I took butter and bread last night. Actually I had 2 butter cubes and 4 slices of sandwich bread (refined wheat). I had consumed little bit of peanut butter also. Then, I had omega-3 capsules (2 capsules of Mega 3). After waking up in the morning, I observed the following things.
1. Good mood
2. Less irritability
3. Less body heat
4. Increased bass frequency of voice
5. Significantly less sweating and increased perception of cool breeze
6. Slightly increased focus and concentration in the morning and afternoon
Update on 24 April 2016
I have observed similar effects today also. I consumed butter with bread last night along with zinc amino chelate 15 mg (1 tablet). It appears that butter may have dopamine suppressing effect probably due to its vitamin E content. Vitamin E was reported to have dopamine antagonism effect.
Monday, November 2, 2015
Monday, October 12, 2015
Sleeping position, energy levels and stuttering
Usually, I used to sleep face down and stomach down. I used to get snoring also. Yesterday afternoon I slept for 2 hours. During that sleep, I slept face up and face side only and not face down. After waking up, I found that my energy level was little up and my speech was more fluent without gasping for breath. Less vocal blocks too.
Then, later on the night also, I slept in the face up and side mode and little face down (Could not get sleep with face up and side positions. Could go to sleep faster if I lie face down. I think this is mostly of a habituation. I need to change this habit voluntarily and firmly). Today morning, I see my voice was little louder and speech was more fluent without gasping for breath.
The underlying principle here could be lack of oxygen during sleeping because of sleeping position. I have protruding tummy which gets compressed while lying face down. This may exert compression pressure on my internal organs such as kidney and adrenals. Also, it may cause less expansion-compression of diaphragm which may result in less oxygen intake and more accumulation of carbon dioxide inside the body. I also have snoring. So, it is possible that I may have sleep apnea. I am not sure whether I have sleep apnea or not. I need to check that. Sleep apnea may cause all the symptoms currently I am experiencing.
Then, later on the night also, I slept in the face up and side mode and little face down (Could not get sleep with face up and side positions. Could go to sleep faster if I lie face down. I think this is mostly of a habituation. I need to change this habit voluntarily and firmly). Today morning, I see my voice was little louder and speech was more fluent without gasping for breath.
The underlying principle here could be lack of oxygen during sleeping because of sleeping position. I have protruding tummy which gets compressed while lying face down. This may exert compression pressure on my internal organs such as kidney and adrenals. Also, it may cause less expansion-compression of diaphragm which may result in less oxygen intake and more accumulation of carbon dioxide inside the body. I also have snoring. So, it is possible that I may have sleep apnea. I am not sure whether I have sleep apnea or not. I need to check that. Sleep apnea may cause all the symptoms currently I am experiencing.
Wednesday, September 30, 2015
Neuropathic pain and methyl cobalamin
For the past 6+ months, I have been suffering from pain in fingers of right hand. Initially, it was on the ring finger (4th finger) tip. Normally, no pain used to be there. If I press the tip of fourth finger OR if the fourth finger hits some object, I used to feel intense and unbearable pain for few seconds. The pain used to be intense and sharp. Then, the pain fades away. I can carry normal activities with that finger. For the last one month, I used to feel stiffness in index finger (first finger) of right hand also. During this time, the once used to be the occasional pain at the fourth finger, increased now to a discomforting pain interfering with my computer mouse usage. I am unable to hold mouse for more than 1 hour.
Yesterday night, suddenly a thought about methyl cobalamin came to my mind and I decided to try the effect of methylcobalamin on the finger pain. So, I took 250 microgram of methylcobalamin after dinner yesterday night and slept. Today morning, the pain almost disappeared in the fourth finger and there was no stiffness in my first finger too. I was able to clap with two hands with force. Earlier, I used to feel pain when I clapped and I could not clap with force. Then, today morning also I took another 250 microgram of methylcobalamin. There is no recurrence of pain and stiffness until evening 5.00 pm.
