Monday, April 20, 2015

Training 4/20-4/26

4/20- I feel a little better than yesterday now that I know that ADHS was NOT the culprit after all.  I still need more methyl donors to tolerate it.  The problem is Yasko's nucleotide product.  Yes, I was too aggressive with it but even at small doses, it was ineffective.  A new CBS+NOS product will arrive today.  This morning was another better with or without test with ADHS.
2 pills- 1/2 mile in 4:23
4 pills- 1/2 mile in 3:50
6 pills- 1/2 mile in 3:21

PM- The CBS/NOS supplement is a NO.  I did not even have to run to find out.  Is it the wrong treatment or is it a detox reaction?  If I had to guess, it's the latter.  I've had headaches and stinky poo after taking CBS products.  I also learned that I still can't tolerate the MTHFR supplement.  Workout was a half mile naked parking lot junk run.  I'll have to lay off it a while and re-introduce it at minute doses later in the week.

Other questions:
Will the additional All in One allow me to take Thym-Adren?  I could not take much ADHS without it but will it have the same impact on the Thym-Adren tolerance.

Do I take the full consult with the Health Coach for $250?  I still haven't gotten the recording or a reply to my e-mail.  If I don't get the customer service that I want, I can take my business elsewhere. I found a doctor online based in Nashville that is private and doesn't take insurance.  My first visit will cost about $300 plus gas and lodging.  I could just keep trying to figure it out on my own for $0 but I will likely to continue to waste money on supplements that don't work.

The only way to find out for sure if I need CBS treatment is to do a urine test for ammonia and taurine.  That will cost over $300 and I'll have to re-test again.  OUCH!  I am in okay financial shape but I really feel for patients who are too sick to work and cannot afford these tests.  I've donated in a few cases and will do it again.

4/21- AM- Hard fought 2 miles at Gold's in 15:19 (7:40 pace) and did manage fairly even splits (7:37-7:42) running nearly all out.  That's still BAAAUHD!

PM- Lakeshore 5 in 38:36 (7:43 pace).  I was determined to finish the 5 no matter what.  This is as good as you'll see out of me lately.  Faded in the 2nd half (19-19:36).  Never tired but no power at all.

4/22- Tempo.  Trak Shak 5 in 35:53 (7:11 pace).  Started strongly with a pair of 6:55s then faded to the 7:20 range but I was able to hold it there.  The difference on the day was the Liver Beef supp.  That stuff was poison for me before addressing methylation but it's the 2nd time in recent memory that I got a boost from it.  I need to take it more often.  I still need to see how the Thym-Adren works on 2 All in One and if I can tolerate a trace of the CBS/NOS.  A rare good day overall.

4/23- Added glutathione and tolerated it well.  That means that I could probably tolerate the SOD supplement.  I'll give that a try next week.  Workout today was a 5K indoors in 21:16 (6:49 pace).  11 seconds better than last time.  That's not significant but it's better than nothing.  Performance was about on par with yesterday overall.  Splits were 6:39-6:55-6:56-46.  Tried some Thym-Adren, which failed.  That's okay.  I can take the ADHS, which is better for the SOD anyway but may not be as effective for the fast oxidation.  I may try the liver without the zinc tomorrow.  Did a long cool to record a total of 4 miles on the day.

Update:
The Health Coach had his ASSISTANT e-mail me and it told me nothing.  Genes can interact with each other to cause sensitivity.  I already knew that.  For the time being, I'll save the $250 and try to figure this out myself.

4/24- Travel day to visit my parents.  Planned rest.

4/25- 3 mile trail run by the creek.  Finished in 21:54 (7:18 pace) which looks pretty solid on the surface but it was weak overall.  Started with a strong 14:09 split for 2 miles then slipped to 7:45 and had to rally for the sub-22 finish.  Took the liver with glutathione and no extra zinc before the run and was not pleased with the result so I popped a zinc afterwards and got worse.  I will be adding more liver for the time being.

