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Equilibrant

Messages
59
Location
Pittsburgh, PA
Anyone still using Equilibrant and how are you doing on it?
I am on week 4 @ 6 per day now (worked up) -- not as much impovement as I would like, but I am sticking to it, I really believe in Dr. Chia. I am not having the constant headache, so that is a huge relief. Still constant fatigue.
I did a week of 1500 Inosine -- now 3 weeks off.
I added oil of oregano (not sure if this is a good idea).
Also, 2 days on L-Lysine
And 9 per day of New Chapter Immune Sheild mushrooms.
Chlorella
Maybe I should cut out everything else and just go with the Equilibrant, I don't know. I am also considering moving up the does of Equilibrant.
 

globalpilot

Senior Member
Messages
626
Location
Ontario
I didn't do the equilabrant, but rather oxymatrine for 4.5 months. It didn't help mysymtpoms. I have documented enterovirus in my gut, and a lot of it to - about 2/3 of my gut was stained.
I wonder, though, if the equilabrant just isn't enough.
It is supposed to shift the immune system. I suppose you could have that tested. When I had my consult he mentioned his son and how taking the oxymatrine changed his immune profile which they tested. I'm not sure of the specific test they used.
 

SOC

Senior Member
Messages
7,849
Anyone still using Equilibrant and how are you doing on it?
I am on week 4 @ 6 per day now (worked up) -- not as much impovement as I would like, but I am sticking to it, I really believe in Dr. Chia. I am not having the constant headache, so that is a huge relief. Still constant fatigue.
I did a week of 1500 Inosine -- now 3 weeks off.
I added oil of oregano (not sure if this is a good idea).
Also, 2 days on L-Lysine
And 9 per day of New Chapter Immune Sheild mushrooms.
Chlorella
Maybe I should cut out everything else and just go with the Equilibrant, I don't know. I am also considering moving up the does of Equilibrant.

My doc didn't even recheck infections for 3 months. Nothing seems to work quickly with this illness. :( I'd hang in there at your current dosage for a while.

On the good news side, my relatively mild infections with Coxsackie and Parvovirus did clear up with only 1 Equilibrant daily. I can't say I felt hugely better, but IMO every little bit counts. :)
 

RestingInHim

Realist
Messages
159
Location
Riverside, CA, USA
Hello Pittsburgh! Funny you would ask today....I just returned from my 2nd appointment with Dr. C. I am very fortunate to live near his office.

I had titrated my dose up to 6 over the course of 3 months....raising it about every week to 10 days by 1/2 pill. He really emphasizes the need to titrate up slowly. Based on the graph/chart I gave him and my answers to his questions...as well as recent blood tests...he told me to back off to 5 for 1-2 weeks and, if fatigue better, go to 4. If 5 was better than 4...go back to 5. I see him again in 2 1/2 months. He told me at my first appointment the treatment would be about 2 years, if I respon d well, which we would know in 3-6 months. Have you seen his interview on YouTube MECFS Alert, Episodes 38-41?

I don't know how he works with long-distance patients, but it might be worth asking. He may know of docs in your state that follow his protocol. I have complete trust in him...and I've been dealing with doctors & this illness almost 20 years. I will be posting an article on Health Rising (cortjohnson.org) re:my appointments and treatment with Dr. Chia soon.

I decided not to try anything new unless he advised me too. He, of course, knows what meds I'm taking already. I figured I wouldn't know what was helping & what isn't if I tried several things at once. Also, he considers 6 the maximum dose.

Check out Patrick Calvin's blog. He is also a patient of Dr. Chia. quixoticmeblog.blogspot.com

Hope this helps!

rest easy!
 
Messages
59
Location
Pittsburgh, PA
SOC -- hopefully you will start to feel better now that your infections are cleared up.
RestingInHim -- I have been increasing the dose quickly because I seem to tolerate it ok and I thought the more I had in me the better.
Do you know why he wants you to lower your dosage?
Are you feeling worse with the higher dose?
Since I am very tight on money and there are no doctors here in Pittsburgh that I can find who will run any useful tests for me, I just thought I would take Equilibrant and go with how I feel, but it is hard knowing if you are helping yourself when you have no numbers to go on.
I am a like a Dr. Chia super-fan. I have read everything he has written and watched every video. I do read Patrick's blog, in fact that is how I first heard about Dr. Chia. My wife comments on there as Retroburgh. On one of the videos he mentions that his son took 9 at a time, that is the only reason I considered going beyond 6.
I really hope we all feel better!
 

