There are two main camps when it comes to methylation issues it seems. The first group has had their pathway poisoned by (principally) mercury and the second camp has significant SNPs in the pathway. There are a few of us with one foot in each camp.
These two groups share symptoms and presentation. Both tend to worsen after the age of 40 when the body's production and availability of things like glutathione and Co Q10 start to decrease as part of the normal aging process. Fatigue, fog, malaise, ME/CFS, weakness and endocrine problems is only the beginning of the list of symptoms shared by these people.
We have extra capacity to provide and recycle glutathione. Inherent redundancies and back-ups start to get tired and when this happens people start to look for help. By the time the afflicted find the on-line communities or help from a Naturopath, they are usually already on supplements.
One of the supplements that seems like a no-brainer is NAC = n-acetyl-l-cysteine. This is an amino acid that along with glycine and glutamate form glutathione.
Our lives would be a matter of seconds without glutathione as free-radicals would tear things up. It is crucial for energy production and the sequestration and processing of mercury.
The problem is that many people do not react well to NAC…or at least not until they reach a certain level in their recovery. The symptoms and complaints are the same and are essentially worsening of the person’s given symptom-set. Fatigue, fog, malaise can be part of this.
The “mercury people” say that the single sulphur group on the NAC molecule is dragging mercury around. We don’t want this because in theory mercury could be moved from our little toe into circulation and find its way into the brain.
Rat studies show that NAC can increase Hg movement into the brain where it will be trapped behind the blood-brain-barrier. While humans have a more sophisticated BBB than rats it should still serve as a warning.
If you read this blog you know that I had a fantastic response to NAC and then became worse…. much worse actually. Was this due to mercury finding its way into the brain? The answer would be purely speculative and we will leave it at a resounding “maybe”.
The ME/CFS community say that the symptoms are do to an increased excretion of B12 which for people with certain SNPs could prove problematic and symptomatic.
In the end, it doesn’t matter. The take away is that people with impaired methylation can reasonably anticipate that their Hg levels will be higher than the general population because the methylation pathway is integral with the detox pathways.
NAC may not be safe to take if someone is high in mercury and so being tested might be supportable.
For one reason or another, NAC may be hard for some people to tolerate until they reach a certain level of recovery and have to some extent recovered or supported methylation.
I am taking NAC again but was not able to return it to the line-up until chelation was almost over.
These two groups share symptoms and presentation. Both tend to worsen after the age of 40 when the body's production and availability of things like glutathione and Co Q10 start to decrease as part of the normal aging process. Fatigue, fog, malaise, ME/CFS, weakness and endocrine problems is only the beginning of the list of symptoms shared by these people.
We have extra capacity to provide and recycle glutathione. Inherent redundancies and back-ups start to get tired and when this happens people start to look for help. By the time the afflicted find the on-line communities or help from a Naturopath, they are usually already on supplements.
One of the supplements that seems like a no-brainer is NAC = n-acetyl-l-cysteine. This is an amino acid that along with glycine and glutamate form glutathione.
Our lives would be a matter of seconds without glutathione as free-radicals would tear things up. It is crucial for energy production and the sequestration and processing of mercury.
The problem is that many people do not react well to NAC…or at least not until they reach a certain level in their recovery. The symptoms and complaints are the same and are essentially worsening of the person’s given symptom-set. Fatigue, fog, malaise can be part of this.
The “mercury people” say that the single sulphur group on the NAC molecule is dragging mercury around. We don’t want this because in theory mercury could be moved from our little toe into circulation and find its way into the brain.
Rat studies show that NAC can increase Hg movement into the brain where it will be trapped behind the blood-brain-barrier. While humans have a more sophisticated BBB than rats it should still serve as a warning.
If you read this blog you know that I had a fantastic response to NAC and then became worse…. much worse actually. Was this due to mercury finding its way into the brain? The answer would be purely speculative and we will leave it at a resounding “maybe”.
The ME/CFS community say that the symptoms are do to an increased excretion of B12 which for people with certain SNPs could prove problematic and symptomatic.
In the end, it doesn’t matter. The take away is that people with impaired methylation can reasonably anticipate that their Hg levels will be higher than the general population because the methylation pathway is integral with the detox pathways.
NAC may not be safe to take if someone is high in mercury and so being tested might be supportable.
For one reason or another, NAC may be hard for some people to tolerate until they reach a certain level of recovery and have to some extent recovered or supported methylation.
I am taking NAC again but was not able to return it to the line-up until chelation was almost over.
