• Welcome to Phoenix Rising!

    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. daveu

    Requesting feedback on my planned CBD regimen

    Thanks @Mouse girl , you make some good and really important points. I'm hoping avoiding THC (using CBD Isolate) and starting with a really low dosage will allow me to avoid the worst of it if CBD turns out to not be for me _fingers crossed_ I'm trying to make sure the CBD oil is high-quality...
  2. daveu

    Requesting feedback on my planned CBD regimen

    Thank you for your help @katabasis 👍👍
  3. daveu

    Requesting feedback on my planned CBD regimen

    Thanks @katabasis, your excellent feedback gave me a lot to think about! You make a completely excellent point which I hadn't thought of at all: the milk could go off! I really like your idea of using the pre-made CBD tincture from the same website. I also really like the idea of increasing...
  4. daveu

    Requesting feedback on my planned CBD regimen

    Hi all, My name is Dave. I have had ME/CFS for 14 years. I experience a range of symptoms but some of the primary ones are chronic exhaustion, non-refreshing sleep, headaches, brain fog, and neuro inflammation. The medication I take daily is amitriptyline 25 mg daily, duloxetine 60 mg daily...
  5. daveu

    Fasting for reducing inflammation? (and hopefully neuroinflammation?)

    Ok, thanks for letting me know @Wishful
  6. daveu

    Fasting for reducing inflammation? (and hopefully neuroinflammation?)

    Ok, thanks for this @Irat
  7. daveu

    Fasting for reducing inflammation? (and hopefully neuroinflammation?)

    @BrightCandle, thank you for your reply :thumbsup:
  8. daveu

    Fasting for reducing inflammation? (and hopefully neuroinflammation?)

    Hi there, My name is Dave. I currently present as about 65% on the ME Disability Scale. I recently read this excellent article about what we can do to keep our brain healthy and help reduce the onset & severity of dementia. I was interested in whether fasting can help brain health so I asked...
    • daveu
    • Thread
    • autophagy brain inflammation fasting inflammation intermittant fasting neuroinflammation reducing neuroinflammation
    • Replies: 6
    • Forum: General Treatment
  9. daveu

    Where can I buy high-quality melatonin online? I am in the UK.

    I asked Biovea.com to answer some questions about their product 'EuroVital MELATONIN 10mg (Fast Dissolve) (Natural Fruit Flavor) 60 Vegetarian Tablets' (https://www.biovea.com/uk/product/detail/21521/melatonin-10mg-fast-dissolve--natural-fruit-flavor--60-vegetarian-tablets) and here is what they...
  10. daveu

    Where can I buy high-quality melatonin online? I am in the UK.

    Hi @scisolver, Thank you for your reply! Out of interest, where does your information that the correct dosage is 300 µg come from? The reason I ask is, I am considering getting this product but I feel uncomfortable getting it if it is going to be 33 times the correct dosage! Thanks
  11. daveu

    Best source of epicatchin: dark chocolate or cocoa powder?

    Hi @pamojja, thank you for your in-depth replies. I was interested in your point about epicatechin only being found in the cocoa solids portion of pure ground cacao bean. So I asked the supermarket I got Belbake Cocoa Powder from how much of their product was made up of cocoa butter and this...
  12. daveu

    Where can I buy high-quality melatonin online? I am in the UK.

    From my browsing so far, some of the things melatonin products are touting as reasons to buy their product include: Testing for contaminants Suitable for vegetarians and/or vegans Gluten-free/wheat-free Free of common allergens Contains vitamin B6 Slow-Release and the so-called "two-layer...
  13. daveu

    Where can I buy high-quality melatonin online? I am in the UK.

    Hi there, My ME specialist has recommended I start taking melatonin 3 to 5 mg to help with my sleep. Unfortunately melatonin is not allowed to be sold over-the-counter at UK pharmacies at this time so I will need to buy it online. Can anyone recommend somewhere online I can buy high quality...
    • daveu
    • Thread
    • melatonin
    • Replies: 15
    • Forum: Sleep
  14. daveu

    Best source of epicatchin: dark chocolate or cocoa powder?

    Thank you everyone for your responses and input. Reading everyone's replies made me realise that the terms for talking about cacao beans and cocoa powder and dark chocolate may not be universally defined which makes talking about it tricky! For the sake of clarity for everyone, I'm going to...
  15. daveu

    Best source of epicatchin: dark chocolate or cocoa powder?

    Thanks @YippeeKi YOW !! . Out of interest, do you know what % cocoa powder typically is though? (Although maybe it varies massively between brands...)
  16. daveu

    Best source of epicatchin: dark chocolate or cocoa powder?

    Thanks. Unfortunately I can't drink green tea because I am sensitive to caffeine :confused:
  17. daveu

    Best source of epicatchin: dark chocolate or cocoa powder?

    Hi there, I recently had a consultation here in the UK with a ME specialist named Dr Bansal. Amongst other supplements he has recommended, he recommends "small regular amounts of 90% cocoa chocolate" in order to to get the benefits of the flavanol epicatchin. Because I'm aware the Stanford...
    • daveu
    • Thread
    • cacao cacao bean chocolate dark chocolate epicatchin flavanol
    • Replies: 45
    • Forum: General Treatment
  18. daveu

    Request for feedback: My starter list of ways for people to avoid toxic chemicals

    Thank you for everyone's feedback. I really appreciated it. Just in case anyone is interested, these are the three blog posts that I ended up producing: Top 6 Beginner’s Tips For Reducing Toxic Chemicals In Your Life...
  19. daveu

    Request for feedback: My starter list of ways for people to avoid toxic chemicals

    @vision blue, Thank you for your reply. And thank you for your many excellent suggestions, I am going to add them to my list. I agree with you with regards to housebuying being hard. Because I am only just learning about the dangers of toxic chemicals this year, I have only just recently...
  20. daveu

    Request for feedback: My starter list of ways for people to avoid toxic chemicals

    @Judee, Yes you make a very good point about strawberries. I had forgotten several of the so-called "Dirty Dozen" (see page 2 of https://web.archive.org/web/20201231121727/https://www.pan-uk.org/site/wp-content/uploads/Pesticides-in-our-food-multiple-residues-June-2019-1.pdf) so I will update...
  21. daveu

    Request for feedback: My starter list of ways for people to avoid toxic chemicals

    @Rufous McKinney, Yes, I would love the option locally to refill existing containers at the supermarket. Yes, I am planning on making a blog post. I have actually been inspired by @vision blue's post below...
  22. daveu

    Request for feedback: My starter list of ways for people to avoid toxic chemicals

    I recently finished reading Count Down by Shanna H. Swan & Stacey Colino (2020) which is about how toxic chemicals including endocrine disrupting chemicals are damaging our health including our sexual health. I am brand-new to this subject and I was shocked by how much harm we are doing to...
  23. daveu

    Help with CoQ10: How much ubiquinol should I take per day? Recommended brands? Getting ubiquinol through the NHS for free? (I am in the UK)

    Hi @Hip, thank you for your reply. Wow, you are right, I can get ubiquinol with Kaneka for less on iHerb so that is a great start. I hadn't even thought to check whether CoQ10 came as a powder so thank you for suggesting that! I suppose you could mix a powder into breakfast or a glass of water...
  24. daveu

    Help with CoQ10: How much ubiquinol should I take per day? Recommended brands? Getting ubiquinol through the NHS for free? (I am in the UK)

    Hi all, I am a moderate ME/CFS sufferer (since 2009) who lives in the UK and to also experiences severe myofascial pain in both forearms (this has also been described as severe RSI or fibromyalgia by different medical professionals). I recently finished a two month course of 100 mg daily of...
  25. daveu

    CoQ10: Ubiquinol/ubiquinone?

    Hi @Learner1, I have very recently started taking 100 mg of ubiquinol a day for my fibromyalgia-like symptoms (I have never been formally diagnosed with fibromyalgia; I have moderate ME/CFS). It is the first time since approximately 2014 I have taken something that reduces the pain I...
  26. daveu

    Recommendations on ways to rest with little to no cognitive activity?

    Thanks for your reply @taniaaust1. Hmm, that is a really interesting point about free-flowing thoughts being more restful. I haven't experimented with that, but the mindfulness meditation I do practice does say to make sure the focus is on the breath. I shall gently experiment with both kinds...
  27. daveu

    Recommendations on ways to rest with little to no cognitive activity?

    Wow! I had always wondered how people did multiquotes… Thanks @YippeeKi YOW !!
  28. daveu

    Recommendations on ways to rest with little to no cognitive activity?

    Hi Howard, Thank you for your lengthy reply. I thought you made a lot of good points. Yes I am working on a "menu" of low cognition activities that I can use to rest throughout the day. I also use voice dictation software and on a really good day I can dictate some of what I am thinking and...
  29. daveu

    Recommendations on ways to rest with little to no cognitive activity?

    @anne_likes_red Hi Anne, yes I am getting diaphragm breathing from my mindfulness meditation. I actually gave an audiobook a try for the first time two days ago and it went really well so I'm excited to do more of that! It looks like I can get some audiobooks for free through the library system...
  30. daveu

    Recommendations on ways to rest with little to no cognitive activity?

    @Wolfcub Hi and thanks for your welcome. Yes I think I could manage gentle classical music. I'm going to start trying that. And you are right, "cabbaging out" is underrated, I'm just not very good at it! @Sundancer yeah, I think reading will be less cognitively draining for me than watching a...