Inositol deficiency, a literal footnote (for a foot crack!)

[BadBadBear]

I added inositol about 4 weeks ago to see if it improved my thyroid functioning (there's a study on a combo of Se and Inositol).

Strangely, a persistent foot crack that I've had nonstop for 2+ years healed! I could not believe it. It does lead me to believe I have a frank deficiency as the skin on my feet is SO much better.

If anyone has info about co-nutrients that I should be replacing or other inositol info, please let me know. I am going to take 5 g per day for a few months (OK'd by my doc) and see if anything else changes as it becomes replete in my system.

 

[gumman123]

rice bran wheat bran and sesame seeds have 5-6g inositol phosphates per 100g

 

[CFS_for_19_years]

Dry skin on your feet and cracked heels can be a sign of hypothyroidism. This is my personal experience as well.

 

[BadBadBear]

Inositol is supposed to help PCOS sufferers with eczema and its also known to mitigate psoriasis for lithium users. So there seem to be a variety of possible mechanisms causing my skin to heal.

I do wonder if my body is not able to make normal amounts or if I am using an unusual amount. Or perhaps wasting it.

I have noticed it does seem to raise my blood pressure (systolic is up about 10 points) so that's helpful.

 

[Gondwanaland]

Dry skin on your feet and cracked heels can be a sign of hypothyroidism. This is my personal experience as well.

There are a few studies precisely about Inositol supplementation helping hypothyroidism.

I do wonder if my body is not able to make normal amounts or if I am using an unusual amount. Or perhaps wasting it.

A diet high in choline seems to block endogenous Inositol production (personal experience): eggs make my hair fall, drinking OJ (high Inositol) heals my hair loss.

I have noticed it does seem to raise my blood pressure (systolic is up about 10 points) so that's helpful.

Hm, interesting, thanks for putting it out there.

 

[Mary]

@BadBadBear - I didn't know about the possible thyroid/inositol link. I started taking inositol at night before bed a few years ago because it was supposed to help with sleep, and it did. I take 1000 mg. before bed and 1000 more in the middle of the night.

I haven't noticed any other benefits however, though it could possibly be helping my thyroid though I haven't noticed anything.

 

[pamojja]

A diet high in choline seems to block endogenous Inositol production (personal experience): eggs make my hair fall, drinking OJ (high Inositol) heals my hair loss.

Interesting. In my attempts to find optimal doses of all B vitamins for me I only superseded that with choline. - Once taking close to 500 mg/d for some time - I started to get tension and clenching in my chaws. Some years later that limit reduced to 300 mg/d of choline. While also getting about 400 mg/d through my diet when I was calculating it for some time.

Because of a chronic bronchitis for 1 year got also a COPD 1 diagnosis, which however, has been asymptomatic since curing the bronchitis. But since I also have a long smoker history I got a bid concerned and therefore added Myo-inositol powder gradually increasing, due the encouraging results of this preliminary study: A Phase I Study of myo-Inositol for Lung Cancer Chemoprevention

I have noticed it does seem to raise my blood pressure (systolic is up about 10 points) so that's helpful.

However this study contrarily found:

A statistically significant reduction in the systolic and diastolic blood pressures by an average of 10 mm Hg was observed after taking 18 g/d of myo-inositol for a month or more.

With now about 10 g per day Inositol, yearly pulmonological evaluations showed gradual improvement of lung-functions (without any symptoms I wouldn't mention), tolerance to choline has increased again and am actually in the unknown were it is now, blood pressure remained normal (110/70). My thyroid only initially improved going above about 6 g/d Inositol, but since returned to before levels. Didn't experienced any other direct effects, as with most supplements I take.

Infrequent psoriasis outbreaks ceased for me once I reached 20.000 daily IUs of preformed vitamin A. However, since that also coincided with having taken 9 g of inositol for more than one year, I'm no more so sure about that.

 

[Gondwanaland]

Infrequent psoriasis outbreaks ceased for me once I reached 20.000 daily IUs of preformed vitamin A. However, since that also coincided with having taken 9 g of inositol for more than one year, I'm no more so sure about that.

Preformed vit A always increase dandruff for me - I suspect dandruff is linked to high DHT. Vit A increases T >> DHT conversion, Inositol inhibits it.

 

[BadBadBear]

I have not been able to eat eggs, or egg yolks well for ages, but had spontaneously started eating boiled eggs for breakfast the last couple of weeks (and they are not unpalatable, as the yolks usually are). Not sure if this is an inositol side effect? I normally don't consume much choline, kinda makes me nauseous.

BP effect may be improved thyroid function in my case.

