***Hi, Querty.
Thank you again Rich - that is a really comprehensive analysis to offer, especially for free.
***You're welcome.
A lof of what you have said has been echo'ed by other people I've spoken to - including a natropathic doctor I'm working with.
***It sounds as though you have a very smart naturopath!
He also indicated that giving glutamine would be a mistake given how high my glutamic acid is and glycine would be the best option to boost gluthatione which could help a number of things. Would be interested to get your take on what dosage of glycine would be appropriate?
***Supplementing glycine may help build your glutathione to some degree, but as I indicated, there are other things holding back your glutathione. After trying to help people build glutathione directly for about 5 years, I learned from autism researcher Jill James that lifting the methylation cycle partial block is the key to bringing glutathione back up. And in your case, the deficiencies in B2 (and maybe B6, also) are other important factors limiting flow through the transsulfuration pathway, and hence, limiting glutathione synthesis.
He believes that my main problem now, which is preventing me from recovering, is the gut.Either some form of bacteria or a genralised leaky gut.
***I agree that your gut needs to be looked at. It's difficult to fix the methylation and glutathione if the gut is not up to par, because it's important to be able to absorb nutrients well and to be able to excrete toxins well. Also, if you do have leaky gut, that will be continuing to challenge the immune system, which produces inflammation and contributes to oxidative stress, thus putting a continuing demand on glutathione.
Given that I've been taking 3-5g of supplemental tyrosine per day he says my dopamine levels look low still and my tyrsoine metabolism far too high. He has suggested there is a specific form of bacteria in the gut that can cause this high turn over without actual use.
***It's true that some gut bacteria are able to ferment tyrosine so that it is not absorbed into the body.
He has also said that although methylation looks like an issue, it is the not the main one and should not be worked on until any possible infection is cleared out, as it could make things worse if done beforehand.
***I'm not sure on this point. The problem is that glutathione probably won't stay up unless the partial methylation cycle block has been cleared and there is good flow through the transsulfuration pathway. Glutathione is needed for the Th1 immune response, which is required to clear viral, intracellular bacteria, and fungal infections. Perhaps if the infections are effectively cleared out using various antimicrobials, that will lower the demand on glutathione and allow it to come up. I do think that you will need to build up the B vitamins, though. Getting back to the gut issues, it's possible that dysbiotic bacteria in the gut are intercepting the B vitamins that come in, also, and are preventing them from being absorbed by your body.
***I would say that optimizing the sequence of treatment of gut issues, other infections and the methylation cycle partial block is one of the big questions I have not yet resolved. Dr. de Meirleir very much emphasizes treating the gut first, and Dr. Amy Yasko does, also. There are a lot of interactions between the methylation-related metabolism and the gut function, so I suspect that these aspects really must be dealt with together. I would say that the few people who have reported full recovery after doing the methylation treatment had done other treatment prior to that, including antiviral treatment. So maybe you naturopath's view is correct here.
He has informed me my fish oil consumption is likely too high by virtue if the high EPA and wants to me add in hemp seed butter to try and rectify my fatty acid balance.
***That sounds good. It should bring up your alpha-linoleic acid, which is low. Hemp oil has a good balance of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids.
I had been taking for the last 6 months of 2011, high dose Zinc to try and boost my libido - I feel this must be what has lowered my copper and have been taking steps to correct this since January.
***O.K. That would explain your high zinc, and too much zinc will indeed lower copper.
Its good to know that both yours and his analysis has plenty of cross over
***I'm pleased about that, too.
My take home points from both yours and his analysis seem to be:
1) Attempt to heal the gut with a low sugar diet, probiotics and possibly something called colostrum?
***That may do the job. If it doesn't, you may have to run a comprehensive stool test and use other antimicrobials, depending on what's in there.
2) Keep on additional copper supplementation for now.
***I agree, but it's important not to go too high on copper, either. Generally if you supplement zinc and copper together with a mass ratio of ten to fifteen (zinc higher), they will stay in balance.
3) When I have the energy low intensity <130bpm cardio on stationay bike in a sauna suit / go to an actual sauna
***I would caution against overexercise, because the elevated oxidative stress can damage the mitochondria. Sauna is O.K. for helping to remove toxins, but be sure to add back the essential minerals that are lost in perspiration, and wash off the skin soon, so that the toxins are not reabsorbed. Also, be sure to drink enough fluid to replace what is lost. People with ME/CFS tend to be hypovolemic, and sweating will tend to make this worse.
4) Get Gluthatione back up as quickly as possible to help the immune system and also fight any bacterial infection.
***I agree very much with this. As I noted above, though, my experience is that it is necessary to lift the partial methylation cycle block and improve the flow through transsulfuration before glutathione will stay up.
5) If no progress with gut consider a stool anaylsis.
***Amen!
6) If still no progress having boosted Gluthatione and worked on gut and once toxins are cleared, use a methylation protocol.
***Again, in a case of ME/CFS, I don't think you will be able to get glutathione up, and make it stay up, unless you fix the methylation problem.
Thank you again.
***You're welcome, and I wish you success.
***Best regards,
***Rich
