mitochondria, mercury, methylation, mycoplasma

[Violeta]

That's good!!! Maybe what is left is a fungal infection??

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3374363/

Role and Relevance of Mast Cells in Fungal Infections

 

[stridor]

Things continue to improve with Humaworm. I had a week without hives but they returned in an attenuated sort of way. Not every day and mostly not in patches unless I did something rash (get it?) - my sensitivity to garlic may be even bigger than gluten or eggs. My energy is up and I find myself running up the stairs like in the good old days.

I shoveled and blew out the driveway last week and did not have to rest afterwards. Don't tell my wife but I could have actually done more So the first part of the hypothesis was perhaps correct. Killing off some of the bacteria is helpful. I had some confidence in this part of the action plan.

I am starting to make kefir. I am just trying to grow the grains in milk right now and will switch to coconut a day or two before the Humaworm is done. Not supposed to take probiotics with it. The goal again is to acidify the small intestine in an attempt to force the lower tract bacteria further down the pipe.

This is a real shot in the dark. But one thing I have confidence in is that this that fixing the gut will appease the Mast Cells.

 

[stridor]

Of course, I can not double-blind my experiment. The coconut kefir is not holding the fort. I was doing not too bad with the odd hive or limited "rash and hives" in the "deck of cards" size. Then, I got nailed at a restaurant and had a bad attack and since then I have not been able to get back to where I was and I am having small outbreaks every day.

The restaurant episode would have been around 25% of my torso and left lower leg (never had an outbreak there before). So about half of what it was before Humaworm.

The increase in histamine activity coincides with a decrease in energy.

I am increasing the amount of time the kefir "cooks" in an effort to introduce more lacto-b to my gut. I have Dr Afir's book but I haven't started it yet.

Another issue that I have not addressed yet is that the coconut milk has me taking in about 400% of the daily allotment for saturated fat. But I am more in the "inflammation camp" as opposed to cholesterol and will deal with this only if it becomes a problem.

My hypothesis remains the same - I did not have MCAS before the antibiotics and that there should be a way back out of this rabbit hole.

Another possibility is that the stealth infections were holding the immune system in check in order to create a better environment for themselves. The antibiotics removed the mycoplasma and took the brakes off the histamine system. The reason that I do not jump on this is that Humaworm had such a positive impact. I think that it worked by dropping the bacteria counts in the lower ileum where DAO is produced.

 

[caledonia]

@stridor Did you do Cutler's hair metals and minerals test and did you have other metals besides mercury? If so, what were they?

 

[Violeta]

If the antibiotics caused a resilient c albicans infection, the c albicans infection might be what is causing the hives.


The third, the opportunistic fungal pathogen Candida albicans, survives ingestion by changing rapidly from a yeast to a filamentous morphology, lysing the macrophage from the inside out. Once free, C. albicans cells are able to disseminate through the body.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC126751/

Life and Death in a Macrophage: Role of the Glyoxylate Cycle in Virulence

 

[stridor]

@Violeta and @caledonia

Yeah, I was high lead on a challenge test. I never did the hair test. My sense is that a high challenged lead may be equal to a "high normal" unchallenged.
My lead went up after the mercury was gone and this is likely due to the chelator ignoring lead in favour of mercury when it is present.
Cutler is poo-poo about challenge tests and in one sense he is right as I lost the ability to speak for a minute. I thought that I was stroking.

On the other hand, people have been successfully diagnosed and successfully treated using these for ages. Andy is not 100% right. 100% of the time. His views on methylation support this. That said I would have done a hair test if I knew then what I know now.

I was also high for thallium or something like that. It is a fire retardant and is in the mattress.

I don't have the test in front of me. Cadmium was high normal. And tin around the same.

There are not a lot of candida symptoms otherwise. It has been on my radar for 4 years. I do not have sinus problems or thrush. I do not react to sugar (although I lost my sweet tooth). That said, I am going to read the article offered now. Thanks guys for your insight and ideas.

It is the "kindness of strangers" that has gotten me this far

 

[Crux]

@stridor ,

I think you're right about the antibiotics course association with histamine production. Perhaps the histamine producers were left to overgrow.

This article about biogenic amines lists a number of histiamine producing microbes in Table 3.

http://digital.csic.es/bitstream/10261/24982/1/Toxicological effects of dietary amines_Ladero et al_submitted 20101.pdf

( These microbes can infect humans too.)

 

[stridor]

@Crux
Thanks for the site. I wish that I could attach a photo. I would show you the reaction I got from my last restaurant visit. I didn't have any DAOsin with me to ease things. Food reactions are easy to identify as they occur a couple of hours after eating.
Something else is going on too and I am wondering about aerosols. I went into a new building a couple of weeks ago and had hives within minutes. Not a lot, but some....and yes, it could be coincidence.
It doesn't help that Cortef has corn starch. It is a minute exposure but likely enough to just keep everything on edge. Going to the site now. Thanks again.

 

[Rlman]

" Treated me for the mycoplasma and has addressed other weird symptoms like ferritin of 9 and Hgb (and hematocrit) above normal."

Hey stridor, what was the cause of the elevated Hemoglobin/hematocrit?
how did you treat it?

 

[stridor]

" Treated me for the mycoplasma and has addressed other weird symptoms like ferritin of 9 and Hgb (and hematocrit) above normal."

Hey stridor, what was the cause of the elevated Hemoglobin/hematocrit?
how did you treat it?

That is something that I am still trying to puzzle out, @Rlman
When this result came in it was one more indicator for my Dr that I was wired wrong. Every now and then something like this pops up that verify that I am not making this crap up. Another was the mycoplasma and HHV-6 co-infections. He said, "No wonder you feel like shit".

In checking this out I came across other people with this and one idea was that it was a sign of a bacteria infection. Hey, I've had one of those! So the idea is that they strip us of nutrients.

Still this didn't explain the high Hgb.

Dr Afrin's book starts with a case for high Hgb. He had a patient with MCAS and while we focus on histamine, Mast cells release other chemicals as well, including cytokines, the messengers of the immune system.

One of these triggers an increase in red blood cell production. This fit my results as I also had too many RBC and a high hematocrit.

My theory - What if someone took antibiotics for 8 months and created an entrenched case of dysbiosis which was stripping iron. Dysbiosis leads to SIBO and resulting leaky-gut and my existing case of demographia and histamine instability is exacerbated and the increase release of cytokines increase RBC production further decreasing iron stores.

 

[Rlman]

That is something that I am still trying to puzzle out, @Rlman

Still this didn't explain the high Hgb.

Dr Afrin's book starts with a case for high Hgb. He had a patient with MCAS and while we focus on histamine, Mast cells release other chemicals as well, including cytokines, the messengers of the immune system.

One of these triggers an increase in red blood cell production. This fit my results as I also had too many RBC and a high hematocrit.

My theory - What if someone took antibiotics for 8 months and created an entrenched case of dysbiosis which was stripping iron. Dysbiosis leads to SIBO and resulting leaky-gut and my existing case of demographia and histamine instability is exacerbated and the increase release of cytokines increase RBC production further decreasing iron stores.

@stridor do you still have the elevated hemoglobin and hematocrit?

Thanks for the tip about MCAS possibly causing it. I've had slightly elevated Hg and Hct for past 5 years, started soon after becoming ill. From what I read and from what hemotologist told me, the most common causes of erythrocytosis (elevated Hg/hct, rbc) is low blood volume (dehydration), hypoxia (like from sleep apnea, lung issues, heart issues), kidney artery issues or polycythemia vera ( myoproliferative disorder (type of cancer)). the cpnhelp.org website says high porphyrins can cause elevated hg/hct or at least high normal, though I'm not really sure what porphyrins are...

 

[stridor]

@Rlman

Just found this, sorry.
My Hgb, Hct and RBC counts are all within normal again. The question is whether it is stable or on the way down. Ferritin is back down to 11. Drives me nuts. I supplement and eat liver. What I read suggest that ferritin drops followed by anemia. We'll see...

Yeah, the normal way RBCs are increased is through signalling from the kidneys.

Update.
Things are going well. The hives have decreased markedly. I don't even get them every day now. That is opposed to 4 outbreaks a day in February. The coconut kefir smoothies are easy to make and even though my saturated fat intake is 300 or 400% higher than daily recommended, my cholesterol numbers have never been better.

I have halved dose of one blood pressure pill. In spite of taking in up to 1000 calories of the kefir I have not gained any weight. Actually, I lost 3 pounds but that was from the flu.

I found this interesting:
Chris Kresser: "I think the health status is one factor that determines sensitivity. But there are other factors that don’t necessarily relate to current health status, which are genetic. So if somebody has homozygous MAO mutation and they’re also homozygous for MTHFR mutation and they have very poor methylation because of that, and then they also have a defect in diamine oxidase, an inability to break down histamine once it’s produced, and then maybe they even have defects that lead to overactivation of mast cells and production of histamine, that person’s probably going to be pretty sensitive to histamine even if they’ve got everything dialed in. I don’t know how many of those people there are that have that unique constellation of things together; probably not that many. But they may always need to be careful, for example, with fermented foods, and some of the foods that we’re going to talk about that are high in histidine, and therefore, histamine. And/or they may need to use some natural antihistamine support or take some diamine oxidase as a treatment."

I have the "unique constellation" of genetic contributors in addition to SIBO and leaky gut from the removal of the colon. How could I not have histamine problems?

Anyway, what I am doing seems to be helping a lot. Whether it is because I was right and that it is due to acidifying the small intestine or perhaps, the coconut does have antimicrobial properties that some proponents claim it has.

My activity tolerance and joie de vivre have taken a big step up.

I am active in the gardens and workshop and can tolerate 7+ hours a day. I am tired by the end of the day and sometimes fall asleep in the evening but I am ready to go the next morning. The only symptom of CFS that remains is brain-fog which is more like just an "unsharp" mind. It is rarely so bad that I would call it fog and I have full days without it coming to my attention.

 

[stridor]

The hives are gone.
I have taken 2 trial breaks from the coconut kefir. The first attempt was interesting. I had a flair-up of back problems with sciatica. I haven't had that in years. And my prostate got worse = trouble emptying bladder and up 4 times in the night.

I have chosen to interpret this as "rebound inflammation". The hives started to return on day three.

The second attempt produced no notable change with my back and there was no sciatica. The prostate complained as before and the hives started back up at the end of day two. As in the first attempt it appears to be very gradual with just 2 or 3 hives in the beginning.

The prostate settles down in a day or so upon restart of the kefir. The hives resolve immediately or nearly so. I see my Dr next week as I promised him an update.

There is ample information on the net that coconut is anti-inflammatory and mildly analgesic. I have no intention to trial coconut without the kefir component. I am OK with never knowing whether it is the probiotic effects of kefir, the anti-inflammatory effects of coconut....or both, that is helping me.

Life needs to have some mystery

My only reservation about what I am doing is that coconut is now a large part of my caloric intake but it is a nutritional desert. I have started to wean myself off of all the pills and am trialing a multivite. I replace one of my pill times every second day with the multi.

 

[stridor]

Wow... went to do an update here and all I can say is that the 6 months flew by.
I started low-dose naltrexone just over a month ago and it has been a very good addition and I will add it as a "rung in my ladder".

My main problems are related to the gut and there is little that I can do about it as I don't have an ileocecal valve and will be in a constant struggle with SIBO until one of these polyps gets away on us and I have to wear the bag.

I want to add some foods back to my diet and figure the only way that can happen is if I get my immune system to "shut-up". My symptoms are skin problems, eczema, psoriasis, folliculitis and urticaria. LDN is supposed to be an immune system modulator and I thought it might help. There are studies showing that it can help with Irritable Bowel and other gut issues as well.

What this does for me is give me energy. And my recovery time is better. So... every few months I have tried to add an exercise program and it lasts for a few days and then just dribbles off to nothing. I would feel beat-up. It was never a conscious decision to quit, it just happened. Some of you know what I mean.

Oh, and I would get "bad pain" in my muscles that I called "fibro pain". Exercising was not enjoyable. I know that some of you know about that too.

I have been doing 25 min a day on the treadmill @ 3.2 mph and 10% angle. This is followed by 20 min (and increasing) on the universal doing resistance training. I am not pushing it. I used to be very fit and "muscle memory" could outstrip tendon and ligament strengthening. I am 62 years old after all.

Then I go into the sauna for 20+ min.

I am tired later in the evening but wake up fine the next morning. LDN gave me enough energy and recovery to do exercise and exercise makes me feel better. I have been at it for almost 4 weeks now and this is the first exercise program since sometime in 2010.

Rapidly I am gaining ground on where I should be at my age. The only symptom that I have left is a bit of brain-fog. LDN hasn't done anything to modify that. I can go long periods where it is not on my radar. I had a bit this morning when I sat down at the computer but after some mfolate and breakfast....and perhaps, just being mentally active, it is still there but just barely.

What about the food sensitivities? I have gotten away with canned tomatoes 3 times. 2 days ago, I wasn't sure as I reacted to something but I also had a bit of chocolate syrup to fix an unpalatable smoothie. It is one of my triggers as well.

Hives have increased like they do every winter. Nothing like last year though. Right now I am getting 3 or 4 hives a day x 4 days a week. Last year at this time I was having 4 full outbreaks a day. I hold that I am allergic to this house. I have an air exchanger ready to install. Pretty happy about that.

I have not made much progress in terms of decreasing my pill count. I am down to 43 pills a day (15 prescribed), 2 needles and three medicated skin treatments (prescribed). I averaged over 50 pills a day since 2007. Adding a multi has dropped my count. I'm still working on it.

I am into photography, out in my workshop most days, learning Spanish, and planning trips. Cuba in 6 weeks and then the Grand Canyon in September. My wife was helping me to stand in 2011.

My bottom-line on all of this is that my problems cascaded from mercury directly - through poisoning, and indirectly -through disruption of methylation and changes in gene expression.

Wishing each of you the very, very best in your recovery.

 

[stridor]

OK. It is March 2017.
LDN continues to give me energy and I have been exercising and have put on at least 5 pounds of muscle. I just bought tires for my bike that hasn't been ridden since 2010. This is from a guy who biked through Europe.

I am learning Spanish and my memory is improving. I surprise myself at the words I can remember. Brain-fog is still present likely for small portions of each day but it is low volume and goes unnoticed and as sad to say as it is, after 6 years, a person does get used to it.

Food sensitivities have not changed. In fact, I have added sunflowers to the list. I don't even try at restaurants anymore. Steak with only salt and pepper and a plain baked potato. You guessed it, they even find ways of screwing that up. I had fried onions added today. And they had flour on them....nice....

So life is good and is very close to being back on track. I am a pretty happy guy and can do anything that I want. The best thing? That Bipolar Disorder is gone. What kind of hell is that? My diagnosis was Brittle Bipolar Type II - Rapid-Cycling, Mixed States. I don't know, but suspect, that the Mad-as-a-Hatter or mercury form of Bipolar will be Rapid-Cycling.

I am doing a blog which will be the script for some You Tube videos. I don't think that many people are on my path but the process I adopted may be helpful to some. I doubt that many have bipolar caused by mercury but I do think that many will have bipolar complicated by mercury.

If anyone is interested in a link to the blog, let me know in a private message. It is about half done. Be patient as I don't always get notification. You'll have to excuse me but I just figured out how to load photos onto this site