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    Created in 2008, Phoenix Rising is the largest and oldest forum dedicated to furthering the understanding of, and finding treatments for, complex chronic illnesses such as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), fibromyalgia, long COVID, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS), and allied diseases.

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Search results

  1. S

    enraged after calcium

    I have never tried magnesium chloride, but it seems like it would work.
  2. S

    enraged after calcium

    Potassium and other electrolytes can be taste-tested. Stir 1/8 tsp of potassium chloride (salt substitute) powder into a cup of warm water (the size of the average coffee mug). The better it tastes, the more a person needs potassium. If one doesn't need potassium, it will taste awful. Stir...
  3. S

    My Luck with Wellbutrin (Buproprion)

    @cporro Thanks for your concern. I majored in nutritional sciences with a biochemical focus myself (which is why I have biochemistry friends). I'd consider myself pretty well-read on many nutritional topics, and I read about Walsh's work years ago. I don't have B vitamin or zinc deficiencies as...
  4. S

    My Luck with Wellbutrin (Buproprion)

    I had a really great response to bupropion for 2 weeks. Then, it abruptly stopped working, and I felt dreadful. My friend who has advanced nutrition/biochemistry education suggested that my methylation capacity was too poor to maintain the neurotransmitter levels. However, those who are...
  5. S

    First time in remission with ketogenic diet

    Very interesting! Thanks for sharing. I had a lot of concerns that a keto diet would be devastating to the microbiome. I'm so surprised that it enhances Akkermansia populations.
  6. S

    Have you noticed symptoms of Connective Tissue degradation since onset of disease?

    So is this connective tissue degradation from vitamin K2 deficiency? I'm having a hard time finding studies that demonstrate that K2 deficiency can cause wrinkles/crepe paper skin, but that seems to be the popular opinion. It is easier to find studies indicating that aortic/arterial elastin is...
  7. S

    Blood Flow & ME/CFS

    I wonder if vitamin K could play a role since it's needed for sphingolipid synthesis?
  8. S

    Anyone here have tooth problems?

    I've read that adequate salivary levels of vitamin K2 can reduce the bacterial load of the mouth by up to 98%. Just throwing that idea into the mix for anyone interested to research and consider. I cannot find the PubMed article where I read that. This article is interesting too. I don't know...
  9. S

    Cancer cachexia induces morphological and inflammatory changes in the intestinal mucosa (Costa et al 2019)

    Interesting! I welcome any studies involving gut permeability, so conventional medicine can get serious about it.
  10. S

    Iron supplements

    Another vote here for heme iron. I like beef spleen supplements, which have more iron than liver. And another vote for making sure your iron is actually low as there are many nutrients needed for iron metabolism - copper, vitamin A, biotin, B2, B5, B6, B12, B9, lysine, antioxidants to reduce...
  11. S

    Have you noticed symptoms of Connective Tissue degradation since onset of disease?

    Tis good to have a backup fuel though, right? ;)
  12. S

    Have you noticed symptoms of Connective Tissue degradation since onset of disease?

    Yes, I'm not questioning whether we burn amino acids in general. I'm questioning whether those with connective tissue degradation are preferentially burning the amino acids found in higher amounts in connective tissue specifically. As @Rufous McKinney alluded to, there are some amino acids that...
  13. S

    High Vit B6 and B1, which are the cofactors?

    The main active form of B1 is thiamine pyrophosphatase. The enzyme driving this conversion is called TPP synthetase. There are 2 substrates for this reaction - thiamine and ATP. I don't see any cofactors for this, but you may wish to explore further. The main active form of B6 is...
  14. S

    Everything You Ever Needed, Wanted, or Wished You Knew About Amino Acids, EAA’s and BCAA’s, Courtesy Of @PatJ

    @YippeeKi YOW !! , you wouldn't guess by the title, but 'The Healing Nutrients Within' by Eric Braverman is a book about amino acids. I also have 'A Guide to Amino Acid and Protein Nutrition' by Robert Wolfe that I have not entirely worked my way through yet. (I like to get the Kindle versions...
  15. S

    Everything You Ever Needed, Wanted, or Wished You Knew About Amino Acids, EAA’s and BCAA’s, Courtesy Of @PatJ

    @Mary, I'm glad it's helpful to you. I have all of the essential amino acids separately so I could experiment with them individually. Leucine did give me a great energy boost the 1st time I took it, but not since then. The same with threonine. Glutamine and NAC actually helped for 2-3 weeks...
  16. S

    Everything You Ever Needed, Wanted, or Wished You Knew About Amino Acids, EAA’s and BCAA’s, Courtesy Of @PatJ

