12/21- The moment of truth. How would I do without ATP? Would I be able to tolerate the full dose of Lithium. Same 3 miler as yesterday and was shooting for 21:50 or better. The answer was YES!
Finished today's run in 20:55 (6:58 pace), which is MINUS 56 due to stopping the ATP. This is comparable to the Turkey Burner and a fair assessment of my current fitness. I've got a long way to go and there is no guarantee that I will not need the ATP again down the road.
PM- Planned on doing 5@7:30ish and almost managed. Called it quits after 4 miles in 29:36 (7:24 pace). Felt GREAT early with the first 2 miles at 7:02-7:10 then tightened up BADLY early in Mile 3 and slipped to 7:27 and 7:57 to finish up. Clearly need ATP after all. Will the dosage be stable or will it continue to trend down.
Distance=7.0
12/22- Interesting day. Felt much WORSE as evening progressed yesterday and after taking a Lithium pill upon rising, I was not able to run at all. Popped 1 ATP and was somewhat better. It took tempo effort to finish below the Mendoza line. 3 miles at Gold's in 23:55 (7:58 pace) with even splits. I was exactly 1 minute/mile slower than yesterday morning. What to make of it? The good news is that Lithium should be tolerated if I take the proper amount of ATP. Again, I need Lithium to transport B12, which is necessary to detox the sulfates. Also, it's not a quick fix and is likely more stable than my past treatments. If I took a 2nd ATP, sure I would have been better today. If I take 2 tomorrow and the next day, it's probably a different story. Let's hope that it will balance at 1/day.
Distance=3.0
12/23- Stuck with the 1 ATP and improved to 21:54 (7:18 pace) and MINUS 40/mile in just over 12 hours. Again, I got off to a good start but felt my legs suddenly go dead just before the Mile marker. Kept it semi-respectable the rest of the way. Splits were 6:48-7:22-7:44. If the formula is a winner, I should see continued steady improvement. Maybe, MINUS 20 next time. Going home now so chances to run will be uncertain for the next 3 days.
Distance=3.0
12/24- Peter's 3 in 21:21 (7:07 pace). Hoping for the sub-21 and this time, I was on pace through 2 miles before fading badly down the stretch. Splits were 6:53-7:01-7:27. MINUS 11/mile and it is an improvement but I was hoping for better. For the time being, I am sticking with the 1 ATP but may need to increase it to 2 if I plateau here.
Distance=3.0
12/25- Planned rest day
12/26- Unplanned rest day. Reacting badly to Lithium now. I'm going off BOTH Lithium and ATP just to see what happens but I predict that it will evolve into a situation in which I take ATP every day and Lithium 1-2 times/week.
12/27- Unplanned rest day. Weather delays made for a tough trip home.
12/28- I did take a whole Food C which may have been ill-advised but early signs show a need for ATP. Managed just 1 mile and faded early. Finished in 8:21 and felt very depressed afterwards.
Distance=1.0
12/29- Felt AWFUL upon rising. Took ATP this morning and made no other changes. Even with a nasty sore throat and weakness from what appears to be just a head cold, I was a lot better than yesterday. Finished the standard 3 in 23:48 (7:56 pace). Splits were 7:46-8:04-7:58.
Distance=3.0
12/30- ANOTHER relapse. I've beaten the head cold. The sore throat diminished considerably today and has not been replaced by a stuffy nose. Otherwise, I was so bad that I did not even attempt to run. Thym-Adren is the culprit now. Could ATP be detoxing the sulfates? Some evidence says so but my urine sulfate level came in under 1600 only after it had been diluted with half water. I would guess that my level is about 2500-3000 now, which is actually an improvement over last time. Tomorrow, I will cut the Thym-Adren from 6 pills to 3 and if that fails, it's back to the ADHS. I'm likely retiring tomorrow or on the 1st of the new year.
12/31- Cut the dose from 6 pills to 3 and feel no better. I've become completely intolerant to Thym-Adren. It's ADHS or bust now. I will report tomorrow but shut it down thereafter.
Monday, December 21, 2015
Wednesday, December 16, 2015
ATP and Lithium
The plot has thickened in recent days. Here's a brief rundown of my issues and treatments:
-I have runaway excessive adrenal activity and I am 95% sure that the Magnesium+ Thym-Adren will NEVER be enough. I might give that treatment one more try just to confirm once and for all. If I do take too much adrenal suppressants, I will have the fatigue and malaise during the day and through the evening but when I wake up the next day, I'll be right back to feeling over-stimulated. Why? Everything that I have read suggests that the culprit is toxic sulfates, which cause the fight or flight symptoms.
I have literally tried EVERYTHING to detox the sulfates but all of the treatments made me feel worse. Although unconfirmed, I believe that the sulfate detox treatments have depleted ATP. If you paid any attention in your Biology class, you know that ATP is responsible for cell energy production and certainly explains the malaise that has predominated.
Here's where I am deficient:
-ATP: I believe that the drop in ATP is what caused the glutamate and Phospho-Serine to drop off the scale.
-Lithium is bio-unavailable (can't be used by the cells). Deficient in cells, high in urine.
-B12 is also bio-unavailable. Deficient in cells, high in blood.
Use of Lithium and B12 likely further depleted ATP.
What I am up against:
I've had no real trouble with Mag+Thym-Adren. Though it's insufficient, it's certainly better than nothing. Without it, my adrenals will spiral out of control and I will end up with Stage 3 Adrenal fatigue again.
-I need Lithium to transport B12 but cannot tolerate it because it depletes ATP and increases fatigue.
-I need B12 to detox the sulfates but without sufficient Lithium, it won't work. It won't be transported into the cells and will be stuck in the blood. Lithium will be depleted further and ATP may be depleted as well. B12 is off limits until Lithium comes up BUT when it does work properly, the adrenal balance IN THEORY WILL BE MUCH BETTER.
