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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. P

    Has anyone tried an antioxidant protocol?

    Of course, use the form you can tolerate. Pauling did use a little of sodium bicarbonate mixed in water with ascorbic acid. But not as much to let it react completely with AA to Sodium acorbate only. Sodium ascorbates lesser activity - for example as an antihistamine in my case - can simply be...
  2. P

    Has anyone tried an antioxidant protocol?

    As said, I always used cheapest Chinese Ascorbic acid powder from Supermarkets. Therefore, I once asked in a pharmacist, who basically sells the same for 3 times the price, if they would do any lab-testing of their product, to justify their higher price. The answer was: No testing for which...
  3. P

    Has anyone tried an antioxidant protocol?

    Strange. Ascorbic acid powder works as any antihistamine available on prescription against hay fever for me. Without their bad side effects. I only use the cheapest kind, and of course with metallic spoons. No differnence for me. Sodium Ascorbate I would have to get double the amount, to get the...
  4. P

    Vasodilating supplements

    I would check for increased calcification. One non-invasive test would be maximal carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) with ultrasound. I've taken 5.4 g/d of arginine/citrulline/AAKG for the last 15 years. And get in total about 2 g/kg body weight of protein a day. Blood pressure hasn't...
  5. P

    Vasodilating supplements

    I take citrulline malate only earlier in the day. Other than the others, the malate in it seems too energizing for taking it before sleep, in my case.
  6. P

    Vasodilating supplements

    I take l-argining, citrulline malate and AAKG (arginine alpha ketoglutarate) from those associated with mentioned compounds. The later 2 for extended release vasodilation.
  7. P

    Has anyone tried an antioxidant protocol?

    Agree that standardization on Ellagic acid is somehow a helpless way to arrive at just any random standardization. Therefore, mainly used Pomegranate Extracts standardized on Punicalagins. Of which Ellagic acid is a breakdown product. Since Punicalagins standardized Pomegrenate extracts have...
  8. P

    Dangers of Meditation

    If one considered and implemented all preparations for serious practice beforehand - which most haven't heard of before a first retreat - one is asked to balance all main 5 mental faculties: faith, effort, mindfulness, relaxation, and wisdom. Too much straining effort could cause imbalance and...
  9. P

    Dangers of Meditation

    A bid more nuanced. SN. Goenka comes from an industrial family in then Burma, and got his industries confiscated by the military junta. Since he already practiced - with which he got rid of life-long migraine, where nothing else allegedly had helped - and translated for other Indians in Burma...
  10. P

    Dangers of Meditation

    Having glanced over the transcript, exactly my points I wanted to bring to the attention, to the then still living main teacher. He chose to ignore. Or rather, started to merely warn from aggravations with former psychological difficulties or substance abuse.
  11. P

    Dangers of Meditation

    10-day vipassana retreats worked also for me, almost 30 years ago. So much, I did about 1 year of them, concluded with 2 years in Burmese forest meditation monastery. Without hearing the podcast, I too saw many serious shortcomings with the original organization I practiced with. Therefore, was...
  12. P

    Very Interesting Research on Long Covid - Is this very similar for ME?

    For Dr. Pierre Kory it appears so_ https://rumble.com/embed/v4gkvxi/?pub=33rlly "ME/CFS has only a 5% back to baseline life-time recovery rate"
  13. P

    Austrian long covid guidelines

    APA is a press agency, which sells its stories to other news-papers and TV. The one iteration, you linked to, seems a shortened version. I took it from the news-page of my GMX-mailaccount. The fact sheet available about ME/CFS in the first link of the OP has more detailed information and...
  14. P

    Austrian long covid guidelines

    An recent article by the Austrian Press Agency (tranl. by deepl.com): Warning of dramatic consequences of misdiagnosis in post Covid and ME/CFS Post-acute infection syndromes are often not recognized as such. Such misdiagnoses can have dramatic consequences, warns a scientist. There is a...
  15. P

    Managing the balance between the parasympathetic and the sympathetic nervous systems going into overdrive

    The first which would come to my mind about who used nutrients and diet to balance the autonomic nervous system, woud the late pancreatic cancer doc Nickolas Gonzales (the following notes taken from an interview):
  16. P

    triglycerides Low?

