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MY IVs MESSED ME UP

Jimbo39

Senior Member
Messages
405
Location
San Deigo, CA
I've had 2 infusions of:

Magnesium chloride
Calcium chloride
Selenium
Pyridoxine
Dexpanthenol
Hydroxycobalamin
B-complex
Ascorbic acid
Zinc
NAC

Since then I've had constant diarrhea, gut pain/cramps. It's been 2 weeks since I quit. Any thoughts on which supplements may be causing this? Should I just ride it out or can you recommend something to counteract it?
 

CFS_for_19_years

Hoarder of biscuits
Messages
2,396
Location
USA
Two weeks would be a long time for an IV to have this effect. If you were to have diarrhea from magnesium and/or ascorbic acid aka Vitamin C (both can cause it) it would have subsided within a few days.

Are you sure you don't have something else going on that's causing the diarrhea?

If you've been having diarrhea for two weeks you really need to be seen by a doctor to determine the cause and to be sure you're not losing electrolytes.

As far as counteracting it, you could try some Pepto-Bismol, but be sure to see a doctor too because it's not normal to have diarrhea for two weeks.
 

Chocolove

Tournament of the Phoenix - Rise Again
Messages
548
I do hope the Doc that gave you these is responding to your query. We don't know all the circumstances of your current conditions. We would be guessing in the blind. And we aren't doctors. If that doctor isn't responsive, I do hope you will find one that is. A second opinion from another doctor might be wise.
 

Paralee

Senior Member
Messages
571
Location
USA
@Jimbo39 , just a thought, because someone has brought up the mag, but it might just be the wrong kind or amount. Mag is hard to know if you should even take it because it's so hard to get a reading, right? Not sure.

I know if I take much mag it makes me lose my calcium. Good luck.

P.S. There's a prescription drug that will stop the loose stools thing but I can't remember the name of it. The thing is, should you even need it now? Sounds like a lot of electrolytes, etc. going down the drain. I agree with Chocolove.

Also, there are those that cannot take a B complex, could you be one of them?
 

Jimbo39

Senior Member
Messages
405
Location
San Deigo, CA
Two weeks would be a long time for an IV to have this effect. If you were to have diarrhea from magnesium and/or ascorbic acid aka Vitamin C (both can cause it) it would have subsided within a few days.

Are you sure you don't have something else going on that's causing the diarrhea?

If you've been having diarrhea for two weeks you really need to be seen by a doctor to determine the cause and to be sure you're not losing electrolytes.

As far as counteracting it, you could try some Pepto-Bismol, but be sure to see a doctor too because it's not normal to have diarrhea for two weeks.

I don't know if it's just coincidence. The timing seems spot on. I haven't changed anything else in my regiment.
 

Jimbo39

Senior Member
Messages
405
Location
San Deigo, CA
Also, there are those that cannot take a B complex, could you be one of them?

I hope not. I'm really looking forward to starting Fredd's protocol. On second thought I've been taking Dr Amy's All in One for 4 months and it's actually helping me. It has B vitamins tho I'm not sure if it's B complex. What's the difference?
 

Jimbo39

Senior Member
Messages
405
Location
San Deigo, CA
I do hope the Doc that gave you these is responding to your query. We don't know all the circumstances of your current conditions. We would be guessing in the blind. And we aren't doctors. If that doctor isn't responsive, I do hope you will find one that is. A second opinion from another doctor might be wise.

Basically she said quit taking them and drink a lot of fluids and electrolytes.
 

Chocolove

Tournament of the Phoenix - Rise Again
Messages
548
Sounds like a good idea considering your fluid loss. Have you been drinking any particular electrolyte drinks? And how long ago did you talk to the Doc?
 

Chocolove

Tournament of the Phoenix - Rise Again
Messages
548
I hope you are not drinking anything with caffeine because that increases fluid loss, as do alcoholic beverages.
 

Jimbo39

Senior Member
Messages
405
Location
San Deigo, CA
Sounds like a good idea considering your fluid loss. Have you been drinking any particular electrolyte drinks? And how long ago did you talk to the Doc?

I'm just drinking Gatorade. I talked to the doc a week ago just before I was scheduled to go in for another IV.
 

Chocolove

Tournament of the Phoenix - Rise Again
Messages
548
Jimbo, I would stop drinking caffeinated tea immediately, extremely bad news if your adrenals are down since you may be whipping them to death with a stimulant. Here is why.

Hydrocodone
is an opioid drug.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is now warning about several safety issues with the entire class of opioid pain medicines. These safety risks are potentially harmful interactions with numerous other medications, problems with the adrenal glands, and decreased sex hormone levels. We are requiring changes to the labels of all opioid drugs to warn about these risks.
  • Opioids can interact with antidepressants and migraine medicines to cause a serious central nervous system reaction called serotonin syndrome, in which high levels of the chemical serotonin build up in the brain and cause toxicity (see List of Serotonergic Medicines).
  • Taking opioids may lead to a rare, but serious condition in which the adrenal glands do not produce adequate amounts of the hormone cortisol. Adrenal insufficiency. ( Cortisol helps the body respond to stress.)
  • Long-term use of opioids may be associated with decreased sex hormone levels and symptoms such as reduced interest in sex, impotence, or infertility.
Adrenal insufficiency:
Patients should seek medical attention if they experience symptoms of adrenal insufficiency such as nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, fatigue, weakness, dizziness, or low blood pressure which could be evidence of a potentially fatal adrenal crisis.

Health care professionals perform diagnostic testing if adrenal insufficiency is suspected. However they do not treat unless your adrenals are basically non-functional. If diagnosed, they treat with corticosteroids which can end up shutting down adrenals permanently, so that's why the low threshold diagnostic. Adrenal function assessment should be performed to determine if treatment with corticosteroids can be discontinued.

I was placed on corticosteroid steroid after a negligent and baseless diagnosis of a condition it turned out I did not have. Trust me when I say corticosteroids in the long term are extremely bad news; you kind find this out from many. I did manage to slowly wean off corticosteroids which is hard. I am attempting to rebuild my adrenals using desiccated porcine glandulars purchased OTC.

Corticosteroids are hell, but an adrenal crisis can kill you very quickly. If I were you I would go in and have my adrenal function tested by an MD or in ER to see if you might need emergency corticosteroids. Explain to them that you were on the opioid medication Hydrocodone and as a consequence might be suffering from adrenal insufficiency.

Also if you feel a salt craving, get salt and water immediately because the dangerous part of adrenal crisis is electrolyte imbalance and dehydration. Don't drink gatorade !!!!! because that has potassium and in adrenal crisis you have a potassium overload which can be dangerous with heart issues. Avoid potassium rich foods and see if your diarrhea subsides, since your body may be trying to get rid of it. (From personal experience and research online.)

Later, something you might look into to help with recovery is the herbal supplement ashwagandha.
Taken regularly, ashwagandha helps promote calm, clear thinking. It has been found to regulate neurotransmitters in the brain such as serotonin, dopamine, and GABA, and reduce the stress hormone, cortisol. There is evidence that it may be helpful in opioid withdrawal.
Likewise, people with depleted adrenal glands may also benefit from ashwagandha. Adrenal exhaustion is typically characterized by long periods of high stress.
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/205...-cancer-fertility-opioid-withdrawal-and-more/
 

Jimbo39

Senior Member
Messages
405
Location
San Deigo, CA
@Chocolove Thanks for you concern. I stopped taking hydrocodone 2.5 years ago. Looking back, I'm sure I had major cortisol surges on top of my glutamate excitoxiticy. Had my adrenals checked about a month ago. They're within the baseline tho low. I don't have nausea or vomiting. Just checked my BP- normal. Well, normal for me (140/75). My diarrhea has finally subsided. I woke up with a surprisingly clear head. I haven't felt this clear headed since, well, my crash. I wonder if the mega dose IVs caused a detox and my diarrhea was a way for my body to clear out the toxins? Thanks for the tip on Gatorade.
 

Chocolove

Tournament of the Phoenix - Rise Again
Messages
548
@Jimbo39, I'm glad you got off hydrocodone that long ago. Unfortunately however, you need to keep an eye on the adrenals. I got off corticosteroids over three years ago and thought my adrenals were built up. Then last winter I caught a respiratory infection that came and went for 4-5 months. Infections require major work from your adrenals. I eventually ended up in adrenal crisis. The test for adrenal insufficiency diagnosis is set so low, that I passed it just a couple of weeks before I went into adrenal crisis. Don't think of that test as indicating your adrenals are normal. The fact that you have been doing so poorly for so long is much more of an indicator that your adrenals may not have totally recovered yet and need some support.

