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What are the commonly available immune modulators?

halcyon

Senior Member
Messages
2,482
200 mcg not mg, but yeah that is what I take. Hip has a thread about it here. He takes 400 mcg but I wanted to start out low. Selenomethionine is supposed to be a well absorbed form of selenium. I take it in the morning and I haven't noticed any effects other than my nails.
 

Gingergrrl

Senior Member
Messages
16,171
200 mcg not mg, but yeah that is what I take. Hip has a thread about it here. He takes 400 mcg but I wanted to start out low. Selenomethionine is supposed to be a well absorbed form of selenium. I take it in the morning and I haven't noticed any effects other than my nails.

@halcyon Oops, I meant mcg not mg! It turns out we had a bottle of it in the house but it is long expired so I will need to buy a new one. The bottle says the active ingredient is from L-Selenomethionine so I assume that is the same thing. It also says that it works synergistically with Vitamin E. Do you take it with Vit E and if so, at what dose? I didn't read the thread from Hip yet but I will.
 

Ema

Senior Member
Messages
4,729
Location
Midwest USA
@halcyon Thank you so much and I am going to start taking Selenium and it was recommended to me by my Endo for Hashimoto's. What dose do you take per day? I believe he told me to take 200 mg per day, does that sound right?
Also, do you take it morning vs. night and do you notice any side effects? Last what is selenomethionine vs. regular selenium?
I also think a trial of selenium is reasonable in Hashi's.

Most studies showing a reduction of antibodies used 200 mcg of selenomethionine. This is a chelates form of selenium bound to methionine. It's unclear to me if it is only this form that is effective but this is what was found to be effective. A study using a sodium chelate did not find statistically significant reductions, if I remember correctly. But, alas, no RCT has been done.

I take 200 mcg of selenomethionine per day, usually in the evening and notice no side effects at all. I don't have Hashi's though and take it for general immune support.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/17696828/

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/23744563/
 

Hip

Senior Member
Messages
17,858
This is the other link posted by @Hip that I wanted to ask about. I am familiar with many of them but some are new for me and not all of the links worked when I clicked on them. Has anyone here tried Amantadine, Ampligen, Atesunate, or Etanercept? Also, why would Azithromycin be on this list? Does it have the microglial stuff like minocycline that Gary mentioned? Also why is Valtrex on the list but not Famvir? Just trying to understand it all and think I will end my questions here for the night :D

Azithromycin is a macrolide antibiotic, and macrolides have anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory actions. For the anti-inflammatory effects, this study found the macrolide roxithromycin to be the most potent.

I am not sure why Valtrex is on the list at all; I am not aware of any immunomodulatory effects that this drug has.
 

Gingergrrl

Senior Member
Messages
16,171
I also think a trial of selenium is reasonable in Hashi's.

Most studies showing a reduction of antibodies used 200 mcg of selenomethionine. This is a chelates form of selenium bound to methionine. It's unclear to me if it is only this form that is effective but this is what was found to be effective. A study using a sodium chelate did not find statistically significant reductions, if I remember correctly. But, alas, no RCT has been done.

I take 200 mcg of selenomethionine per day, usually in the evening and notice no side effects at all. I don't have Hashi's though and take it for general immune support.

@Ema Thanks and I bought a bottle today of L-selenomethionine that I will start as soon as it arrives. I bought the 100 mcg just to be safe but if I have no negative reaction, I will quickly bump it up to 200 mcg. I know it can help lower the Hashi's antibodies and I probably should have been taking it all along even if just for that. Now that I know it provides general immune support, it was a no-brainer to add to my supplement routine.

Azithromycin is a macrolide antibiotic, and macrolides have anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory actions. For the anti-inflammatory effects, this study found the macrolide roxithromycin to be the most potent.

I am not sure why Valtrex is on the list at all; I am not aware of any immunomodulatory effects that this drug has.

@Hip thanks for explaining re: azithromycin and although I won't be taking any antibiotics, I was just curious. I also had wondered why Valtrex would make the list and not Famvir so maybe it's inclusion was just an error.

A lot of the other ones on the list (Amantadine, Ampligen, Atesunate, or Etanercept) sound more rare and obscure and I don't know of anyone on PR who takes them (although I could be totally wrong about that of course.) Isn't Ampligen still not FDA approved and only in clinical trials or many thousands per month to try it privately?
 

Ema

Senior Member
Messages
4,729
Location
Midwest USA
A lot of the other ones on the list (Amantadine, Ampligen, Atesunate,
I've tried amantadine. It's a mild antiviral and some find it overly stimulating. I didn't notice much from it so I stopped taking it.

Artesunate is a derivative of artemisinin which is often used in the treatment of babesia. I've taken different forms of this as well and I definitely think it is anti microbial. Not sure about the immune modulating effects but a good one in my opinion to rotate in when dealing with Lyme and Co in particular.
 

Sushi

Moderation Resource Albuquerque
Messages
19,935
Location
Albuquerque
A lot of the other ones on the list (Amantadine, Ampligen, Atesunate, or Etanercept) sound more rare and obscure and I don't know of anyone on PR who takes them (although I could be totally wrong about that of course.)

Quite a few here have taken these at one time or another. If you try a search, you should find some information. There was a great deal of discussion of Ampligen earlier and some here have taken it.

Best,
Sushi
 

Gingergrrl

Senior Member
Messages
16,171
Quite a few here have taken these at one time or another. If you try a search, you should find some information. There was a great deal of discussion of Ampligen earlier and some here have taken it.

Oops, sorry and I was totally wrong and glad I asked! I knew there had been lots of discussions about Ampligen but didn't realize that many people here had actually tried it. Is it FDA approved now? I was not familiar at all with the other ones and will google or do a site search later. Thanks again Ema & Sushi.
 

Ema

Senior Member
Messages
4,729
Location
Midwest USA
This popped up in my email regarding selenium this morning:

"You can say that the stimulating molecules over-activate the immune system and cause it to collapse, and we are, of course, interested in blocking this mechanism. We have now shown that certain selenium compounds, which are naturally found in, e.g., garlic and broccoli, effectively block the special immunostimulatory molecule that plays a serious role for aggressive cancers such as melanoma, prostate cancer and certain types of leukemia," says Professor Søren Skov, Department of Veterinary Disease Biology, University of Copenhagen.

Makes me wonder though...is it really over activating the immune system if it causes the immune system to collapse? Ultimately, the immune system is thus underactive and would seem to need some pepping back up potentially rather than calming down. Probably it depends on the timing...
 

physicsstudent13

Senior Member
Messages
611
Location
US
To echo what Prof Edwards says about the potential risks of medical experimentation:
I am reasonably sure it was the neodymium magnet that precipitated my meningitis, because this meningitis occurred almost immediately after my throat magnet therapy; and also, several acquaintances who caught the same virus as me had spontaneous myocarditis-driven heart attacks some months later, so I already suspected that my virus had the ability to suddenly infect organs.

But who would have suspected in advance that placing a strong magnet by my throat would have resulted in significant and permanent brain damage! You have to laugh really.
Anyway, the moral of this story is that a nasty outcome may inadvertently arise even in the most innocent of medication experiments.
I'm so sorry to hear about this dear friend. Parasites like toxoplasmosis could damage your brain when exposed to magnets. I have also lost my mental abilities and cannot speak or pronounce some workds.

I had neck swelling for 2 years and the back of my head went numb from loss of blood flow and after being attacked and beaten unconscious I was disfigured and lost my sight from Bell's Palsy. I began taking rocephin+gentamicin+clarithromycin and for 8 days I had neck pain and the swelling went down some. I am waiting for a Lyme Elisa test and have been disabled from brain fog and central apnea, PLMD seizures, hypnic jerks.
what kind of infection do I have? Thanks so much
 

pattismith

Senior Member
Messages
3,941
That's a good set of questions, @Gingergrrl.


Imunovir
Imunovir (inosine pranobex) is an immunomodulatory and antiviral drug used by ME/CFS specialists such as Dr Cheney, Dr Klimas and Dr De Meirleir. Dr Chia often uses Imunovir in conjunction with oxymatrine.

Imunovir is a combination of three components: inosine, acetamidobenzoic acid, and dimethylaminoisopropanol. (These components are chemically bonded together as a molecular complex). However, Dr De Meirleir and Dr Cheney feel that taking inosine alone instead of Imunovir provides equally good results. Inosine is an inexpensive dietary supplement available without prescription, so this makes it cheaper and easier to take inosine rather than the drug Imunovir.

Dr Cheney’s "pulsing" protocol for Imunovir / inosine:

"Week one: take 6 tablets a day, Monday through Friday, and none on the weekend. Week two: take 2 tablets a day, Monday through Friday, and none on the weekend. Repeat this cycle. But do not treat every month. Do two months on and then one month off of this "pulsing" dose. This medicine works best when you do not treat regularly. If you treat continuously at the same dose, it stops working. It is an immune modulator, and Dr. Cheney suspects all immuno-modulators are like this. If taken continuously they stop working."

Though even with pulsing, some patients report that the effects of Imunovir / inosine diminish with long-term use.

Does someone knows how much active ingredient contains one tablet of Imunovir ?
And about the KDM protocol?:thumbdown: