How would you explain something like this...?

[PeterPositive]

I've a very confusing symptom that has bugged me for 6-7 years.
Using transdermal products such as Magnesium, Vitamin D3 or B12 oils affects my digestion pretty much in the same way as if I took them orally! But I am trying the transdermal route, exactly to avoid the digestion!

I've tried asking several doctors and they all raised an eyebrow or two... I too have no idea how this can happen or what does it mean.

I can only imagine that my GI is super-sensitive? Or something along those lines...

Last time I've soaked my feet in water with added Mg chloride (small amount, less than 10 minutes), I felt the discomfort I get from taking 2-300mg orally (lots of abdominal tension), plus bubbles in my stomach and a salty taste in my mouth!

This morning I tried B12 oils, rubbed one squirt on my left arm. Two hours later I was burping, feeling a heavy stomach, as if I had drank the oil instead of rubbing it on my skin!

I guess this is and indication of badly f**** up I am

Has anyone had a similar issue? Maybe I have an alien brother like me... out there ...

 

[Effi]

this sounds familiar to me! my body reacts much in the same way to pretty much anything I try, no matter how I take it. and no doctor can explain why. I guess though if you 'take' something transdermally it ends up in your bloodstream just the same in the end, right? So it would affect you the same way too I'd guess... More questions than answers here!

 

[zzz]

Using transdermal products such as Magnesium, Vitamin D3 or B12 oils affects my digestion pretty much in the same way as if I took them orally!

This is actually very common. If you swallow magnesium, it gets to your gut directly. If you use it parenterally, it gets to your gut indirectly. The result is the same, although the indirect route tends to produce less intense symptoms, as less magnesium gets to the gut that way.

I noticed this happening when I started using nebulized magnesium. As my body acclimated to the magnesium, the symptoms gradually dissipated.

I guess though if you 'take' something transdermally it ends up in your bloodstream just the same in the end, right?

Yes, that's basically it.

The fact that doctors can't explain this is more a reflection of their ignorance of a basic phenomenon than anything else.

 

[PeterPositive]

Ok... at least I am in good company
We could start a club for intolerant aliens

@zzz what is nebulized magnesium, exactly? Do you use a nebulizer to spray it? On your skin?

 

[Effi]

We could start a club for intolerant aliens

count me in!

 

[anciendaze]

Please note that the autonomic nervous system controls a great deal that goes on in the gut. Most of this independent of the brain, and has even been called a second brain. There were people with peptic ulcers who had the vagus nerve cut in an effort to stop the brain from making the stomach inflamed. (This theory was flat wrong.) The gut went right on digesting food.

I have an implanted vagus nerve stimulator which mitigates some symptoms.

All of this points to dysautonomia and damage to autonomic nerves shifting the balance to the sympathetic activation. Stimulating the vagus nerve shifts the balance toward parasympathetic activity.

The extent to which the vast majority of doctors misunderstand autonomic response is truly remarkable. Some day there will be dissertations written about the way these symptoms were misattributed to things going on in the brain.

 

[PeterPositive]

All of this points to dysautonomia and damage to autonomic nerves shifting the balance to the sympathetic activation. Stimulating the vagus nerve shifts the balance toward parasympathetic activity.

This is something I have heard about sometime ago. I've read something about it but was not able to fully wrap my head around it.

In particular the sympathetic activation shouldn't be accompanied by excitation of the nervous system, anxiety and such?

I guess I will have to read more about dysautonomia as I fall pretty much in the types of symptoms.

 

[anciendaze]

Sympathetic nervous system activity tends to do things like raising heart rate and respiration, shutting down digestion, emptying bladders in emergencies, shifting blood flow to muscles, and generally preparing for flight-or-fight. Lots of people would interpret this as anxiety. Parasympathetic activity is prominent in digestion, sleep and reproduction, all of which tend to be adversely affected by damage to this system. See this article.

 

[ahmo]

what is nebulized magnesium, exactly? Do you use a nebulizer to spray it? On your skin?

http://drsircus.com/medicine/magnesium/nebulizing-magnesium-and-other-medicinals

 

[PeterPositive]

Sympathetic nervous system activity tends to do things like raising heart rate and respiration, shutting down digestion, emptying bladders in emergencies, shifting blood flow to muscles, and generally preparing for flight-or-fight. Lots of people would interpret this as anxiety. Parasympathetic activity is prominent in digestion, sleep and reproduction, all of which tend to be adversely affected by damage to this system. See this article.

Thanks, makes perfect sense.
Indeed my sympathetic n.s. tends to be hyperactive and I don't deal well with stress, although now it is orders of magnitude worse than, say, 15 years ago.

I have done breathing exercises with a small biofeedback device and it helps to some extent, but nowhere near to fixing anything.

I guess dysautonomia is a useful label to indicate a number of diverse symptoms that have probably the same root machanism (i.e. sympathetic hyper activation), but I think it's far from easy to establish the causes of such problems...

 

[PeterPositive]

I have been thinking and reading a bit more about this and it seems that one of the first indication of a sympathetic dominance would be an increased heart rate.

I have had a few episodes of mild tachychardia many years ago, but in general my heart rate is normal. Around 65bpm while sitting and 70 while standing up. Also I have low BP, typically 110-70

Is it possible to have a dysregulation of the autonomous nervous system without heart rate symptoms?

Edited to Add: it also seems that some symptoms such as blurry vision, dizziness etc... can be caused by stimulation of the vagus nerve by IBS or similar intestinal issues, which I have plenty of. Sounds like a chicken-and-egg problem to me ... Which is the cause and which the consequence?