Life Extension says it's been proven diabetics have mitochondrial deficiency

[maddietod]

I currently take resveratrol twice a week, not once a week, as it started to wear off at the end of the week. This is titrated to eliminate most of my breathing problems. So that is about 1200mg per week I take, in two doses. I have yet to test lower daily doses.

If I feel breathing issues coming on at any time, I take my next dose immediately.

The interview comment from Marty about CoQ10 and cognitive issues makes me feel like trying even higher doses some time.

Have you researched brands of resveratrol? I'm mostly wondering if soft gels are better than tablets.

 

[alex3619]

I have done some looking at brands, but not nearly enough to make recommendations.

 

[Ema]

Have you researched brands of resveratrol? I'm mostly wondering if soft gels are better than tablets.

I'd like to know this as well. Maybe it deserves its own thread?

 

[heapsreal]

I just thought i would add my recent experience in relation to this subject.

I have always been one of those guys who put weight on easy. pre cfs i was probably more and meso/endo morph from exercising alot and i ate healthy but always had that puppy fat, which i think now was a sign of insulin resistance but i kept it somewaht under control pre cfs with exercise etc.

cfs hit and my activity dropped and the weight climbed actually not too bad just went soft and mushy lol, i guess this is a familiar storey to many. The initial weight i put on i lost most of it by sticking strictly to low carb diet, any change and i would whack the weight on. cholesterol also went up when i increased my carbs, seems against the general health advice that bacon and eggs for breakfast, a big fat juicy steak with some salad for dinner etc and my cholesterol numbers improved as well as my weight.

Over time, diet alone just hasnt been enough, just too sedentary. I use mito supps ie lipoic acid, q10, nac and acetl carnitine, there the main mito supps plus fists full of other supps too. I have added metformin and this helped me to lose more weight and i could actually eat some carbs without too many issues. I am prone to reactive hypo episodes after eating too many carbs, so i would have an occassional carb mung out every so often for sanity, mostly it just made me feel sick.

The last few months i have put probably 10kg on without any changes in diet or exercise(watching sport on tv). The only thing i have changed in the last few months was stopping acetyl carnitine when i ran out of, which i was taking 500mg every morning. I have been having more hypo episodes where i get really sweaty and weak until i eat something, generally i keep a protein drink nearby. cant say for sure but seems abit more then a coincidence?? Recieved my acl carn today and will start it tomorrow.

I think the whole mitochondria/insulin resistence thing is an issue of mine. I also initially had some improvement in this area when on testosterone cream but the last few months i dont think its working, apparently common for guys to all of the sudden be unable to absorb creams, next step i will talk to my doc about testosterone injections. Optimum testosterone also play a big role in improving insulin sensitivity and probably mitochondria issues in men.

For me it looks like i need the very low carb diet, metformin, all the mito supps and testosterone.

I think this type of stuff is just a comorbid condition thats common in ME. So ME may not be directly deadly just indirectly deadly through other comorbid issues??? Something we need to keep on top off.

cheers!!!

 

[taniaaust1]

I know there are those here who strongly disagree, but I believe that long term diabetics (not young ones) have CFS (mitochondrial dysfunction). I know the diagnosis criteria EXCLUDES diabetics but I think this is rather unfair and arbitrary as if people can only have one ailment at a time (ludicrous in fact). I can attest that my father had MANY ailments all at the same time...

I'd like to point out that the above is a common myth. Having another illness does not exclude one from being able to get a ME/CFS diagnoses as long as the other illness cant explain ones symptoms.

This has been twisted with many ending up thinking that one cant have other conditions and ME/CFS.

 

[stevenhorr]

FWIW, I have had terrible post-exertional symptoms for about 15 years, and 5.5 years ago, I was diagnosed with adult onset Type 1 diabetes. I'm not sure what the link is, but I strongly suspect there is one, in my case. For those of you who don't know, Type 1 has an autoimmune causation, where the body's immune system attacks the insulin producing islet cells of the pancreas. This is why we require insulin by injection. Anyway, I was - believe it or not - a little excited to discover I had diabetes, only because I thought it was the answer to my post-exertional problems. However, my symptoms have in fact become worse, not better.

 

[xks201]

I just thought i would add my recent experience in relation to this subject.

I have always been one of those guys who put weight on easy. pre cfs i was probably more and meso/endo morph from exercising alot and i ate healthy but always had that puppy fat, which i think now was a sign of insulin resistance but i kept it somewaht under control pre cfs with exercise etc.

cfs hit and my activity dropped and the weight climbed actually not too bad just went soft and mushy lol, i guess this is a familiar storey to many. The initial weight i put on i lost most of it by sticking strictly to low carb diet, any change and i would whack the weight on. cholesterol also went up when i increased my carbs, seems against the general health advice that bacon and eggs for breakfast, a big fat juicy steak with some salad for dinner etc and my cholesterol numbers improved as well as my weight.

