xchocoholic
Senior Member
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I've found several things that have helped me with brain fog and other nuerological symptoms of my CFS/ME.
Eliminating foods that I was intolerant of was the most important change I made. And then keeping my chronic hypoglycemia under control via the Paleo / low carb diet, treating for candida, getting EFAs via fish oil and other healthy fats, taking 2 Solgar essential aminos 3 times a day and Theanine and 5HTP for sleep. I take other supplements like EmergenC, B12 or use a cast iron pan as needed too but can't really tie those to my neuro problems.
Gluten, and maybe other toxins, were causing me to have problems walking / ataxia. My legs would get heavy after only a few yards, then my right foot would start to drop. Then my vision would get out of focus and objects would dance when I tried to focus on them.
And I would fall onto anyone or anything near me without realizing I was falling from time to time. This was why I had to use a motorized cart most of the time when I was running errands. And if I wasn't using one, it was because they were out of them at the time.
Like a dummy, I thought this was all just CFS/ME. And would explain all of this as muscle fatigue ...
All of these symptoms were gone after ONE year on the GFCFSFEFCF + chemical free diet. From the research I've seen this would be probably have been diagnosed as gluten ataxia. I failed the Rhomberg so ataxia was a given.
According to Dr. Hadjivassilou, occular ataxia and heavy feelings in the arms is common with gluten ataxia. My arms stopped feeling too heavy to wash my hair about 2 weeks after my ataxia was gone. My visual problems when walking lessened but are still a problem if I don't have my hypoglycemia under control. I usually eat something with some sort of sugar prior to activity to help with this.
I've met some who have been diagnosed with gluten ataxia, via the gluten antibody test, who didn't recover despite being gluten free, so I wonder about the other toxins I removed. FWIW. I have one friend who's casein antibodies are just as high as her gluten. And now she's looking at how low some of her nutrient levels are ... Ultimately, I expect her to be diagnosed with leaky gut syndrome.
Myoclonus is another nuero problem that I've been working on. I personally can link my action myoclonus to anxiety because of the frustration I feel when my hands won't co-operate.
Here's an article that describes myoclonus.
http://neurology.health-cares.net/myoclonus-types.php
I have nocturnal myoclonus and action myoclonus. Nocturnal myoclonus leads to jerking when falling into REM sleep. Some sleep disorder doctors say this is "normal" but I have to question this. Mine was so bad that I would never enter REM without using the medication (Klonopin) or the supplement (Theanine) to calm these nuerotransmitters. I think I have a thread on Klonopin, Theanine and nuerotransmitters on this board.
So far I know that gluten will cause my nocturnal myoclonus and insomnia. And taking Theanine and 5HTP will resolve this. Klonopin works too but at this point, I'd prefer not to take medications.
My hands still shake when I try to do my nails, eyebrows or write for any length of time. I've never tried taking Theanine during the day though to see if it would help ... Theanine is a natural treatment for seizures and it's been working for my NM for a year now.
BTW. I've had a variety of seizure problems at least since I was a toddler so this may never clear up for me.
HTH ... X
Ps. I'm not sure if I'm done here or not but I need to get busy ...
Eliminating foods that I was intolerant of was the most important change I made. And then keeping my chronic hypoglycemia under control via the Paleo / low carb diet, treating for candida, getting EFAs via fish oil and other healthy fats, taking 2 Solgar essential aminos 3 times a day and Theanine and 5HTP for sleep. I take other supplements like EmergenC, B12 or use a cast iron pan as needed too but can't really tie those to my neuro problems.
Gluten, and maybe other toxins, were causing me to have problems walking / ataxia. My legs would get heavy after only a few yards, then my right foot would start to drop. Then my vision would get out of focus and objects would dance when I tried to focus on them.
And I would fall onto anyone or anything near me without realizing I was falling from time to time. This was why I had to use a motorized cart most of the time when I was running errands. And if I wasn't using one, it was because they were out of them at the time.
Like a dummy, I thought this was all just CFS/ME. And would explain all of this as muscle fatigue ...
All of these symptoms were gone after ONE year on the GFCFSFEFCF + chemical free diet. From the research I've seen this would be probably have been diagnosed as gluten ataxia. I failed the Rhomberg so ataxia was a given.
According to Dr. Hadjivassilou, occular ataxia and heavy feelings in the arms is common with gluten ataxia. My arms stopped feeling too heavy to wash my hair about 2 weeks after my ataxia was gone. My visual problems when walking lessened but are still a problem if I don't have my hypoglycemia under control. I usually eat something with some sort of sugar prior to activity to help with this.
I've met some who have been diagnosed with gluten ataxia, via the gluten antibody test, who didn't recover despite being gluten free, so I wonder about the other toxins I removed. FWIW. I have one friend who's casein antibodies are just as high as her gluten. And now she's looking at how low some of her nutrient levels are ... Ultimately, I expect her to be diagnosed with leaky gut syndrome.
Myoclonus is another nuero problem that I've been working on. I personally can link my action myoclonus to anxiety because of the frustration I feel when my hands won't co-operate.
Here's an article that describes myoclonus.
http://neurology.health-cares.net/myoclonus-types.php
I have nocturnal myoclonus and action myoclonus. Nocturnal myoclonus leads to jerking when falling into REM sleep. Some sleep disorder doctors say this is "normal" but I have to question this. Mine was so bad that I would never enter REM without using the medication (Klonopin) or the supplement (Theanine) to calm these nuerotransmitters. I think I have a thread on Klonopin, Theanine and nuerotransmitters on this board.
So far I know that gluten will cause my nocturnal myoclonus and insomnia. And taking Theanine and 5HTP will resolve this. Klonopin works too but at this point, I'd prefer not to take medications.
My hands still shake when I try to do my nails, eyebrows or write for any length of time. I've never tried taking Theanine during the day though to see if it would help ... Theanine is a natural treatment for seizures and it's been working for my NM for a year now.
BTW. I've had a variety of seizure problems at least since I was a toddler so this may never clear up for me.
HTH ... X
Ps. I'm not sure if I'm done here or not but I need to get busy ...