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IBS, Bilirubin, Methylation (Elevated B12, Folate), Brain Fog, Tiredness

Messages
8
Hello to everyone,

I'm new to this forum but I am reading for a long time now. I'm sorry If my english sounds kind of funny to you, but I try my best. I can understand better than I write ^^ I don't even know if I'm right here but a lot of you seem to have a lot of experience. Noone diagnosed me with CFS or Adrenal Fatigue or whatever...I don't like labels anyway.
I'm in a country (Austria) which is 10 years behind in medicine compared to the USA. (no joke, europe isn't that great in this cases) So there is no doctor or someone into functional medicine who I can talk to with that kind of problems. Anyway, i just need some good tips to help with my issues. I can only read on the internet. I'm 24 years old now and a lot of things like methylation problems seem difficult for me, since I can only read them in english.
I give you my story in short:: IBS started with age 16, daily diarrhea, bloating, after a gut infection i guess; My doc did a stool test and it showed only mild candida overgrowth which went away, the white coated tongue stayed; I had a breakdown at age 22 (did drink a lot of alcohol before, mostly on weekends) , could barely get out of bed, anxiety, fatigue, brain fog, feeling ,,drunk'', always tired. I tried SSRI for 6 months, didn't help so I dropped them. Then after 2 years I met a Naturopath who put me on a AIP diet (no grains milk sugar etc..) and I improved dramatically, now I can work again and feel ok on most days. I don't have anxiety any longer. Also took some supps like Vit D, Magnesium Glycinate, K2, Chlorella etc... but I still have brain fog, feel dizzy and have low blood pressure. I'm very thin too, on the edge of being underweight, though I eat a lot of nutrient dense foods and calories(meat, eggs, avocados, leafy veggies), I can eat a lot of fat. Recently I'm feeling worse again, the doctor suspected a liver problem but all my organs are fine in ultrasound. But I have to rest and sleep a lot, when I'm stressed I get fatigued easily and my brain fog worsens. On my bad days I have low pulse rate. I have seronegative hashimoto's (no antibodies but mildly inflamed thyroid), I take 25 mcg T4. Meditation helps quite a bit.
My diarrhea stopped with the diet chance, so thats good. I'm somehow constipated on some days but still better than diarrhea. I digest everything I eat.
In the attachment you can see my last bloodwork and I have a few questions. I also payed for some things like homocysteine which was very expensive for me.
1) Bilirubin: Always have high bilirubin, doctors say it's gilbert but the can't test it. They say if the liver is fine, don't worry. What could that mean?
2) Elevated B12 and Folic acid (Methylation): They discovered that recently, doctors say when the liver is fine I don't have to worry; I don't believe them. Maybe take TMG, SAM-e or Thorne Methyl Guard? ^^ Doctor's here never heard of this, and I went to a liver specialist.
3) Infection: The last bloodwork suggests that, any guesses? Elevated Lymphocytes:
4) LOW IGG, IGA and IGM: Maybe try colostrum? Inability to fight infections?
5) Intestinal Flora: Looks kind of weird, Garden of Life Probiotic?
6) Brain fog: I already ordered Pqq, good idea?

I already started TMG (Now Foods) 2 Caps in the evening, didn't notice much difference.
I know that's a lot, some of you might say I should run a lot of tests, but I can't do that here. It's complex and i can't think of any better place to ask than here.
I have access to everything available on Iherb and amazon. So maybe you have some tipps for me. It's frustrating because I had very good periods with only little brain fog, but then there are setbacks. I don't want to wait till I'm really sick. I'm grateful to be part of this community.
If someone has a got tip for me, your karma is fulfilled (hihi, if it works that way)
Best regards.
Sebastian
 

Attachments

  • Intestinal Flora (1).pdf
    51.5 KB · Views: 16
  • Befund Bodlaj.pdf
    633.2 KB · Views: 16
  • B12 + Holo.pdf
    268.7 KB · Views: 15
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stridor

Senior Member
Messages
873
Location
Powassan, Ontario
Some of your symptoms could be accounted for by adrenal insufficiency. This includes brain-fog - we don't get to think without cortisol it seems.

When it started I could still work but I was collapsing into a chair on my days off. This "rise to the task" presentation is another sign. Lots of people have BP issues as well.

Unable to get Drs to cooperate in 2011, I got my first dose by putting hydrocortisone cream into capsules and swallowing that. When I was able to climb the stairs without pulling on the banister I knew that I was on the right track.

All I can do is to relate my story. There is a thread called, mitochondria, mercury, methylation, mycoplasma that has more. I always had high B12 and my Dr would say that at least that wasn't a source of my problems. Well, I never moved forward until I started high dose mB12. I flood my body with enough that the cells have no choice but to take some in.

I also have gut issues and my colon has been removed. I also dealt with Stealth Infections and mercury toxicity. Like many with multiple systems involved, I had more than one thing going on. You will too.
 