Mega doses of anything esp by IV is bound to shock your body. Your body is used to controlling input through the digestive system where it at least has the chance to throw out what you put in. IV dumping can't be undone and can be very rough on your system. Our digestive system is there to help protect us against ourselves and the silly things we do.

The Yasko All-in-1 general vitamin/mineral is a gentle way to handle your body and get it going again. A whole lot of us and the Yasko crew advise trying a tiny amount of a new thing first and waiting a day or two to monitor your body's response. And only try one thing at a time so you know what caused the effect. Throwing a whole lot of things in at once is bound to cause a reaction. Start low and go slow - is the mantra. Keeping a reaction log is a big help.

Upon running our genetics many of us found that we had certain polymorphisms that made us require particular nutrients, often not what is commonly available. Adding those nutrients in started up the body's machinery and many back logged work orders started getting done. But since the many systems in the body had long been neglected, it started a rickety operation healing. Nerve damage recovery can be bizarre and scary.

I know we all want to get well fast, but you can do some damage to yourself if you aren't careful, and make yourself very ill. If you haven't run your genetics you might want to. It made me find a problem I would never have thought of and my doctors, both MD and ND, would always miss as well. I fished around in the dark trying endless things for many years until I ran my genetics which clearly pointed out some of my main problems and finally gave me a path in the wilderness. I sure wish I had my genetic data a long time ago. It would have saved me a whole lot of time, money, pain and illness.

Very happy to hear you are doing better. :balanced:
 

Jimbo39

Senior Member
Messages
405
Location
San Deigo, CA
@Chocolove

When you mentioned hydrocodone I thought you read about it in my post in the neuro thread titled New: My Experience. It was a horrific experienced where my doc who started me on hydrocodone abruptly cut me off. After 2.5 years, I still haven't reached my pre "crash days." I had to retire early because I was pretty much incapacitated. To deal with this on top of CFS was at times unbearable.

Anyway, I know my adrenals took a beating. How often do you have them checked? Any test better than others?

Like you said, I'm trying to take it slow as far as supplementing. After reading other's posts I want to try all kinds of supplements but I'm trying to restrain myself. I'll only try one thing at a time.
 

Jimbo39

Senior Member
Messages
405
Location
San Deigo, CA
running our genetics many of us found that we had certain polymorphisms that made us require particular nutrients, often not what is commonly available. Adding those nutrients in started up the body's machinery and many back logged work orders started getting done. But since the many systems in the body had long been neglected, it started a rickety operation healing. Nerve damage recovery can be bizarre and scary.

I really want to do this. I'll have to wait awhile because a spent a lot of money on a bunch of Genove tests. BTW I've been taking Dr Amy's All in One for about 4 months. Great stuff!
 

Chocolove

Tournament of the Phoenix - Rise Again
Messages
548
@Jimbo39 it would be a very good idea to research secondary adrenal insufficiency and get very familiar with the symptom list of adrenal crisis. Study up on the HPA axis and what happens in an adrenal crisis. The prominent thing I remember is that in an adrenal crisis the kidneys no longer get a chemical message from the adrenals that tells them to save salt and excrete or waste potassium. Thus you end up excreting the salt and water and developing hyperkalemia or high potassium which is very dangerous. The body from the cellular level on up is highly dependent upon a strict sodium/potassium ratio in order to function.

Buuuuutttt.... when you are normal you need potassium and not salt. So how to know whether you are normal or abby normal is important but hard to figure out. If you crave salt and you are getting very dry, like inside your nose is dry as a rock instead of the normal moist and spongy, you could be heading into adrenal crisis and thus need to avoid potassium but drink lots of water with salt.

I'm still hoping for an FDA approved potassium tester like diabetics have a glucose monitor. Unfortunately there is no FDA approved handy potassium monitor for health use. There is a small sensitive potassium meter approved for agricultural use that some folks purchase to check their potassium levels with saliva, but it costs several hundred dollars and needs constant recalibration which you can do at home. There are youtube videos that show how.

Sending off lots of money for lab tests on a regular basis gets very expensive fast. I've heard that adrenal saliva testing is pretty good but haven't tried it. Monitoring and interpreting your body signals is difficult but essential to learn.

Don't take any form of caffeine or other stimulant as it will cause your adrenals to quickly go bankrupt. If you get tired, rest immediately. Do not push yourself. Your body has 2 cents worth of gas and you don't want to spend it on something silly. Your body needs to use it to heal you. Do make sure to get plenty of vitamin B12 which does give some energy.

Here is a few good resources that will help you quickly learn a lot you need to know without wading through a million conversations and hoping someone will respond to your questions with accurate info in a timely manner:

1) http://howirecovered.com/active-b12-therapy-faq
Active B12 therapy and methylation FAQ
May 21, 2013 302 comments

An Index to ‘B-12 the Hidden Story’

"When I discovered methylation and B12 therapy, I became obsessed with understanding it (and my startup reaction). I read through the entire ‘Hidden Story‘ thread (maybe 80 hours worth) on Phoenix Rising (and watched all of the methylation videos I could get my hands on). It seemed to me that lots of valuable information was buried in the ‘Hidden Story’ and I wanted to make it accessible to people without the time on their hands (or clarity) to read 2,750+ posts.
So here, I’ve pulled out the discussion that might interest the greatest number of readers. This project got a boost when my wife asked me what methylation was and I could not give her a simple answer (even after being immersed in it for weeks). Unless otherwise noted the author of the answers below is Freddd whose active B12 protocol I’m following. There are other B12 protocols like Amy Yasko, Ben Lynch and the late Rich van Konynenburg’s and where possible I’ve tried to include information about the differences between them....
A great big thanks to everyone participating in the discussion and of course especially Freddd, Rich (posthumously) and Cort Johnson for creating and maintaining Phoenix Rising."

2) A book by Earl Mindell called the "New Vitamin Bible," revised in 2011, which covers a whole lot more than vitamins in a very friendly layperson text. It is very inexpensive and available on Amazon.


3) http://www.healthrising.org/forums/

4) http://www.nadf.us/adrenal-diseases/secondary-adrenal-insufficiency/

5) The best $200 I ever spent: No doctors involved. Getting your genetics. Genetic data is not a doomsday profile. Genes can be switched on and off by things you eat, do, etc. As a result, once you know what you have you can try workarounds. Epigenetics goes deep into all of this.
You can visit these sites now to see and play with product samples and figure out how to use it.
http://23andme.com/
$200 online payment. They send you a kit to submit your saliva by mail. You return this by mail.
You will receive email notification of your results which can be downloaded in about 2 months. The raw data you will download from 23&me using their tools section and it will be in a zip file.
Then, you can submit your raw data to Promethease online for only $5 which will give you an extensive report in about 15 min, that you can manipulate various ways.
http://www.snpedia.com/index.php/Promethease

Oh yeah, when in the forum, remember you are dealing with sick, exhausted, cranky, defensive, worn down folks who may not be thinking clearly and might snap at you over.... well maybe nothing; just a misinterpretation or a presumed insult. Don't take it to heart. Try to take the high road. We're all struggling in the trenches. Hang on to your sense of humor. But be careful with that too. "Don't smile or the chimps will throw feces." - a sign at the Zoo.




http://www.snpedia.com/index.php/Promethease
 

Chocolove

Tournament of the Phoenix - Rise Again
Messages
548
@Jimbo39 One thing to do right away. All that gastointestinal disturbance indicates you might be needing some good probiotics. Hopefully your doctor will have some good suggestions about what although you can purchase it over the counter.
 

Jimbo39

Senior Member
Messages
405
Location
San Deigo, CA
@Chocolove My functional doc only wants to sell me the brand he reps. I forgot tha name but very expensive. I used to take Garden of Life. Right now I'm taking Nexaboitic. They claim it has a special coating to survive stomach acids. What do you take? Have you taken any soil based probiotics?

Yes, my gut is pretty messed up. High IgA, IgE. No lactobacillus Tho my streptococcus and E. coli were in the non-pathogen range they were +4 and +3 respectively. Low candida (mid +1).