DH got bedridden by taking whey

[Gondwanaland]

Taking 1/2 Tbsp of whey reactivated DH's drug-induced hepatitis.

His 1st symptoms included severe back pain and he had to take a NSAID + pain killer (no acetaminophen b/c this is was caused the drug-induced hepatitis years ago), followed by severe nausea, lots of gas, pale, loose stools, pain in the right and left side of abdomen (liver and pancreas?), and now constipation.

What I tried:
-silymarin - he isn't tolerating anything high sulfur
-Mg Gly + Taurine - same as above
-MB12 - got a headache
-B complex + choline - no help

He is feeling relief by eating beef and fruit (oranges, watermelon = natural arginine, citrulline)

I suspect this is cobalamin deficiency (AdB12), and on Monday I will call our dr and ask for an order for testing his Methylmalonic Acid.

We have been having trouble with supplments for him as follows:

HyB12 - fatigue
MB12 - rage
Niacinamide - helps with the rage
Mfolate - depression, can't eat leafy greens
Magnesium - helps, but gets diarrhea
Taurine - helps, but gets diarrhea
Potassium - extremely low BP
P5P - helped for like almost 2 months but now it seems he is B12 deficient (despite high blood levels).

OTOH, I have been taking whey and glutamine for almost 2 months with no detrimental effects, plus they cleared my morning fog (esp. glutamine). When DH was taking glutmaine he couldn't get out of bed, so I suspect having taken glutamine for a while before the whey has been detrimental for him.

I could only pinpoint what triggered the hepatitis reactivation thanks to Freddd, so I am familiar with Freddd's warnings and descriptions of symptoms and side-effects. But we seem to be stuck here.

Any input is welcome.

EDIT -- I have downloaded all studies listed by Freddd re cobalamin deficiency, but have no brains to read them.

 

[Mary]

@Gondwanaland - I'm so sorry to hear what's going on with your husband. I don't know anything about his situation or why he reacts to supplements the way he does - I'm only familiar with garden-variety CFS.

I wanted to suggest trying lemon juice for his liver. Several years my liver was pretty toxic, most likely from chemical solvents I had heavy exposure to at age 19 (a long time ago). I felt sick quite a bit, etc. Anyways, in addition to doing a liver detox with my chiro using Standard Process supplements, I discovered lemon juice - it's one of the best things you can do for your liver and gallbladder and digestion in general. There's a lot of info on-line about the benefits of lemon juice for the liver.

Also - would NAC be of any benefit now? It's supposed to be very effective for acetaminophen toxicity, and is protective of the liver in general.

Dandelion tea is also very good for liver problems.

One more thing - are you sure it's his liver that's involved? Could he be having gallbladder problems, which can cause excruciating pain -- lemon juice is good for gallbladder problems as well.

I hope you get some answers soon --

 

[Gondwanaland]

Thanks, Mary. Gallbladder is surely involved since his stools are pale.

I think NAC falls in the same category Freddd warns about regarding glutathione precursors (like whey), and I will not try it with him.

I do have dandelion tea at home, and also artichoke, but we are avoiding the sulfury stuff as they seem to do nothing or make it worse.

I had forgotten about lemons, thanks for mentioning it. Tomorrow I will arange some lemons, I think they might work since they are low thiols.

 

[barbc56]

@Gondwanaland

Has your husband had his gallbladder tested? The reason I ask is that pale stools may indicate gallbladder issues but of course. also may indicate other health problems.

I am not a doctor so there could be other reasons for his symptoms. In fact, the hepatitis would probably be a problem more likely explanation.

Also some vitamins, especially since they aren't regulated, may have too much/little of the ingredients or can like conventional drugs cause side effects in the liver. Especially, if you have had liver problems in the past. They can also have a cumulative effect. But I have no idea if the vitamins he takes have this profile.

I keep thinking about poor Gary Null.

Hope your husband feels better soon. Sounds like he is experiencing some pretty miserable symptoms. Best of luck to both of you.

http://www.loweringthebar.net/2010/...wer-meal-almost-killed-me-says-gary-null.html

Barb

Didn't see the other post mentioning gall bladder. Then we crossed posts.

 

[Gondwanaland]

Thanks, @barbc56 . We only take low dose vitamins prescribed by our integrative dr. She just helped him to switch from SSRI to vitamins, so he can be drug-free. Our vitamins are especially compounded to our specific needs, so we can avoid undesired fillers and unnecessary high doses.

But actually the healing path for drug-induced hepatitis is to just eat healing foods and avoid taking anything else, especially more drugs like the muscle relaxant and pain killer my husband had to take due to the excruciating back pain.

Also herbs can be detrimental and have a cummulative effect on a sick liver.

 

[adreno]

You could try tudca :

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1386634698000709

http://examine.com/supplements/Tauroursodeoxycholic+Acid/

 

[pogoman]

Taking 1/2 Tbsp of whey reactivated DH's drug-induced hepatitis.

His 1st symptoms included severe back pain and he had to take a NSAID + pain killer (no acetaminophen b/c this is was caused the drug-induced hepatitis years ago), followed by severe nausea, lots of gas, pale, loose stools, pain in the right and left side of abdomen (liver and pancreas?), and now constipation.

Could these symptoms be of lactose intolerance from the whey?
I became LI in my 40s on top of IBS and the symptoms can be identical down to the back pain.
I was trying protein powders at the time and the whey based ones would set me off.

 

[Gondwanaland]

You could try tudca :

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1386634698000709

http://examine.com/supplements/Tauroursodeoxycholic Acid/

Perhaps just the taurine w/o the MgGly (which generates ammonia)

Could these symptoms be of lactose intolerance from the whey?
I became LI in my 40s on top of IBS and the symptoms can be identical down to the back pain.
I was trying protein powders at the time and the whey based ones would set me off.

Are you familiar with Freddd's warnings against glutathione precursors? I think this is ammonia build up (headaches and vomiting once, which I forgot to mention in the 1st post)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperammonemia

 

[pogoman]

Perhaps just the taurine w/o the MgGly (which generates ammonia)

Are you familiar with Freddd's warnings against glutathione precursors? I think this is ammonia build up (headaches and vomiting once, which I forgot to mention in the 1st post)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperammonemia

I searched and found a thread where he talks about them.
Out of those he mentioned, the sulfur ones like sam-e kicked my butt simply because I react badly to all sulfur supplements and I am allergic to Septra.
Started TMG yesterday, no ill effects so far.
I don't have any of the hyperammonemia symptoms, I know I became LI after lasagna, ice cream and milk started causing issues.
But its gotten better since I stopped taking proton pump inhibitors for GERD, I think acid reflux was an early indication of mthfr issues for me.

 

[ahmo]

@Gondwanaland Hoping things are better today. Thanks for the link to B12 references.

 

[Gondwanaland]

@Gondwanaland Hoping things are better today. Thanks for the link to B12 references.

Thanks, ahmo.
Avoiding high sulfur and eating fruit helped immensely. He must eat meat in every meal though, since he can't properly recycle MB12, so we stayed on a catch22 for a while However, stools are still loose and white, alternating with constipation

 

[Gondwanaland]

I took a quick look at those studies and the (so far) researched gene that is involved is MMACHC. DH is +/- for two SNPs in it. Anyone else?

 

[MAF14]

Just to clarify, when you say whey do you mean actual whey or whey-protein?

 

[Gondwanaland]

Just to clarify, when you say whey do you mean actual whey or whey-protein?

Whey protein isolate (powder) derived from grass-fed cows not treated with rBGH or antibiotics.
As much as 1/2 Tbsp

 

[MAF14]

Whey protein isolate (powder) derived from grass-fed cows not treated with rBGH or antibiotics.
As much as 1/2 Tbsp

Interesting.... And why was he trying to take it?

 

[Gondwanaland]

Interesting.... And why was he trying to take it?

To improve energy

 

[whodathunkit]

@Gondwanaland: No help here, Izzy. Just sorry to hear and hope your DH is doing better.

 

[ahmo]

I took a quick look at those studies and the (so far) researched gene that is involved is MMACHC. DH is +/- for two SNPs in it. Anyone else?

I'm ++ for 7, +/- for 2. I attribute the biggest contributor to a toxic psychosis I experienced in 2008 to whey powder.

 

[Gondwanaland]

@Gondwanaland: No help here, Izzy. Just sorry to hear and hope your DH is doing better.

Thanks, whoda. He's feeling better, just diarrhea remains

Not sure if he had extremely high ammonia (+/+CBS A360A), high MMA or both.

I attribute the biggest contributor to a toxic psychosis I experienced in 2008 to whey powder.

I'm ++ for 7, +/- for 2.

We have only 5 sequenced. He is +/- for
rs10789465
rs2275276

I assume all the others are -/- since they are the same as mine.

 

[mariovitali]

Whey is one of the supplements to avoid. Please read this post

http://forums.phoenixrising.me/inde...ponse-and-a-possible-treatment-for-cfs.37244/

and let me know if your husband feels better. Good Luck.