Shake Me & I Rattle

As promised, I'm finally getting around to setting out the pills and potions I currently take.

Unfortunately, the nature of the illness is such that there is no cure and all we are really doing with medications is symptom management. Furthermore, what works for one person seems not to for the next person. It's a very inexact science! With that in mind, I need to state for anyone reading who also has M.E. that trial and error is usually necessary. Also, because I have become ill fairly recently, I am still experimenting to see what works.

So, let's do a quick run-through:

Ascorbic Acid (soluble Vitamin C) -1000mg - This is how I try to start every day. With a glass of effervescent orange-flavoured Vit C. This is no hardship as I enjoy the taste and the fizzing sensation. The benefits of this are too long to list but most important for my particular needs are that Vitamin C is great at scavenging free-radicals and providing immune support. Bear in mind that we never absorb all of the Vitamin C we take in supplemented form. I think it's up to around 20% we absorb and the rest is urinated. All the more reason to also get Vitamin C from food sources.

BioCare Multivitamin - A word of warning on multivitamins. They aren't all the same. Some are really poorly balanced with too much of a certain element or not enough of another. I like the BioCare range as it seems to have the right balance.

Vitamin B3 (Niacinamide) 500mg - Multi-faceted benefits attached to this including blood sugar control, mitochondrial support and a calming effect.

Vitamin D 500ui - Best source is sunshine but being housebound puts paid to that option. Deficiency is very common in the UK and has been shown to be present in various diseases.

Flaxseed Oil 2000mg - We've all heard plenty of the benefits of Omega 3 oils. Whether it be brain food or joint care, Omega 3 can help. Personally, I avoid the fish oils as they are more prone to being loaded with metals (unless you spend a lot on ultra-pure capsules) and I don't like fishy burps much! Flaxseed oil suits me better.

Chromium 200ug - I had a scare with my blood sugar levels and started taking this to assist. My last test showed a decrease so I think it's having an impact.

Co-Enzyme Q10 100mg - Assists in mitochondria (and thus energy supply) and is a powerful anti-oxidant (those pesky free-radicals again). Also seems to provide some support for the gut and has anti-ageing properties - a wonderful drug! It's not a cheap option and be wary of the more budget brands as absorbtion might not be very good. I use Doctor's Best brand.

Milk Thistle 5600mg - When we take a lot of pills our livers have to work extra hard to detox. Milk thistle is supposedly a good help to your liver in this respect. It's also been heralded for helping digestion and reducing Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

L-Carnitine 1000mg - I must admit, I don't always remember to take these as I have run out of room in my pill dispenser! It's an amino acid most commonly found in red meat but few of us eat enough red meat to correct a deficiency. Like many of the other supplements I take, it has been shown to support mitochondrial function.

GABA 1000mg - Another that I don't always remember to take. It has been shown to raise levels of a neurotransmitter that brings about a more relaxed state and can help sleep. I have to say that I haven't seen any benefit from this so far and I probably wont buy more when my stock is depleted. Mind you, me and sleep are hardly friends and I'll be seeking out some dedicated sleep meds from my doctor in due course.

Magnesium Oil - My new favourite. As I've mentioned before, the benefits of magnesium are many. For me, I'm finding it is helping slightly with my muscle spasms and even seems to reduce the severity of my headaches a little. A good way to tell if you are deficient is to spray some onto your skin and see if you get a strange tingling sensation. Epsom Salts are good for bathtime too!

Finally, I try to use a plant sterol spread (Benecol in my case) to keep my cholestorol under control.

So that's my basic list of supplements at present. I am sure the list will change in due course as I will discontinue certain elements or introduce new ones. If anyone has any comments on what's included or suggestions for trying something new please get in touch!

Take care,

Barry

Treatment Plan - Part 1

In my last update I mentioned that I was now focusing upon managing my symptoms rather than seeking out some miracle cure. Today I am going to begin documenting the various things I will be using to help manage my illness.

There are two reasons why this is important now. Firstly, and most obviously, I have very little quality of life as a result of the symptoms I am currently 'enjoying'. If I can lessen the severity of those symptoms by as little as 20% I will significantly increase the range of activities I can take part in. Small things to most people but things that I've lost the ability to do for myself like fixing a meal or walking to the end of the street. Secondly, I need to be very mindful of the impact of my illness on my internal functioning. Statistically I am now likely to die of a heart attack at 58 (rather than 73 if I didn't have this illness) and I have a much higher likelihood of strokes, diabetes, organ failure and cancer. Cheery stuff huh?

So, it's important I do as much as I can to sway the odds of reaching a ripe old age in my favour. That is the long and short of my treatment plan. It is accepting I am unlikely to cure myself but it is making use of established clinical outcomes and robust scientific trials to give myself as many small advantages as I can. I mentioned previously about the dilemma of spending time, money and hope on treatments or just letting things take their course. I'm determined not to just give up and so the treatment option is the right one. However, I will apply a strict qualifying criteria to every potential treatment option. It has to be proven to have shown positive results and, just as importantly, it has to be free from excessive risks or side effects. Most prescribed medicines that attempt to treat many of my symptoms have other unwelcome impacts upon the way my body manages itself and those will not be considered by me.

For anyone following this who does not currently have the same illness as I do, I should also mention that 90% of what I end up doing or taking will apply just as much to general good health. Each part of the treatment plan plays a part in addressing basic imbalances within the body.

The first two elements I want to mention are both examples of what I previously considered to be champions of marketing rather than truly beneficial treatments. However, after a lot of reading and understanding the science behind them and how they change things within our bodies I am convinced both are vital.

Firstly, probiotics. I'm not going to cite individual studies as there are too many to mention but suffice to say that I am now satisfied that maintaining a healthy gut flora is definitely worth the effort and expense. We still don't fully understand all of the benefits of doing so but what is understood is impressive. A good probiotic can, amongst other things, regulate blood sugar levels (good for avoiding diabetes), boost our immune systems (good for fighting off viral infections - 80% of our immune strength is controlled via the gut), control yeast levels (good for breaking free of cravings for sugary processed foods etc) and can even help our waistlines! (sugars and starches are converted to short-chain fatty acids which are used for energy).

The emphasis has to be on a GOOD probiotic though. It is my belief that the heavily-marketed yoghurts are ineffective as the bacteria is unlikely to make it past our stomach acids. Similarly, the popular drinks are likely to be heavily processed and contain too many sugars and starches to have enough benefit. That leaves two choices - either grow your own bacteria and top it up with some sort of milk product (not as hard as it sounds, people have been making their own yoghurt for a long time and it's the same principle - a kefir starter kit can be bought for about 6 quid) or find a good probiotic in the form of gel tablets (they will make it past the stomach acids).

Secondly, I need to keep careful control of cholesterol. By that I mean keep levels of 'bad' cholesterol as low as possible and raise levels of 'good' cholesterol as much as I can. My heart is not working as efficiently as it should at the moment and is under more strain from minor exertion (standing or sitting in my case) so it's important I don't make matters worse. I don't want to mention brand names but I am introducing a well-known spread that is proven to improve cholesterol levels. I used to think this was another example of clever marketing as a means to sell expensive products but I have changed my mind. I have now read enough independent studies to suggest it not only works well but it works impressively quickly. In fact, more quickly than taking what is usually prescribed for high cholesterol levels (statins - they have lots of nasty side effects such as supressing some of our bodies' natural functions).

So, that's the first two parts of the treatment plan. Neither is very exotic or earth-shattering and both are widely available. The combined benefits are proven and significant enough to justify the cost and are especially important to someone like me whose natural functions are presently haywire. As I've said though, a GOOD probiotic and an effective plant-based cholesterol management food (such as a margarine) will also have huge positives for almost everyone.

Ok, that's long enough for now. Next time I'll start to go into some detail about some of the vitamins that are important and why most people waste their money on supplements!

Take care,

Barry