Oxalates can cause neuropathy

[pattismith]

@valentinelynx

I found my urine has some oxalate crystals inside , and I was looking into oxalate induced neuropathy.
I was surprised to find some scientific evidences about it.

Now I wonder if my 35 years illness is just induced or worsened by oxalates...

This page about oxalates damages seems well built, even if some oxalates damages are missing (to the eyes for example).

"Oxalate isn’t just an antinutrient that depletes calcium and iron, stealing essential vitamins and minerals. It’s also toxic.

Oxalate crystals cause renal damage;
they are neurotoxic;
they activate the immune system, upset the GI tract, deplete glutathione, and corrode connective tissue (via interference with hyaluronic acid).

Oxalates can impact nearly every bodily system.

• They can cause neurological symptoms which disturb sleep and adversely affect coordination, memory, learning, and concentration.
• They cause pain via mast cell degranulation and histamine release.
• Mysterious vulva pain, fibromyalgia, and carpal tunnel syndrome can all have oxalates causing or worsening the symptoms.
• Increased calcium excretion and increased oxalic acid excretion ride hand-in-hand and are linked with osteoporosis.
• Common practice for autism treatment is the elimination of oxalate-containing foods (as well as gluten, casein and soy).
• Oxalates have even been implicit in breast cancer"

 

[Wolfcub]

I found this list of foods, and whether they are low, medium or high oxalate:
http://www.pkdiet.com/pdf/LowOxalateDiet.pdf

 

[pattismith]

I found this list of foods, and whether they are low, medium or high oxalate:
http://www.pkdiet.com/pdf/LowOxalateDiet.pdf

thank you,
I'm glad that I can still drink some cider and wine.

 

[Wolfcub]

It does concern me because I eat a lot of these high oxalate foods. While I have no kidney problems apparently, I do have some neurological whoppers.

 

[pattismith]

It does concern me because I eat a lot of these high oxalate foods. While I have no kidney problems apparently, I do have some neurological whoppers.

The sensitivity to oxalate induced neuropathy depends a lot on your genetic. It was shown by studies about oxaliplatin toxicity, a chemotherapy drug that doesn't show oxalate renal toxicity but cause oxalate neuropathy. (see here)

I was eating a lot of nuts and instant coffee, and had no apparent kidney problem, but often pain in my ovaries area.
Only some weeks after starting nicotinamide riboside supplement, I had urinary urgencies and burning with urination. I thought about cystitis or uretritis, but urine analysis was normal.

The only finding was atypical calcium oxalate crystals, I run a thread about it here.

 

[Rebeccare]

Thank you for sharing! I saw your other thread (and was very impressed that your first reaction to having urinary symptoms was: "I'll just look at my urine under the microscope and see what's going on!")

I found this list of foods, and whether they are low, medium or high oxalate:

When I was growing up we didn't have high-oxalate foods in the house because my mom was very susceptible to stones (as a result, I didn't taste rhubarb until I was in my 20's!).

I didn't know much about how oxalates affect the body beyond kidney stones. I wonder how high one's oxalate levels need to be to experience harmful effects.

 

[valentinelynx]

Oh, dear. This would be a tough one for me, given my addiction to Starbucks' chai with extra cinnamon! Brewed tea is on the list as extremely high in oxalates. But, I'm not sure whether Starbucks' chai concentrate would actually count as brewed tea rather than "instant" (which is on the low oxalate list).

 

[Wolfcub]

Brewed tea is on the list as extremely high in oxalates.

Yes it's a tough one for me too re: tea. Coffee (my all time favourite!) is not my best friend, sadly. So then I found a loose leaf China tea which I have happily accepted as a substitute in the mornings and got used to it. I like it much better than a herbal tea when I get up. For some reason it can also make me feel a little better if I am having a rough time.
I don 't know if it's the psychological comfort or a touch of caffeine (as I brew it quite weak)

 

[Rebeccare]

@pattismith , I recently saw this in another thread and thought it might be of interest to you:

One area that came up as a surprise was the issue of oxalates in my diet - oxalates are in pretty much all plant-based foods and in healthy people, the microbiome bacteria can process this toxin and get rid of it. In people like me who have been on antibiotics, these helpful bacteria are killed off by the antibiotics and can no longer process this toxin which binds with minerals and converts into sharp crystals that can cause pain in joints, muscles, eyes, etc. and cause a serious amount of mischief throughout the body - I mention this because this one thing can be a cause of fibromyalgia (though there are others as well, but just an area of inquiry to look into...)