-Use of ATP causes my system to demand Lithium but I am EXTREMELY sensitive to it.
Today, I took about 1/5 of a Lithium pill and 3 ATP pills worked about the best (2 pills were not enough but 4 were too many).
I can just about guarantee that 3 ATP pills will be too much in just a few days and I will require more Lithium. BUT. While 1/5 of a Lithium pill may not be enough, 2/5-1/2 could be too much. It will be a VERY DELICATE BALANCING ACT until further notice. Here's hoping that someday, I will find some type of long-term equilibrium.
THIS is a mess right now!
-I have runaway excessive adrenal activity and I am 95% sure that the Magnesium+ Thym-Adren will NEVER be enough. I might give that treatment one more try just to confirm once and for all. If I do take too much adrenal suppressants, I will have the fatigue and malaise during the day and through the evening but when I wake up the next day, I'll be right back to feeling over-stimulated. Why? Everything that I have read suggests that the culprit is toxic sulfates, which cause the fight or flight symptoms.
I have literally tried EVERYTHING to detox the sulfates but all of the treatments made me feel worse. Although unconfirmed, I believe that the sulfate detox treatments have depleted ATP. If you paid any attention in your Biology class, you know that ATP is responsible for cell energy production and certainly explains the malaise that has predominated.
Here's where I am deficient:
-ATP: I believe that the drop in ATP is what caused the glutamate and Phospho-Serine to drop off the scale.
-Lithium is bio-unavailable (can't be used by the cells). Deficient in cells, high in urine.
-B12 is also bio-unavailable. Deficient in cells, high in blood.
Use of Lithium and B12 likely further depleted ATP.
What I am up against:
I've had no real trouble with Mag+Thym-Adren. Though it's insufficient, it's certainly better than nothing. Without it, my adrenals will spiral out of control and I will end up with Stage 3 Adrenal fatigue again.
-I need Lithium to transport B12 but cannot tolerate it because it depletes ATP and increases fatigue.
-I need B12 to detox the sulfates but without sufficient Lithium, it won't work. It won't be transported into the cells and will be stuck in the blood. Lithium will be depleted further and ATP may be depleted as well. B12 is off limits until Lithium comes up BUT when it does work properly, the adrenal balance IN THEORY WILL BE MUCH BETTER.
-Use of ATP causes my system to demand Lithium but I am EXTREMELY sensitive to it.
Today, I took about 1/5 of a Lithium pill and 3 ATP pills worked about the best (2 pills were not enough but 4 were too many).
I can just about guarantee that 3 ATP pills will be too much in just a few days and I will require more Lithium. BUT. While 1/5 of a Lithium pill may not be enough, 2/5-1/2 could be too much. It will be a VERY DELICATE BALANCING ACT until further notice. Here's hoping that someday, I will find some type of long-term equilibrium.
THIS is a mess right now!
Sunday, December 13, 2015
Training 12/14-12/20
I've just learned a couple big things just today. I am deficient in glutamate and phospho-serine but cannot tolerate either of them in supplement form. BUT- BOTH ARE ATP DEPENDENT. I am currently taking ATP with success and thus may not need to supplement with those 2 after all. This COULD be the key. If it's not, I will retire at the end of the year.
12/14- AM- Same pattern as yesterday only worse. Finished with 2 miles in 15:34 (7:47 pace) with splits of 7:22-8:12 and I could feel the collapse coming midway through Mile 1. Additional ATP made it worse. That does it. I'm going back to Lithium and B-12.
PM- 3 miles in 23-flat (7:40 pace) with relatively even splits (11:24-11:36). Overall, this was better than the morning session. Felt a lot better immediately after taking half a B12 and half a Lithium but tightened up by the afternoon. Post workout: Extra B-12 did not seem to hurt but extra Lithium did.
Distance=5.0
12/15- HORRIBLE. Only managed a half mile in 4:38 (9:16 pace) and was getting slower with every step. The Lithium that I took last night hasn't cleared and I had a bad reaction to excess Thym-Adren.
Distance=0.5
12/16- Mile repeats at Gold's. Better with or without test (ugh). Without ATP and with just a trace of Lithium (1/5 of a pill), I could not run at all.
With ATP:
1 pill: 1 Mile in 7:23
2 pills: 1 Mile in 6:33 (MINUS 50)
3 pills: 1 Mile in 6:07 (MINUS 26)
I planned on cooling down after this and I did but a 4th pill made me feel MUCH WORSE.
Distance=3.5
12/17- 3 miles in 22:09 (7:23 pace) at Gold's. Splits were 6:55-7:22-7:47. Felt good early but it was a steady decline after about a half mile. Took 3 ATP pills, which worked best for me yesterday and increased my Lithium from 1/5 of a cap to roughly 2/5. Based on the way I felt, it was clear that I was SHORT on Lithium and perhaps too much ATP.
Distance=3.0
12/18- Took a full Lithium pill and was still hurting from too much ATP. I was done after 2 miles at Gold's in 15:38 (7:49 pace) with splits of 7:40-7:58. Would have struggled to break the Mendoza line if I had gone another mile.
Distance=2.0
12/19- Unplanned rest day. Cut the ATP down to 2 and it was still too much. Tried the Sparga and FOS one last time and I remain COMPLETELY intolerant. This proves that the ATP deficiency was NOT related to the Sparga intolerance, which remains a mystery.
12/20- Cut the ATP down to 1 and I was better but it was still too much. The moment of truth will come tomorrow morning. How will I feel without the ATP? Will I be able to tolerate the Lithium? Today's workout was a 3 miler at Gold's in 21:51 (7:17 pace). Decent splits (7:12-7:18-7:21) but I was going just about all out.
Distance=3.0
Weekly Distance= 14.0 (Pathetic)
Next week will tell the tale and I'm not that anxious about it.
12/14- AM- Same pattern as yesterday only worse. Finished with 2 miles in 15:34 (7:47 pace) with splits of 7:22-8:12 and I could feel the collapse coming midway through Mile 1. Additional ATP made it worse. That does it. I'm going back to Lithium and B-12.
PM- 3 miles in 23-flat (7:40 pace) with relatively even splits (11:24-11:36). Overall, this was better than the morning session. Felt a lot better immediately after taking half a B12 and half a Lithium but tightened up by the afternoon. Post workout: Extra B-12 did not seem to hurt but extra Lithium did.
Distance=5.0
12/15- HORRIBLE. Only managed a half mile in 4:38 (9:16 pace) and was getting slower with every step. The Lithium that I took last night hasn't cleared and I had a bad reaction to excess Thym-Adren.
Distance=0.5
12/16- Mile repeats at Gold's. Better with or without test (ugh). Without ATP and with just a trace of Lithium (1/5 of a pill), I could not run at all.
With ATP:
1 pill: 1 Mile in 7:23
2 pills: 1 Mile in 6:33 (MINUS 50)
3 pills: 1 Mile in 6:07 (MINUS 26)
I planned on cooling down after this and I did but a 4th pill made me feel MUCH WORSE.
Distance=3.5
12/17- 3 miles in 22:09 (7:23 pace) at Gold's. Splits were 6:55-7:22-7:47. Felt good early but it was a steady decline after about a half mile. Took 3 ATP pills, which worked best for me yesterday and increased my Lithium from 1/5 of a cap to roughly 2/5. Based on the way I felt, it was clear that I was SHORT on Lithium and perhaps too much ATP.
Distance=3.0
12/18- Took a full Lithium pill and was still hurting from too much ATP. I was done after 2 miles at Gold's in 15:38 (7:49 pace) with splits of 7:40-7:58. Would have struggled to break the Mendoza line if I had gone another mile.
Distance=2.0
12/19- Unplanned rest day. Cut the ATP down to 2 and it was still too much. Tried the Sparga and FOS one last time and I remain COMPLETELY intolerant. This proves that the ATP deficiency was NOT related to the Sparga intolerance, which remains a mystery.
12/20- Cut the ATP down to 1 and I was better but it was still too much. The moment of truth will come tomorrow morning. How will I feel without the ATP? Will I be able to tolerate the Lithium? Today's workout was a 3 miler at Gold's in 21:51 (7:17 pace). Decent splits (7:12-7:18-7:21) but I was going just about all out.
Distance=3.0
Weekly Distance= 14.0 (Pathetic)
Next week will tell the tale and I'm not that anxious about it.
Saturday, December 12, 2015
Rant: Radical Islam and the American Left
A VERY RARE political post but I need to get this off my chest:
As a disclaimer, I condemn anti-Muslim bigotry in the name of anti-terrorism whether it be in the form of words or actions. I believe in treating all people with respect and civility. Have I ever met any Muslims myself? Yes. One of my all time favorite teachers was an Econ professor from Iran who is a moderate Muslim. I've also had some contact with a few Muslim business owners at work and never had a problem with any of them. In my years as a student, I got to know several people who are either from the Middle East or of Middle Eastern descent and got along well with almost all of them.
Defenders of Islam will say things to the effect of "there is nothing Islamic about terrorism" and so-called Christians have been guilty of terrorist attacks as well. While it is true that only an infinitesimal percentage of Muslims will actually carry out terrorist attacks, a fairly significant minority support indiscriminate acts of violence against civilians to "defend Islam": http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/pages/opinion-polls.htm If you were to ask these terrorists what they are fighting for, they will no doubt say "Islam" and often cry out Allahu Ackbar before the attack.
If you were to poll Catholics, Evangelicals and Mainline Protestants, you will likely find that 99.9 percent of people in each group strongly reject violence against civilians in all circumstances to "defend Christianity." With Muslims, that number is only about 85 percent. I heard of a poll that stated that 8% of Muslims believed the 9/11 attacks to be "fully justified" and a similar percentage saw at least "some justification" That means that if the United States is to take in 10,000 Muslim refugees, about 1,500 are expected to have at least some sympathy for terrorism. At the very least, we must be EXTREMELY careful about the vetting process and I'm not sure if there is a truly bulletproof system to assess a threat. As an aside, neither Tim McVeigh nor Eric Rudolf identified as Christian and you never hear anyone proclaim that "Jesus is King" before committing a mass murder.
I heard well-meaning Christians point to Scriptures such as "love your enemy" and "pray for those who persecute you." In my opinion, this does not apply to terrorists. If you have even one ounce of sympathy for indiscriminate killing, here's what I think about you:
-you are not a personal enemy who hurt me with words or actions
-you are not a persecutor who mistreated me because of my Christianity
-you are not a political enemy or even merely an enemy of America
-YOU ARE AN ENEMY OF HUMANITY ITSELF!
Should we pray for their conversion or at least for them to renounce terrorism? Absolutely. However, until that does happen, we have no choice other than to fight them.
In Western democracies, you will find near universal support for the following statements:
-Stoning of gays and adulterers to death is barbaric
-Imposing the death penalty for apostasy is barbaric
-Cutting off a child's hand for petty theft is barbaric
While the teaching of Jesus is to go and sin no more, you will find broad support for such savage punishments in the Muslim world and they are often sanctioned by the government as part of Sharia law. A recent poll showed that roughly half of American Muslims support being given the choice to be governed by Sharia law and may not call these acts "barbaric" when challenged. I also believe that while radical Islamists certainly do not like America's foreign policy or support for Israel, at the end of the day, their beef with us is because we are infidels.
Life in the Muslim world under Sharia law the way I see it:
-no women's rights
-no freedom of speech to criticize the government
-no tolerance for different lifestyles
-no freedom of religion or freedom from religion
-extremely regressive social policy
In other words, it is everything that the American left detests yet polls show that liberals are much more likely than conservatives to have a favorable view of Islam. If you are a liberal and are reading this, explain your justification. I'd sincerely like to know.
My theory is that supporting Islam is merely part of the promotion of multiculturalism. Liberals are willing to align themselves with any ideology that will diminish the influence of the so-called "Christian Right." Some are merely naive about the threat of terrorism and are ignorant about the extent of the regressive ideology. Some of those types might change their mind if they saw some of the polls that I have while others will refuse to believe it or dismiss the threat because of the small numbers.
I expect that I will see lots of views and comments about this post but please remember again that I have NO problem with any race or ethnicity. My beef is only with an ideology.
As a disclaimer, I condemn anti-Muslim bigotry in the name of anti-terrorism whether it be in the form of words or actions. I believe in treating all people with respect and civility. Have I ever met any Muslims myself? Yes. One of my all time favorite teachers was an Econ professor from Iran who is a moderate Muslim. I've also had some contact with a few Muslim business owners at work and never had a problem with any of them. In my years as a student, I got to know several people who are either from the Middle East or of Middle Eastern descent and got along well with almost all of them.
Defenders of Islam will say things to the effect of "there is nothing Islamic about terrorism" and so-called Christians have been guilty of terrorist attacks as well. While it is true that only an infinitesimal percentage of Muslims will actually carry out terrorist attacks, a fairly significant minority support indiscriminate acts of violence against civilians to "defend Islam": http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/pages/opinion-polls.htm If you were to ask these terrorists what they are fighting for, they will no doubt say "Islam" and often cry out Allahu Ackbar before the attack.
If you were to poll Catholics, Evangelicals and Mainline Protestants, you will likely find that 99.9 percent of people in each group strongly reject violence against civilians in all circumstances to "defend Christianity." With Muslims, that number is only about 85 percent. I heard of a poll that stated that 8% of Muslims believed the 9/11 attacks to be "fully justified" and a similar percentage saw at least "some justification" That means that if the United States is to take in 10,000 Muslim refugees, about 1,500 are expected to have at least some sympathy for terrorism. At the very least, we must be EXTREMELY careful about the vetting process and I'm not sure if there is a truly bulletproof system to assess a threat. As an aside, neither Tim McVeigh nor Eric Rudolf identified as Christian and you never hear anyone proclaim that "Jesus is King" before committing a mass murder.
I heard well-meaning Christians point to Scriptures such as "love your enemy" and "pray for those who persecute you." In my opinion, this does not apply to terrorists. If you have even one ounce of sympathy for indiscriminate killing, here's what I think about you:
-you are not a personal enemy who hurt me with words or actions
-you are not a persecutor who mistreated me because of my Christianity
-you are not a political enemy or even merely an enemy of America
-YOU ARE AN ENEMY OF HUMANITY ITSELF!
Should we pray for their conversion or at least for them to renounce terrorism? Absolutely. However, until that does happen, we have no choice other than to fight them.
In Western democracies, you will find near universal support for the following statements:
-Stoning of gays and adulterers to death is barbaric
-Imposing the death penalty for apostasy is barbaric
-Cutting off a child's hand for petty theft is barbaric
While the teaching of Jesus is to go and sin no more, you will find broad support for such savage punishments in the Muslim world and they are often sanctioned by the government as part of Sharia law. A recent poll showed that roughly half of American Muslims support being given the choice to be governed by Sharia law and may not call these acts "barbaric" when challenged. I also believe that while radical Islamists certainly do not like America's foreign policy or support for Israel, at the end of the day, their beef with us is because we are infidels.
Life in the Muslim world under Sharia law the way I see it:
-no women's rights
-no freedom of speech to criticize the government
-no tolerance for different lifestyles
-no freedom of religion or freedom from religion
-extremely regressive social policy
In other words, it is everything that the American left detests yet polls show that liberals are much more likely than conservatives to have a favorable view of Islam. If you are a liberal and are reading this, explain your justification. I'd sincerely like to know.
My theory is that supporting Islam is merely part of the promotion of multiculturalism. Liberals are willing to align themselves with any ideology that will diminish the influence of the so-called "Christian Right." Some are merely naive about the threat of terrorism and are ignorant about the extent of the regressive ideology. Some of those types might change their mind if they saw some of the polls that I have while others will refuse to believe it or dismiss the threat because of the small numbers.
I expect that I will see lots of views and comments about this post but please remember again that I have NO problem with any race or ethnicity. My beef is only with an ideology.
Monday, December 7, 2015
Training 12/7-12/13
12/7- The herbal supplements for mal-absorption appear to be non-factors as I predicted. That's further evidence that I do not have a mal-absorption issue after all. I'll probably finish the bottles and be done with it. I cut the Glutamine down to 150 and seemed to benefit from doing so. I have ordered Glutamate as well just to see if it's more effective. Either way, it should be only temporary. So far, so good on the Phospho-Serine. The ATP came today so I gave it a shot in a Gold's workout.
1 Mile in 6:57 without the ATP. Felt a slight improvement but not a miracle cure from the ATP. Tacked on 4 more miles in 27:58 (6:59 pace) for an overall time of 34:55 for 5 miles. This doesn't count as a sub-35 because of the stop but I most definitely would have been sub-36. Effort was tempo level with a hard push at the end to secure the sub-7 pace.
Distance=5.0
I have yet to try the TNF or molybdenum.
12/8- Unplanned rest day due to another collapse. The culprit is clearly glutamine. Not a big surprise given that I have a history of intolerance to that stuff. It appears that it does indirectly increase the sulfur burden. I can take only a very lose dose a maximum of 2 times a week. Will glutamate be any different? Yasko recommended glutamine but it was glutamate that read low on the test. I had to attend a meeting at work today and a coworker sitting next to me knew that I was hurting. Here's a list of reactions to the latest round of experiments:
Herbs for malabsorption- Neutral
ATP- Positive
TNF- Positive
Glutamine- Negative
Phospho-Serine- Positive with reservations (previous trouble). NOW NEGATIVE.
Molybdenum- NEGATIVE
Glutamate-NEGATIVE
By the end of the week, I may know quite a bit.
12/9- Expected to struggle after taking lots of glutamine last night and it has probably yet to clear. Started off pretty well with a 3:41 first half mile then collapse and finished with a 4:14 for an overall time of 7:55 then quit. Took glutamate after the workout and was MUCH WORSE.
Distance=1.0
12/10- Garbage run at Veteran's Park through the woods. Glutamate has yet to clear. I should be better tomorrow. I will try molybdenum soon at a very low dose.
Distance=2.0
12/11- All the questions have been answered now. Run was at Vestavia on a warm evening. Ran the first mile in a smooth 7:07 then popped a Phospho-Serine and COLLAPSED almost immediately. Mile 2 was over 9:00. Took low dose molybdenum when I got home and got WORSE. ATP and TNF are good for me. All the rest are BAD.
Distance=2.0
12/12- Phospho-Serine has yet to clear so I sucked as expected. Garbage run at Veteran's Park but this time, I did the whole XC course. No watch. Estimated pace was around 9. Should be better tomorrow.
PM- Wisteria 2 mile in 15:50 (7:55 pace). Much better. It's starting to clear out now.
Distance=5.0
12/13- 4 miles in 31:00 (7:45 pace) on the Trak Shak loop. Looks okay on the surface but I collapsed and the culprit was the MTRR nucleotide so I dumped it. Splits were 7:19-7:07-7:30-9:02. Even in Mile 2, I knew the collapse was coming. Good news is that I got a little better after taking just a trace of Lithium and B-12. I've been on ATP for a week now so I may want to gradually re-introduce that stuff soon but for now, not every day.
PM- Tacked on a Mile on Wisteria to finish with a round number for the week. Time was 7:33.
Distance=5.0
Distance on the week: 20 miles.
1 Mile in 6:57 without the ATP. Felt a slight improvement but not a miracle cure from the ATP. Tacked on 4 more miles in 27:58 (6:59 pace) for an overall time of 34:55 for 5 miles. This doesn't count as a sub-35 because of the stop but I most definitely would have been sub-36. Effort was tempo level with a hard push at the end to secure the sub-7 pace.
Distance=5.0
I have yet to try the TNF or molybdenum.
12/8- Unplanned rest day due to another collapse. The culprit is clearly glutamine. Not a big surprise given that I have a history of intolerance to that stuff. It appears that it does indirectly increase the sulfur burden. I can take only a very lose dose a maximum of 2 times a week. Will glutamate be any different? Yasko recommended glutamine but it was glutamate that read low on the test. I had to attend a meeting at work today and a coworker sitting next to me knew that I was hurting. Here's a list of reactions to the latest round of experiments:
Herbs for malabsorption- Neutral
ATP- Positive
TNF- Positive
Glutamine- Negative
Phospho-Serine- Positive with reservations (previous trouble). NOW NEGATIVE.
Molybdenum- NEGATIVE
Glutamate-NEGATIVE
By the end of the week, I may know quite a bit.
12/9- Expected to struggle after taking lots of glutamine last night and it has probably yet to clear. Started off pretty well with a 3:41 first half mile then collapse and finished with a 4:14 for an overall time of 7:55 then quit. Took glutamate after the workout and was MUCH WORSE.
Distance=1.0
12/10- Garbage run at Veteran's Park through the woods. Glutamate has yet to clear. I should be better tomorrow. I will try molybdenum soon at a very low dose.
Distance=2.0
12/11- All the questions have been answered now. Run was at Vestavia on a warm evening. Ran the first mile in a smooth 7:07 then popped a Phospho-Serine and COLLAPSED almost immediately. Mile 2 was over 9:00. Took low dose molybdenum when I got home and got WORSE. ATP and TNF are good for me. All the rest are BAD.
Distance=2.0
12/12- Phospho-Serine has yet to clear so I sucked as expected. Garbage run at Veteran's Park but this time, I did the whole XC course. No watch. Estimated pace was around 9. Should be better tomorrow.
PM- Wisteria 2 mile in 15:50 (7:55 pace). Much better. It's starting to clear out now.
Distance=5.0
12/13- 4 miles in 31:00 (7:45 pace) on the Trak Shak loop. Looks okay on the surface but I collapsed and the culprit was the MTRR nucleotide so I dumped it. Splits were 7:19-7:07-7:30-9:02. Even in Mile 2, I knew the collapse was coming. Good news is that I got a little better after taking just a trace of Lithium and B-12. I've been on ATP for a week now so I may want to gradually re-introduce that stuff soon but for now, not every day.
PM- Tacked on a Mile on Wisteria to finish with a round number for the week. Time was 7:33.
Distance=5.0
Distance on the week: 20 miles.
Sunday, December 6, 2015
More thoughts on Doctor Report
First, I'd like to re-visit the Mercury toxicity and the Cutler Counting Method as it relates to this lab, specifically the "zones" that I referred to last time.
White zone- VERY little deviation from the mean. I don't know the exact percentiles but I'd guess that it's around the 40th-60th percentiles. 4 out of 5 samples are outside this range.
Green zone- 16th-40th percentile and 60th-84th percentile. Slightly low or high but within 1 standard deviation of the mean and no cause for alarm. Nearly 1 in 3 are further out of balance.
Yellow zone- 2.5th-16th percentile and 84th-97.5th percentile. Significantly out of balance but still within 2 standard deviations of the mean. Lab values in this zone are clearly sub-optimal but would not be flagged in mainstream medicine. Only 5 percent are more unbalanced than this.
Red zone- Bottom 2.5 percent and Top 2.5 percent. Only 1 in 40 samples are on either side of this range. This is a severe imbalance that almost certainly requires treatment.
This lab tests 22 minerals. Cutler wants to see no more than 4 in the red zone. I passed this test. I only had 2 (Lithium and Cobalt). However, Cutler's site specifically says that low Lithium is evidence of Mercury toxicity.
The 2nd test is how many are above or below the 50th percentile. Cutler wants to see at least 5 out of the 22 above the mean but also at least 5 of the 22 below the mean. I passed this test too. I had 7 above and 15 below, which is cutting it a little close but I'm not worried. First, I had at least 3 "lows" in the white zone. Considering lab errors, they may have been on the plus side of 50 if tested again. Second, 13 out of the 15 lows were either in the white or green zone.
The 3rd test is the green zone test. Cutler wants to see at least 11 in the white or green zone. I had 19 of 22. In addition to Lithium and Cobalt, there was 1 obscure mineral called Zirconium that was in the yellow zone on the high side. Passed this test with flying colors.
Despite the good report on this test, at the end of the day, I still have EXTREME high sulfates which cause the fight or flight adrenal symptoms. NO AMOUNT OF MAG+THYM ADREN will be enough to balance it unless I can eliminate the sulfates. Yet, I cannot tolerate any of the sulfate detox treatments. Why? I thought it was due to mal-absorption but now I'm beginning to think that the Sparga and FOS may have thrown something else out of balance. My UAA test showed undetectable levels of Glutamate and Phospho-Serine. Glutamate had actually been on the high side on my last test while PS was mildly low. What caused those 2 to drop? The only other thing that I did differently was probiotic use so it's certainly possible that Sparga was responsible for the drops. If I can boost those 2, will I be able to tolerate the Sulfate detox again?
Yasko's plan and my ideas:
-I picked up a few herbs for malabsorption at the health foods store but I expect that they will be non-factors. I also ordered a TNF nucleotide product that supposedly is good for sulfates and may not cause the other issues.
- I will also order low dose Molybdenum again.
-Yasko has recommended ATP caps for the low Lithium and Cobalt then GRADUALLY re-introduce them after a couple months. I plan to be aggressive with this stuff. If I can tolerate the B12 again, it will CERTAINLY help the sulfates.
-I did pick up some Phospho-Serine as well but I'll go slow on that.
-One of my probiotics contains 150 mg of glutamine. Yasko wants me on this, NOT glutamate and supposedly, it will balance both. Again, I'll go slow on this as well.
Workout:
Today was Mile repeats at Vestavia with very generous rest periods. It was a better with or without test (ugh). I already know that taking FOS and/or Sparga would have been disastrous.
On Thym-Adren only- 6:58
After taking Phospho-Serine- 6:39 (MINUS 19)
After 300 mg Glutamine- 6:26 (MINUS 13)
Effort was comfortably hard each time with even splits. I feel a lot more comfortable with the PS than the Glutamine. I'll drop back to 150. Adding the ATP and TNF could shake things up further. I will wait another week before trying the Sparga OR FOS again.
White zone- VERY little deviation from the mean. I don't know the exact percentiles but I'd guess that it's around the 40th-60th percentiles. 4 out of 5 samples are outside this range.
Green zone- 16th-40th percentile and 60th-84th percentile. Slightly low or high but within 1 standard deviation of the mean and no cause for alarm. Nearly 1 in 3 are further out of balance.
Yellow zone- 2.5th-16th percentile and 84th-97.5th percentile. Significantly out of balance but still within 2 standard deviations of the mean. Lab values in this zone are clearly sub-optimal but would not be flagged in mainstream medicine. Only 5 percent are more unbalanced than this.
Red zone- Bottom 2.5 percent and Top 2.5 percent. Only 1 in 40 samples are on either side of this range. This is a severe imbalance that almost certainly requires treatment.
This lab tests 22 minerals. Cutler wants to see no more than 4 in the red zone. I passed this test. I only had 2 (Lithium and Cobalt). However, Cutler's site specifically says that low Lithium is evidence of Mercury toxicity.
The 2nd test is how many are above or below the 50th percentile. Cutler wants to see at least 5 out of the 22 above the mean but also at least 5 of the 22 below the mean. I passed this test too. I had 7 above and 15 below, which is cutting it a little close but I'm not worried. First, I had at least 3 "lows" in the white zone. Considering lab errors, they may have been on the plus side of 50 if tested again. Second, 13 out of the 15 lows were either in the white or green zone.
The 3rd test is the green zone test. Cutler wants to see at least 11 in the white or green zone. I had 19 of 22. In addition to Lithium and Cobalt, there was 1 obscure mineral called Zirconium that was in the yellow zone on the high side. Passed this test with flying colors.
Despite the good report on this test, at the end of the day, I still have EXTREME high sulfates which cause the fight or flight adrenal symptoms. NO AMOUNT OF MAG+THYM ADREN will be enough to balance it unless I can eliminate the sulfates. Yet, I cannot tolerate any of the sulfate detox treatments. Why? I thought it was due to mal-absorption but now I'm beginning to think that the Sparga and FOS may have thrown something else out of balance. My UAA test showed undetectable levels of Glutamate and Phospho-Serine. Glutamate had actually been on the high side on my last test while PS was mildly low. What caused those 2 to drop? The only other thing that I did differently was probiotic use so it's certainly possible that Sparga was responsible for the drops. If I can boost those 2, will I be able to tolerate the Sulfate detox again?