It also caused some hormone surges in the first couple of weeks, whew that was fun while it lasted (high sex drive, lol). I have read of other people having that same effect from it.

i added a dose of d-chiro inositol at bedtime and slept well, probably will stay at this dose for a while. ~2500 mg 3x per day plus chiro form at bed.

It seems to actually do stuff, unlike most supplements I've tried! I am interested to see if it prevents my finger skin from splitting this winter, another painful side effect of being ill.

 

[BadBadBear]

After this, I am going to move my inositol experience to my general antiviral treatment thread https://forums.phoenixrising.me/index.php?threads/mestinon-famvir-whoa.55803/page-4

My update is now I've been on inositol since end of Oct. It has been the most game changing substance for me so far in the course of my disease, bar none.

Forget helping the eczema heal, my energy has been through the roof lately. I still get tired and need breaks, but it alone has probably moved me up another 5-10% in my daily functioning.

I have been cleaning clutter piles all over the house that I never thought I'd get to. I have cleaned the construction mess the workers left behind in my garage and can get my car in (and didn't just re-pile the mess, I put everything away and swept). Every day I am looking for more messes to tackle.

It seems to have neural effects for me, and energetic effects. My mood is clearly improved and I am having less anhedonia.

I am able to tolerate a general dose of methylation supps again (have stayed away from them as I knew they made something in me 'worse', but I didn't know what - now I think it drove inositol deficiency).

I am generally sleeping well, but occasionally sleeping a whole night without restlessness or any little bit of waking or too much dreaming - it feels incredibly restorative when that happens.

One of my initial "symptoms" was insidious weight gain, I have lost a few lbs without trying much (almost 10# down).

I am cooking time consuming, complex things again, sometimes multiple dishes at a time, and able to keep track of several things AND have energy to clean when I'm done.

ODDLY my BP is up a bit which is great, I am staying patently normal (106/70 avg) and my HR has dropped to 60 or below resting. My heart is working less hard, but things are staying where they should.

My air hunger has decreased and I have the marked sensation of there being SO DAMN MUCH air to breathe. I can't even describe the feeling.

Somehow, my body is struggling and working less, but able to do so much more.

I also cut my Famvir dose in half finally, as I feel I don't need the full dose and am not having any viral issues on the lower dose (previously a decrease always resulted in the sore throat and swollen glands returning).

This is my cocaine. I hope the effect stays. I have been afraid to say anything lest the effects disappear. My understanding is it takes about 3 months for inositol levels to be corrected in patent deficiency. Whatever happens next, this has been awesome, even if its a vacation and not somewhere I can stay.

 

[Hip]

It seems to have neural effects for me, and energetic effects. My mood is clearly improved and I am having less anhedonia.

High dose inositol is a known antidepressant treatment, working on the serotonin system. You can buy inositol powder by the kilo for this high dose usage.

High dose inositol is one of the few effective natural antidepressant treatments. It also has anti-anxiety effects.

I sometimes take one or two heaped teaspoons of inositol as a mood booster (there are 7 grams per heaped teaspoon). The effects are not immediate: it takes around 12 hours for the mood boost to kick in I find. But if you take it the night before, by the time you wake up you should feel the benefits.

 

[pattismith]

High dose inositol is a known antidepressant treatment, working on the serotonin system. You can buy inositol powder by the kilo for this high dose usage.

High dose inositol is one of the few effective natural antidepressant treatments. It also has anti-anxiety effects.

I sometimes take one or two heaped teaspoons of inositol as a mood booster (there are 7 grams per heaped teaspoon). The effects are not immediate: it takes around 12 hours for the mood boost to kick in I find. But if you take it the night before, by the time you wake up you should feel the benefits.

Inosine too has potential beneficial effects on depression and mood disorders

 

[pattismith]

I added inositol about 4 weeks ago to see if it improved my thyroid functioning (there's a study on a combo of Se and Inositol).

Strangely, a persistent foot crack that I've had nonstop for 2+ years healed! I could not believe it. It does lead me to believe I have a frank deficiency as the skin on my feet is SO much better.

If anyone has info about co-nutrients that I should be replacing or other inositol info, please let me know. I am going to take 5 g per day for a few months (OK'd by my doc) and see if anything else changes as it becomes replete in my system.

you caught my eye with inositol as I am still looking for something to help my HPT axis.

So I ordered some inositol, and just before I got it, I started a trial with Allopurinol to limit my uric acid production (an effect of inosine intake). Allopurinol is a xanthine oxydase inhibitor that sometimes can produce adverse drug reaction, mostly cutaneous, occasionnally in the eye (scleritis).

of course I didn't know anything about the eye reaction involvement when I took it, and bingo, maybe two hours after my small intake I had a pain in one eye, with redness on the sclera.

