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Anyone have hair regrowth and IBS changes after taking vitamins including B12?

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67
@shah78, you are the first person in the month or so that I have been posting to say your list of symptoms is similar to mine in more ways than just one or two. I will definitely look up the starch challenge, however, I am fearful that it is going to be "gluten free" as I'm already lactose intolerant and although it could be the cure to all my ills, I've never had the time or energy to put into such a radical diet.

What I mean is, a diet which means daily preparation, or even daily visits to the shops and time spent thinking and planning is difficult, if you are already experiencing symptoms of no energy, symptoms many people on this forum can relate to because they have ME/CFS, and doing that extra dietry stuff each day can be foreboding.

Hence, despite numerous health issues, I have never managed to try gluten free diets at all, and there is a lot of bread and beer, pasta and all the other glutens throughout my diet.
 
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67
The Resistant Starch Challenge in it's easiest form involves less than one minutes a day of effort.

OK, I think I'm up to speed on resistant starch. It's not a long winded diet at all. (excuse the pun)
Is this what helped you?
 

place

Be Strong!
Messages
341
Location
US
Coolie- I just started high dosing my mB12, ad12 and folate to 10, 10 and 10. That's when I think my new growth in hair got curly.

Also, I stopped eating gluten. Which is easier than you think. My energy is way up, plus I make muffins or bread batchs and freeze them. I make a ton at once, then do individual bags that I pop in the microwave. I do large batches for everything I cook and freeze for individual portions.

Bad part is…now if I do eat gluten, I get the trots =(. One innocent cookie will make me paying for 3-4 days later.
 

Freddd

Senior Member
Messages
5,184
Location
Salt Lake City
Anyone have hair regrowth and IBS changes after taking vitamins including B12?
Following is a list of the other changes I have undergone since starting the vitamin regime (which also includes Zinc among others) a couple of months ago. The reason I mention the hair and IBS in the title because they are some of the most abundantly obvious changes, the IBS changed to constipation leaving me with a painful condition, and the hair, others keep tapping me on the shoulder and ask if I've had hair implants.

Psoriasis improvement (at one point I had cracked and weeping belly button, and broken skin across both eye lids – all gone completely)
Eyes are focusing on there own without going off into that "daydream focus"
sleep and concentration and alertness improvement
energy levels improved
Irritable Bowl Syndrome had changed from diarrhoea to constipation
bald head of 20 years is growing hair again (a fine coating of blonde fluff) and now growing further
stopped chronic bitting of nails of every evening
feeling of brain “fog” disappeared - can reappear quickly if doses are missed.
eyes have started to discharge overnight which I'm told is healthy.
“forgetting” to drink beer.
Stopped feeling that I'm going to die of low blood sugar each and every afternoon.
However I have also developed pain in both hips and lower back which could be due to constipation.

What would I like to achieve from here? I have heard there are new drugs out to stabilise or regulate IBS, which is now constipation. I would like to find out about this.

For anyone who didn't read my first thread, I received a load of grief from my doctor who doesn't believe in vitamin therapies and he almost ushered me out of his office. and a complaint has been raised.


Hi Coolie,

My lower legs had gone neuropathic slick in the mid 80's. About a year after starting MeCbl there was very fine blond hair growing back.. My leg hair is light brown near blond anyway. The hair is still finer and very blonde, like when I was a child. On parts of my back I had and RSD looking area where I had damaged nerves. The skin was coarsened and the hair was darker and thicker. It has all normalized and as far as I can tell is pretty normal now. I had all my skin problems go away. And at 3 weeks I took a list of improvements into my doctor. In all, about 150-175 of my symptoms are just plain gone. What I have left is from a car wreck and Sub Acute Combined Degeneration which remains partially improved. What's gone is FMS, CFS, most of my peripheral neuropathies, congestive heart failure, IBS, asthma, season allergies, MCS and lots more names of groups of symptoms. All with the Deadlock Quartet; AdoCbl, MeCbl, 5-MTHR, LCF.
 
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67
Thank you for your replies. With me, it's the swollen looking guts and IBS that remains stubborn. I acknowledge that I don't have the best diet in the world and I drink beer, but my problems started as a teen ager, 3 square meals and no alcohol and persist to this day.