    Thanks. I've experimented. I'm quite familiar with the concept of central fatigue as that is one of the reasons athletes use BCAAs. There has also been speculation that a supraphysiologic serum level of BCAAs sends a message to the brain that too much muscle is being broken down and that the...
  17. S

    Everything You Ever Needed, Wanted, or Wished You Knew About Amino Acids, EAA’s and BCAA’s, Courtesy Of @PatJ

    Collagen does not equal BCAAs. The primary aminos in collagen are glycine, proline and hydroxylysine with many other aminos but in much smaller amounts. It is also not a complete protein. The branched chain amino acids are three of the essential amino acids - leucine, isoleucine and valine...
  18. S

    Everything You Ever Needed, Wanted, or Wished You Knew About Amino Acids, EAA’s and BCAA’s, Courtesy Of @PatJ

    Branched chain amino acids require biotin, so anyone whose lactic acidosis is caused by biotin deficiency may (or may not) have a limited response to BCAAs. As an athlete, I was using BCAAs daily when I got sick, so I don't think they help me at all. I prefer to take a variety of amino...
  19. S

    Everything You Ever Needed, Wanted, or Wished You Knew About Amino Acids, EAA’s and BCAA’s, Courtesy Of @PatJ

    If I recall correctly, some EAA supplements do not contain histidine because it's debatable whether it's essential considering that serum histidine levels rise naturally when the other essential amino acids are ingested.
  20. S

    Have you noticed symptoms of Connective Tissue degradation since onset of disease?

    I'm not an EDS expert at all, but Wikipedia lists 13 distinct types. Some cause bone loss, and some do not. Some cause periodontal problems, and some do not. Osteogenesis imperfecta is another collagen disorder that affects bones. Scurvy is a collagen disorder that affects the gums. There are...
  21. S

    Have you noticed symptoms of Connective Tissue degradation since onset of disease?

    I don't know if the fingerprint changes will ever be considered diagnostic of CFS as it occurs in celiac disease. There is atrophy of the ridges as well as the deep lines. Fingerprint Changes in Coeliac Disease
  22. S

    Comment by 'SherDa' in 'Predicting Symptoms from microbiome lab reports'

    I would think 'mouth sores' may refer to aphthous ulcers. These are commonly seen in rheumatology patients using certain drugs. The healthcare provider frequently prescribes folic acid for aphthous ulcers.
    • SherDa
    • Blog entry comment
  23. S

    Have you noticed symptoms of Connective Tissue degradation since onset of disease?

    I would say that is likely so. Further, I would wager that stretch marks are a pathological state and are not 'normal' even during weight gain. I think this could affect any connective tissue or other structural proteins - hair, skin, nails, joints, veins, organ stromal tissue, ligaments...
  24. S

    Have you noticed symptoms of Connective Tissue degradation since onset of disease?

    I don't know if it happens this way or not, but burning the aminos in connective tissue would seem a better survival strategy than burning aminos from muscle. (I'm thinking mostly it would protect cardiac muscle from cannibalization but skeletal muscle can be pretty vital in starvation times too.)
  25. S

    Have you noticed symptoms of Connective Tissue degradation since onset of disease?

    I just wonder if fat and carbohydrate metabolism are impaired, and the amino acids in connective tissue become the preferred fuel? When I see threads about craniocervical instability and atlantoaxial instability, I tend to think those may be caused by weakened connective tissues, in this case...
  26. S

    Severe crash from methylfolate?

    I get shortness of breath when I have absolute or functional iron deficiency.
  27. S

    Body Twitching issue

    The are called hypnic jerks (or myoclonic jerks). I think they may be related to low dopamine just as restless leg syndrome is. I get them periodically. Sometimes they respond to iron, but for the last few days, I've been going through a phase where they respond to copper. I can induce them by...
  28. S

    Has vitamin K-2 (mk-4 or mk7) helped you ?

    I get muscle spasms (sometimes quite severe) from K2. They are relieved by taking calcium. Other low calcium symptoms can include palpitations, fatigue, insomnia, pins and needles feelings in the extremities.
  29. S

    How I put ME/CFS into remission....& even better

    I believe a strict prebiotic diet is probably an extremely important factor in the success of FMT. It seems a person would have to stop eating many of the foods that fed the dysbiotic microbiome while making a concerted effort to feed the good. This may be a radical dietary change for some...
  30. S

    Jennifer Brea: I have craniocervical and atlantoaxial instability

    I don't see how vitamin A would cause dehydration, but I'm open to the possibility that it is at least partially due to dehydration, because when I first started taking zinc, my skin and fingernails both puffed up and looked very healthy (like it was so noticeable that people commented on it)...