Molybdenum and the Smoking Gun

It is nearly Spring and though I will not get a confirmation one way or the other in writing, it’s a pretty safe bet that I will know the outcome very soon.  Nothing is certain given my history but I really believe I’ve tried every trick in the book now.  Last week, I asked why the hell certain sulfur containing products such as glutathione, SAM-e and glucosamine seemed to be beneficial.  In fact, the latter option actually mitigated much of the ill-effects of taking the “bad sulfur” containing products such as Taurine, Milk Thistle and Curcumin.  If any of those 3 were taken alone, it would have been disastrous to the point that I would not be able to run a 10 minute mile.

I believe the reason for this is that not all sulfurs are created equal.  The “good stuff” such as the glucosamine is a sulfate while the bad stuff generates sulfites.  Sulfate=good.  Sulfite=bad.  There is a defect in my transulfation pathway that is blocking the conversion of sulfites to more friendly sulfates.  Though unconfirmed, evidence is strong that the culprit is an enzyme defect related to the SUOX gene that can be corrected with increased molybdenum.  I had been taking only a micro dose of 50 mcg but have since increased it to 150.  The results?

Small doses of Taurine and Curcumin are now well tolerated and may actually be marginally beneficial.  As for the PABA, a small pinch is needed to guard against Methyl folate sensitivity but taking a full strength dose was disastrous.  Now, I can take the full strength and barely feel any ill-effects.  All of this means that I do have to take a lot of pills every day and if I forget one, I’m in trouble.  There may be a sweet spot with some of the doses BUT the big difference is (drumroll please)  NO MORE MOVING TARGETS AND GOING BEYOND THE SWEET SPOT OR TAKING OTHER SULFUR PILLS WILL NOT SIGNIFICANTLY HURT ME!!  I’ve said it a million times that all I want out of this is STABLE chemistry.   Anything that I achieve in my running is a bonus.  What would happen if I loaded on “bad sulfur” with molybdenum?

I haven’t tried taking mega doses of Taurine but based on personal observations with Curcumin, I can bet that I will feel a little sluggish if I took too much but I’d still be able to get through a standard issue workout.  That’s a hell of a lot better than a 10 minute mile without the moly.  Extra molybdenum beyond 150 mcg is probably required if I was to take Taurine on a regular basis and would mitigate much of the ill-effects.  Any other options to try?

I’m leaning heavily towards the extra molybdenum option and am open to going beyond 150 mcg.  If I stuck with the low dose, I will be completely intolerant to Taurine and Curcumin as well as many other sulfur containing products.  Increased methylation that comes with taking TMG and MF also increases the demand for molybdenum. 

 I MIGHT be okay on the low dose if I avoid these problem pills like the plague and indeed I should not be taking much Taurine as it is because of the CBS mutation.  Still, something is BADLY wrong if a small dose of ANYTHING triggers such a STRONG negative reaction.  A pill such as Curcumin or Apple Cider Vinegar that could be useful in reducing excess Iron or preventing it from flaring up in the future would be off limits because of the sulfur content. 

 Even if I avoided all of that stuff completely, I still believe that the blockage in the sulfation pathway slows me down.  My top interval speed improved from 5:48 to 5:29 after solving the MF sensitivity with PABA.  Moreover, there is no guarantee that the sweet spots will remain constant.  I could develop a complete intolerance to PABA which means that a single dose of Methylfolate would cause me to gain/lose up to 60 seconds/mile while shooting at moving targets.  Once again, that is UNACCEPTABLE and I don’t care how fast I can go when everything is in sync.  I would say the same if I was in sub-5:00 Mile shape on my best days but terrible on the bad ones.  Any risks with molybdenum?

The biggest problem encountered thus far is increased demand for ADHS (adrenal support) but once again, I believe it to be a temporary spike that will calm down fairly soon.  It supposedly lowers Ferritin, which is good, but it may aggravate excessive serum Iron.  If that happens, I can safely take Curcumin to fix that without having to worry about the sulfur content.  If it does indeed lower Ferritin, I will NOT have to risk a Liver flush or blood donation which cannot be undone and could potentially alter my chemistry significantly. 

There is a risk that it could lower copper and ceruloplasmin but I’m not worried about that because I actually felt better when it was around 20 rather than the 25.9 on the last test.  Avoiding citrates and staying on the B-12 should keep that number afloat.  B-12 MUST be up to snuff or a bad reaction to molybdenum is likely.  While I don’t doubt that better balance in Iron, Magnesium, Copper and Adrenal activity is beneficial to my health, NONE of them are the smoking gun that explains the extreme sensitivity.  Even if my mineral balance was near-perfect, I’d still have BRUTAL sensitivity if the sulfation pathway blockage is not addressed.

Time will tell how I do on this formula but the longer I go without a relapse, the more likely it becomes that I am victorious.  If I raced NYC right now, I’d probably finish around 1:48-1:50 just like in training.  Given another 2.5 weeks of steady training, improvements are possible especially if the adrenals calm down.  I think I have a realistic chance of a post-35 PR which was a 1:45:58 last May in Kansas City.  A sub-1:43 will be tough but that would be a MAJOR confidence boost because it would be my best time since 2014, which was before the methylation problems became unmanageable without treatment.  Once again, I’ve probably set my last PR but I see no reason why I can’t be competitive if I am able to train at 40 MPW.  If the formula is stable, training updates will continue as long as I improve.  When I plateau, I will scale them back but continue to post road trip reports as well as Rants and Raves.