Over time, diet alone just hasnt been enough, just too sedentary. I use mito supps ie lipoic acid, q10, nac and acetl carnitine, there the main mito supps plus fists full of other supps too. I have added metformin and this helped me to lose more weight and i could actually eat some carbs without too many issues. I am prone to reactive hypo episodes after eating too many carbs, so i would have an occassional carb mung out every so often for sanity, mostly it just made me feel sick.

The last few months i have put probably 10kg on without any changes in diet or exercise(watching sport on tv). The only thing i have changed in the last few months was stopping acetyl carnitine when i ran out of, which i was taking 500mg every morning. I have been having more hypo episodes where i get really sweaty and weak until i eat something, generally i keep a protein drink nearby. cant say for sure but seems abit more then a coincidence?? Recieved my acl carn today and will start it tomorrow.

I think the whole mitochondria/insulin resistence thing is an issue of mine. I also initially had some improvement in this area when on testosterone cream but the last few months i dont think its working, apparently common for guys to all of the sudden be unable to absorb creams, next step i will talk to my doc about testosterone injections. Optimum testosterone also play a big role in improving insulin sensitivity and probably mitochondria issues in men.

For me it looks like i need the very low carb diet, metformin, all the mito supps and testosterone.

I think this type of stuff is just a comorbid condition thats common in ME. So ME may not be directly deadly just indirectly deadly through other comorbid issues??? Something we need to keep on top off.

cheers!!!

you are absorbing it. It is just converting to estrogen because aromatase is all over the skin.

 

[Wilted_Iris]

I know there are those here who strongly disagree, but I believe that long term diabetics (not young ones) have CFS (mitochondrial dysfunction). I know the diagnosis criteria EXCLUDES diabetics but I think this is rather unfair and arbitrary as if people can only have one ailment at a time (ludicrous in fact). I can attest that my father had MANY ailments all at the same time...

I have always thought CFS ran in my family (long before I knew there was a name for it) and I used to think of it in terms of "some kind of problem with B vitamins" before I knew about the methyl cycle (so like 45 years ago). So now I had my and my father's genes mapped and we both have 18 of 30 genetic defects mapped, many in the methyl cycle (yes, I was right all those years, we have a B vitamin issue). We did not have all the same defects nor the same severity, yet the general screwed-up-edness was similar. He did not have allergies so I suspect I have additional genetic problems he did not have.

The thing is that I could look right up my Dad's side of the family tree and see severe fatigue issues everywhere there (and none on my mother's side - my Dad lucked out on marrying someone with the energy to take care of him). The diabetes in my family is ALSO all up my Dad's side. Medical science just dismissed their life-altering fatigue as diabetes, yet every other diabetic I knew growing up had plenty of energy (rode frequently in bike marathons, waitressed in busy restaurants, etc). So I told my Dad and my Aunt long time ago that I thought they had some kind of fatigue issue in addition to diabetes. My father's side of the family didn't use wheelchairs, they just never went anywhere or did anything...they didn't WANT to, because depression went along with the fatigue.

So I am just saying that it is proven now that diabetics have the same mitochondrial issues that CFSers have, possibly different cause, although I think you'll find there are multiple causes even among classical CFSers. Those who dismiss this as diabetes think that those with diabetes and low numbers of mirtochondria (which sounds like eventually all diabetics have) only have to eat 'properly' to have this problem go away, but I can speak from experience that it's not so easy as that. If diabetes is in your genes eating a certain way might never do the trick nor be possible. If you can't absorb sugar or utilize it properly you would be surprised at how useless a "supposed to" or "should" diet is. (I have been diabetic twice and beat it - because I was young and it THEN was caused by too much stress (divorce) and its effect on my diet / self - care), but over 50 w/o hormonal (gene expression) help, I don't think diet would help enough to - well - help. I developed inability to break down glycogen (panic/low blood sugar) forever after age 50 and I couldn't play around with that with little things that may/may not have effect in a million years so I jumped right on hormone replacement until I found a strategy that works. So I have had some sort of blood sugar issue I have had to fight all my life - as a kid it took little to fend off, but as I got older it got HARDER. I do not believe w/o hormones it would have been possible.

So, I am making the case that diabetes as a cause of CFS is just as relevant as any Epstein-barr or lyme or any other cause. The end result is mitochondrial dysfunction. And the path there is not remotely easy to fix. (So for instance insulin did NOTHING to fix it). I think it's bogus to exclude diabetics from having CFS. It's just some arbitrary rule w/o basis in what's really going on at the cellular level. I'm just putting this out there. My opinion. Unsolicited so we know what that's worth.

Different antagonists yet similar/same results.