SOC

Senior Member
Messages
7,849
SOC -- hopefully you will start to feel better now that your infections are cleared up.

I had 5 identified chronic infections of which HHV6 and EBV were the worst and Coxsackie the mildest. Getting the HHV6 and EBV under control made a big difference in how I feel and quality of life. I don't feel sick and fluish all the time and I do have less cognitive impairment and some more energy. I'm still fighting the low energy/PEM, though. That's the part I can't seem to shake even though I've got a handle on the infections.

Good luck with the Equilibrant. Keep us posted on how it's working for you.
 

RestingInHim

Realist
Messages
159
Location
Riverside, CA, USA
Pittsburgh - I made a graph of my Equilibrant doses, my crashes/semi-crashes, and my pain since starting Equilibrant. It gave him a pretty clear picture. Because my fatigue had increased, tho my pain was better, in the last 3 weeks, he told me to back down on my dose, then to see if fatigue gets better. He said it had to do with interferon working in my body. I'll look for your wife on Quixotic blog.

As SOC said...it is a slow process. Glad you're doing better SOC! (that wouldn't be South Orange County, would it?). Is the Equilibrant what you took for the EBV & HHV6...or something else?

Hi global! Dr. Chia adds anti-virals and inosine sometimes..( though Equilibrant has anti-viral propertiest)..but wants to wait till I find my right dose of Equilibrant for me first...which he said I'm responding to, based on my reaction to it. I was hoping I would be in the sub-set of people with ME/CFS that has treatable enteroviruses. So far....it looks like I am. I'm very grateful.
 

SOC

Senior Member
Messages
7,849
As SOC said...it is a slow process. Glad you're doing better SOC! (that wouldn't be South Orange County, would it?). Is the Equilibrant what you took for the EBV & HHV6...or something else?

Nope. :) I used to be SickofCFS, but that was a pain for everyone to type and got me and SickofSickness confused, so now I'm SOC.


I was taking the Equilibrant for relatively mild Coxsackie and Parvovirus B19 infections. It worked beautifully for me at a low dose (1 Equilibrant daily). I had already gotten HHV6 and EBV under control with Valcyte and Valtrex, so maybe that made it easier for my immune system to handle the others with a little boost from Equilibrant.
 

RestingInHim

Realist
Messages
159
Location
Riverside, CA, USA
Nope. :) I used to be SickofCFS, but that was a pain for everyone to type and got me and SickofSickness confused, so now I'm SOC.

Funny....but not!

I was taking the Equilibrant for relatively mild Coxsackie and Parvovirus B19 infections. It worked beautifully for me at a low dose (1 Equilibrant daily). I had already gotten HHV6 and EBV under control with Valcyte and Valtrex, so maybe that made it easier for my immune system to handle the others with a little boost from Equilibrant.

That makes sense! Did you have a biopsy to determine the viruses. Sounds like very definitive diagnosis.
 
Messages
59
Location
Pittsburgh, PA
RestinginHim -- that's interesting, so maybe it is important to go really slowly so the body can adjust. I think I will back down to 5 a day and stop adding most other supplements. I have been super fatigued this week, it could be too much too soon -- also, I was working a bit outside in the cold, which always is trouble.
Did Dr.C tell you how long to wait for results as you decrease or increase you dosage?
It sounds like this might really work for you! Wouldn't that be great!
 

SaraM

Senior Member
Messages
526
I really like to take Equilibrant, but even half a tablet gives me a very bad headache. Is there a way to get around this issue?
 

SOC

Senior Member
Messages
7,849
I really like to take Equilibrant, but even half a tablet gives me a very bad headache. Is there a way to get around this issue?
I think some of the components in Equilibrant can lower BP, so if your BP is already low that could cause a fierce headache. You might have some luck if you increased your fluid intake. Just a thought....
 

RestingInHim

Realist
Messages
159
Location
Riverside, CA, USA
RestinginHim -- that's interesting, so maybe it is important to go really slowly so the body can adjust. I think I will back down to 5 a day and stop adding most other supplements. I have been super fatigued this week, it could be too much too soon -- also, I was working a bit outside in the cold, which always is trouble.
Did Dr.C tell you how long to wait for results as you decrease or increase you dosage?
It sounds like this might really work for you! Wouldn't that be great!

He told me to back it to 5 for 1-2 weeks. If fatigue is better, back down to 4. If better on 4, stay with 4...if not, go back to 5. I keep a very specific diary! I realized how privileged I am to live near Dr. C...something I discovered only last May.

I do hope it works for you! I'll let you know when my blog is up on cortjohnson.org

I will pray you can manage to stay out do the cold! We So Cal wimps think it's cold at 56!
 

Adlyfrost

Senior Member
Messages
251
Location
NJ
Had a strange reaction to either Equilibrant or Inosine: Started Equilibrant on Valentine's and worked my way up to 3/day. Was feeling sleepy, fatigued, FLU-ish but extremely calm on it. Last week I added 1000mg Inosine taking it in the afternoon and Equilibrant at dinner. The inosine helped with the FLU-ishness immediately! Loved it! After the third day I had more energy since my before my last crash. Then the 4th day I woke up in the middle of the night feeling edgy and nervous. I also found myself feeling revved up during the day. Then the 5th night: full panic attack that woke me up an hour after sleeping- it was as if I just drank 20 cups of expresso- I was so nervous I couldn't walk. I was up all night and morning. My stomach also felt acidic. My money was on the inosine- perhaps uric acid build up? Yesterday I only took one equilibrant and nothing else. I also woke up in the middle of the night revved up but not as bad as before. Still nervous though, edgy, uncharacteristically hyper and can't sleep or concentrate- which is odd since last week I was sleeping 12-15 hours/day. Don't know if it is a combo effect or just one but I am going to try and slowly add them back by themselves at half doses until I figure it out. Equilibrant was really doing something too with the immune stuff- at least my body was fighting something with sweats and heating up. And inosine took all the nausea away and gave me energy back. Had a
similar reaction years ago after experimenting with citrulline maleate. I also feel like this if I drank coffee- a cup of joe could put me in the hospital so I don't do caffeine. Anyone hear of similar reactions? I also started 1000mg of lysine that week too but didn't think that could do this.
 

Patrick*

Formerly PWCalvin
Messages
245
Location
California
I usually post a summary of my latest appointment with Dr. C in this thread, so here it is. I'm still taking Equilibrant, which has lead to definite improvement, but so far the additions of Inosine, Amantadine, and Epivir have all failed to "turn it up a notch." Next up is Rifampin...
 
Messages
59
Location
Pittsburgh, PA
Feeling horrible today. I'm not sure the Equilibrant is working for me, but I still believe it will. Just ordered 4 more boxes. Anyone have news?
 

RestingInHim

Realist
Messages
159
Location
Riverside, CA, USA
Feeling horrible today. I'm not sure the Equilibrant is working for me, but I still believe it will. Just ordered 4 more boxes. Anyone have news?

So sorry to hear that! Right after i lowered my dose from 6 to 5, I crashed for about 2 weeks. I'm not sure it was related to the lower dose. There were a lot of people around me with various viruses, so it may have been my body responding, even though I wasn't symptomatic for those virus. Dr. Chia told me crashes come not only when we overdo,but also when we are exposed to bugs. Since the 2-week crash...I'm now in a streak of almost 2 weeks of good...with tiny ups & downs. I have not had this many good days in-a-row in probably 5 years.

So hang in there...there is so much trial-and-error...but there's hope that we'll be better if we see the process through!

My updated blog will be posting later this week.

will pray you are better soon...and inner rest come while you are knocked down!
 
Messages
59
Location
Pittsburgh, PA
Glad to hear you are doing well! So, you are still taking 5 per day?
I thought I was moving my E dose up too fast, so I lowered from 6 to 4 a day about two weeks ago and have been feeling pretty bad. Today I went back up to 5. We'll see how that goes. I may be extra tired today because i play in a band and was out pretty late last night, or the increase dose, or my wife is filling my with detox veggies -- who knows. That's the problem really, i never know why I feel better or worse (really, less bad or really bad) -- it's frustrating. Thank you so much for keeping the blog, it is great to read what others are doing.
Stay well!