Urinary Amino Acid Test Results

43 Amino acids were tested.  I'm not going to list all of them, just the highlights and low lights.
The reference range in this case is the middle 95% of all results tested.  The top and bottom 2.5% are flagged as abnormal.  Keep in mind that a healthy person is much LESS likely to get tested so if you are outside the range, you've got a serious deficiency or excess. It's probably best to be between the 16th-84th percentile to be considered anywhere near optimal.

The expected abnormalities:
My mitochondrial function is weak, which prevents me from reaching my max heart rate.  I already knew that but that's about the least of my problems.

-Ammonia, which was perfectly normal in the blood, was a bit on the high side here.  The reference range was 9K-39K and I was 31K, which put me around the 85th percentile.  Maybe that raises a yellow flag but it's not severe.  Does it explain my intolerance to ammonia reducing treatments?  I don't know but I doubt it.

-Taurine: The upper limit of the reference range was 1200 and I was just over at 1210.  I expected it to be through the roof (over 2500) so I guess that's a pleasant surprise and supposedly, the alanine reduces it further.  With that being said, that's still a BAD result and indicates compromised lung function.  I'm in the 98th percentile so only 2 percent of patients tested are worse off than I am in this regard.  I need to shoot for below 800 before I can tolerate any methyl donors and I've got quite a ways to go.

Cysteine, Butyrate, Serine and PEA were all low but not severely so.  I know that cysteine is involved in methylation,  Butyrate has to do with ammonia detox and PEA is a neurotransmitter precursor.  Not too worried about those right now but I will attempt to address the Serine with SHMT.

-Several other neurotransmitter precursors such as tyrosine, tryptophan and a couple others tested on the low side of normal but within the range.  Not too worried about those either.

- The glutamine/glutamate ratio along with GABA was barely normal.  The spray, which targeted that GAD mutation has failed.  The doc suggested another spray called SHMT.  I will consider that one down the road.

The SHOCKER was beta alanine.  I expected it to be very low because it is a taurine antagonist.  NOPE.  It was SKY HIGH!  The reference range was anything below 21 and my value was 50.  I had been supplementing with it with success last week but not surprisingly, it quit working soon after.  PERHAPS, it did its job and lowered taurine a bit last week.  I don't know what ill effects can occur when that one gets too high and I don't plan on finding out from personal experience.  Regardless, this is VERY BAD NEWS and eliminates yet another promising option.

What more can I do to reduce the taurine?  I've officially run out of options.  I can probably tolerate occasional CBS RNA drops but must keep the dose VERY low.  I also will increase the Cal/Mag.  At the end of the day, I may be forced to shut it down and just endure a rough 2 months while doing whatever is necessary to get the taurine below 800.

Why is it so important to get the taurine below 800?
   That is the point in which it is safe to start treating the methylation cycle and I DESPERATELY need to treat it.  My worst deficiency is Methionine, the starting point of the methylation cycle.  The reference range was 7-35 units.  I am at 2!  Though unconfirmed by the doctor, I am 95% sure that this is the cause of my extreme mineral sensitivity!!  Until I get the taurine below 800, there is nothing I can do about it.  

How do I know that Methionine is the problem and why not treat it now?
  First off, a 2 is a SEVERE deficiency.   A 7 would be in the 2.5th percentile so a 2 must be in the 0.5-0.1st percentile, which means that 99.5-99.9% of SICK patients are better off than I am in this regard.  Think back to my history.  Just a half a pill made the difference between a personal record and a mediocre performance.  There HAD to be a severe issue somewhere that was causing such extreme reactions.  TMG, which supports methylation is designed to convert homocysteine into methionine.  When I took it, it DID indeed knock out the sensitivity to zinc and copper that plagued me throughout the year last racing season.  Unfortunately, it also exacerbated the excess taurine and sulfur burden and actually made me feel worse overall. Again, if I can get the taurine down below 800, that won't happen.

Mercury toxicity:
I've read that yes, low methionine may be an indicator of mercury but it's usually accompanied by an elevated cysteine whereas my cysteine was also low.  I'm still considering amalgam removal but will not do anything rash.  Pectasol may be a better option and yes, TMG removes mercury as well.

Plan going forward:
I'm not real hopeful.
-CBS drops to lower taurine, which I will take almost no matter what ill-effects I face.
-increase Cal/Mag
-limit methyl folate
-I'll finish the Sparga even though it's ineffective.

This doctor is allowing me to do a re-test for free and overall, her prices are more reasonable than Health Coach 7.  I'm sure she does that for all patients but that's a really nice thing to do.  When seeking professional help, I recommend Dr. Amy Yasko, NOT Health Coach 7.  By the way, I STILL have not gotten the recording of the consult with Dr. Jeff from HC7.  Screw 'em!

My re-test will be done in about 6 weeks and I'll have the results in about 8 weeks.  In the meantime, it's gonna SUCK!