Yasko's plan and my ideas:
-I picked up a few herbs for malabsorption at the health foods store but I expect that they will be non-factors. I also ordered a TNF nucleotide product that supposedly is good for sulfates and may not cause the other issues.
- I will also order low dose Molybdenum again.
-Yasko has recommended ATP caps for the low Lithium and Cobalt then GRADUALLY re-introduce them after a couple months. I plan to be aggressive with this stuff. If I can tolerate the B12 again, it will CERTAINLY help the sulfates.
-I did pick up some Phospho-Serine as well but I'll go slow on that.
-One of my probiotics contains 150 mg of glutamine. Yasko wants me on this, NOT glutamate and supposedly, it will balance both. Again, I'll go slow on this as well.
Workout:
Today was Mile repeats at Vestavia with very generous rest periods. It was a better with or without test (ugh). I already know that taking FOS and/or Sparga would have been disastrous.
On Thym-Adren only- 6:58
After taking Phospho-Serine- 6:39 (MINUS 19)
After 300 mg Glutamine- 6:26 (MINUS 13)
Effort was comfortably hard each time with even splits. I feel a lot more comfortable with the PS than the Glutamine. I'll drop back to 150. Adding the ATP and TNF could shake things up further. I will wait another week before trying the Sparga OR FOS again.
Wednesday, December 2, 2015
Preliminary Thoughts on Doctor Report
Training:
It's going very poorly as of late. I have not been below the Mendoza line in 4 days. Today was pitiful. Plan was a 5 miler at Gold's but it ended up at 2 miles in 16:24 (8:12 pace) with splits of 7:41-8:33. The culprit is clearly the FOS. The first few weeks, I took a gummy with a few other ingredients that I bought in Auburn. When I ran out, I started taking the pill form that I ordered online (I can't find it locally in a store). Is it the pill form that I cannot tolerate or is it yet another treatment that worked for a while but later caused a collapse? I'll find out this weekend after another trip to Auburn this Saturday. The Sparga was so bad that I thought I had sustained an injury. If the gummy form fails, I'll be right back to no more options to treat the sulfates and I don't believe that Mag +Thym Adren will be enough to slow down my runaway adrenal function.
Test Results:
5 tests were ordered:
-Hair mineral test
-Urine mineral test
-Urine test to determine need for supplements:
-Urine Amino Acid Test (re-test)
-Stool analysis (disgusting)
Let's start from the top.
Hair mineral test:
This one looked surprisingly GOOD. Because the sample was washed, I really cannot rely on it to determine adrenal function but it did show that the 4 macro minerals (Ca.Mg,Na.K) were in relative balance. Potassium was slightly low (still within range) but that may have been due to use of B12. I suspect that an unwashed sample would have shown a VERY high Na/K ratio. Use Analytical Research Labs or Accutrace to assess mineral ratios.
I was primarily interested in this test to confirm or rule out mercury toxicity using Cutler's counting method. Lots of high and low values suggest impaired mineral transport and is thus strong evidence of mercury toxicity. If mercury reads low in the hair, you may still be toxic because it can hide in organs and is difficult to eliminate. In my case, all but 2 minerals were in the green zone (16th-84th percentile) and most were well within the range. Odds are, mercury toxicity is not the problem and I will NOT go through with amalgam removal. Personal note to Carrie: Thanks anyway for caring enough to make the suggestion and I still value your advice.
The 2 minerals that were outside the range were not a surprise; Lithium and cobalt were too low and in the red zone (critically low). Cobalt is the B12 mineral and Lithium is involved in B12 transport yet I cannot tolerate either in any form. Why? That will be explained in the Urine mineral test. The big surprise was Sulfur. I expected it to be sky high but it was actually slightly BELOW average. I am baffled by this and cannot understand why my sulfates are off the scale.
Urine mineral test:
Again, there were only 2 abnormalities and Sulfur was in the low-average range (around 30th percentile). This test showed the opposite problem. Lithium was WAY TOO HIGH wwhile Cobalt was low. I am wasting the Lithium and B12 away in the urine. That is, it's not being properly absorbed into the cells. What to do about it? I'm not entirely clear but it may have something to do with my ATP status. If I can fix that, will my sulfates go down and thus normalize my adrenal function? I can dream.
Urine Amino Acid Test:
This was a re-test that showed many alarming things the first time around. This time, the news is MUCH better. Yes, many amino acids are still on the low side but not critically so. I list the big changes one at a time:
-Ammonia had been borderline high (yellow zone) but has dropped significantly and is now well within the green zone and just a hair above the 50th percentile.
-Taurine, which had been in the red zone at 1290 has been cut nearly in half to 660 and is also in the green zone. In both cases, simply stopping the supplementation for several months was enough.
-Beta alanine, which had been sky high at 51 has plummeted all the way down to 6. Doc simply wants it under 20 and I don't think there is any downside to it being too low. I've read that high beta alanine is a sign of gut dysbiosis so I credit probiotic use in this case.
-The SHOCKER was Methionine, which I believed to be responsible for the extreme sensitivity to Cal/Mag and Zn/Cu. It rose from 2 all the way up to 13, which is well within the green zone. I really don't know what I did that caused such a drastic improvement and will have to ask about it.
-The only downer was that glutamate crashed and once again, I don't know why. It had been 34, which was a little high but was actually undetectable this time. Could it be a lab test error? Again, I will dig deeper.
The remaining 2 tests showed no critical problems, only a mild need for a couple vitamins. I expected that the stool test would show terrible mal-absorption but that was not so. Doc did suggest 2 nucleotide products called KLX and TNF.
Summary:
This is good news overall and definitely a boost in confidence in light of my recent struggles.
-I have ruled out mercury toxicity
-Nice improvements in ammonia and taurine
-HUGE improvements in beta alanine and methionine
-The Lithium and Cobalt problems were fully expected but should be treatable.
Questions:
I am still VERY concerned about the urine sulfates and don't know what to do about it. This will be the first thing that must be addressed in my follow up questions. Can it be corrected with proper absorption of Lithium and B-12?
What about the glutamate? What caused it to drop? Do I need to supplement with it? What problems are caused by low glutamate?
-Phospho-Serine was also low. I might be willing to try that stuff again but am a little gun shy because it did not work in the past.
A follow up will be posted in a few days.
It's going very poorly as of late. I have not been below the Mendoza line in 4 days. Today was pitiful. Plan was a 5 miler at Gold's but it ended up at 2 miles in 16:24 (8:12 pace) with splits of 7:41-8:33. The culprit is clearly the FOS. The first few weeks, I took a gummy with a few other ingredients that I bought in Auburn. When I ran out, I started taking the pill form that I ordered online (I can't find it locally in a store). Is it the pill form that I cannot tolerate or is it yet another treatment that worked for a while but later caused a collapse? I'll find out this weekend after another trip to Auburn this Saturday. The Sparga was so bad that I thought I had sustained an injury. If the gummy form fails, I'll be right back to no more options to treat the sulfates and I don't believe that Mag +Thym Adren will be enough to slow down my runaway adrenal function.
Test Results:
5 tests were ordered:
-Hair mineral test
-Urine mineral test
-Urine test to determine need for supplements:
-Urine Amino Acid Test (re-test)
-Stool analysis (disgusting)
Let's start from the top.
Hair mineral test:
This one looked surprisingly GOOD. Because the sample was washed, I really cannot rely on it to determine adrenal function but it did show that the 4 macro minerals (Ca.Mg,Na.K) were in relative balance. Potassium was slightly low (still within range) but that may have been due to use of B12. I suspect that an unwashed sample would have shown a VERY high Na/K ratio. Use Analytical Research Labs or Accutrace to assess mineral ratios.
I was primarily interested in this test to confirm or rule out mercury toxicity using Cutler's counting method. Lots of high and low values suggest impaired mineral transport and is thus strong evidence of mercury toxicity. If mercury reads low in the hair, you may still be toxic because it can hide in organs and is difficult to eliminate. In my case, all but 2 minerals were in the green zone (16th-84th percentile) and most were well within the range. Odds are, mercury toxicity is not the problem and I will NOT go through with amalgam removal. Personal note to Carrie: Thanks anyway for caring enough to make the suggestion and I still value your advice.
The 2 minerals that were outside the range were not a surprise; Lithium and cobalt were too low and in the red zone (critically low). Cobalt is the B12 mineral and Lithium is involved in B12 transport yet I cannot tolerate either in any form. Why? That will be explained in the Urine mineral test. The big surprise was Sulfur. I expected it to be sky high but it was actually slightly BELOW average. I am baffled by this and cannot understand why my sulfates are off the scale.
Urine mineral test:
Again, there were only 2 abnormalities and Sulfur was in the low-average range (around 30th percentile). This test showed the opposite problem. Lithium was WAY TOO HIGH wwhile Cobalt was low. I am wasting the Lithium and B12 away in the urine. That is, it's not being properly absorbed into the cells. What to do about it? I'm not entirely clear but it may have something to do with my ATP status. If I can fix that, will my sulfates go down and thus normalize my adrenal function? I can dream.
Urine Amino Acid Test:
This was a re-test that showed many alarming things the first time around. This time, the news is MUCH better. Yes, many amino acids are still on the low side but not critically so. I list the big changes one at a time:
-Ammonia had been borderline high (yellow zone) but has dropped significantly and is now well within the green zone and just a hair above the 50th percentile.
-Taurine, which had been in the red zone at 1290 has been cut nearly in half to 660 and is also in the green zone. In both cases, simply stopping the supplementation for several months was enough.
-Beta alanine, which had been sky high at 51 has plummeted all the way down to 6. Doc simply wants it under 20 and I don't think there is any downside to it being too low. I've read that high beta alanine is a sign of gut dysbiosis so I credit probiotic use in this case.
-The SHOCKER was Methionine, which I believed to be responsible for the extreme sensitivity to Cal/Mag and Zn/Cu. It rose from 2 all the way up to 13, which is well within the green zone. I really don't know what I did that caused such a drastic improvement and will have to ask about it.
-The only downer was that glutamate crashed and once again, I don't know why. It had been 34, which was a little high but was actually undetectable this time. Could it be a lab test error? Again, I will dig deeper.
The remaining 2 tests showed no critical problems, only a mild need for a couple vitamins. I expected that the stool test would show terrible mal-absorption but that was not so. Doc did suggest 2 nucleotide products called KLX and TNF.
Summary:
This is good news overall and definitely a boost in confidence in light of my recent struggles.
-I have ruled out mercury toxicity
-Nice improvements in ammonia and taurine
-HUGE improvements in beta alanine and methionine
-The Lithium and Cobalt problems were fully expected but should be treatable.
Questions:
I am still VERY concerned about the urine sulfates and don't know what to do about it. This will be the first thing that must be addressed in my follow up questions. Can it be corrected with proper absorption of Lithium and B-12?
What about the glutamate? What caused it to drop? Do I need to supplement with it? What problems are caused by low glutamate?
-Phospho-Serine was also low. I might be willing to try that stuff again but am a little gun shy because it did not work in the past.
A follow up will be posted in a few days.
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