4/26- 4 miles was all I had time for today but I showed improvement with a time of 28:20 (7:05 pace) and this time, I didn't die at the end.  I actually managed a slight negative split.  Lately, I've been getting out of breath early and the same thing happened today.  Perhaps I am getting my heart rate up, which is a good thing.

Totaled 25 miles on the week.

Thursday, April 16, 2015

Health Coach/Latest news

I did the initial consultation on Monday.  I liked him well enough.  He listens but it's difficult to get a simple straight answer to a question.  That may be because no simple answer exists.  There are thousands of genes out there that can affect your health and many of them interact with each other.  He says that he has experience with lots of complex cases including advanced cases of cancer treated without chemo.  He said that only 25% of genetic defects cannot be resolved but 75% can.  I'll take a 75% improvement.  I am expecting to receive a recording of our initial consult and a brief reply to an e-mail.  If I don't receive that, I'm saving the $250 and will try to fight this on my own.

Right now, my most pressing concern is the CBS mutation, which impacts the trans-sulfur pathway and defects will cause a buildup of toxic ammonia.  This defect must be addressed first before any MTHFR action can be taken.

-I need to change my breakfast and cut out the normal protein bar because it can cause more sulfur buildup.
-I must strictly avoid any sulfur containing products such as taurine and glutathione.
-I will continue with Yasko's nucleotide product and have ordered another product for both CBS and NOS.
-NOS mutations make CBS issues worse and my NOS issue is worse than the CBS.
-I also have GAD mutations, which suggest that I NEED taurine.  THAT is at least one of the reasons why it has been magic some times and poison at other times.
-I've had to switch from Thym-Adren back to ADHS and endured 4 HORRIBLE days while I waited for it to arrive.  Thym-Adren contains garlic, which is also on the forbidden list.
-The ADHS contains more manganese, which may be good for the SOD mutation
-I'm giving this plan until the end of May.

Depression:
I've repeated this over and over but symptoms often have nothing to do with your attitude or even your external circumstances.  It's all about your chemistry.  The only thing that could potentially work for me is Wellbutrin, an MAO inhibitor.  I do have the MAO mutation so yes, it may help but it's highly unlikely that it's the key to success.  At the end of the day, I still have a myriad of other imbalances that an MAO inhibitor can't help and there is a possibility of nasty side effects.  I'll consider it in June but would really prefer not to go down that road.

Training:
At this point, I really don't care about racing.  I just want to solve this awful instability.  I'm semi-retired with just 3 races left on the must do list.  I remain determined to finish the 10K and Half marathon challenge.  My last scheduled race is not until the end of October in Greenville, SC.  If it doesn't work out, that will probably be my last race though I will continue to do some light running as tolerated.

4/15- 2 miles in 19:45 (9:53 pace).  B-2 FAILED.  The MAO defect makes this enzyme over-active, not under-active so the B-2 made that worse.

4/16- Slightly better.  Same 2 miler at Gold's and my time is down to 17:26 (8:43 pace).

4/17- AWFUL.  1 Mile in 8:34.  Even splits and no worse after taking the CBS nucleotide product.  The problem is the ADHS.  6 pills are too many.  Why?  It's a modulator.  I should be able to take as much as I want.  It could be detox or being in balance makes me feel worse because of the mitochondrial and ATP issues are messed up.

4/18- Cut the ADHS from 6 pills to 4 and did improve as a result.  I felt AWFUL without the ADHS so I know I still need it but 4 is still too much.  Finished 3 miles in 24:55 (8:19 pace).  Pace remained in the 8:20 range all the way and rallied in the last 2 laps to get under 25.  I should be a bit better on 3 pills and I expect the CBS/NOS pills will arrive by Monday.  Good news was that my heart rate was a bit higher today

4/19- Why should I even try anymore?  Woke up feeling awful so I took the ADHS and it took me too far in the opposite direction.  Then, I took the All in One.
Result:  Cutting the ADHS from 4 pills to 3 helped a bit but it was not a significant improvement.  Came through 1 Mile in 7:43 and likely would have been near 24 for 3 miles.  Stopped for water and a 2nd All In One pill and the over stimulation kicked in HARD.  Got through Mile 2 in 7:38 then popped a 4th ADHS and improved to 7:15.  Seems like I'm improving right?  Wrong.  Took 2 more ADHS and got worse again.

Weekly total: 11 miles.

Tuesday, April 7, 2015

Training 4/6-4/12

The training posts will resume but I am not grading anything until further notice.

4/6- Unplanned rest day.  Bad reaction to the SOD supplement.  This doesn't mean that I don't need to support it.  I likely need it with manganese and without glutathione.

4/7- AM- Spain Park Mile on a whole B-12 pill.  Finished in 6:13 running all out but my pulse rate was only 136, which is a full 50 points below the max.  Until I get that max up, I don't expect significant improvement.  Splits were 90-93-99-91.  I let up some in the 3rd lap because I knew I'd be over 6 but rallied in the last 200 to secure the sub-6:15.

The good news is that I don't think the whole B-12 hurt me at all.  After this one, I was more daring by taking a 2nd All In One.  I managed a 2:58 for an 800 so I don't think that hurt me either.  That is excellent news!  Before I started the B-12, I could not tolerate 1.5 All in One.  This should really help my detox and sensitivity issues.

PM- Canterbury loop.  Garmin time was 29:48 for 4 miles (7:27 pace) plus another half mile at roughly the same pace.  I had to cut it short by 0.5 miles because of an "extreme emergency" that's got to be a detox reaction.  Good day overall.
Distance= 6.5

4/8- Step backward but that's okay.  I was fine on 2 All in One pills yesterday but had a bit of a negative reaction to a 3rd one.  I'm going to stay with 1 of those but I am pleased that I was able to handle more without a complete collapse.  Today was Trak Shak day.  Finished the 3.5 mile loop in a time of 27:02 (7:43 pace) with very even splits.  It seems like B12 will protect against too much All in One.  Will All in One protect against too much B-12?  I intend to find out this weekend.
Distance=3.5
I've read again that CBS must be addressed first.  I'll continue with occasional Liver and picked up some Yucca.  I know that I can't take orinthine or arginine because of the NOS mutation.  My best hope may be Yasko's Ammonia RNA but I want to talk to the Health Coach first because it costs $85.  I don't expect that the 5-MTHFR will do much good yet but the NADH might.

4/9- Only slightly better than yesterday.  Gold's 3 in the morning.  Finished in 22:14 (7:25 pace) with a mild fade at the end but did manage to keep it at 7:30.  Pulse was around 110 both yesterday and today, which is not even in the target range for an easy GA workout.
Yucca- Too much too soon.  Sluggish on a whole pill.  Half is probably okay.
NADH- Probably didn't hurt me but it was not the miracle that I hoped for.
5-MTHFR- Much too strong.  Need to avoid until I get the CBS fixed.
Distance=3.0

Plan:
I have ordered the initial 10 minute intro consult with the Health Coach
-Probably should pull the trigger on the Ammonia RNA and take a chance on the $85.
-Urine still smells very strongly of sulfur and ammonia.

4/10- 2 miles at Gold's in 14:59 (7:30 pace).  Not a surprise that I was weak.  The 5-MTHFR has not cleared yet.  Strangely, I got off to a good start (7:11) but it was downhill from there and my last half mile was over 4.  I'm going to get up early tomorrow but unless I really feel good, I'm skipping the BTC social.
Distance=2.0

4/11- BAD DAY.  Unplanned rest day and had to skip the social.  Put a Yuck sign on the Yucca because it won't work.  This really upsets me because according to my genetics, it should work.  Thym-Adren contains garlic, which is a no-no if you have CBS.  I've got to switch to ADHS, which I could not tolerate earlier.  Now, I do think I can tolerate it.

-Ordered the anti-ammonia drops but am unsure if it will work.  Must stay off any excess methyl and garlic for the next 4 weeks.
-Initial phone consult with the health coach (Dr. John) is on Monday.

4/12- BAD,  1 mile junk run was all I could do.
Distance=1.0

Total= 16 miles.

