I'm personally not going anywhere near tablespoons again in the foreseeable...
It's been well over a week since I did. Never mind free the animal, I unleashed a
beast!
Thanks for the clay recommendation....(Violeta and Frou I think). It really helps. I used calcium bentonite and some "detox clay" (which tastes like dirt). I can't tell which one helps more.
Little and not too often is the plan....
PS Thanks from me too Vegas.
I am sorry that you are having an apparent adverse symptomatic response, but I hope this strengthens your belief that this response is a meaningful development. The innate immune system is, in my estimation at the heart of this, and this is going to be energized, quite dramatically, by what you are doing. It would be unreasonable to think innate immunity would not be affected by enrichment of these species. There are going to me many factors that effect the symptomatic response, but I believe the rapid Bifidobacterial expansion in the GIT, likely involving particular strains, is having the most prodigious effect in so far as particular organisms will most aggressively displace the gram-negative pathogens, whose cell walls are so detrimental to your health. There is a lot more to this than LPS, but I'm guessiing that is what is predominantly responsible for your symptoms. While I don't know precisely which gram-negative pathogens are implicated, I think the best evidence points to the proteobacteria phylum, which includes numerous organisms including many SRB bacteria. SRB may have a particular ability to disrupt the sulfur metabolism, very directly, by inhibiting beta oxidation and acetylation, the cysteine metabolism, and perpetuating the intestinal permeability.
I guess, as I ramble along, that I wanted to say that you may find symptoms more tolerable without any of the more potent bactericidal strains, like Bifidum, especially when it is inoculated. Pairing this strain with RS has, from my personal experience, unparalleled ability to displace bacteria in the lower bowel, and the lower bowel is what really needs to be modified. My fermented LAB foods are infinitely more tolerable, I believe, because they simply do not have the same capacity to influence bacterial displacement in the colon. LAB don't predominate there, Bifidobacterial and Clostridial strains do. I think strains with less bactericidal activity are probably preferred, although there will be people who may need to "seed" the bowel with these potent strains, which are generally among the most intolerant to oxygen and I would speculate absent or under-represented in this population.
I'm getting a different effect with RS alone and it is certainly more tolerable. Actually, the RS + B. Bifidum combination essentially feels like an amplification of this species effects, with a bit more energy conveyed. This is going to be way too powerful for many, and I believe the more prudent approach may be to avoid magnifying the effect of a these bactericidal strains altogether. It may be more reasonable to amplify a more diverse array of bifidobacteria, or stick to organisms that will never have the same capabilities, in terms of having bactericidal effects. The reason I had so much improvement with this strain is because it is such an effective modifier in the colon; the reason I simultaneously experienced so many adverse inflammatory symptoms is because I had considerable intestinal permeability. Intestinal permeability necessarily means that the endotoxins will find their way outside the bowel to the lymphatics, liver and spleen where they precipitate, an exponentially greater immune response. Unfortunately, with RS, it looks like the adverse effects of immunomodulation cannot be avoided, you cannot have bifidobacterial strain expansion and commensal clostridial expansion without some negative effects; however, leaving out the Bifidum accelerant seems to be indicated, at least in those who have some Bifidobacterial species diversity in place.
I am especially interested in seeing a larger sample size. I do not expect many "non-responders," although I think one would have to imagine poor compliance in some of the sicker patients insofar as the resultant symptoms will be misunderstood or simply not tolerated. It is encouraging to see that bentonite is having some effect in symptom mitigation; it has been proven to bind with endotoxins in the bowel, although it presumably has other effects that may be called upon via enhanced detoxification.
I wanted to add that the most notable improvement I have experienced thus far relates to improvement in my fatigue, increased body temperature, and significantly reduced reaction to high-protein and nitrogen-containing foods. After the first couple of weeks, I haven't experienced any of the more pronounced fatigue that I have come to know over the years. Also, my head is clearer, although there have been alternating moments where I am mobilizing something. I am clearly displacing lots of SRB, as evidenced by the wonderful sulfur odor. I would estimate that the improvement in three or four weeks parallels what I was able to achieve in about 5-6 months with a combination of anaerobically fermented foods. In total, I have probably only taken about 15 teaspoons.
I am presently taking about 1/2 tsp every 3 days or so, which allows for a tolerable immune response. Perhaps a significantly smaller amount taken each day is more sensible. I have been surprised by the effects that this has had on a couple of my children, in terms of its potency, especially with the presentation of some lymph node pain in the legs and feet. Also, my eldest, who has mild ME/CFS, has struggled to fall asleep, even after 5 days. I would say that RS has had an effect similar to what I expected: one where the response builds and is sustained, but I am getting fewer symptoms and more bacterial displacement; I believe this is clearly a feature of enhanced intestinal integrity resulting from mircobiota enrichment. The immune response did get away from me a bit, when I tried to take tsp doses consecutively. Fortunately, the lymphatic symptoms, cytokines, and CNS effects are so familiar to me, that I have learned when to pull back. There can be a bit of a bipolar effect, with the RS energizing effects followed by the the depressive symptoms of the endotoxins, which interfere with the metabolism of tryptophan.
I'm optimistic and encourage those to consider that the PS's primary effect appears to be in the selective enrichment of butyrate producing species (and by extension some Bifidobacterial species) while simultaneously reducing populations of proteobacteria. We need more data in ME/CFS, but the significance of this phylum of bacteria is that it is consistently over-represented in the handful of ME/CFS studies and a majority of studies I have seen looking at severely autistic children. This phylum is not-coincidentally dominated by SRB. I also see an over-representation of certain species that have more specific metabolic roles, in effect cleaning up the mess that is ME/CFS pathophysiology. Many of these same studies also demonstrate a conspicuous under-representation of butyrate-producing species, and the implications of this are highly consequential in maintaining illness. I need to look at these more closely, and the lack of subspecies differentiation is limiting, but this is what I am picking up. If one has CFS, I am pretty sure they will benefit from Butryate-producing clostridal species; in fact I am going to be surprised if some highly-visible ME/CFS clinicians are not advocating use of this within the next year.