It appears that this pain may be neuropathic pain OR peripheral neuropathy and responding to methylcobalamin. I need to combine vitamin B6 pyridoxine along with methylcobalamin and see the effects.
Later, I took zincovit tablets (1 tablet in morning) and observed that the hand and finger pain almost disappeared. During this zincovit tablet usage, I skipped taking methylcobalamin for few days. Even then, there was no finger and hand pain.
Yesterday night, suddenly a thought about methyl cobalamin came to my mind and I decided to try the effect of methylcobalamin on the finger pain. So, I took 250 microgram of methylcobalamin after dinner yesterday night and slept. Today morning, the pain almost disappeared in the fourth finger and there was no stiffness in my first finger too. I was able to clap with two hands with force. Earlier, I used to feel pain when I clapped and I could not clap with force. Then, today morning also I took another 250 microgram of methylcobalamin. There is no recurrence of pain and stiffness until evening 5.00 pm.
It appears that this pain may be neuropathic pain OR peripheral neuropathy and responding to methylcobalamin. I need to combine vitamin B6 pyridoxine along with methylcobalamin and see the effects.
Later, I took zincovit tablets (1 tablet in morning) and observed that the hand and finger pain almost disappeared. During this zincovit tablet usage, I skipped taking methylcobalamin for few days. Even then, there was no finger and hand pain.
Saturday, July 11, 2015
Effect of Vitamin B1 - Thiamine
Based on the few references/websites on effectiveness of thiamine on stuttering and relieving the symptoms of Parkinson's disease, I decided to take thiamine and try. I could get only thiamine mononitrate not thiamine hydrochloride. I got thiamine mononitrate 100 mg tablet. As per the thaimine protocol by Martin F. Schwartz, 300 mg of thiamine hydrochloride is recommended. Despite this difference, I decided to take thaimine mononitrate. I took 100 mg per day in the morning. At this time, I was not taking any other medication. I intentionally avoided all supplements to study the effect of thiamine alone in by body and brain. Thiamine mononitrate 100 mg/day produced good feelings of affection and reduced irritability. It increased the energy levels little. Not much. But it produced mild stuttering. The stuttering was of the type that I could not complete the sentences. The breathing broke down spontaneously towards end of the sentence and unable to complete the last word. So, I decided to lower down the dose and splitted the tablet. I tried with 50 mg twice a day, one in the morning and one in the night. This also produced mild stuttering. So, I down the dose to 25 mg twice daily. This produced less stuttering and stuttering was manageable. So, totally I took 25 mg twice daily for last three weeks.
Positive effects:
1. Increased feelings of affection towards family members and reduced irritability. This led to reduced number of fights with wife.
2. Slightly increased energy.
Negative effects:
1. Intolerance to cold - I was unable to sit in my air conditioned office. I had to wear a jacket to cover my body to avoid shaking of my muscles due to cold. Normally I don't feel much cold in my office. Even without air conditioning at my house also, I had to cover myself with blankets.
2. Seems to decrease the libido and early morning erections.
3. Could not focus or concentrate on any work during the day (This happened during the fasting.)
I need to use 300 mg of thiamine hydrochloride and observe the effects.
Update on 17/08/2015:
On 26 July, 2015, I tested for a complete health check up. Surprisingly, my cholesterol levels became normal. My total cholesterol was below normal, HDL-C was little decreased from normal, LDL-C was slightly increased from normal. TG was almost normal. My blood pressure was also normal (tested on two occasions; one by a doctor and another one by a nurse (130/80 at 11 am). My blood sugar (fasting and postprandial) and HbA1C were also within normal range.
The possible reasons:
1. I avoided rice completely during the fasting month. I took only chapathis and parottas. But I took mutton and chicken twice per week.
2. I avoided tea and coffee totally during the fasting month. Instead I took only green tea in the evening. This caused defecation issues. No regular defecation occurred. Incomplete feeling was there after passing stools.
3. I took 1 or 2 eggs daily in night.
4. I continued the thiamine mononitrate 25 mg in morning and 25 mg in night.
Update on 28/08/2015:
For the last 1 week, I have been taking benfotiamine. I tried to get thiamine hydrochloride 100 mg in India. But, I could not get it. Instead, I could obtain only benfotiamine 100 mg (Benalgis 100 mg). So, I decided to give it a try. I took 100 mg in the morning for few days. It gave me good mood. But mild stuttering was there. So, I split it into 50 mg in morning and 50 mg in night. During this time, I was taking tea without milk two times daily. I was taking supradyn recharge 1 tablet on alternate days. I felt very tired and less motivated. But I was not feeling much cold in my office when compared to thiamine mononitrate. But still, I felt little cold and tired. After reading some literature on benfotiamine and NFkB, I decided to reduce the dose to 50 mg and take at night time. This gave me good mood and manageable stuttering. Also, I was taking chapatis and parottas for breakfast and dinner during this time. But it appears to me that wheat based products stimulate some kind of inflammation in my brain. So, I need to try with only rice-based products.
Positive effects:
1. Good mood
2. Slightly increased motivation
3. Slightly increased concentration
4. Reduced irritation
5. The libido increased for few days (able to fantasize) and become stable afterwards
6. Manageable stuttering
7. Got early morning erections every day. I used to feel erection probably after every REM sleep stage
Negative effects:
1. Sleeping time slightly increased.
2. Inertia is still there.
Possible mechanism:
1. Benfotiamine may reduce the activation of NFkB. This may lead to increased GnRH secretion. Because, activated NFkB may reduce GnRH secretion.
Update on 29 April 2016:
For the last 1 month, I was taking pharmaton capsules which contains ginseng (1 tablet daily in morning). This gives me good working memory to juggle between multiple tasks with less perceived stress. I am able to remain motivated to continue with the tasks and still focus on other tasks. I think this may be due to the ginseng's effect and the presence of lecithin. I added zinc 15 mg, one tablet daily in night (Amino zinc, 21st Century). This was giving me good sustained focus and concentration to do tasks. Along with this combination, when I took vitamin C 500 mg (Celin 500) in the morning, it increased my libido very much.
The ginseng produced little stuttering. With vitamin C, the stuttering was less and more manageable. But, in the afternoon, after the lunch, the stuttering was worse. So, I stopped vitamin C. The ginseng produced stuttering probably due to increased dopamine. So, I added thiamine mononitrate 25 mg daily at night. It effectively reduced stuttering and anxiety especially when one more dose (25 mg) was taken in the morning. Strikingly, the effect of thiamine is consistent and similar to that of previous observations in 2015 July. Similar to the positive effects, it produced the negative effects (unable to focus or concentrate on academic work, intolerance to cold temperature, reduced libido) also with the same consistency. These effects are noticeable approximately after 5-7 days of daily dosing. The efficacy of thiamine to suppress stuttering and induce fluent speech is remarkable.
Yesterday, I had to do interview a person through skype along with my dean and a person from HR. I was fluent in speech and without anxiety. I could ask questions to the interviewee and talk with other team members without any noticeable stuttering. The speech was clear. Amazing! Only a stutter will know how much stressful it is to talk over phone or other online chat applications. Yesterday, I did not take pharmaton capsule to lessen stuttering. Instead, I took 25 mg thiamine mononitrate after lunch. The night day before yesterday, I took 15 mg zinc (Amino zinc) 25 mg thiamine mononitrate. The breakfast was two bread slices (sandwich bread with wheatgerm) and the lunch was rice with chicken curry and chicken 3 pieces of chicken. The interview was at 3 pm.
Because of intolerance to cold and unable to focus on work, I stopped thiamine mononitrate yesterday. Instead, I took benfotiamine 50 mg at night. Today morning, I found my libido is good and I am able to focus on work. The stuttering is also little worse than yesterday. I don't know whether it is due to benfotiamine or stopping of thiamine mononitrate. I need to follow up for few more days and see.
It appears to me that the thiamine mononitrate may act by increasing GABA similar to Ashwagandha. So, the increased GABA may reduce dopamine, noradrenaline and serotonin possibly leading to all those symptoms observed. Contrastingly, benfotiamine appears to be acting with different mechanism than that of thiamine mononitrate. The long term effects of benfotiamine needs to be studied.
Update on 14 June 2017:
Recently, I was taking thiamine mononitrate 25 mg every night after dinner. It was not reducing stuttering much during the fasting month. So, I took 50 mg of thiamine mononitrate in night after dinner. The next morning, I observed increased salivation in the mouth and reduced stuttering and increased loudness of voice. This indicates possible increase of cholinergic or parasympathtic drive by thiamine mononitrate.
Update on 26 March 2018:
I did a blood check up on 2 Feb 2018. My total cholesterol (273 mg/dL) and LDL-cholesterol (191 mg/dL) were very high. Prior to the check up, I was taking L-thyroxine (25 mg) [Thyronorm] every night 2 hrs after dinner for 3-4 months. I don't know whether thyroxine consumption can increase LDL-cholesterol or not. After seeing the LDL-C levels, I stopped taking thyroxine. I remembered my 2015 experiment of taking thiamine and reduction in cholesterol levels. So, I wanted to repeat that experiment. So, I have started taking thiamine from 14 Feb 2018 similar to the 2015 experiment. I am taking 25 mg of thiamine mononitrate two times daily (morning and night, both after food). I am also taking multivitamin + minerals (Blackmore) 1 tablet daily in the morning after food. Along with these drugs, I used to take Vitamin D3 1000 IU (Cholecalciferol 25 mcg) (Blackmores) one capsule every day. But, after 3-4 days of taking Vitamin D3, my stuttering gets worst. So, I had to stop taking vitamin D3. If I take B+C (Blackmores) along with thiamine, it increases focus and concentration (suitable for research). However, it increases stuttering mildly. I am also doing 30 minutes of aerobic exercise (elliptical cross training) daily in the evening around 8.30 - 10.00 pm before dinner. I am planning to test my cholesterol levels around May 14. Surprisingly, this time, I am not feeling cold intolerance as I had before. Also, no lack of focus and concentration.
Update on 14 May 2018:
I did a blood check up on 12 May 2018. My lipid profile is as below:
Total cholesterol (TC): 220 mg/dL
LDL-C: 148.10 mg/dL
HDL-C: 35.96 mg/dL
As expected, the TC and LDL-C values are reduced 19% and 22.46% respectively with the thiamine mononitrate therapy approximately for 3 months. The reduction is much less when compared with one month therapy with thiamine mononitrate during 2015. This suggests that the increased cholesterol synthesis may happen due to either milk consumption or multivitamin consumption. This requires further research.
Update on 27 June 2018:
I did a blood check up on 25 June 2018 after the fasting month. During this fasting month, I stopped the thiamine mononitrate due to an unexpected sudden occurrence of right knee pain (a very unique pain occurred. No pain was observed during normal walking or sitting but severe unbearable needles-like pain was observed when I kneel down only especially during prayer). So, I stopped all medications for nearly one month. After 45 days, the knee pain disappeared completely and did not return.
My lipid profile is as below:
Total cholesterol: 239.2 mg/dL
LDL-C: 175.7 mg/dL
HDL-C: 43.5 mg/dL
It appears that stopping thiamine mononitrate has significant impact on cholesterol levels especially on LDL-C levels even for 1 month time.
Positive effects:
1. Increased feelings of affection towards family members and reduced irritability. This led to reduced number of fights with wife.
2. Slightly increased energy.
Negative effects:
1. Intolerance to cold - I was unable to sit in my air conditioned office. I had to wear a jacket to cover my body to avoid shaking of my muscles due to cold. Normally I don't feel much cold in my office. Even without air conditioning at my house also, I had to cover myself with blankets.
2. Seems to decrease the libido and early morning erections.
3. Could not focus or concentrate on any work during the day (This happened during the fasting.)
I need to use 300 mg of thiamine hydrochloride and observe the effects.
Update on 17/08/2015:
On 26 July, 2015, I tested for a complete health check up. Surprisingly, my cholesterol levels became normal. My total cholesterol was below normal, HDL-C was little decreased from normal, LDL-C was slightly increased from normal. TG was almost normal. My blood pressure was also normal (tested on two occasions; one by a doctor and another one by a nurse (130/80 at 11 am). My blood sugar (fasting and postprandial) and HbA1C were also within normal range.
The possible reasons:
1. I avoided rice completely during the fasting month. I took only chapathis and parottas. But I took mutton and chicken twice per week.
2. I avoided tea and coffee totally during the fasting month. Instead I took only green tea in the evening. This caused defecation issues. No regular defecation occurred. Incomplete feeling was there after passing stools.
3. I took 1 or 2 eggs daily in night.
4. I continued the thiamine mononitrate 25 mg in morning and 25 mg in night.
Update on 28/08/2015:
For the last 1 week, I have been taking benfotiamine. I tried to get thiamine hydrochloride 100 mg in India. But, I could not get it. Instead, I could obtain only benfotiamine 100 mg (Benalgis 100 mg). So, I decided to give it a try. I took 100 mg in the morning for few days. It gave me good mood. But mild stuttering was there. So, I split it into 50 mg in morning and 50 mg in night. During this time, I was taking tea without milk two times daily. I was taking supradyn recharge 1 tablet on alternate days. I felt very tired and less motivated. But I was not feeling much cold in my office when compared to thiamine mononitrate. But still, I felt little cold and tired. After reading some literature on benfotiamine and NFkB, I decided to reduce the dose to 50 mg and take at night time. This gave me good mood and manageable stuttering. Also, I was taking chapatis and parottas for breakfast and dinner during this time. But it appears to me that wheat based products stimulate some kind of inflammation in my brain. So, I need to try with only rice-based products.
Positive effects:
1. Good mood
2. Slightly increased motivation
3. Slightly increased concentration
4. Reduced irritation
5. The libido increased for few days (able to fantasize) and become stable afterwards
6. Manageable stuttering
7. Got early morning erections every day. I used to feel erection probably after every REM sleep stage
Negative effects:
1. Sleeping time slightly increased.
2. Inertia is still there.
Possible mechanism:
1. Benfotiamine may reduce the activation of NFkB. This may lead to increased GnRH secretion. Because, activated NFkB may reduce GnRH secretion.
Update on 29 April 2016:
For the last 1 month, I was taking pharmaton capsules which contains ginseng (1 tablet daily in morning). This gives me good working memory to juggle between multiple tasks with less perceived stress. I am able to remain motivated to continue with the tasks and still focus on other tasks. I think this may be due to the ginseng's effect and the presence of lecithin. I added zinc 15 mg, one tablet daily in night (Amino zinc, 21st Century). This was giving me good sustained focus and concentration to do tasks. Along with this combination, when I took vitamin C 500 mg (Celin 500) in the morning, it increased my libido very much.
The ginseng produced little stuttering. With vitamin C, the stuttering was less and more manageable. But, in the afternoon, after the lunch, the stuttering was worse. So, I stopped vitamin C. The ginseng produced stuttering probably due to increased dopamine. So, I added thiamine mononitrate 25 mg daily at night. It effectively reduced stuttering and anxiety especially when one more dose (25 mg) was taken in the morning. Strikingly, the effect of thiamine is consistent and similar to that of previous observations in 2015 July. Similar to the positive effects, it produced the negative effects (unable to focus or concentrate on academic work, intolerance to cold temperature, reduced libido) also with the same consistency. These effects are noticeable approximately after 5-7 days of daily dosing. The efficacy of thiamine to suppress stuttering and induce fluent speech is remarkable.
Yesterday, I had to do interview a person through skype along with my dean and a person from HR. I was fluent in speech and without anxiety. I could ask questions to the interviewee and talk with other team members without any noticeable stuttering. The speech was clear. Amazing! Only a stutter will know how much stressful it is to talk over phone or other online chat applications. Yesterday, I did not take pharmaton capsule to lessen stuttering. Instead, I took 25 mg thiamine mononitrate after lunch. The night day before yesterday, I took 15 mg zinc (Amino zinc) 25 mg thiamine mononitrate. The breakfast was two bread slices (sandwich bread with wheatgerm) and the lunch was rice with chicken curry and chicken 3 pieces of chicken. The interview was at 3 pm.
Because of intolerance to cold and unable to focus on work, I stopped thiamine mononitrate yesterday. Instead, I took benfotiamine 50 mg at night. Today morning, I found my libido is good and I am able to focus on work. The stuttering is also little worse than yesterday. I don't know whether it is due to benfotiamine or stopping of thiamine mononitrate. I need to follow up for few more days and see.
It appears to me that the thiamine mononitrate may act by increasing GABA similar to Ashwagandha. So, the increased GABA may reduce dopamine, noradrenaline and serotonin possibly leading to all those symptoms observed. Contrastingly, benfotiamine appears to be acting with different mechanism than that of thiamine mononitrate. The long term effects of benfotiamine needs to be studied.
Update on 14 June 2017:
Recently, I was taking thiamine mononitrate 25 mg every night after dinner. It was not reducing stuttering much during the fasting month. So, I took 50 mg of thiamine mononitrate in night after dinner. The next morning, I observed increased salivation in the mouth and reduced stuttering and increased loudness of voice. This indicates possible increase of cholinergic or parasympathtic drive by thiamine mononitrate.
Update on 26 March 2018:
I did a blood check up on 2 Feb 2018. My total cholesterol (273 mg/dL) and LDL-cholesterol (191 mg/dL) were very high. Prior to the check up, I was taking L-thyroxine (25 mg) [Thyronorm] every night 2 hrs after dinner for 3-4 months. I don't know whether thyroxine consumption can increase LDL-cholesterol or not. After seeing the LDL-C levels, I stopped taking thyroxine. I remembered my 2015 experiment of taking thiamine and reduction in cholesterol levels. So, I wanted to repeat that experiment. So, I have started taking thiamine from 14 Feb 2018 similar to the 2015 experiment. I am taking 25 mg of thiamine mononitrate two times daily (morning and night, both after food). I am also taking multivitamin + minerals (Blackmore) 1 tablet daily in the morning after food. Along with these drugs, I used to take Vitamin D3 1000 IU (Cholecalciferol 25 mcg) (Blackmores) one capsule every day. But, after 3-4 days of taking Vitamin D3, my stuttering gets worst. So, I had to stop taking vitamin D3. If I take B+C (Blackmores) along with thiamine, it increases focus and concentration (suitable for research). However, it increases stuttering mildly. I am also doing 30 minutes of aerobic exercise (elliptical cross training) daily in the evening around 8.30 - 10.00 pm before dinner. I am planning to test my cholesterol levels around May 14. Surprisingly, this time, I am not feeling cold intolerance as I had before. Also, no lack of focus and concentration.
Update on 14 May 2018:
I did a blood check up on 12 May 2018. My lipid profile is as below:
Total cholesterol (TC): 220 mg/dL
LDL-C: 148.10 mg/dL
HDL-C: 35.96 mg/dL
As expected, the TC and LDL-C values are reduced 19% and 22.46% respectively with the thiamine mononitrate therapy approximately for 3 months. The reduction is much less when compared with one month therapy with thiamine mononitrate during 2015. This suggests that the increased cholesterol synthesis may happen due to either milk consumption or multivitamin consumption. This requires further research.
Update on 27 June 2018:
I did a blood check up on 25 June 2018 after the fasting month. During this fasting month, I stopped the thiamine mononitrate due to an unexpected sudden occurrence of right knee pain (a very unique pain occurred. No pain was observed during normal walking or sitting but severe unbearable needles-like pain was observed when I kneel down only especially during prayer). So, I stopped all medications for nearly one month. After 45 days, the knee pain disappeared completely and did not return.