    LabTestAnalyser considered from 0-90 best from the longevity standpoint, a functional medicine range I read somewhere, considers 30-60 mg/dl optimal for health.
  17. P

    Ideas for cheap lab tests that might show anomalies

    I did the same, though only doing testing up to 5 times a year for 15 years. Most you mentioned tests through my GP, others he wouldn't do, out of my own pocket. Have thus amassed above 2500 data points from lab-tests. With supplementation and lifestyle changes, I did find some correlations, but...
  18. P

    Dark Side of Vitamin A(retinol)

    Also retinal migraine flare-ups, I didn't mention in this thread. Since 2021 (corona) haven't done blood-tests anymore. Therefore, due to serum levels already having been at the upper-end of normal, I decreased Retinol intake to 2 mg/d. Now for a 6-week vacation I sharply cut out many...
  19. P

    From Blog: Is Vitamin C Destroying Your Mitochondria? Or Is It Saving Their Lives? And another about toxicity of supplements especially C

    Let's not get too much off-topic. But all too often research is just in test-tubes, and not about long term absorption of minerals of the human body. The best example is with my Mg-deficiency, where I basically felt no difference of all different forms in respect to very painful muscle-cramps...
  20. P

    From Blog: Is Vitamin C Destroying Your Mitochondria? Or Is It Saving Their Lives? And another about toxicity of supplements especially C

    No. Where is it available? And did you personally correct an otherwise intractable zinc deficiency with it? Otherwise, I have taken zinc complexed with a lot of different amino acid already.
  21. P

    From Blog: Is Vitamin C Destroying Your Mitochondria? Or Is It Saving Their Lives? And another about toxicity of supplements especially C

    I did. It was 30 % unbound copper in average. Not in my case. I'm on the upper limit of normal with Serum retinol. Low zinc seemingly is my uncorrectable problem. Went to supplementing up to 70 mg/d a whole year. Otherwise, 53 mg/d for 15 years in average. Do you have a link to this...
  22. P

    From Blog: Is Vitamin C Destroying Your Mitochondria? Or Is It Saving Their Lives? And another about toxicity of supplements especially C

    Too many precondition to mention. But my serum copper is actually 'normal', just not in the functional medicine definition of healthy. Not according to my lab-tests, which showed only improving of liver and kidney markers during the 15 years of comprehensive supplementing. Beside actually...
  23. P

    From Blog: Is Vitamin C Destroying Your Mitochondria? Or Is It Saving Their Lives? And another about toxicity of supplements especially C

    Other than too high serum copper, ceruloplasmin remained normal in my bloodwork. That configuration means of course too much unbound copper. I wouldn't give too much attention to animal studies, if not replicated in humans. But for what it's worth, it took me 10 years of about 18.000 IU...
  24. P

    From Blog: Is Vitamin C Destroying Your Mitochondria? Or Is It Saving Their Lives? And another about toxicity of supplements especially C

    It seems he just made up his mind, without experiencing any toxicity or verifying it with Lab-tests. Meaningless, compared to my comprehensive supplement use, while testing regularly for any possible toxicity.
  25. P

    From Blog: Is Vitamin C Destroying Your Mitochondria? Or Is It Saving Their Lives? And another about toxicity of supplements especially C

    A little supplemented tyrosine helps. 15 years of 25 g/d of ascorbic acid didn't decrease my much too high serum copper even a bid. My fasting lactate were always normal. I experienced remissions from, otherwise by conventional medicine, considered irreversible diseases. Including a...
  26. P

    A treatment that helps me tremendously

    What a contrast. Been since 19th Jan. on my South Indian beach again, not one cloudy day. Since 2 days it got warmer - sweating like in a sauna - therefore I checked for the first time the UVI: AT 11! at midday, right before I usually swim almost an hour in the ocean, and as much sunbathing too...
  27. P

    Andrographis Paniculata - and it's many effects

    @ilivewithcfs I can't give advice, since everyone might react differently to different herbs due to biochemical individuality. Personally took low dose Kalmegh, about 40 mg/d for first 4 years, and 190 mg/d in average the following 6 years. No ill effects. Positive effects in my case are...
  28. P

    A treatment that helps me tremendously

    What a terrible turn of events. Sorry to hear of your loss. Best wishes.
  29. P

    ideal computer setup in bed

    I used a first notebook 20 years ago, not a really cheap one, but battery failed after 4 years, not replaceable. Next an expensive Ultrabook, same with battery, touch display, and failing period. Next a netbook, battery, touch-display, and key one by one failing too. Last, a Surface-like tablet...
  30. P

    ideal computer setup in bed

    Yes and no. With this setup hardware isn't more sustainable only, but as lightweight or even more so (with PCstick) as any other mentioned hardware. As said, cables can be completely left out. So same posturing aids can be used with less strain on them.