Sunday, April 5, 2015

Weekly summary (3/30-4/5)

Finished with 26 miles on the week, which I believe is my highest total since Arizona.  I have a bit clearer picture of my DNA results now and some idea of what to do about the supplements.  A few comments about my training this week:
- Managed to finish just 3 of my planned workouts but they were pretty decent.
- Lakeshore 5 in 37:08 (7:26 pace) and finished with a pulse rate of only 120.
- 5 K time trial in 21:27 (6:55 pace)
I'm resetting my PRs so I'll count that 5K.

I had no days in which I could not finish a single mile under 9 but 3 of my workouts sucked pretty bad.  I showed up at 2 groups runs and embarrassed myself both times.
Wednesday: Could not finish the 3 Mile Trak Shak loop.  Ended the workout after 2 miles in 16:50 followed by the walk of shame.
Saturday: Crashed 3 miles into a planned 8-10 with a group in which I felt pretty good for the first 2.
Turned around and managed to salvage 4 @ sub-8.

Reactions to supplements:

-Thym-Adren- Continuing to trend down.  Now feel best on 3-4 pills and if I take an extra one, I'll notice the ill-effects but it will not be debilitating.  That might make some sense.  If my downward trend projection is correct, my tissue sodium is down to the upper 30s.  Assuming that my magnesium is still good, that's a pretty good balance.  Why don't I feel good?  It's got to be the methylation/mutations or toxic metals.

Ribose- This is good stuff.  It's intended to fix damaged DNA and I often feel a bit better after taking it.  I just put a spoonful in my drink and don't even taste it.

All in One- Still on 1 of those pills.  Neither more nor less and am afraid to try any more.  I have to take it in the morning because it will wear off at night.  If I take it in the evening, it will wear off before work is over.

Methyl Folate- My tolerance has improved to 200 mcg and I've ordered some more.  We shall see if I can tolerate it.

Zinc/Copper- Again, tolerance has improved and if I take the liver more often, it may improve my tolerance to taurine.

Review of the mutations:
-Single homozygous on MTHFR
-Compound hetero on CBS, COMT and VDR
-Homo on MTRR
-Double homo on SOD, NOS, NDUFS

The word on the street is that CBS must be addressed first.  I think I am making progress there.  Zinc and copper may have allowed me to tolerate small amounts of taurine.  I tried Orinthine (sp?) which didn't work but maybe I went too fast and would have been okay on half a pill.  I'll explain later.

COMT- Need B-12, specifically the hydroxy version.  Methyl B-12 won't work and Cyano will be ineffective.  The complication is that I must go VERY slowly.  I opened with 2 of those on the first day (Wednesday) and as I've said, I was AWFUL.  I took it down to a half pill the next day and was MUCH better but once again, a WHOLE pill was too much.

VDR- Not worried about that at all.  I'm taking D-3 with my Cal/Mag already with good results.

MTHFR- Jury is out on this one.  The new 5-MTHFR folate will arrive next week.  We'll see how well I can tolerate it.

MTRR-  This one may very well be my biggest thorn.  According to this, I NEED methyl B12 yet I cannot tolerate it.  Perhaps that will change after I fix the COMT.

SOD- Same song as the COMT.  I had a bad reaction to the SOD supplement but again, it seems that if I cut up the pill into halves, I'll be okay.

NOS- Not sure what to do on this but the word is that it makes the CBS worse.  That makes sense.

NDUFS- This mutation weakens the mitochondrial function and ATP production.  Perhaps the fast oxidation was compensation for this weakness.  Based on my latest half mary, the 5@7:26 should have been an all out effort but my pulse rate was just 120 (65% of my max).  That means that it was nothing more than an easy GA run. So, again and again and again I say, my workouts were NOT too fast.  My race times were weak in comparison to my training because I just could not access the top gear in a race.

Next week's plan:
I want to see if I can tolerate Orinthine, more MTHFR, a small amount of NADH for the NDUFS.  Lastly, I will try to bump up my All in One, which could very well allow me to tolerate more of the other stuff.  I want to see how it works before I talk to the health coach.

The training log posts are still on hiatus but I expect to resume that soon.