I remember as a 15 year old getting up early for my paper round, trying to eat cereal with milk and feeling ill before I had even finished the bowl (nausea). I remember it was around that time my poo turned to slosh and it hasn't changed in 27 years to this day. By age 20, and due to my other symptoms which had appeared, my doctor suggested I could have ME.

And since then things waxed and waned and I've had some good years, in fact things improved a lot and then there's the very recent news of what happened to me with the B12 and other supplements. But I still cannot touch this IBS.
 

Freddd

Senior Member
Messages
5,184
Location
Salt Lake City
Thank you for your replies. With me, it's the swollen looking guts and IBS that remains stubborn. I acknowledge that I don't have the best diet in the world and I drink beer, but my problems started as a teen ager, 3 square meals and no alcohol and persist to this day.

I remember as a 15 year old getting up early for my paper round, trying to eat cereal with milk and feeling ill before I had even finished the bowl (nausea). I remember it was around that time my poo turned to slosh and it hasn't changed in 27 years to this day. By age 20, and due to my other symptoms which had appeared, my doctor suggested I could have ME.

And since then things waxed and waned and I've had some good years, in fact things improved a lot and then there's the very recent news of what happened to me with the B12 and other supplements. But I still cannot touch this IBS.

Hi Coolie,

It took me 5 years of trials with Metafolin to figure out how it's lack causes IBS and how to get rid of my paradoxical folate deficiencies, and IBS.
 
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67
Another thing for me to look into. I had a good day today after a bad weekend (the pain came back in my arm muscles where you have no stamina when trying to do something and the bloating became worse). Today I had a mid morning and a mid-afternoon snack of kippers in oil on good quality fresh bread. I know fish is high in Potassium and Zinc and calcium.
 

ahmo

Senior Member
Messages
4,805
Location
Northcoast NSW, Australia
@Coolie I understand your reluctance, but gluten can be a massive impact on not only gut, but throughout body. Someone just shared this link w/ me, suggesting those who are gluten-intolerant are actually the societal canaries in the coalmine, early warning against the dangers of gluten. After 2.5 years gluten free, I've only just discovered that there were also gluten cross-reactive foods harming my system.

The GAPS diet goes further than eliminating gluten, dairy, sugar, but also includes starches for a time to allow the gut to heal. And high fat to heal and seal the gut.

I can't comment on the provenance of this article, I've just received it, barely read it, but you might want to have a look.

http://owndoc.com/diet/bread-our-daily-poison-gluten-sensitivity-mistaken-candida/
It turns out that Celiac disease is not a disease at all, but a well-functioning early warning system. In addition to the innate immune response to wheat that we all have, Celiacs have an additional, genetically determined, adaptive response. Whereas non-Celiacs go on consuming wheat and develop cancer, MS and a plethora of other very serious illnesses, Celiacs simply avoid gluten and stay healthy. Celiacs don’t have a faulty immune system, non-Celiacs do. When people started to eat wheat as a matter of increasing necessity, only those with genetically suppressed adaptive responses to gluten remained alive to procreate. But those individuals only have debilitated immune systems. They are not at all impervious to gluten’s damaging properties.

It’s not just the gluten that are bad for you. Wheat is a veritable bio-weapon. Chemical warfare is wheat’s middle name. Toxic oxalates, lectins and phytates, insidious trypsin- and alpha-amalyase inhibitors, and endocrine disrupters such as estrogens. Wheat grains are unwholesome indeed. Not even cows can digest them without the risk of severe intestinal problems and liver abcesses
 

Freddd

Senior Member
Messages
5,184
Location
Salt Lake City
Another thing for me to look into. I had a good day today after a bad weekend (the pain came back in my arm muscles where you have no stamina when trying to do something and the bloating became worse). Today I had a mid morning and a mid-afternoon snack of kippers in oil on good quality fresh bread. I know fish is high in Potassium and Zinc and calcium.

Hi Coolie,

Bloating can be the result of low potassium by slowing down or stopping the normal movements of the digestive system, a paralysis. It can become serious if that is what it is. Food potassium reaches peak serum lev el about 14 hours after the food is eaten if the digestive system is working normally. Supplemental potassium on an empty stomach can hit the serum in less than 30 minutes and hit peak in an hour.
 

