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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. sming

    PPI's / Omeprazole and B Vitamins

    Huh, didn't know that. I will give your test a go and see what's up. Thanks. Yeah I've had 10's of CBC's done and every single element comes back perfect. Makes me upset every time. Dunno. Not if it isn't part of the CBC. I'm sure it must have been though - I've seen so many doctors over the...
  2. sming

    PPI's / Omeprazole and B Vitamins

    Thanks for the reply. I've tried intranasal Ketamine for chronic pain actually. I was so excited to try it and see what it did to my depression as well. I was distraught when I came-to and felt miserable, hung-over, depressed and belligerent. Utterly confounding (as usual, for me sadly). I...
  3. sming

    PPI's / Omeprazole and B Vitamins

    Hi Mary, thanks for the info. I've never heard of low stomach acid, is that the same as high alkali or an entirely different problem? Good call on the melts, I'll give those a go. I've had - what I thought was - every medical test under the sun done but MCV is a new one on me. I'm shortly...
  4. sming

    PPI's / Omeprazole and B Vitamins

    Hi, sorry if this has been covered elsewhere but I couldn't find it. I am trying L-methylfolate for Treatment Resistant Depression and have read in numerous resources/papers that PPI's like omeprazole can block effective absorption of B* vitamins, which are crucial to the methylation process...
  5. sming

    Some questions regarding salt

    on the topic of ingesting a lot of salt, I don't think anyone has mentioned buffered salt tablets e.g. Thermotabs. I tried them a while back for a different condition and it was better than downing a load of table salt!
  6. sming

    Dry eyes & constipation from l-methylfolate?

    @Martial yes that's what I figured, it could be that the methyl folate augments the side-effects of anto-depressants too.
  7. sming

    Dry eyes & constipation from l-methylfolate?

    sorry I didn't respond earlier guys, I didn't get any email notifications for some reason. I will indeed chase up "donut hole", thanks for the pointers. @Martial yes in total I take Wellbutrin, Provigil, Abilify, Lexapro and Ambien. Who knows what interactions are going on with that lot...
  8. sming

    Dry eyes & constipation from l-methylfolate?

    Hi, Google returns very few hits for the above side effects from l-methylfolate but I was wondering if anyone else out there gets them too. To be clear, I was already constipated (I have IBS-C) and already had dry eyes (from Provigil) but both have worsened significantly, seemingly since...
  9. sming

    $95 for l-methylfolate

    well as always YMMV but I felt thoroughly unpleasant within a couple of hours when I took 7.5mg.
  10. sming

    $95 for l-methylfolate

    Thanks again for the reply. To be fair to myself I didn't ask what the right amount was, I asked how long people typically stay on a given dose before changing. But I get that even with that YMMV. I'm a longtime anti-depressant user/taker and that's pretty much the mantra I'm used to. Even...
  11. sming

    $95 for l-methylfolate

    thanks for all the replies guys - very helpful. My biggest takeaway is that it script stuff is just the same as the stuff you can buy without a script. Regarding knowing the right amount for you, how long do you recommend staying at a dose before deciding if it needs adjusting - a day, a week...
  12. sming

    $95 for l-methylfolate

    I got 30 7.5mg tabs for $95 which is $3.16 per day. I'd need 7 1/2 Amazon pills for every non-Amazon one. So that's $20 / 100 * 7.5 = $1.50 per day. I think.
  13. sming

    $95 for l-methylfolate

    it's in a standard pharmacy vial/container so I've no idea I'm afraid.
  14. sming

    $95 for l-methylfolate

    Hi, I saw Dr. Levine in NYC last week and she prescribed 7.5mg l-methylfolate without any explanation. I had to pay full-whack for the script which was $95. Naturally if it ends up helping me, I don't want to be spending that every month. Can I safely pick up equivalent dosage l-methylfolate...
  15. sming

    Reintroducing exercise

    :( thanks for the tip.
  16. sming

    Reintroducing exercise

    well if the damage is done with me then I am f*cked since I've exercised through the fatigue, weakness and PEM for nearly 20 years. Gulp.
  17. sming

    Reintroducing exercise

    sounds like a plan. I might just start with a few low-rep sets at the gym. Before that though I really need to establish a baseline for my health so that I can know for sure when exercise is negatively affecting me.
  18. sming

    Reintroducing exercise

    great post, thanks so much! Yes for some time now I've been taking 1-2 naps a day on work days. In the Summer I nap on park benches and in the Winter I nap at a nearby gym! I'll have to look up AT and ADL now ^_^
  19. sming

    Reintroducing exercise

    yes I've tried eliminating gluten (and pretty much everything else too via the exclusion diet) to no avail. FODMAP did nothing for me either.
  20. sming

    Reintroducing exercise

    makes sense. I've naturally headed in that direction already. bummer, I love football (soccer) :( Excellent, thanks. I've always felt horrible when doing any aerobic exercise but had previously assumed it to be a manifestation of my IBS. Shame I'm only finding out now that all that exercise...
  21. sming

    Reintroducing exercise

    thanks everyone for the advice. I totally get what people say about their "energy envelope" and the ramifications of staying within/outside of it. If I continue to feel well-ish for another few weeks I might start doing a 5-minute run twice a week or something and see how that goes. I'll be...
  22. sming

    Reintroducing exercise

    Hi, at first I was going to ask about Graded Exercise Therapy but then found it roundly disapproved-of. Then I was going to ask about Pacing but Pacing seems related to lifestyle rather than just exercise. What I'm after are the do's and don't's of reintroducing exercise "from cold" i.e. when...
  23. sming

    Intense post-exercise headaches

    Thanks (I had to look up ICP). I find that with soccer it's not possible to forget to breathe since it's so aerobic.
  24. sming

    Tattoo pain - any ideas?

    Hah, thanks for the post, I managed to see it before tonight's session. I ended up taking 600mg ibuprofen and it definitely took the edge off - thanks for the suggestion. That said it was still no cake walk, especially around the armpit - oof. Just 2-3 more sessions to go...
  25. sming

    Tattoo pain - any ideas?

    Hi P Kat, can you give an example of such an anti-inflammatory? I checked with the artist and he's happy for me to have a few beers if that helps. I'm just not sure it'll help! Thanks for the post! Pete
  26. sming

    Tattoo pain - any ideas?

    is that especially a problem for CFS folk or you just don't fancy the idea of getting injected with a heavy metal? According to http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/tattoo-ink-mercury-and-other-toxins/ red colour is the worst offender and black the least-worst.
  27. sming

    Tattoo pain - any ideas?

    Hi, recently when I had my 1st & 2nd tattoo sessions I didn't know I had CFS/ME, which I gather can lower your pain threshold considerably. Well, that turned out to be my experience - I couldn't believe how painful it was. The tattoo artist couldn't believe my intolerance/wimpiness as well...
  28. sming

    Intense post-exercise headaches

    sorry guys I should have been clearer - I've completely stopped playing soccer since I realised I might have CFS. I'm into my 4th consecutive week of feeling well which is the best I've done in over 20 years (I'm praying I haven't just jinxed myself there). If I achieve some semblance of...
  29. sming

    Intense post-exercise headaches

    Hey, anyone else get pounding headaches after intense exercise (soccer in my case)? Otherwise I hardly ever get headaches. I've always assumed it was one of my comorbids and/or meds. I don't think it's plain dehydration since no matter how much salt (via buffered salt tabs) & H2O I take on...
  30. sming

    Duration of fatigue

    my whole mental outlook often changes from gloom to brightness after a BM and sometimes the reverse. It's confounding and disturbing.