Messages
8
Well, thanks for responding although it was not the answer I'd hoped for. Maybe it's ,,adrenal insufficiency'' but in my case i improved gradually. What would that mean for me? What can I do? Try to take mini doses of methyl b12? Did that, didn't notice much improvement.
My gut issues went away completely (had diarrhea for 6 years)
I'm sorry, you must have been through a lot, I can't even imagine. I'm ready to try some things. At the moment i feel quite fine but the lymph nods on my neck are swelling (didn't experienced that before so something is going on in my body)

I'm not a native, so i don't really get your ,,rise to the task'' analogy; maybe it's related to my username here or how i edited my post? ;)
I know that there might be a lot of things going on, I just need something to start with.
Maybe it is AF and i ,,exhausted'' my adrenals (not possible, it's a mitochondrial problem i guess), do you have any advice for me? It's confusing, CFS, AF, Lyme etc...no one sees what's going on I guess.
I made a few lifestyle changes, don't drink any more, no parties, stopped striving for something as good as I can. I'm not as fit as a normal 24 year old and this is very frustrating. If I'm invited somewhere I have to tell my girlfriend I can't go and I have to rest a lot.
They checked my hormones and my cortisol in the blood (morning) and my cortisol came back mildly elevated (but so little it doesn't mean anything I guess)



I'm open for any suggestions

Best Regards,
Sebastian
 
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Mary

Moderator Resource
Messages
17,335
Location
Southern California
Hi @Riseandshine - first welcome to the board!

Re your liver: it's possible that it may have become overloaded with toxins (e.g., from alcohol) and so even though it looks normal on ultrasound, you might be helped by a liver cleanse. I had to do one 13 years ago and it made a huge difference for me. I'd had a job a long time ago where I had heavy exposure to a chemical solvent and it was still causing problems for me. My chiropractor who does muscle testing is the one who helped me with this, not my doctor. Some things you can try to help your liver are lemon juice - it's very good for the liver, it helps cleanse and helps with digestion; milk thistle helps repair and protect the liver, dandelion tea is also very good. Although if your liver was having problems, I believe you would have trouble digesting fats, and you say you eat a lot of fats. So if your liver is compromised in some way, I would cut down on the fats. Coconut oil is a good fat which is relatively easy to digest compared to others. When my liver was toxic, I was tired most of the time and also had brain fog.

Like stridor, I also think it's possible you may have adrenal problems. Again, my chiropractor helped me with this. He had me take an adrenal glandular product (Drenatrophin PMG by Standard Process). I had to take about 3 times the recommended dose. Alcohol is very hard on the adrenals. Extra pantothenic acid can be helpful too, it's the B vitamin which is crucial for adrenal health. Your fatigue when stressed sounds a lot like adrenals to me, as well as your low blood pressure. You might look into licorice for your adrenals - I can't tell you what to take or do, these are just suggestins.

Re your high B12 - my level is very very high. But it doesn't mean I have too much B12, it means my body is not using it properly. So I take a lot of B12 and hope some of it gets to where it needs to be.

I hope you get some answers here!
 
Messages
8
@ Mary: Thank you, great answer ;). I was thinking about a liver problem and today I already took 2 caps milk thistle and drank 2 lemons in water ;) Can u show me a website on how to do a proper liver cleanse, because there are a lot of them (i think it involves olive oil and apple juice but it is contradictory^^)
I have another explanation, becuase I stopped drinking more than a year ago: 1 year ago I had normal b12 levels but my NP put me on a high dose chlorella vulgaris detoxification procedure (she's a klinghardt practitioner)...maybe the b12 is high because of those? I took lots of them...and they also contain folic acid 33%rda, and I took 10 times the normal dose because my NP suggested it.
You have high levels of b12 too? What did your doc say?
I already thought about taking adrenal glandulars, as well as thyroid glandulars (to help with the inflammation) ;)

Thank you, I'm open for more suggestions. :)
 

jepps

Senior Member
Messages
519
Location
Austria
I'm in a country (Austria) which is 10 years behind in medicine compared to the USA.


Sebastian

@Riseandshine I would say, decades more than 10 years..........

Regarding B12 and B9:
I had very high serum levels in B12 and folic acid, according to the doc not both must not be treated.
A year later thanks to PR:balloons: I began with methylation treatment, and I responded well, but after a while methylation was to hard for my gut, and inflammation increased.
Treating the gut improved according to this thread a lot, I am yet on the full supplement programme.
 

Mary

Moderator Resource
Messages
17,335
Location
Southern California
Hi @Riseandshine (great name, BTW! :D) - re a liver cleanse - I've read about olive oil being used for the gallbladder, to try to flush out stones, but don't know anything about it being used to cleanse the liver. If I were you, I would drink lemon juice a couple of times a day, for several weeks, and see how you do. And keep taking the milk thistle. I think beets are also very good, as well as dandelion tea. And go easy on fats - they are hard to digest. Meat is also difficult to digest, so if you are trying to support your liver, you might go easy on the meat for awhile and eat more fish and chicken etc. which are easier to digest. Many people with CFS (including me) are low in stomach acid, it seems to go with the territory. In addition to the liver cleanse, my digestion improved a lot when I started taking betaine HCL with meals.