Phred

Senior Member
Messages
141
@Coolie I can't agree more with ahmo about the gluten. It can cause all sorts of problems. You even mention you'd feel nauseated after eating cereal in the morning. That is a huge red flag. Gluten intolerance/Celiac can cause bloating, nausea, migraines, ataxia, as well as diarrhea.

Beer has a lot of gluten in it. There are gluten free beers. I don't like beer so I can't tell if you they are any good, but they are available.

The other thing with the "high quality bread" you are consuming is that it is likely made with bleached white flour which has then been fortified with folic acid and cyanocobalamin. Both of those can block methylation.

It won't be easy, but you might want to try a gluten free diet for 2 weeks. 2 weeks should give you some idea if it's gluten. But it has to be strict. You have to read all labels carefully. Gluten is hidden everywhere; soy sauce, salad dressings, various processed foods, etc. And believe me you'll feel like crap the first few days as it gets out of your system, but if it's the gluten you'll start to feel better after those initial first few days.

I wish you good luck and much success.
 

Gondwanaland

Senior Member
Messages
5,092
Coolie, seeking hair regrowth was originally why I started all this. But while I haven't really noticed any increase in hair density my hair is in better shape.
Me too, and I found out that avidin in egg yolks (even cooked) depletes my biotin. Of course there is more behind it, but it took me several years to find this link. Are there any threads you can recommend on this subject?
 

whodathunkit

Senior Member
Messages
1,160
@Gondwanaland : I had no idea. I wish I could direct you to some information but you just schooled *me*. I got nothing to offer you. I eat quite a bit of eggs so am going to research this.. I do supplement biotin but maybe I need more.

Hopefully someone more knowledgeable will chime in.
 
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67
Thank you all for your comments. I have a ***Fear*** that I should not be eating Gluten. Just from my experience of reading all labels trying to avoid lactose, I know Gluten is in everything.

I will take on board what you say about Potassium.

Just a point, I am not following any "Methylation". but am using the sub-lingual methyl type of B12 as one of the two B12 tablets I'm taking each day.

This is how I am understanding it the recent events from bits and pieces I've read:

Basically, I was getting a rushing sensation everyday and was dashing off for the loo and dumping everything I had consumed the day before. By around 5pm each day, I would have incredibly low blood sugar level and feel faint and weak like life was ebbing away from me.

I read somewhere that both low B12 and low Zinc (presumably in serum) can produce or "mimic" dihorrea. And low and behold, when I started taking these supplements (was already taking Zinc because I had lost all sense of smell but now started taking it every day plus B12) when I started taking these supplements the daily dihorrea stopped.

But now I have about 4 days of what seems like constipation, but comes through on day 4 as "slop". NOW... am I back to being someone affected by Gluten or whatever it is I can't tolerate and the symptoms that have changed were because I was mal-absorbing nutrients? OR is there something else going on as Frreeed said, I could be low on other things like Potassium.

So it's a question of where to go from here, knowing that some things aren't easy.
 

Freddd

Senior Member
Messages
5,184
Location
Salt Lake City
Thank you all for your comments. I have a ***Fear*** that I should not be eating Gluten. Just from my experience of reading all labels trying to avoid lactose, I know Gluten is in everything.

I will take on board what you say about Potassium.

Just a point, I am not following any "Methylation". but am using the sub-lingual methyl type of B12 as one of the two B12 tablets I'm taking each day.

This is how I am understanding it the recent events from bits and pieces I've read:

Basically, I was getting a rushing sensation everyday and was dashing off for the loo and dumping everything I had consumed the day before. By around 5pm each day, I would have incredibly low blood sugar level and feel faint and weak like life was ebbing away from me.

I read somewhere that both low B12 and low Zinc (presumably in serum) can produce or "mimic" dihorrea. And low and behold, when I started taking these supplements (was already taking Zinc because I had lost all sense of smell but now started taking it every day plus B12) when I started taking these supplements the daily dihorrea stopped.

But now I have about 4 days of what seems like constipation, but comes through on day 4 as "slop". NOW... am I back to being someone affected by Gluten or whatever it is I can't tolerate and the symptoms that have changed were because I was mal-absorbing nutrients? OR is there something else going on as Frreeed said, I could be low on other things like Potassium.

