds so far

Yeah my doctor is actually pretty awesome.  She actually listens to what I have to say, I can't tell you how many doctors just totally glaze over every independent thought you tell them (I'm sure you're aware as well).  She seems to genuinely take an interest in my case.  I typed up some simplified information packets on all my theories, symptoms, and research so I could show her everything I've been doing over the last few months and she actually asked if she could keep them and research them more.  We took an action plan and she was very willing to let me run some diagnostic labs that she didn't even have much understanding about, she seems to trust that I'm not an idiot.. which is nice  After I get this problem dealt with I'm going to take some serious time to try and thank her, I don't know exactly how yet but it means a lot that she listens to me.

 

Even with her genuine interest though you can tell she is very very conditioned towards pharmaceuticals.  After all our discussion she still came back with "well, it could still be very much a chemical imbalance in the brain that SSRI's can fix" and then even wanted to consider giving me Adderall as if my problem was in fact ADD since she knows Adderall helped.  I don't think she's coming from this place as a drug pusher but it's just been what she's taught and she fully believes in it.  i don't think she wonders or considers that there are other non-mainstream disorders out there causing this kind of thing (I mean I suppose she is a general practitioner though, not a specialist).  She lets me experiment once she understands my logic/research (she isn't a pushover by any means) which I very much appreciate.  I just have to guide the discussion a bit.

 

Anyway, I've got some hormone labs coming up this week, check my post out here if you want details on that.  After those I'll know why my T is low and I may begin treatment for that while I then fully explore my Lyme theory.  I'm hoping my Banderol experiment will give me some insight as well, that could be huge.

 

Thanks for the posts guys!  It's nice to have some discussion going on!  Also my other discussions are going on here for those interested:

 

Lyme Discussion

Low T Discussion

[mono]

Great to hear mate! All the best!

 

P.S. Have you tried proper vigorous cardio exercise? 30mins 4x a week? 3 months of diligence and I can almost gaurantee some improvements... Just a thought to throw out there

[Michael Rian]

Hey man while I encourage the research I just thought I'd share some of my experience.

Had to get some inpatient treatment as my pdoc was away, whilst the doctor on site was brilliant in regards to side effect empathy he totally disregarded the different pharmacology profile of each AP stating they all did the same thing. I tried to explain my interest in different mechanisms but he wouldn't have any of it, though he did admit it may be his own ignorance...

My actual pdoc, has let me trial a bunch of meds, as long as I showed him some legitimate data that backed up its use. He encouraged my use of glycine, trialled me on mirtazapine and let me try stims - as a SZ!

I think it's just about finding the right doc my friend.

But anyway if you find something that works.. Brilliant! I've only had success with prescription meds so far

 

Sorry to interrupt, but I was wondering if you could elaborate on which prescription meds you have had success with? Cheers

[mono]

Diazepam PRN for anxiety
Temazepam PRN for sleep (stress/disturbances)
Risperidone for acute psychosis
Apriprazole for minor relapse/symptom stabilisation

Tried a bunch of supplements for this - Chinese medicine, etc and for motivation cognition. Nothing did the job like rx meds. Risperidone literally changed my life. I've had some nasty reactions to sups like phenyl piracetam, aswhaghNda, Chinese herbs etc.

SZ is fragile neurologically

Diet exercise meditation played a definite role too

Edited by mono, 29 July 2014 - 03:24 AM.

[abcmanomandriepunt1]

Watch out with herx reactions and don't bet everything on a herx reaction. It might also be something different. 

 

I was thinking about you might got adrenal fatigue. But i don't think you've got that. It's based on one simple observation, but still i think it's true. Else there's no way you would have reacted positively to lion's mane. It's a fungi and if you had adrenal fatigue it would have raised histamine which would in turn raised cortisol, which would make you feel not good. Most people with adrenal fatigue, have histamine issues.

 

Have you ever heard of high copper? It's another theory i would check out. This is a bit alternative, but somethimes you have to get alternative. Look up 'copper toxicity.' try it out, and don't bet everything on the herx reaction, but if it's there it might also give you some new theory.

 

I would also try PQQ, Q10 and d-ribose combo. This really helped me a lot. I believe you do have HPA axis problems, and that goes hand in hand with messed up mitochondria.

 

 

http://www.ncbi.nlm....pubmed/22288479

[Flex]

Diazepam PRN for anxiety
Temazepam PRN for sleep (stress/disturbances)
Risperidone for acute psychosis
Apriprazole for minor relapse/symptom stabilisation

Tried a bunch of supplements for this - Chinese medicine, etc and for motivation cognition. Nothing did the job like rx meds. Risperidone literally changed my life. I've had some nasty reactions to sups like phenyl piracetam, aswhaghNda, Chinese herbs etc.

SZ is fragile neurologically

Diet exercise meditation played a definite role too

 

Out of curiosity, have You ever tried tetrahydropalmatine aka Corydalis Ya-hu-suo tincture ?

[mono]

Nope... Why do you suggest it? Never even heard of it.

CBD trials look interesting.. But as it is illegal in Aus and the fact thc manifested some of my symptoms I'd be wary and wait for them to pass clinical trials...

The new glutamate drugs such as bitopertin also interest me but they are failing the trials unfortunately

Hmm l-thp has a very interesting profile I'd be interested to see how it goes in further studies, it seems to have a high affinity for d1 receptor though, correct me if I'm wrong but d1 activation can potentialate NMDA as their seems to be a link between NMDA/dopamine, thus d1 is preferable to leave open to an extent?

Edited by mono, 29 July 2014 - 06:34 PM.

[Flex]

No, frankly I´m sometimes very curious.

If You had said: no it didnt worked, then I would be baffled.

Because this would point out the Improtance of Serotonine antagonism to some.

Since THP does afaik dont affect 5-ht receptors.

 

Yes it´s indeed interresting.

 Its an alpha1, D1/2/3 antagonist and also a presynaptic antagonist, but You feel this only 1-3 hours after consumption.

The Postsynaptic effect is enduring.

 

Regarding Nmda, well thats the point I guess.

Its not for everything advantageous.

 

But if You are interrested in something similair, and doesnt heard of it:

http://en.wikipedia....ki/Stepholidine

From my experinece it was like THP

I bought it from Selfheal enterprises, but didnt took to much since it thinned the blood and I was a bit scary of it at this time.

 

A D1 (partial?)agonist and D2 antagonist.

But I guess it has the same problems like THP.

It activates the D1 receptor only when used, but the D2 in a enduring manner, like any usual Antipsychotic.

 

Well, let me tell You the other 2 that I know, if You want to hear it or not ^^ lol

- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alstonine

A afaik 5-ht2a/c inverse agonist, but without any downregulation

they treat with this "psychological discomfort" in two 2 days in Africa..

Cant find the source where its stated, must be an abstract from 2008

 

- Polygala Tenuifolia

Serotonergic antagonist and adonosine agonist/antagonist (?)

and various other healthy effects

 

I mixed this with cannabis and it felt like a light version of mdma

unlike THP + Weed this was like Amphetamine light^^

 

 

 

Edited by Flex, 29 July 2014 - 07:02 PM.

[abcmanomandriepunt1]

About my previous post and PQQ. Here's a thread and i feel the poster is on to something. It definitely feels like dopamine accumulates/gets protected during the day when i take PQQ. 

 

http://www.longecity...mine-protector/

 

And another theory to check out. A simple reaction to lions mane is too easy to rule out histamine issues. Histamine issues can cause really terrible symptoms. Like you wouldn't believe.

 

I suffered with histamine issues when I was burn and had out/dp/dr.  Histamine and food intollerances would give me huge cognitive dysfunctioning, mood swings, anxiety, stress, cortisol kept flowing after eating certain foods, brain fog, and the feeling that i live in a dream. I thought i was going insanse while in fact i wasn't. Later on i did get insanse, but that was something unrelated and totally different, and was because of substance abuse/depression.

 

With histamine issues, i also had frontal lobe pressure, even some minor paranoia because of bloody food intollerances. 

 

I would definitely also check out the histamine theory. 

 

best way to combat it is just a simple avoidance diet and maybe some supplements like vitamin C and betaine HCL. Eat only low histamine foods. I ate this for one year straight. The diet is also low in copper, so it balances and histamine and copper issues.

 

-only vegetables, no tomato's and eggplant.

- a lot of grass fed beef

- MCT oil, ev olive oil

 

It helped a lot and totally got rid of many problem i had at that point. Many people with DP/DR say they feel better when they eat nothing, that's because they are intollerant to a lot of foods. There are also a couple of anecdotal reports about people feeling better after drugs with anti histamine properties, or just plain antihistamines, or methylation supplements which lower histamine. 

 

I would give my diet a try, also add TMG for methylation. I know you already tried methylation protocols but don't know if you've already tried TMG. Since you probably have anxiety, TMG methylates adrenaline into dopamine, which will make you feel more safe. Methylation gets rid of too much histamine as well.

 

So adding PQQ to your stack and an avoidance/ low copper diet+ TMG is something worth considering. Zyprexa also blocks histamine receptors, and ever since zyprexa i can eat what i want without getting issues.

 

Edited by tylerdurden, 01 August 2014 - 05:56 AM.

[YoungSchizo]

Nope... Why do you suggest it? Never even heard of it.

CBD trials look interesting.. But as it is illegal in Aus and the fact thc manifested some of my symptoms I'd be wary and wait for them to pass clinical trials...

The new glutamate drugs such as bitopertin also interest me but they are failing the trials unfortunately

Hmm l-thp has a very interesting profile I'd be interested to see how it goes in further studies, it seems to have a high affinity for d1 receptor though, correct me if I'm wrong but d1 activation can potentialate NMDA as their seems to be a link between NMDA/dopamine, thus d1 is preferable to leave open to an extent?

 

I'm highly sensitive to marijuana too, one hit of a normal joint equals 10 min. of acute psychosis/hell! You should be fine if you can find a hemp which contains mainly high amounts CBD and only 0,01% THC.

 

Am I missing out on something, Bitopertin works on glutamate? As far as I know it's a NMDA glycine inhibitor (more potent but just like Sarcosine, without a Sarcosine moiety though). And is Bitopertin failing..? I'm going to pissed if it fails!

[mono]

Yeah I know right we've been waiting long enough for some drugs that target this glutamate dysfunction.

 

http://www.roche.com...-2014-01-21.htm

 

It didn't seem to do to well in the phase III trials for negatives. They do mention in the article that reduced NMDA receptor function may contribute to all core symptoms of schizophrenia. Apparently there are some ongoing phase III trials in sub-optimally controlled schizophrenics, this involves positive symptoms. Very interested... How exciting if it works!

 

It also mentions 3 new molecular entities are in late-stage programming for schizophrenia.

 

---

 

"NMDA receptors incorporate binding sites for specific endogenous brain compounds, including the amino acids glycine and D-serine and the redox modulator glutathione, and interact closely with dopaminergic, cholinergic and γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-ergic systems."

 

http://www.ncbi.nlm....pubmed/20880830

Edited by mono, 01 August 2014 - 11:50 AM.

[Major Legend]

If your problem are severe, why not a comprehensive bloodwork test ( can post somewhat of a list later) Some things come to mind:

 

- hormonal dysfunction such as thyroid, low testosterone

- in my experience low testosterone can be corrected by clomid + stinging nettle root extract (or anastrol, if you can afford it, aromatase inhibitor), this endogenous solution is better than cycling exogenous testosterone

- chronic inflammation which has persisted for some time leading to neurological side effects due to the deterioration of brain super structures, 

- advanced glycation products in your body due to high sugar intake (or rather inability for glucose regulation), or allergies you were not aware of such as gluten, casein, shellfish and so on. I haven't have time to read to see if you have diet control, but eliminating sugar intake is good for everyone, your body doesn't even need to intake sugar to function, you can just go and replace sugar intake with good fat intake. There may be environmental causes too.

- vitamin d (can backfire for some people, vitamin d is a hormone)

 

you are already taking some of the most effective nootropics I can think of such as noopept and lions mane. Vitamin B complex (especially vitamin b12 and folate), high DHA fish oil (500mgish), and NAC all help but only to a small extent.

 

You probably want to look at neurogenesis and stimulatory solutions more than preventative methods at this stage. Unifram and Sunifiram come to mind with regards to glutamate, but then they are also considered somewhat risky chemicals, I think unifram may be the safer option here, you could also consider phenylpiracetam. 

 

 

Edited by Major Legend, 02 August 2014 - 11:16 AM.

[StevesPetRat]

Welcome to the club, OP.

I don't think an MRI is likely to show much. If you were having more motor symptoms, pseudobulbar affect, that sort of thing, sure. I also really doubt you have Lyme with such a narrow category of symptoms. If you had more sensory or motor symptoms, dysautonomia, early onset arthritis, etc. Lyme would be more likely. Sounds more like a generic case of neuroinflammation.

I join the crowd and strongly recommend you try CBD, since THC may have contributed to your problem. It sounds like you also have low pituitary function. Find a doc who recognizes that a 26 yr old shouldn't be below the low end of a scale that is supposed to cover 70 yr olds. Testosterone is important to men's brains. You may have low HGH, but that is a little trickier to test.

Have you gotten a sleep study?

Also, the smell thing is interesting. It's one of the two regions of the brain that experiences neurogenesis throughout life. The other is the hippocampus. If something is impairing your brain regeneration (like an immune or autoimmune inflammatory response) NSI-189 might give you a boost.

And people in glass houses etc, but you sound like you're looking too hard for the magic bullet solution. Since you can, exercise. Meditate. Ease your way into social situations. Take a class. Maybe your brain is working better than you think, but part of the problem is disuse, like a muscle that has been immobilized in a cast for a while.

Good luck! Have fun with it, remember your brain is just a 3 pound ball of lipids and cholesterol.

Oh hell forgot to ask if you've had your sinuses checked. They can cause a surprising number of brain problems too.

Double hell. Forgot also to mention megadose colostrum for gut health. Like 15g a day.

Edited by StevesPetRat, 02 August 2014 - 12:26 PM.

[AlmostEasy]

If your problem are severe, why not a comprehensive bloodwork test ( can post somewhat of a list later) Some things come to mind:

 

- hormonal dysfunction such as thyroid, low testosterone

- in my experience low testosterone can be corrected by clomid + stinging nettle root extract (or anastrol, if you can afford it, aromatase inhibitor), this endogenous solution is better than cycling exogenous testosterone

- chronic inflammation which has persisted for some time leading to neurological side effects due to the deterioration of brain super structures, 

- advanced glycation products in your body due to high sugar intake (or rather inability for glucose regulation), or allergies you were not aware of such as gluten, casein, shellfish and so on. I haven't have time to read to see if you have diet control, but eliminating sugar intake is good for everyone, your body doesn't even need to intake sugar to function, you can just go and replace sugar intake with good fat intake. There may be environmental causes too.

- vitamin d (can backfire for some people, vitamin d is a hormone)

 

you are already taking some of the most effective nootropics I can think of such as noopept and lions mane. Vitamin B complex (especially vitamin b12 and folate), high DHA fish oil (500mgish), and NAC all help but only to a small extent.

 

You probably want to look at neurogenesis and stimulatory solutions more than preventative methods at this stage. Unifram and Sunifiram come to mind with regards to glutamate, but then they are also considered somewhat risky chemicals, I think unifram may be the safer option here, you could also consider phenylpiracetam. 

Howdy!  Thanks for reading through my posts

 

http://imgur.com/a/seSIH there is my blood work from about a year ago.  Everything seems fine except T levels.

 

My doctor wrote me out lab orders for LH/FSH, Estradiol, and Prolactin so I'll have the whole picture once those tests come in, which could be in a month or so since my insurance just ended.  Looking at my TSH though it looks like my thyroid is probably fine.  If I were to measure my body temp, which I will soon, it would give me an even more definitive answer on that. If body temp is low then it's most definitely thyroid.  Could be increased rT3 from adrenal fatigue.

 

More on chronic inflammation below, I'm getting very interesting results from Samento (Anti-microbial).  

 

My sugar intake is very low, and I notice that when I do intake it I get a SLIGHT brain fog, even with the caffeine (pop).  I don't think that is it.  One thing I want to look at though is gluten, I know a lot of people have some pretty bad reactions to it, and from what I understand it takes like a solid month of absolutely no gluten for your body to finally operate normally?

 

My VitD was low in my lab results but even after taking D3 I didn't notice anything feeling wise.

 

If my current protocols fail to produce the results I'm looking for I'm probably going to order a racetam sampler and see which ones I connect with.  I'm very interested in coluracetam.

 

Welcome to the club, OP.

I don't think an MRI is likely to show much. If you were having more motor symptoms, pseudobulbar affect, that sort of thing, sure. I also really doubt you have Lyme with such a narrow category of symptoms. If you had more sensory or motor symptoms, dysautonomia, early onset arthritis, etc. Lyme would be more likely. Sounds more like a generic case of neuroinflammation.

I join the crowd and strongly recommend you try CBD, since THC may have contributed to your problem. It sounds like you also have low pituitary function. Find a doc who recognizes that a 26 yr old shouldn't be below the low end of a scale that is supposed to cover 70 yr olds. Testosterone is important to men's brains. You may have low HGH, but that is a little trickier to test.

Have you gotten a sleep study?

Also, the smell thing is interesting. It's one of the two regions of the brain that experiences neurogenesis throughout life. The other is the hippocampus. If something is impairing your brain regeneration (like an immune or autoimmune inflammatory response) NSI-189 might give you a boost.

And people in glass houses etc, but you sound like you're looking too hard for the magic bullet solution. Since you can, exercise. Meditate. Ease your way into social situations. Take a class. Maybe your brain is working better than you think, but part of the problem is disuse, like a muscle that has been immobilized in a cast for a while.

Good luck! Have fun with it, remember your brain is just a 3 pound ball of lipids and cholesterol.

Oh hell forgot to ask if you've had your sinuses checked. They can cause a surprising number of brain problems too.

Double hell. Forgot also to mention megadose colostrum for gut health. Like 15g a day.

 

Howdy sir!

 

I'm going to make a fresh post about my experience with my Lyme protocol so I'll save that discussion for below.

 

Interestingly enough when I was still attempting to enjoy weed, and every so often here and there, I absolutely would experience positive cognitive results from it.  Obviously not in the sense of increased CPU power but like the restoring of normalcy for sure.  If it weren't so expensive I would investigate that a lot more but from what I've seen CBD is insanely overpriced.

 

And yes, my doctor frustrated me quite a bit when I showed her a legitimate reference table clearly showing me in the T ranges of an 80 year old man.  I'm like this is obviously wrong and I suffer from SEVERAL symptoms specifically unique to low T, mainly glandular gynecomastia which is thought to be from unusual T:E ratio's.  Like I mentioned above once I get my LH/FSH, Estradiol, and Prolactin tests in I'll know definitively where the problem is in my HPA Axis.  Beyond frustrating.  These doctors are absolutely clueless.  I feel like after 8 hours of research I know more about it than they do, it's not hard to understand.

 

I've yet to investigate sleep problems, although I'm sure I have one.  I feel like it may be a side effect from the low T but I can't be sure, it definitely feels like a secondary problem though.  The better I'm feeling cognitively usually the better I'll sleep.  It's a fairly strong correlation for me.

 

I'd say my brain is probably working worse than I think, believe me I've tried everything under the sun for relief from the things such as exercise and meditation.  I did yoga an hour a day for 4 months straight once, no relief.  Meditation on and off for years, no relief.  Ran miles a week and 3/4 days/week of lifting, no relief.  I just have this tension that isn't related to muscle tension, it's strange.

 

I'll add sinuses and colostum to the list.  Thanks for the input

[Major Legend]

Your vitamin D is definitely way too low. You need to be in the near 80 ideally. Vitamin D doesn't raise instantly when you take it

 

Obviously testosterone on the low end, think this is your biggest thing here, vitamin D being low is normal for the modern human.

 

Here is what you should look at:

 

Sugar Control: (Which you seem to have handled)

Fasting Blood Glucose

Fasting Insulin

Hemoglobin A1 C

Fructosamine

 

Inflammation:

Homocysteine (whether you need vitamin b supplements or not)

C-Reactive Protein (inflammation)

 

Gluten Sensitivity:

Gluten Sensitivity Test

Cyrex Array 3 Test (Things cross linked with gluten when leaky gut syndrom exists)

 

Also remember though not ideal: chronic use of non steroidal anti inflammatories does reduce inflammation generally speaking.

[AlmostEasy]

Alright so onto my experiences with Samento, commonly known as "Cat's Claw".

 

I'm getting a very significant result from it, moreso than I could have expected.  

 

In the beginning I experienced what could be called the "Herxheimer Reaction".  So much so that I had to run to the bathroom in the middle of the night with moderately severe lower abdomen pains, it'd been a while since I'd experienced that level of physical pain honestly.  I also experienced a weird headachish head pressure for the first week or so.  Both of these are gone now and I experienced zero physical side effects.  So perhaps I did have some residual bacterial infection, though it very well could just be an initial reaction to the supplement itself.

 

Tomorrow morning I'll be on 12 drops.  The protocol calls for a progression to 30 drops starting at a 2 drop increase a day, with 1 being in the morning and the next at night.  So tomorrow will be 12 and 13, next day 14 and 15, all the way up to 30 which is where it will then stay.

 

So right now I'm on my 6th day.  I waited a little bit and will definitely need to wait a bit longer to declare anything absolutely but it's undeniable the results are pretty strong.  Here's what I'm experiencing:

• Substantial feeling of connection with normal reality.  I've escaped the tension prison of my head for once, I'm thinking, responding, acting, able to be more normal, more myself for once.  I did a normally extremely stressful event and after going through it and coming to a lull in the stress the normal mental momentum of a racing mind halted immediately.  It was shocking.  I can rev up and rev back down with the situations as they arise.  Typically my mind maxed out at all times and stressful event or not it always feels that way, maxed out.  I can now be in intense situations and then be out of them when they're done.  It's pretty incredible.
• I came to realize I've been having an almost 5 year anxiety attack, unrelenting.  It's like my mind was just revved to the max for that long.
• A past trauma came to the surface and I responded in a way like I used to, it severely affected me for quite some time, in a natural way.  While it wasn't fun at all to experience and remember, it absolutely signifies that I'm able to process reality properly.
• I've got to get used to having the ability to be calm, it's strange.  Every so often it feels like things are just ok, I'm not used to it at all.
• The relief is generally dependent upon dosing.  It definitely carries on from the previous day but is absolutely the strongest after taken.  It's probably too soon to draw much from this.

I'm definitely still having problems recalling specific words that I want, some typical mental confusion/brain fog, and things of that nature, but I've definitely experienced significant improvement in this short of an amount of time.  Since I can actually calm down for a second and not jump to massive conclusions I'm just going to say that I'm not sure what is going on with this and I'm just going to ride it out for now and see what happens.  Is it Lyme?  I have no clue, but it appears to be either bacterial (herx) or something related to chronic inflammation.  It is interesting though to note that I'm not experiencing increased herx reactions.

 

I have some Banderol on the way to try and work on other bacteria if that is the case.  It's interesting because this is only 1 product from the 14 in the Cowden Protocol.  Many are used to deal with detox symptoms but several are very strong anti microbials/fungals/virals that act each in their own way and are effective against unique things.  I think the Banderol will be very diagnostic as well.

 

So all and all this is a pretty big one.  I'm a bit tired from the weekend I'd liked to have described that all more enthusiastically but I'm spent.

 

Time will tell if this takes care of everything or if I'll need the entire protocol, if I'll need to continuously take it because it's not treating the root cause, and if it's related to Lyme or it's co-infections.  I haven't even ramped up to the full dose so who knows what can happen with this single supplement.

 

Some relief is nice, it feels like I can rest in my exhaustion a bit, which to me is the beginning of recovery.

 

I'll update as I progress.

Edited by AlmostEasy, 04 August 2014 - 05:34 AM.

[abcmanomandriepunt1]

Wow. I'm glad for you. Lyme or an infection could definitely cause a HPA axis problem. I'm also having succes but then with sarcosine. It's the best for post psychosis. I feel it also normalises HPA axis acitivity at the same time. there's definitely an interaction.

 

http://www.ncbi.nlm....pubmed/15573019

 

Hope things keep on improving for you! 

 

If things don't, i'm gonna make a group where the specific HPA axis problem that causes dp/dr will be looked at as the main problem to fix, together with the CFS like disease it eventually brought on to me. My disease is shared by a sub group of CFS'ers, 95% share symptoms I don't have, but i'm gonna gather the 5 % that do and label it as another disease. I'm thinking big. In therms of animal research, funding, sponsors, meeting with scientists and docters. 

 

I think I had what you have now, but then years back. Things declined rapidly for me but i was living like an animal, else I could have kept on going for years. The age on which you got ill is exactly the same as mine, as is for many people with the HPA axis problem DP/DR. 

 

Looking at my past I have had classic HPA axis problems. I don't know if you can identify, but I had problems at moments in my life where the HPA axis plays an important role. My birth was troublesome, my puberty was troublesome and so was my adulthood.

 

 

Edited by tylerdurden, 04 August 2014 - 04:59 PM.

[AlmostEasy]

Alright, so small update here.

 

I incorporated Pinella into my stack and that pretty much ruined the good effects Samento was having while I was taking it so I removed that from the plan and continued with Samento and also added in Banderol, another

• SAMENTO Microbial Defense: immune-system modulator, anti-inflammatory, broad-spectrum, antibacterial herbal tincture effective against Borrelia burgdorferi and the co-infections. 
• BANDEROL Microbial Defense: anti-inflammatory, broad-spectrum antiviral, antibacterial, antifungal, and antiparasitic (both protozoa and worms) herbal tincture; also effective against Borrelia burgdorferi, other Borrelia species and Lyme co-infections.
•  PINELLA Brain/Nerve Cleanse: an herbal tincture that eliminates neurotoxins from the brain, spine and peripheral nervous system. 
• From the Lyme Cowden Protocol here.

I'm not sure if I'm seeing effects from that yet but the Samento is definitely still working.  It doesn't feel like this will be a cure by any means but it's another thing to add to the stack I guess.

 

So as far as diagnosis goes I still don't know what to think really.  It appears to be something related to either bacteria or inflammation.  Lyme could still be possible but my reaction does not seem typical for it.  I feel if it WAS absolutely bacterial then I would be herxing and having progressive recovery; I seem to be experiencing benefits only when Samento is administered which may suggest that it is doing it's thing on inflammation while it's in my system rather than progressively wiping out the direct cause.  So basically I feel like I'm treating a part of the problem rather than curing it.

 

This is an absolutely ridiculous mystery and I have NO idea what to think of it anymore.  

 

The Samento may have been working more earlier as right now in this moment I don't feel that great.  I just took a late night class and it felt so bizarre to be there.  Everyone else was just functioning normal and it was almost hilarious knowing how strange I felt and nobody knowing.  Bleh.  The calmness comes and goes and this is probably a good diagnostic but I'm just tired of this and I have no clue what to do.

 

Nothing I have done has helped my terrible sleep at all so I bought some liquid Melatonin so hopefully that will assist me with some deeper sleep.  I also heard ALA can help with that so I may order some of that too.

 

I wont be able to have any more diagnostic tests run until my new health insurance activates in September so until then I'll just continue on with my standard regimen and my anti microbials!

 

Current Regimen:

Spoiler

Standard Stack

• Fish Oil 1g
• Vitamin D3 4k UI
• Multivitamin
• Ashwagandha KSM-66 300mg
• Lion's Mane 4g/day
• ALCAR 2g/day
• Bacopa 400mg/day 45%
• Piracetam 6g/day (basically a non-responder, just emptying supply in hopes it may heal something)

Anti Microbial Stack ("Lyme" Stack)

• Samento 30 drops/day
• Banderol - Currently @ 7 drops adding 2/day up to 30/day

 

Future Plans:

Spoiler

Once insurance comes online I'll be getting LH/FSH, Estradiol, and Prolactin tested to complete my HPG Axis profile and finally determine what is causing my low T.  I think this could have significant effects for me.  Even if it doesn't help my neuro problems I could use the mood boost, recovery boost, energy boost, and I'm really thinking my sleep may be greatly affected by this so maybe that would shape up as well.

 

Aside from that it may be time to revist Minocycline and/or Celecoxib (described below).

 

Theories:

Spoiler

Currently working supplements:

• Ashwagandha
• Lion's Mane
• Samento (Cat's Claw)

It looks like a strong either anti bacterial case or anti inflammatory case.  If it's bacterial it's probably Lyme and/or it's co-infections (which can be very very nasty as well).  If it's inflammation then I have NO idea.  Schizophrenia does have some strong evidence towards inflammation being a direct cause so the next logical step my be to try some Minocycline (neuro inflammation) or some Celecoxib (inflammatory enzyme inhibitor). Aside from that I have no idea what kind of neuro inflammation diseases there are.

 

Wish me luck!

 

Later

Edited by AlmostEasy, 15 August 2014 - 01:57 AM.

[abcmanomandriepunt1]

Hey. There are other routes. I'm gonna be gone and focus on other things.

 

Zyprexa and my current stack helped me a lot. My notion with sarcosine was that it needs time to work, it took weeks for the effects to kick in for me.

 

I would give PQQ and sarcosine a try, and look into the theory of too much glutamate/ brain inflammation. 

 

Good luck!

[mono]

Glycine also works on NMDA but has an instantaneous effect ime. Problem with glycine is tolerance - you could try titrating from 2g a few times per day - but sarcosine being a re-uptake inhibitor should activate the NMDA receptor enough not to cause down regulation and thus tolerance wouldn't be an issue. I am guessing here don't quote me on this. But I'm taking glycine now and probably going to try a switch to sarcosine.

[mono]

Some cool info on SZ negatives

http://www.mindandmu...phrenic-regimen

http://www.mindandmu...novel-treatment

Risperidone 1mg also has potential to work on NMDA

[AlmostEasy]

Hey. There are other routes. I'm gonna be gone and focus on other things.

 

Zyprexa and my current stack helped me a lot. My notion with sarcosine was that it needs time to work, it took weeks for the effects to kick in for me.

 

I would give PQQ and sarcosine a try, and look into the theory of too much glutamate/ brain inflammation. 

 

Good luck!

 

I finally took the time to investigate PQQ/CoQ10 combo and I'll be ordering this tonight.  I'm also getting some Na-R-ALA and some apparently effective and well researched anti-hangover supplements.  This will be an expensive order.. :( The amount for the price for the PQQ is crazy high so if it doesn't do something substantial I'll probably drop it.  

 

Social contact is extremely key to keeping me from being unhappy and it sometimes involves alcohol.  I know it's not helping at all with my recovery (and I do keep the drinks pretty low nowadays) but it's just something I'm not alright with giving up yet.  I usually keep it to 4-5 beers a night at max and more often than not it's around 3 or so.  Just enough to lube up and be able to drive (only on nights when I've had 3 or less) wherever need be at the end of the night.  Works out quite nice sometimes.

 

Sooo not expecting any miracles from this stuff (always hopeful though) but it seems obvious to try the PQQ/CoQ10 and then Na-R-ALA has rave reviews for all kinds of things and one reviewer on Amazon stated it helped them drastically with their sleep/all day tiredness problems (which seemed similar to mine) so I thought I'd give that a shot as well.

[Major Legend]

 

Hey. There are other routes. I'm gonna be gone and focus on other things.

 

Zyprexa and my current stack helped me a lot. My notion with sarcosine was that it needs time to work, it took weeks for the effects to kick in for me.

 

I would give PQQ and sarcosine a try, and look into the theory of too much glutamate/ brain inflammation. 

 

Good luck!

 

I finally took the time to investigate PQQ/CoQ10 combo and I'll be ordering this tonight.  I'm also getting some Na-R-ALA and some apparently effective and well researched anti-hangover supplements.  This will be an expensive order.. :( The amount for the price for the PQQ is crazy high so if it doesn't do something substantial I'll probably drop it.  

 

Social contact is extremely key to keeping me from being unhappy and it sometimes involves alcohol.  I know it's not helping at all with my recovery (and I do keep the drinks pretty low nowadays) but it's just something I'm not alright with giving up yet.  I usually keep it to 4-5 beers a night at max and more often than not it's around 3 or so.  Just enough to lube up and be able to drive (only on nights when I've had 3 or less) wherever need be at the end of the night.  Works out quite nice sometimes.

 

Sooo not expecting any miracles from this stuff (always hopeful though) but it seems obvious to try the PQQ/CoQ10 and then Na-R-ALA has rave reviews for all kinds of things and one reviewer on Amazon stated it helped them drastically with their sleep/all day tiredness problems (which seemed similar to mine) so I thought I'd give that a shot as well.

 

 

Wondering if you have attempted fasting and inducing keto whilst eating butter and coconut oil, when  I did that  my brain function and energy levels were really improved way more than any supplement, but I had side effects of rashes, because I have eczema the rashes made the keto unacceptable, as it made my skin even worst. Also get rid of gluten during keto diet too, as gluten sticks/ causes problems and has no nutrient value other than being addictive. I know maybe diet is a bit weak for you, but it really had interesting effects for me. During keto I felt awake and alert all day long, which has never happened in my life for as long as I remembered. I try to keep my body in mild ketosis when I can now, with a helping of sugar everynow and then.

 

I also ordered some nuvigil (generic form), hopefully that will offer a long term solution to my ADHD symptoms (i am doubtful though). I am very sensitive to stimulants due to my skin condition, which makes medicating a really big hassle as stimulants tend to dry the skin out, though I find if you get an preworkout energy drink like Redline Extreme and sip it 3-6 sips each time (tastes horrific), it works quite well - pacing the caffeine instead of going up and then crashing.

 

I hate how its hard to make friends without alchohol, its such a poisonous drug but its also such a social necessity, not for the effects but just down to peer pressure and feeling weird if you are the only one not drunk, and the people who don't drink are usually very weird to begin with lol. To be honest I see it more and more as poisonous substance, its really the way it messes with your circadian rhythms. Dihydrocodeine makes me very socially gregarious (like those pick up guys), but then again the histamine releases gives me lots of rashes the day after, so I had to quit that. (not that it was something I was using regularly apart from really big social nights - it mainly removed my excessive autism thoughts completely and allowed me to just be one of the normals, the dosage for this was only 2 tablets which - I doubt it would give anyone else a effect)

Edited by Major Legend, 18 August 2014 - 08:18 AM.

[tiadan]

I am experiencing almost the exact same symptom cluster as yourself, but my index of suspicion for a pathogenic->inflammatory etiology is higher along with neuropathy and neurological degeneration.

Don't discount that because the samento wore off, it could just be too weak.

If its just inflammation without a antigen, then the treatment is easy... Turn off the microglia, shift back to TH2 and lower TH17.

However, if you do this with a pathogen present, initially palliated symptoms will return with a vengeance (I experienced this first hand) because of pathogenic rebound.

I would guess you have some kind of chronic infection and would investigate that. Treating downstream too early will be like pissing in the wind at best (neurogeneisis or mito repair) or make you worse at worse.

You have been oriented to look at the biochemical and neurological node of this complex problem, but you have to move higher up the cascade. This isn't longecity's strong point...do research on lyme and CPN combined antibiotic therapy. Look up klinghardt and buhner protocols.

I would get CPN, Mycoplasma, Lyme + coinfections, strep etc titers drawn.

It could also be mold or heavy metal toxicity, investigate shoemaker and cutler for those.

I'm unconvinced that neuro inflammation in a 24 yo would spontaneously arise.

Bottom line, I think one should look upstream first to some stressor , whether it be a toxicity or infection. Often times it is both along with widespread physiological dysfunction.

I should also not that I am not a physician and none of the preceding post health advice, just my personal experience. You should always seek physician guidance

Edited by tiadan, 18 August 2014 - 10:29 PM.

[AlmostEasy]

I am experiencing almost the exact same symptom cluster as yourself, but my index of suspicion for a pathogenic->inflammatory etiology is higher along with neuropathy and neurological degeneration.

Don't discount that because the samento wore off, it could just be too weak.

If its just inflammation without a antigen, then the treatment is easy... Turn off the microglia, shift back to TH2 and lower TH17.

However, if you do this with a pathogen present, initially palliated symptoms will return with a vengeance (I experienced this first hand) because of pathogenic rebound.

I would guess you have some kind of chronic infection and would investigate that. Treating downstream too early will be like pissing in the wind at best (neurogeneisis or mito repair) or make you worse at worse.

You have been oriented to look at the biochemical and neurological node of this complex problem, but you have to move higher up the cascade. This isn't longecity's strong point...do research on lyme and CPN combined antibiotic therapy. Look up klinghardt and buhner protocols.

I would get CPN, Mycoplasma, Lyme + coinfections, strep etc titers drawn.

It could also be mold or heavy metal toxicity, investigate shoemaker and cutler for those.

I'm unconvinced that neuro inflammation in a 24 yo would spontaneously arise.

Bottom line, I think one should look upstream first to some stressor , whether it be a toxicity or infection. Often times it is both along with widespread physiological dysfunction.

I should also not that I am not a physician and none of the preceding post health advice, just my personal experience. You should always seek physician guidance

Very interesting, thank you very much for sharing that.

 

Is there any way I could contact you to discuss things more thoroughly?  This is a lot of information and it'd be awesome to be able to rapid fire a few things with you to see what you've done to help yourself.

 

I've been meaning to get some sort of group together with similar problems to discuss our experiments, a support group of sorts, but I haven't found the appropriate way.  Maybe Skype text chat or something.  But if not that's totally cool as well!

 

Thanks man, I'll throw you a PM if I find something suitable (also I'll share all my positive experiences in this thread as well should anyone else find the information beneficial).

 

Later!