@GlassCannonLife , in the other thread you mentioned taking it every few hours. Is cumin's effect wearing off that quickly? For me, a dose lasted 3 days. Taking it more frequently didn't add any benefits. Taking larger amounts than a level tsp only increased the duration slightly. For any treatment that has worked for me, I've tried to find the lowest dosage and frequency that worked, because like you, I worried that taking too much or too frequently might increase the chance of making it stop working.
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Cumin (Cuminum cyminum): Possible PEM Blocker
- Thread starter Wishful
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GlassCannonLife
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Just saw this sorry. Yeah it has only ever worked for me for a few hours (2-3 or so), same as @seamyb
@GlassCannonLife , how long does it take after swallowing the cumin before it works? Trying it sublingually (just hold the powder in your mouth for a while) might reduce the start-up time or increase the duration.
GlassCannonLife
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Takes around 15 min to kick in and according to my trial yesterday lasts a little under 2 h
andyguitar
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So what do you think it is doing?
GlassCannonLife
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No idea! It's really bizarre. Not sure (doubt it) if it is having any protein level effects in such a short term.. So must be somehow balancing neurotransmitters, acting on gaba receptors, reducing neuroinflammation, or something to that effect..
Do you notice a benefit from it too?
andyguitar
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Yes it could be any of those things. But it's effect for some is fairly rapid so I'm thinking maybe a dopamine hit and/or circulatory stimulation.
For another point of figuring out what cumin is or isn't doing, for me it lasted a consistent 3 days and wasn't dose-dependent. Its effects didn't seem to taper off gradually; it seemed to work at 100% effectiveness or 0%. I'm not sure what sort of biological model that fits.
GlassCannonLife
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Yeah true. For me it seems to be fully effective for like 1.5 h then slowly wanes a little bit in the last half and then drops to 0.
Very interesting but no idea what it's doing..
I tried this for the first time today - took one level teaspoon of cumin seeds first thing in the morning. Then did something which typically induces PEM (four days' worth of food prep, on my feet for 1.5-2 hours). For me PEM more often than not kicks in straight away, but on this occasion nothing. Still some base level fatigue and brain fog but overall a relatively good day. That is until this evening (about 6 hours after the exertion/9 hours after dosing) when PEM set in (I don't tend to get physical symptoms, just fatigue/brain fog becoming extreme, with a hint of a headache). It could just be a random good day followed by a random crash but I'd guess not. Whether the PEM was delayed or initially masked by the cumin I have no idea.
Will try again tomorrow with a bit of walking.
Will try again tomorrow with a bit of walking.
GlassCannonLife
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Don't crash by accident.
I never tried it pre-emptively as a blocker, only noticed the effect of it reducing ongoing PEM symptoms so if you have some active PEM you could try taking it and seeing if it reduces the intensity temporarily as it does for me.
Too bad. When I first discovered cumin's PEM-blocking, I was expecting it to be the usual 'works a couple of times, then stops working' treatment. I was delighted that it kept working.
Maybe there's something else in your diet that is preventing it from working, or maybe there's something that would help it work if you added it. As long as cumin isn't causing any negative effects, you can experiment with it. Having an effective PEM reducer/blocker is really worth a bit of effort.
GlassCannonLife
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We don't think this could be working as a GABA receptor modulator do we? Nobody has experienced any withdrawals or loss in efficacy over time?
GlassCannonLife
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It seems like I have a primary effect for 2 h, then some mild background residual effects for a longer duration - not sure how long.
Eg yesterday afternoon I was doing poorly so I ended up taking a tsp every 2 h from 230 until 8. This morning I took my standard one at 5ish, but then had low calm hr until around 9, not 7.
I might see if a half tsp has a similar effect or if it lasts less / is less effective.
@seamyb (or anyone else that has had success), how much have you used this to get out of bad PEM? I don't know if I should just take a bunch of spoons all throughout the day every day and hope to resolve my horrible crash more rapidly.. Anyone know if this is a good idea?
I read it stops nf-kb effects - maybe this is why it is so helpful..? I can't tell if it is better to block the PEM as much as possible and feel actually "restful" or keep it barely tolerable and try and make it through with as little support as possible.
Eg yesterday afternoon I was doing poorly so I ended up taking a tsp every 2 h from 230 until 8. This morning I took my standard one at 5ish, but then had low calm hr until around 9, not 7.
I might see if a half tsp has a similar effect or if it lasts less / is less effective.
@seamyb (or anyone else that has had success), how much have you used this to get out of bad PEM? I don't know if I should just take a bunch of spoons all throughout the day every day and hope to resolve my horrible crash more rapidly.. Anyone know if this is a good idea?
I read it stops nf-kb effects - maybe this is why it is so helpful..? I can't tell if it is better to block the PEM as much as possible and feel actually "restful" or keep it barely tolerable and try and make it through with as little support as possible.
Rufous McKinney
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I was just going to warn -watch out doing it again the next day...
Rufous McKinney
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sounds possible that it delayed the onset of the initial PEM.....maybe thats Good.
I'd suggest not doing a next day test: wait longer
maybe don't give up quite yet.
This is what I do when I'm bad. It kills symptoms for the couple of hours it's working and then you go back to as you were. It isn't treating the cause, it's just dampening the effect. I use an extract and it takes a single drop instead of a spoonful. Much easier.
GlassCannonLife
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Yeah cool. But so in your experience it doesn't shorten the duration of the PEM at all I guess.. That sucks
No, my experience is quite different from Wishful's. But cumin really is the only thing that keeps me going through the rough times.