So it's a question of where to go from here, knowing that some things aren't easy.

Hi Coolie,

My suggestion is to go at this whole methylation thing systematically, and work through it from the bottom up. Your questions are unanswerable in this haphazard way. For a solid start you need the basic vitamins and minerals plus AdoCbl, MeCbl, L-methylfolate and L-carnitine fumarate. Then when something does or doesn't happen it's more possible to have some answers. Or start with the simplified methylation program. It to is systematic and where it goes wrong is more easily explained also. But for both of those it comes form a systematic approach and there are "next things" to try.
 
Messages
67
Well, I took the plunge today and started a Gluten Free diet. Have been to the supermarket and stocked up on what I need. I was helped to make this decision by some of you above and deep down I knew I should have done this years ago.

Freddd, I know you are seriously into the methylation type things, and you know a lot about it, but I am only really in this part of the forum because when I started taking supplements (inc. B12), some pretty amazing things started happening and I knew I was onto something. So your assumption that I am taking sublingual methB12 in order to start the methylation thing is wrong I'm afraid.

In view of everything, I think people are right in saying my fundamental issues may be diet. I've put this off for years, so I have to do it properly, and bear in mind that I am lactose intolerant too.

Maybe then I am in the wrong forum to post about a Gluten free diet, however I will keep posting my progress here as this is where it started. If it doesn't work and nothing changes in the 2 weeks you said I should try, then... I have to think again.

I note that the BODwhatsit diet the doctor wanted me to try differs considerably from Gluten Free. In a strange twist of logic, I am giving preference to the Gluten Free because if the BOD diet doesn't work, it would have been a massive upheaval to my diet with no conclusions as it is not a complete exclusion diet. However, as there is no Gluten whatsoever in the no Gluten Diet (obviously) then whether it works or not, I can draw some conclusions from it.
 

Freddd

Senior Member
Messages
5,184
Location
Salt Lake City
Well, I took the plunge today and started a Gluten Free diet. Have been to the supermarket and stocked up on what I need. I was helped to make this decision by some of you above and deep down I knew I should have done this years ago.

Freddd, I know you are seriously into the methylation type things, and you know a lot about it, but I am only really in this part of the forum because when I started taking supplements (inc. B12), some pretty amazing things started happening and I knew I was onto something. So your assumption that I am taking sublingual methB12 in order to start the methylation thing is wrong I'm afraid.

In view of everything, I think people are right in saying my fundamental issues may be diet. I've put this off for years, so I have to do it properly, and bear in mind that I am lactose intolerant too.

Maybe then I am in the wrong forum to post about a Gluten free diet, however I will keep posting my progress here as this is where it started. If it doesn't work and nothing changes in the 2 weeks you said I should try, then... I have to think again.

I note that the BODwhatsit diet the doctor wanted me to try differs considerably from Gluten Free. In a strange twist of logic, I am giving preference to the Gluten Free because if the BOD diet doesn't work, it would have been a massive upheaval to my diet with no conclusions as it is not a complete exclusion diet. However, as there is no Gluten whatsoever in the no Gluten Diet (obviously) then whether it works or not, I can draw some conclusions from it.


Hi Coolie,

I have to do a dairy free diet. Some have to do a gluten free diet. Some have to avoid both. I think it most certainly belongs in all this discussion. I wasn't making any assumptions as to why you started whatever you are doing. My only assumptions on that is that you felt unwell. All I'm trying to say is since you are having lots of responses it is clearly working but there appears to be some things that could be improved by systematic testing. Good luck and good health.
 

Phred

Senior Member
Messages
141
@Coolie Keep in mind your lactose intolerance may be a casein intolerance. Casein is the protein found in dairy. It and gluten are very similar structurally.

Conversely if you have a true lactose intolerance, going gluten free may allow you to, eventually, get dairy back. Many Celiacs (not saying you have that) find they have to give up dairy for a time, but as their gut heals they can reintroduce it. That's because lactose is broken down on the top parts of the villi, the hair like structures in the intestines that break down food. As the villi atrophies (flattens) the ability to break down lactose is hindered. Villi will repair itself if the attack on it is stopped.

So hey, there might be two positives that come out of this for you. :thumbsup: