Keeping Death In Check

[rovingjack]

yeah, I know that rice is a staple food around the world. I just was amazed at the differences in types and regions. USA brown rice can have between 30-80% more arsenic than US white rice. And the same types of rice from the US can have close to twice as much as rices grown in some areas of india and china.

There was apparently a ban on imports of US rice in Korea a few years back because it was deemed to have unsafe levels for being part of the staple rice supplies of the region.

I know that boiling it in a ratio of 6 to 1 water to rice, then draining it and rinsing it can cut the arsenic in half (it's also the way I made it anyway) and that consuming jasmine and basmati rice from other regions would likely be better.

It also occurred to me that I don't need to be consuming it for every meal.

It's just always surprising to learn something like this about food. I was amazed to learn that 2.33 quacker rice cakes (those famous puffed rice hockey pucks that so many people think are the healthy alternative to junk food) are the limit of what a grown mans arsenic intake for the week should be in the US.

It strikes me as rather similar to cigarettes and how they used to try and tell you that they were perfectly safe to consume in the right amounts. It's a bit hyperbolic, yes, but it's just such a strange notion that a staple food cannot be said to be safe to eat in quantities enough to be a staple of ones diet.  . Even weirder is the idea that nobody has bothered to think about it overly much, and no regulations exist to handle that.

honestly the levels one would get from rice might actually be perfect for building an immunity to arsenic. Though given my MTHFR c677t gene and it's management of the methylization process which processes toxins like arsenic and mercury out of the body, being dependent on b12 vitamins. I should maybe make sure those processes are running well and up to the task first before trying to become an invincible poison resistant superhuman steampunk experiment.    http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20091102#.VrcJ3lKctU8

[rovingjack]

I'd not been having any muscle pain or weakness after putting ham back on the menu. I'm still very tired all the time and not up to a lot of physical activity but not on the verge of collapse. I figured I was doing pretty good...

4 meals of this in though, and I have phlegmy productive cough. I felt like I had a chest cold. That and at some point my tongue tip felt like I'd been licking steel wool (which I'm told can be a sign of low b12/folate, but then why didn't I have it yesterday).

I sat down an hour after eating with the housemate, and watched interstellar. and by the end of it no chest cold, phlegm of cough, not so much as a wheeze. I next ate another meal, this time, shrimp, lentils, and potato (exchanging shrimp for ham) Two hours post meal and no sign of the symptoms still. (though my tongue tip still feels a bit raw).

tomorrow I will likely do shrimp for the first two meal provided no digestive upset. and maybe do my end of the day meal sans meat. If I'm doing well enough I may try introducing carrots again and monitor for reaction. The next day I should cook up some poultry and monitor for reaction. and if it goes well enough do it for two or three meal that day. I'll keep watching for signs. switching to shrimp every other day waiting for delayed reactions from the previous day and then trying a new veg that night.

Once I've got my data (and I may do a data louge video on my phone with temperature, pulse, and maybe see if I can get respiratory sounds. Compile all that and take them in to the allergist, with a set list of food challenges that provoke reactions. Then do a challenge and take blood tests for triptase and other markers while having a reaction.

Meanwhile I had to call and call to get anybody to talk to me about my blood tests. My magnesium, calcium, potassium, phosphates ect are all fine they say. I had to push and bluff to get info about my iron and folates being okay, and push harder to get data about my b12 showing up low and my homocystiene showing up high. and they are still waiting on the methylmalonic acid.

There is absolutely no reason why 4 days after the tests are done that I should have to be a bully in order to get information to tell me if I should supplement iron to manage the weakness that nearly had me collapsed the day before, or to find out that my electrolyte levels are not a threat to my wellbeing.

But at least we now know that odds are good that my body is not working well with the B vitamin levels, and my MTHFR gene variant may in fact be causing some of my symptoms.

But the reaction to the ham seems odd as well. If it were in IgE mediated response it should cause immediate symptoms, induce digestive purging and settle out over hours afterwards. It shouldn't take near 24 hours to get a response, only trigger chest cold symptoms, and not induce purging but fade 4 hours later while some remains in the digestive tract.

It's also clear there is a reaction that isn't connected in any obvious way to B12, involving food reactions. Unless I miss my guess there will be something similar to poultry, and possibly salmon (though that last one may simply just be histamine from the fish and not an actual allergy).

So possibly compound problems, if the B12 isn't somehow responsible for food sensativities.

[Prof. Cecily]

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.
I'm learning so much from investigating the issues you bring up in your posts, rovingjack.
For example, I had no idea 

The treatment for homocysteinuria (elevated homocysteine levels in the urine) is vitamin supplementation with pyridoxine (vitamin B6), vitamin B12, and folic acid. The effects of vitamin treatment may be monitored by routine, scheduled blood tests.

http://www.emedicinehealth.com/homocysteine/page7_em.htm

It would appear low B12 levels and high homocysteinuria often go hand in hand; yet another danger of a vegan diet, I wonder?

Out of curiosity, rovingjack, how many hours of outdoor activity do you get each day?
I remain yours,
Prof. Cecily

[rovingjack]

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.
I'm learning so much from investigating the issues you bring up in your posts, rovingjack.
For example, I had no idea 

The treatment for homocysteinuria (elevated homocysteine levels in the urine) is vitamin supplementation with pyridoxine (vitamin B6), vitamin B12, and folic acid. The effects of vitamin treatment may be monitored by routine, scheduled blood tests.

http://www.emedicinehealth.com/homocysteine/page7_em.htm

It would appear low B12 levels and high homocysteinuria often go hand in hand; yet another danger of a vegan diet, I wonder?

Out of curiosity, rovingjack, how many hours of outdoor activity do you get each day?
I remain yours,
Prof. Cecily

That cheers me up a bit. I love when learning is shared.

B12 and Homocystiene are part of the same cycle. There is a small loop of changes that occur within the bio chemistry and in one loop you have homocystiene that serves an important role at the right levels, and then gets converted into another which serves it's own role (a neurochemical I believe) and when that is used it goes through another change. Eventually it hits a point where it can be converted back to homocystiene.

If memory serves B12 converts homocystiene into the neurochemical. If B12 is too low then you don't get enough of the later parts of the cycle, and the later parts of the cycle that are there can still cycle back around to homocystiene but can't make another loop. So you end up with too much homocystien and not enough things made from homocystiene. B6 and folic acid are either part of the cycle or help in the breakdown and clean up afterwards. The b vitamins are also part of a process that helps clear out things like environmental mercury and things like that, supposedly.

B12 is something not often found in vegan or vegetarian diets because plants do not generate it (neither do animals but animals host bacteria that do make it). So it is a common problem for them.

Other than a year or so going vegetarian in my teens I never was vegetarian or vegan (recent events had more to do with an elimination diet to find a suspect reaction to food, and having no dependable meat to use). I usually don't eat mammals in part because they are a little too close to us in both child rearing and as disease pathways. Poultry and fish, even reptiles and other critters are all fair game in my mind. But I had to let a bit of that go a few years back when I seemed to develop a reaction to poultry and needing other protien sources opted for ham (never heard of mad pig disease ). It worked for two years.

Though it is important to note that b12 is most concentrated in Beef, shrimp, cod, salmon, mackerel (other fish too), caviar, octopus, clams, and Liver and kidney. If I'm developing allergies to foods I have to be very careful of seafoods because they are amongst the most common acquired allergies in adults. If I wish to avoid losing them all as options for food sources of B12 I cannot depend on them too heavily for regular consumption.

How much outdoor time? right now it's winter, so as little as possible. I don't tolerate cold well, over all and cold hands and feet especially susceptable to frostbite. During the rest of the year, not overly much. I could go for a 6 mile walk some days. or not go outside at all for weeks.

If you are asking about Vit D : I do have difficult creating that too (another gene apparently), there is a history in my genetic family of rickets. I've had an issue in the past with low levels of Vit D and use supplements seasonally (the sun only has the right angle to supply the right wavelengths to produce vitamin D between late March and early october and close to either end only until about 3pm). I also burn very easy these days. as a kid I could spend all day in the sun, and had the complextion of some of my Native american anscestors, but these days I burn and the burn heals to my standard pale, I just don't tan anymore.

[Prof. Cecily]

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.
I'm always as pleased to see how Steampunk opens our range of knowledge!
I asked about the outdoor activity because I find, myself, that nothing works better as a mood changer, creative stimulus and general tonic than being out of doors.

Listening to the sounds of nature, observing the ever-changing  play of colours and textures and shadows during the day, appreciating  the difference in the smells and sounds at night or dawn or twilight- all these things provide a balm that I should hate to be without.

So why not bundle up well and get out of doors and walk, even for just 10 minutes?

I remain yours,
Prof. Cecily

[Sir Henry]

[snip]
So why not bundle up well and get out of doors and walk, even for just 10 minutes?

I remain yours,
Prof. Cecily

An excellent idea! I have been doing so every day this year, since they weighed me at my last consultant's appointment and found that I was nearly 20 kilos overweight! All those extra calories may have saved my life in the fight against cancer, but they are liable to kill me in other ways if I don't lose them. Though I did undergo the perfect storm of medically-sanctioned face-filling at the same time as enforced inactivity and giving up smoking and replacing it with snacking (curse you, oral compulsion!).

So I've taken to walking down to the local hackspace and back every day in the most inefficient way possible. The obvious route is about a mile each way, slightly downhill there and uphill back. With some creative route-mapping I have ended up with a round trip of over 5 miles including nearly 2000 feet in ascent on average each way. And most days I have my trusty rucksack, full of wooden machine parts and/or shopping (and occasionally a sheet of 9mm plywood on my head - who needs an umbrella? )Sadly, due to all the rain I haven't included a section through the woods in my walks yet, but as soon as the footpaths stop being streams I'll be adding the extra mile each way because entirely urban walks don't have quite the same invigorating quality. But even so, getting out and about has much improved my state of mind this year - usually January finds me hunched over a computer and feeling dreadfully miserable.

As for the weight loss, it's working wonderfully - already I've lost 5 kilos, dropped down two holes on my belt and can get in and out of my trousers without having to unbutton them I also go to bed every night hungry and wake up with back and knees aching. So we'll be getting a new bed soon to replace the current haphazardly-slatted creaking antique (the bed, not me  ).

It also appears that Fate is giving me a helping hand - due to all the recent flooding the main custard cream factory in the country is temporarily out of commission, so my main temptation is currently in short supply.
A custard cream shortage? Who would have imagined? These are indeed acursed times

[Banfili]

Sir Henry, I have lost 10-12 kg in the last 8 months or so, and while it may not be the acceptable way to kick start a change of lifestyle, a bout of food poisoning in May last year did me a huge service. I can no longer tolerate anything greasy or over-oily, and it took several months before I could look at food without turning away! Of course, I did have at least two meals every day even though I didn't feel like it, but I haven't even contemplated looking at a hamburger since the toxic one I had in May!

Smashed and mangled leg bones and their after-effects, including lots of operations, mean limited mobility, so my previously enjoyed lake-side walks no longer happen and I have to make do with an exercise bike. Slowly but surely the grammes come off - I even lost weight over Christmas!

[rovingjack]

well not so good news. Nobody has called since tuesdays bullying session, and the online records I can check were down all yesterday. and the tip of my tongue is kinda driving me nuts. But I went to bed and again woke up way too early and still exhausted. I've been trying to keep a running record of my every meal and how I feel on my phone, with images to catch visual signs of things like any flushing, hives, mouth sores, swelling ect.

But after trying to get a little more sleep I gave up and went about doing some things. Including trying to access my records around 1pm. most of the test results are back, still missing the methylmalonic acid levels. But at this point that seems like it's likely to be wonky as hell because "my slightly elevated" homocysteine levels I managed to bully out of them the other day. The usual range is often between 5 and 15 mcmol/L with levels above 10 being high... my levels are 35.

It seems the limb cramps may be related to circulatory inflammation constricting veins and arteries. and the shivers and twitching may be tiny muscle seizures caused by damage to nerves and circulatory system.

It's also said that high homocystiene levels can cause Parkinsons, alzheimers, and MS like symptoms and may be a factor in the progression of those diseases.

High Homocysteine levels are also an indication of potential aggressive cancers.

My doctors have had these results for much of this week. I've yet to have anybody call me and discuss what we need to do next. Despite having called them multiple times myself, I just keep getting the we''l have a nurse practitioner call you back this afternoon. it's been a couple of hours and nobody has called.

from what I have seen every 5mcmol/L increase of levels of homocysteine equates to a roughly 20% increased danger of heart attack, stroke and embolism occurances regardless of other heart and circulatory risk factors. And the severity of such attacks are likely to be between 40 and 75 percent greater.

This seems like something we shouldn't be sitting on our thumbs about.

[Prof. Cecily]

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.

[snip]
So why not bundle up well and get out of doors and walk, even for just 10 minutes?

I remain yours,
Prof. Cecily

An excellent idea! I have been doing so every day this year, since they weighed me at my last consultant's appointment and found that I was nearly 20 kilos overweight! All those extra calories may have saved my life in the fight against cancer, but they are liable to kill me in other ways if I don't lose them.
...(snipped)...
A custard cream shortage? Who would have imagined? These are indeed acursed times

Yes, indeed, I'm utterly convinced that fresh air, along with laughter, are our very best allies for living well.
I'll include Steampunk, to make a trio of allies, as I believe creativity and the appreciation of others' work to be fundamental for enjoying good mental health.

How do your reckon the extra calories helped in your fight against cancer, sir Henry?

I remain yours,
Prof. Cecily

[Sir Henry]

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.
Yes, indeed, I'm utterly convinced that fresh air, along with laughter, are our very best allies for living well.
I'll include Steampunk, to make a trio of allies, as I believe creativity and the appreciation of others' work to be fundamental for enjoying good mental health.

How do your reckon the extra calories helped in your fight against cancer, sir Henry?

Immediately after the doctor's appointment where I was told I had cancer I saw my specialist nurse and one of the many useful things she told me was to bulk up -"cream with everything" - because the more weight, the more energy the body has to fight the cancer. Apparently if you can keep your body weight up during treatment it improves the odds, statistically speaking. I had just lost over 20 kilos in around 3 weeks due to an allergic reaction to antibiotics, so putting on weight was probably a good idea anyway. I just got carried away

I would have to agree with you about laughter as well; I'm still convinced that producing a monthly comedy podcast about my fight against cancer was a large part of its success. Being permanently on the lookout for comic and ironic stories to add to it did my wellbeing a lot of good.


rovingjack - best wishes and best of luck. Stay strong and, where possible, stay happy. Remember, worse things happen at sea.

[Prof. Cecily]

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.
Of course. Given the nature of the treatment, resistance by mass is your best bet, as well as excellent medical care.
I'm so very impressed by your recovery, sir Henry.
You're an example to all.

And yes, worse things happen at sea!

I remain yours,
Prof. Cecily

[rovingjack]

Having health issues that many doctors know nothing about means I do  lot of learning and interactions with others doing the same.

And of course one encounters a lot of quacks and weirdos while doing so. It's kind of annoying to be reading something that sounds like a good lead, only to do the record scratching stop when you see recommendations for stuff that violates laws of physics or even just common sense.

It then makes one question everything from that site, group or even just everything about the idea of the illness in the first place.

I would have gone up to my mums house for a visit this weekend, low traffic side of a small rural town with a view of the mountains and trees.

It's been -32 wind chill here. I'm not stepping out the door even if this side of the door is on fire. I'll just get the marshmellows instead.

The other reason is the housemate has his toddler on the weekend. conversations and simple games of hide or catch with a toddler are some of the best things in all the universe (especially when you are not responsible for diapers or nap time).

I've an appointment on tuesday toddler on tuesday night again. maybe a board game designer group tuesday night, and a makers group on thursday. I think family are doing my sisters birthday next this coming weekend. then it's pretty much a week of freezing rain.

if it's warm enough I might like a rainy day in the park. rain can be very soothing, especially from under a large umbrella. I should probably get one.

[Prof. Cecily]

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen

...And of course one encounters a lot of quacks and weirdos while doing so. It's kind of annoying to be reading something that sounds like a good lead, only to do the record scratching stop when you see recommendations for stuff that violates laws of physics or even just common sense.

It then makes one question everything from that site, group or even just everything about the idea of the illness in the first place. ...

I'm always curious about quacks; could you give us an idea of the sorts of flimflam you've encountered?

-38 plus windchill? Bracing weather, indeed. Ook.

I remain yours,
Prof. Cecily

[J. Wilhelm]

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen

...And of course one encounters a lot of quacks and weirdos while doing so. It's kind of annoying to be reading something that sounds like a good lead, only to do the record scratching stop when you see recommendations for stuff that violates laws of physics or even just common sense.

It then makes one question everything from that site, group or even just everything about the idea of the illness in the first place. ...

I'm always curious about quacks; could you give us an idea of the sorts of flimflam you've encountered?

-38 plus windchill? Bracing weather, indeed. Ook.

I remain yours,
Prof. Cecily

Surely, dear Professor, you've noticed that he's measuring temperature using the Fahrenheit scale and not the centigrade scale?    32 F would be 0 Celsius.

[Prof. Cecily]

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.

Surely, dear Professor, you've noticed that he's measuring temperature using the Fahrenheit scale and not the centigrade scale?    32 F would be 0 Celsius.

And -32 F (windchill) would be -35 C (windchill). Bracing, indeed.
Yet, I'm a fresh air maniac and like the feeling of coming indoors after a walk in the cold.

I remain yours,
Prof. Cecily

[rovingjack]

actually it's at about this temperature that the distinction between F and C is near to zero. -40 is the same in both.

I used to work at a store that would send me out to get abandoned shopping carts in the lot on nights like this. I'm content to be unemployed right now.  

I'm always curious about quacks; could you give us an idea of the sorts of flimflam you've encountered?

Sadly these types aren't the fun miracle potion sort. We get a lot of "Did you get tested for lyme disease?" 'yes' "You should get tested again, because they often miss it the first few time." (what is actually happening in some cases is the test have a fairly high false posative rate, if you keep trying until you get one you too can take a course of really powerful antibiotics that will mess with your system).

"Migraines and arthritis. You must have leaky gut syndrome caused by a yeast overgrowth."

"You're a young mother of three kids and your hair is thinning and you feel tired all the time. That sounds like heavy metal toxicity."

"Your child won't sit still for 4.5 hours of homework for school. I had the same problem with my kids. That's why we are now gluten free."

"Were you vaccinated as a child?"  

"Oh no, you shouldn't eat any leafy green vegetables grown on the west coast because of the nuclear fallout from Fukishima."

"We don't eat any GMO in our family, they make our tempers short and make us gain wait faster."

"You should get yourself a rose quartz crystal and keep it on you at all times."

"Do you live near powerlines?"

"You should test the PH level of you spit at least twice a day, you want to be at 6."

"Fresh not frozen, blah blah blah"

"Only organic, blah blah blah."

ect ect ect. It becomes like buzzword bingo after a while. Autism this, blood brain barrier that, toxins the other thing.

I just don't even have the energy to try and correct them anymore, as much as it bothers me that they are advising each other of this nonsense. But if one presumes to tell me I'm all wrong in what I'm doing and then spouts any of the above blatherings I can sometimes lose it and deliver unto them a most righteous education on the topic.

[Prof. Cecily]

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.

Sadly these types aren't the fun miracle potion sort. We get a lot of "Did you get tested for lyme disease?" ...

We?

What an amusing list of quackery, though I'd imagine it's easy to avoid if you don't post on wacky groups.
Still, there's always family, of course.

I remain yours,
Prof. Cecily

[J. Wilhelm]

actually it's at about this temperature that the distinction between F and C is near to zero. -40 is the same in both.

I used to work at a store that would send me out to get abandoned shopping carts in the lot on nights like this. I'm content to be unemployed right now. 
*snip*

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.

Surely, dear Professor, you've noticed that he's measuring temperature using the Fahrenheit scale and not the centigrade scale?    32 F would be 0 Celsius.

And -32 F (windchill) would be -35 C (windchill). Bracing, indeed.
Yet, I'm a fresh air maniac and like the feeling of coming indoors after a walk in the cold.

I remain yours,
Prof. Cecily

Ah! The negative sign, of course. I failed to see that. Even worse then. By about -40 F / -40 C, I really don't care what the thermometer reads, I just stay indoors. So I imagine to have a windchill that low right now we're talking about a location somewhere in New York State, are we?

I'm not that much of a fresh maniac. Having a bit of asthma means my respiratory system shuts down if I attempt to gulp down enormous quantities of freezing air.  The lungs and trachea will hurt for hours after that (speaking from experience as I've had to run to my h=job in similar conditions years ago).

The notion of having to go fetch shopping carts from the snowy parking lot - or worse having to "hunt" them from the streets in a radius of a few blocks from the supermarket (having done that myself in winter many years ago) seems utterly ridiculous and inhumane at near -21 F degrees, especially at say $8 or $9 per hour.

According to this nifty Wind Chill Calculator by the National Weather Service, -19 F in a wind travelling at 5 mph will produce a windchill of -32 F as you quoted

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/epz/?n=wxcalc_windchill

Did you get "hazard pay" for that? I bet not  . According to the National Weather Service, it only takes about 30 minutes of exposure to air at a windchill of -32 F, at say 5 miles an hour for you to get frostbite in the extremities and nose/ears (reduce to 10 minutes if 15 mph). Certainly you would have to pick the shopping carts very quickly or be bundled up really well before going out (not fun trying to fetch/push carts with mittens).

http://www.businessinsider.com/how-long-does-it-take-to-get-frostbite-or-hypothermia-2014-1

[J. Wilhelm]

"Oh no, you shouldn't eat any leafy green vegetables grown on the west coast because of the nuclear fallout from Fukishima."

Then you should talk to my roommate.  He is convinced that the "Fukushama" [sic] earthquake is a man made catastrophe because we have been excavating the Earth's crust for too long and the tectonic plates are starting to collapse. Consequently, he believes that the Earth's axis has gone wild and tilted.  He knows this because back in his childhood home in Arkansas this last summer he had to adjust the curtains on his windows to keep the sunlight reflection from his TV set from shining on his eyes, and as he put it in all those years that he spent in that house, he "never had to adjust the curtains on the windows"       Naturally you should not consume any fish from the Pacific nor any kind of leafy greens from the West Coast.

Like you say, I just don't have the energy to explain.  He won't listen to me anyway as he's very ADD and will hardly ever allow me to finish a sentence.  

[rovingjack]

 He won't listen to me anyway as he's very ADD and will hardly ever allow me to finish a sentence.  

Have you had him tested for heavy metal toxins crossing the blood brain barrier? You should get him on a gluten free non-gmo dieat and give him some jasper to carry with him at all times. 

We?

What an amusing list of quackery, though I'd imagine it's easy to avoid if you don't post on wacky groups.
Still, there's always family, of course.

I don't know why I often use the word, we as a singular, I have no idea where I picked that quirk up.

sadly the silliness is not so easily avoided. I don't know how it is where you are, but it's some sort of trend in the US to practice psuedoscience health cosciousness as if it was a religion.

I don't know if you've ever had the pleasure of certain people who practice a philisophical diet (vegans, paleo, raw food, ect.) and they live it so much that it gets brought up in every conversation. If you take that idea and extrapolate that out to dang near everything you have the just under the surface environment here in much of the US.

Near 1/8 of the population talks about their new dietary system with other as they come back from yoga class and before their "law of attraction" meditations, and know you would feel so much better if you practiced their chosen path. And they share enough of their placebo cause and effect life choices advice to others that another 3/8 of the population holds some of these beliefs simply because they don't know any better, and are more than glad to spread the word in an attempt to be helpful. They know they had fatigue and since going gluten free they feel so much better, and wouldn't you know the dry skin on their elbows cleared up too, so when a friend mentions moisturizing their elbows they spread the word that gluten problems may be causing dry elbows and you should totally go gluten free.

Now generally that the sort of conversation that comes up withing social groups. But if you are somebody who has to refuse an offered treat, store taste tests, or are looking to network with others managing a health concern... it's like distilling the lunacy. Even more so if it's something unconventional enough that mainstream medicine doesn't know enough about handling it and all people have is communities of individuals withnot enough science between them and more than enough personal philosophy to fill in the gaps.

And I get why doctors roll their eyes sometimes at the things out there and the people self diagnosing. but in many cases people have to use the misinformed and kooky because they are sick and mainstream medicine shrugged and left them on their own.

[Prof. Cecily]

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.
No, that sort of nonsense is easy to counteract- I simply look them straight in the eye and recite the cases of three friends of mine who've died by ignoring doctors' orders.

And then I leave.
I don't endure medical nonsense. I consider medical misinformation and kookiness to be blights signalling the terrible gaps in basic education, especially in critical thinking.

Self-diagnosis? I was obliged to do so once, to save my life. The problem with self-diagnosis is while one may have all the information available concerning one's case, there's the lack of a general medical education to understand the the implications of said information.

And that takes years to acquire.

Anyway, it's cold cold cold here in my village- and I have to venture down to the village, on foot, to buy cat litter.

I remain yours,
Prof. Cecily

[J. Wilhelm]

  He won't listen to me anyway as he's very ADD and will hardly ever allow me to finish a sentence. 

Have you had him tested for heavy metal toxins crossing the blood brain barrier? You should get him on a gluten free non-gmo dieat and give him some jasper to carry with him at all times. 

We?

What an amusing list of quackery, though I'd imagine it's easy to avoid if you don't post on wacky groups.
Still, there's always family, of course.

I don't know why I often use the word, we as a singular, I have no idea where I picked that quirk up.

sadly the silliness is not so easily avoided. I don't know how it is where you are, but it's some sort of trend in the US to practice psuedoscience health cosciousness as if it was a religion.

I don't know if you've ever had the pleasure of certain people who practice a philisophical diet (vegans, paleo, raw food, ect.) and they live it so much that it gets brought up in every conversation. If you take that idea and extrapolate that out to dang near everything you have the just under the surface environment here in much of the US.

Near 1/8 of the population talks about their new dietary system with other as they come back from yoga class and before their "law of attraction" meditations, and know you would feel so much better if you practiced their chosen path. And they share enough of their placebo cause and effect life choices advice to others that another 3/8 of the population holds some of these beliefs simply because they don't know any better, and are more than glad to spread the word in an attempt to be helpful. They know they had fatigue and since going gluten free they feel so much better, and wouldn't you know the dry skin on their elbows cleared up too, so when a friend mentions moisturizing their elbows they spread the word that gluten problems may be causing dry elbows and you should totally go gluten free.

Now generally that the sort of conversation that comes up withing social groups. But if you are somebody who has to refuse an offered treat, store taste tests, or are looking to network with others managing a health concern... it's like distilling the lunacy. Even more so if it's something unconventional enough that mainstream medicine doesn't know enough about handling it and all people have is communities of individuals withnot enough science between them and more than enough personal philosophy to fill in the gaps.

And I get why doctors roll their eyes sometimes at the things out there and the people self diagnosing. but in many cases people have to use the misinformed and kooky because they are sick and mainstream medicine shrugged and left them on their own.

"Distilling Lunacy"

I really like that phrase. Perfect as a motto for a moonshine brand...

Moon of the Sun
Grade A Moonshine
Distilling Lunacy since 1965

[rovingjack]

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.
No, that sort of nonsense is easy to counteract- I simply look them straight in the eye and recite the cases of three friends of mine who've died by ignoring doctors' orders.

And then I leave.
I don't endure medical nonsense. I consider medical misinformation and kookiness to be blights signalling the terrible gaps in basic education, especially in critical thinking.

Self-diagnosis? I was obliged to do so once, to save my life. The problem with self-diagnosis is while one may have all the information available concerning one's case, there's the lack of a general medical education to understand the the implications of said information.

And that takes years to acquire.

Anyway, it's cold cold cold here in my village- and I have to venture down to the village, on foot, to buy cat litter.

I remain yours,
Prof. Cecily

My difficulty right now with this mess is information that states that I have a gene that makes very serious complications for my health if I don't get certain b vitamins. But my doctor doesn't know anything about those genes and is interested in getting me on supplements for those B vitamins. But almost all of those vitamins are made as shelf stable chemical compounds distinct from the kinds found in food sources, and some medical research says that those who have some of the genes I have often cannot process those supplemental compound well, and because of that it may mask the issue by showing levels going up, but will be things my body can't use.

Now here is the issue. there are a few locations where people talk in depth about the genes in question and the supplemental forms that can be purchased that work for each issue. They are not the ones you find in the stores. The b12 anybody can find in any given store are usually cyanocobalamin and might not process well for my genes and in fact make my problem worse by both clogging the channels that the kind I can use need to access while masking problems by showing blood levels rising, but it would be from something my body can't use.

But the sources that often recommend which types my system can use also say to stay away from Cyanocobalamin because when it's processed by the body it becomes a bioavailable b12 but it also releases a free cyanide. Sigh. The science says there is more cyanide in the air near the highway than would result from supplementing. So it sets off my quack alarms.

But the studies that say supplementing with the usual forms of folic acid can make me worse, and advise using more bioavailable b vitamins, they are different studies done in actual research papers and don't have anything looking like quackery, but they also don't elaborate more on the correct course of action. But meanwhile my doctor doesn't know enough about the topic to know there is more than one form of these b vitamins to supplement with and the risks of getting it wrong.

And honestly it seems to me that with the levels of homocysteine where they are right now, we cannot afford to risk them going up, and we really shouldn't let them stay where they are.

I know there are bioavailable sources in certain food, but I also know my system is sensative to certain foods, and may also have absorbtion issues.

So there are four ways pulls going on with lots of incomplete data all around. meanwhile I'm having to tell people things they don't know and desperately hoping I'm getting it right because nobody else seems to know what anybody else is saying. In the midst of all that I'm having panic attacks and depression, I'm weak, chronically tired, reacting at seeming random to foods, and my muscles and nerves are twitchy (is it psychosomatic like one person thinks, or is it the vitamin imbalance? who knows, because we have nowhere near enough answers and half the people are asking the wrong questions).

I'm ready to be a brain in a jar hooked up to a mechanical body. 

[Prof. Cecily]

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.
Ah, information overload.

You've had genetic testing done with clinical results showing a particular genetic formation, one which inhibits absorbsion of the b vitamin group.

The b12 anybody can find in any given store are usually cyanocobalamin and might not process well for my genes and in fact make my problem worse by both clogging the channels that the kind I can use need to access while masking problems by showing blood levels rising, but it would be from something my body can't use.

Which clinical studies support this assertion?

But the sources that often recommend which types my system can use also say to stay away from Cyanocobalamin because when it's processed by the body it becomes a bioavailable b12 but it also releases a free cyanide. Sigh. The science says there is more cyanide in the air near the highway than would result from supplementing. So it sets off my quack alarms.

What are these sources? Why bother with them if they're quackery?

But the studies that say supplementing with the usual forms of folic acid can make me worse, and advise using more bioavailable b vitamins, they are different studies done in actual research papers and don't have anything looking like quackery, but they also don't elaborate more on the correct course of action. But meanwhile my doctor doesn't know enough about the topic to know there is more than one form of these b vitamins to supplement with and the risks of getting it wrong.

Again, what are these sources?
Have you consulted the authors?

Why am I asking all these questions?
Because I feel your pain and confusion. I've felt it, too, which is why I'm hoping there's a way to make sense of the data you're dealing with.

And, yes, the subject of b vitamin absorption interests me personally. As do rocketing homocysteine levels.

I myself have found nothing to suggest that supplementing with normal vitamins is anything but desirable, which is why I'm interested in your sources.

If anyone else reading here can suggest legitimate information on the subject of the homocysteine/folic acid relation, it would be fabulous.

rovingjack, when the temperatures permit it, do take walks!

I remain yours,
Prof. Cecily

[rovingjack]

One example of info that says they are not to be treated as the same thing.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24494987
One example that says that they all work pretty much as if they are the same thing.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23698160

and in one of the communities I was trying to get some kind of indication of cited studies on the correct course, somebody was talking about how they had heard how MRIs can cause dental fillings to release mercury into your blood stream.  (╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻

it doesn't help that I know my reactions to my symptoms and the wonky chemistry going on do in fact cause anxiety and confusion. lol

I hit my limit of careing about any of it with the fillings thing earlier today. it's fairly evident to me that nobody has the slightest idea what's what, and it's going to be just a series of possibly painful trials and errors. One thing that people do seem to agree on is that folate foods and b12 foods can and do help lower homocysteine when it's elevated. Bananas, potatos, lentils and spinach have a good coverage of b vitamins including folate, and shrimp and beef (I abstained from red meat for the last 17 years, but sometimes sacrifices must be made) are good sources of b12.

I will continue to persue those as my meals until such time as we can figure out the next best course of action and hopefully in the interveneing time it will have brought my levels into a managable range that trial and error won't be as bad on the errors side of things.

in the mean time I'll try to be functional enough to go to a makers gathering tomorrow, and have some fun with a toddler this weekend before escaping for a night to my rural home town.