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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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  1. mgk

    D-Ribose

    Yeah, I feel you. I used to go through phases of saying f!@# it all and stopping all my supplements, realizing how much they were helping, then adding them back in. I've come to realize that at least for me, this was a side effect of not knowing which ones were really helping and which ones were...
  2. mgk

    D-Ribose

    @perchance dreamer - Very interesting. I'll look into that, thank you. Out of curiosity, have you ever tried creatine? People who benefit from ribose report that creatine potentiates the effects of the ribose, which would make sense based on the biochemistry. Theoretically, having a larger pool...
  3. mgk

    D-Ribose

    You're one of the few people I've come across who has the insomnia problem as well. I recently started experimenting with ribose and noticed that even a gram (about 1/4 tsp) seems to cause insomnia for me. That's taking it in the morning by the way. I'm trying 1/16 tsp now. I'm usually not this...
  4. mgk

    Comment by 'mgk' in 'My ME, Part V - What I Take Now, How it Helps, and General ME Advice'

    I loved this series, thank you!
    • mgk
    • Blog entry comment
  5. mgk

    An often overlooked part of methylation cycle dysfunction

    As most of you know, the predominant approach when it comes to treating methylation issues is to support the pathway with methyl-B12, methylfolate, TMG, SAMe, and other methyl donors. However, there's one player that seems to be overlooked most of the time: the role of the GNMT enzyme. GNMT is...
  6. mgk

    Methylfolate vs Folic Acid: Myths vs. Facts

    I don't think either of them "won;" they both made some good points. I sympathize with Lynch's argument that methylfolate is the form found in food. Why ingest the synthetic version when you can take the form that our bodies are used to getting? I also sympathize with Chaney's argument that...
  7. mgk

    Methylfolate vs Folic Acid: Myths vs. Facts

    I stumbled on this topic again recently and noticed that Ben Lynch and the creator of this video had an interesting debate in the comments section. Copying it here for posterity:
  8. mgk

    Anybody with ME/CFS also positive for glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency?

    I recently did a blood test to verify the genetic report. To recap, my genetic report said I had the Mediterranean variant rs5030868 (hemizygous). Here's the blood test result: 5 is the result, 146-376 is the reference range.
  9. mgk

    Grains and sugars precipitate neuroinflammation?

    I was aware that vinegar lowered the glycemic index/load by slowing absorption but I had no idea it increased muscular insulin sensitivity too! Really fascinating stuff... Is it the acetic acid or other fermentation byproducts in vinegar that cause the problem? Since acetic acid is the active...
  10. mgk

    Grains and sugars precipitate neuroinflammation?

    I just came across this cool study which shows that simply eating vinegar with meals improves muscular insulin sensitivity significantly: Vinegar Consumption Increases Insulin-Stimulated Glucose Uptake by the Forearm Muscle in Humans with Type 2 Diabetes Here are graphs of postprandial...
  11. mgk

    Grains and sugars precipitate neuroinflammation?

    I don't know enough to respond to a lot of what you said but to this point I meant to say liver insulin resistance, not insulin resistance in general. There seem to be a lot of factors that go into the insulin resistance of other tissues. Roy Taylor's theory is that liver fat starts increasing...
  12. mgk

    Grains and sugars precipitate neuroinflammation?

    Thanks, I did come across his work when looking into this stuff but I'm not sure that it applies to me. He seems to think that obesity is the cause of insulin resistance, but I'm at a normal weight for my height (BMI around 23). My sugars are also not at diabetic levels, though it seems headed...
  13. mgk

    Grains and sugars precipitate neuroinflammation?

    @Gondwanaland: Interesting that you mention chromium. I did a blood panel recently which tested for a bunch of micronutrients. Chromium and coq10 were my only deficiencies. Borderline on copper, vitamin c, and b5.
  14. mgk

    Taurine & Beta-Alanine

    Zinc glycinate, the NOW brand in particular. Minerals bound to glycine seem to work very well for me. By the way, I still take 1g taurine a day. It's one supplement that has proved beneficial for a long time, which is rare for me. It really helps reduce the severity of some of my neurological...
  15. mgk

    B2 I love you!

    @pogoman: What kind of doctor did you go to in order to get tested for mitichondrial myopathy? I'd like to do it too if the cost isn't prohibitive.
  16. mgk

    The headache which won't go away

    It sounds like your doctor isn't taking your concerns seriously. Give them one more chance by asking to be referred to a rheumatologist. If they refuse, you need to find another doctor. I know it's frustrating, especially when you don't feel so well, but it's very important. The rheumatologist...
  17. mgk

    B2 I love you!

    @pogoman: A few pages ago someone posted a case study on mitochondrial myopathy that responded to high dose thiamine and riboflavin (300mg each), not sure if you've seen it. Mitochondrial Myopathy in Follow-up of a Patient With Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Source...
  18. mgk

    B2 I love you!

    You don't necessarily need to be deficient in B2 for it to help you. There are a lot of genetic polymorphisms that cause an enzyme to have a decreased cofactor binding affinity, which means that the cofactor will detach from the enzyme more easily. This is believed to be a genetic adaptation to...
  19. mgk

    Methyl B12 from foods?

    I just found an even more detailed paper on it which gives relative amounts of each form. "o" means none detected, and the more "+", the more there is. Not exact but should give you a rough idea. Interesting point: There's a bunch more information on absorption and such in the full paper...
  20. mgk

    Methyl B12 from foods?

    I've always been curious about this too but could never get a straight answer. I did a little more digging today and stumbled on a paper from the '70s which says that most of the B12 found in the diet is actually in the form of adenosylcobalamin: Source...
  21. mgk

    Every single time I eat in the morning symptoms get worse

    Leptin responds way too slowly to be related from the research I've looked at. For example, take a look at the following chart from this study: It's not mentioned on the chart but the text says that the fast was broken at 0900 on day 2. Even 4 hours after refeeding (the 1300 point), it's...
  22. mgk

    Grains and sugars precipitate neuroinflammation?

    I have a similar type of pain at the base of my skull. It seems to start there and then rise to the sides of my face, top of my head, down my forehead, ending between my eyebrows with a kind of pinching sensation. There are also neuro symptoms associated with it: crazy tingling/buzzing and...
  23. mgk

    Every single time I eat in the morning symptoms get worse

    Do you mean blood glucose or other markers like HbA1c, fasting insulin, glucose tolerance test? If you're talking about blood glucose: mine was in the normal range for years, albeit closer to the high end of the range but still normal. I bought a glucose monitor and started tracking it more...
  24. mgk

    Every single time I eat in the morning symptoms get worse

    Do any of you with this problem have high blood sugar levels or insulin resistance? The fact that the symptoms go away when fasting makes me wonder whether it has something to do with the hormonal changes that occur during a fast, especially low insulin. @Dufresne: What you said about feeling...
  25. mgk

    How to manage Occipital Neuralgia (migraine), Atypical Trigeminal Neuralgia

    Thanks for sharing your experience! I think I have this too, or at least something similar. I'm not sure because I haven't been able to get a diagnosis yet. It's a constant pain behind my neck that rises up the sides of my face, to the top of my head, then down between my eyebrows and ends at...
  26. mgk

    B2 I love you!

    Kudos to the team that kept digging until they found the underlying cause. That's how medicine should be done. We should all be so lucky to find such dedicated doctors... I can't help but be a little envious of future generations who'll probably be screened for similar genetic conditions at...
  27. mgk

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

    More on the role of Vitamin K in the mitochondria: Cell biology. Vitamin K2 takes charge. Source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22679087
  28. mgk

    Why Fat Doesn't Make You Fat

    His point about gelatinous foods reminds me. One food that I don't eat as often as I want to is bone broth. My grandmas used to make their own all the time. I remember those ugly boiling chicken feet as a kid. It takes a lot of effort to do though and stinks the whole place up! I make do with a...
  29. mgk

    Why Fat Doesn't Make You Fat

    @Gondwanaland: Great talk, thanks for posting. I had trouble following all the stuff he went into near the end because it was too technical for my tired brain today but I'm going to watch it again another time. Here are a few slides I pulled out that I thought were worth saving:
  30. mgk

    Warts and immunity?

    I have a few warts on one of my hands too. They appeared around the time my health started to decline and have been there ever since.