My chiropractor had me take Parotid PMG and Cholacol II, both by Standard Process, when I did my liver cleanse. It was rough - I felt really awful for about a month while doing it, but was very much improved afterwards. The important thing is to go slowly, you don't want to overload your body with toxins as they are released.

Do you have chiropractors who do muscle testing (applied kinesiology is another name for it) in Austria? Mine helped me so much, I always recommend this.

Do you have any mercury fillings? If someone has mercury toxicity, chlorella is probably not a good thing to take, it can mobilize mercury in your body. I know it's recommended by some for getting rid of mercury and heavy metals, but others say it's not a good idea at all (see Andy Cutler) and can make things worse. Are you still taking it? I couldn't tolerate chlorella because of the detox symptoms it caused.

Re my high B12 - my doctor didn't say anything .... but many people here have high B12 on blood work and again, it means we're not using it properly, it's not getting in to the cells or being used by the cells so it floats around in the blood ....

Sorry, I can't answer all your questions. I never had high folate, but I hope others here will chime in and hopefully get you more answers! And it might be best to just address one thing at a time. I've found it's really important to only take one new thing or try one new protocol at a time so that I know what is doing what to me - good luck! :nerd:
 
Messages
8
@Mary: Thank you; I never had amalgam fillings, only 2 synthetic pieces because a piece broke of my teeth, but this wouldn't cause any issue i guess ;) Yes my Klinghardt Practitioner uses kinesiology muscle testig, but she says only time can tell how one will improve, and I should be patient....but as you can see, I'm not ;) She suggested a ketogenic diet for me (I already lost a lot of weight with this lchf diet and I want it back haha ;)
I don't want an answer to all my questions, only some suggestions.
I tried Ashwaghanda for a time and felt really better ;) I also take Ginkgo and Panax Ginseng from time to time

@jepps: Hallo, schön dich zu treffen. May I contact you via PM so you can tell me the protocol you used, it would take me weeks to understand the procedure.? I'm eager to know what causes the elevated B12 levels because they are relatively new. For methylation I only take 2 capsules TMG (Now Foods-Liver Support), which was tested by my NP after I suggested it. Beets have a lot of Betaine too, so TMG might be the right supplement. She doesn't know methylation issues, shes more focused on diet.

Best Regards ;)
 
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jepps

Senior Member
Messages
519
Location
Austria
@Riseandshine it doesn´t matter, if you had amalgame fillings or not. With a compromised gut, and a downregulated methylation your do not detoxify properly, and you hold your infections in your body:ill:

Everybody is unique, but for me the following protocol changed a lot:

- first step: addressing the diet. There are several suggestions in PR, for me Perfect Health Diet helped. Try to ferment vegetables, and address the gut with several probiotics, prebiotics and resistent starch.
addressing the minerals and vitamins according to a full blood testing, addressing your hormones with adaptogens

- Adressing candida: according to Gestalt´s thread "Candida", and @Asklipia´s thread "Sanum"

- third step: addressing the methylation with methylcobalamine, adenosylcobalamine, methylfolate, phosphatidylcholine, TMG betaine (or HCL betaine)

Each step is widespread, and it takes time to understand and to address it. I would begin with a well diet with ferments, and addressing minerals and adrenals. Maybe it helps, and you get healthy. If not, you can address candida and methylation.

Best regards, jepps:)
 
Messages
8
@ Jepps: Thank you for the suggestions, that's a lot to read for me ;) . I'm on an AIP Paleo diet for over a year now...it is nearly similiar to the Perfect health Diet as i can see http://perfecthealthdiet.com/the-diet/
except for the safe starches, I don't eat a lot of starches now (some sweet potatoes though).
Anny suggestions with the adaptogens? ;) I really liked rhodiola and ashwaghanda so far. I'm trying panax ginseng and ginkgo now.
I already adressed candida with my NP, she tested PURE Encapsulations- AC Formula for that. (https://www.purecaps.net/de/produkte/ac-formula-AC26A)

thank you so much ;) @jepps @Mary
 

jepps

Senior Member
Messages
519
Location
Austria
except for the safe starches, I don't eat a lot of starches now (some sweet potatoes though).

So res.starch would be a good idea. As "safe" starches feed the mucosa, with time it could be necessary to eat more safe starches like sweet potatoes or potatoes.

Anny suggestions with the adaptogens? ;) I really liked rhodiola and ashwaghanda so far. I'm trying panax ginseng and ginkgo now.[/QUOTE]

I already adressed candida with my NP, she tested PURE Encapsulations- AC Formula for that. (https://www.purecaps.net/de/produkte/ac-formula-AC26A)

I take Energy xtra (Pure) and Cytozyme ad and vitamin C (liposomal and buffered from Pure).