I didn't know nothing about scleritis, so i went to the ophtalmologist the day after, and he diagnosed a scleritis.
Scleritis can be a very serious affection, and indeed it was very scary and painful before i started antiinflammatory treatment.

Now I am much better, but I am looking for another xanthine inhibitor to use, and guess what, inositol IS a xanthine oxidase inhibitor.

So I started today, this will allow me to use inosine in a safer way.
(Uric acid is still to be controled when using inosine, even people with gout arthritis can sometimes develop scleritis.)

 

[pamojja]

inositol IS a xanthine oxidase inhibitor.

Interesting. When I tried inosine a few capsules it immediately drove uric acid up, therefore discontinued. Have to try again with my now higher inositol intake.

 

[BadBadBear]

High dose inositol is a known antidepressant treatment, working on the serotonin system. You can buy inositol powder by the kilo for this high dose usage.

High dose inositol is one of the few effective natural antidepressant treatments. It also has anti-anxiety effects.

I sometimes take one or two heaped teaspoons of inositol as a mood booster (there are 7 grams per heaped teaspoon). The effects are not immediate: it takes around 12 hours for the mood boost to kick in I find. But if you take it the night before, by the time you wake up you should feel the benefits.

It seems to have more neural - emotional effects than SSRI for me. I never react much to SSRI meds. Inositol is causing a sort of intensification of all things. I got really authentically angry about something Saturday and it bled over to deep authentic sadness later. An un-blunting effect. Also,I have tended to be highly dissociative of emotion during my illness and it feels like that is no longer happening. It is having an integrating effect.

I'm running out of things to clean in the house and tipping toward OCD (for me). I gathered every pen, pencil, and marker I could find today. Sorted and tested them all. Kept a few and the rest of them are going to the local school. Wondering what will happen when I run out of minutiae to clean?!

 

[Hip]

An un-blunting effect.

Unfortunately I have not noticed any improvements in my blunted affect or anhedonia while taking high dose inositol. For me these are both very undesirable symptoms that are near impossible to treat. Whilst there are many effective antidepressants, there are virtually no drugs that can help anhedonia.

But given your observations, I will try inositol again, and pay attention to any emotional effects that it may have for me. I'd really like to find a solution to the blunted emotions and anhedonia.


Anger is one emotion that I do often have, although it's more an anger–irritability sort of anger. Several supplement like DHEA or Tribulus-terrestris which boost testosterone dramatically increase my anger–irritability levels. But I don't consider this anger–irritability a healthy type of emotion. And it's also one-dimensional, in that it is the only emotion present. I'd like to see a full range of emotions return, but I've not found any great solutions to blunted affect.

 

[Wayne]

I am going to take 5 g per day for a few months (OK'd by my doc) and see if anything else changes as it becomes replete in my system.

Congratulations @BadBadBear on your health improvements! -- A couple years ago, I ran across a remarkable article on OCD, and how a researcher in Israel discovered that inositol can often dramatically improve OCD symptoms. Here's a link in case you might want to check it out: -- LISTENING TO INOSITOL: CLINICAL NOTES

 

[pattismith]

I added inositol about 4 weeks ago to see if it improved my thyroid functioning (there's a study on a combo of Se and Inositol).

Strangely, a persistent foot crack that I've had nonstop for 2+ years healed! I could not believe it. It does lead me to believe I have a frank deficiency as the skin on my feet is SO much better.

If anyone has info about co-nutrients that I should be replacing or other inositol info, please let me know. I am going to take 5 g per day for a few months (OK'd by my doc) and see if anything else changes as it becomes replete in my system.

I found the study you are talking about, it says:

"Patients received tablets containing 600 mg myo-inositol plus 83 μg selenium in the form of L-selenomethionine (Tiroxil®, Lo.Li. Pharma Srl, Rome, Italy) orally for 6 months. Participants were asked to take the medication with water about 2 h before or after meal"

They don't tell how much pills the patients were supposed to take, but the product manufacturer advises one tablet per day, so I assume this is the dose they used daily.


How much do you plan to take? In one dose or do you plan to cut the dose?

 

[BadBadBear]

I am dumping a tsp in my tea 3x per day (~2.7g per tsp) and taking a capsule of d-chiro at bedtime. Based on what I read on examine.com, I wanted to be close to 10g as that seems to cover the lower end of a dose for neural benefits (6g-18g iirc).

I really need to go check thyroid labs. Since my HR and BP are good, I don't feel hyper but I suppose I should be sure.

 

[BadBadBear]

Ps. I did note benefits on a low dose at first (my gnarly eczema healed). I was taking just a low dose capsule, I think 500 mg. That lead me to research and try the higher dose.