My lipid profile is as below:
Total cholesterol: 239.2 mg/dL
LDL-C: 175.7 mg/dL
HDL-C: 43.5 mg/dL
It appears that stopping thiamine mononitrate has significant impact on cholesterol levels especially on LDL-C levels even for 1 month time.
Saturday, July 4, 2015
Composition of Multi B
The following is the composition of Multi B, Blackmores. This is a multivitamin tablet containing mainly the B vitamins excluding vitamin C, A, D and E.
| Active ingredients per tablet | |
| Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin) | 8.5 mg |
| Vitamin B1 (Thiamine nitrate) | 7.5 mg |
| Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine hydrochloride) | 10 mg |
| Vitamin B3 (Nicotinamide) | 60 mg |
| Biotin | 50 mcg |
| Vitamin B5 (Pantothenic Acid) | 20 mg |
| Choline bitartrate | 50 mg |
| Folic Acid | 200 mcg |
| Inositol | 50 mg |
| Vitamin B12 (Cyanocobalamin) | 10 mcg |
| No added yeast, gluten, wheat, milk derivatives, preservatives, artificial flavours or sweeteners. |
Less Anxiety and Less Stuttering
I have been fasting these days. Two weeks before fasting, I started taking two boiled eggs every day at dinner in order to increase testosterone levels. Also, I have been taking thiamine mononitrate 50 mg per day (25 mg in morning and 25 mg in night). I was taking multivitamin B complex tablets (Multi B, Blackmores) also. Later I changed to supradyn recharge. I took supradyn recharge on alternate days. I added 3.325 mg of methylfolate in the night to increase focus and concentration.
During the fasting, I avoided rice completely and used to take parotta or chappathi. I avoided coffee or tea completely. I took only black lemon tea and later switched to green tea with little sugar (no milk). Also, I changed from Dove soap to Chandrika soap for bath.
These combination of diet, supplements and lifestyle modification produced a dramatic effect. No anxiety before talking. Less stuttering and no gasping for breath during talking. It seems that my multiple chemical sensitivity is reduced much.
Possible mechanism:
The combination of these supplements might have reduced inflammation in the body. The inflammation weakens the blood brain barrier. Due to high permeability of blood brain barrier, many chemicals might have entered into the brain, thus disturbing neurotransmitters systems. The disturbed neurotransmitter systems might have caused mood changes and increased stuttering etc.
During the fasting, I avoided rice completely and used to take parotta or chappathi. I avoided coffee or tea completely. I took only black lemon tea and later switched to green tea with little sugar (no milk). Also, I changed from Dove soap to Chandrika soap for bath.
These combination of diet, supplements and lifestyle modification produced a dramatic effect. No anxiety before talking. Less stuttering and no gasping for breath during talking. It seems that my multiple chemical sensitivity is reduced much.
Possible mechanism:
The combination of these supplements might have reduced inflammation in the body. The inflammation weakens the blood brain barrier. Due to high permeability of blood brain barrier, many chemicals might have entered into the brain, thus disturbing neurotransmitters systems. The disturbed neurotransmitter systems might have caused mood changes and increased stuttering etc.
Wednesday, May 20, 2015
Effect of Vitamin E
I took vitamin E for last two weeks. Because vitamin E is reported to have anti aromatase effect, anti prolactin effect and antioxidant effect. I took one 200 I. U. capsule at night. However, it produced severe joint pain in my left hand wrist area. With this joint pain (may be arthralgia), I am unable to lift certain things. It is severe. The pain is not responding to volini gel. The pain reduced in intensity after I stopped vitamin E.
Positive effects:
1. Slightly improved mood
2. Slightly improved concentration
Negative effects:
1. Slight appearance of non stutterable pause
2. Decreased libido and decreased energy
3. Decreased motivation
4. Severe joint pain in left wrist
References:
1. Lycopene and vitamin E interfere with autocrine/paracrine loops in the Dunning prostate cancer model.
2. Effect of vitamin E therapy on sexual functions of uremic patients in hemodialysis.
Positive effects:
1. Slightly improved mood
2. Slightly improved concentration
Negative effects:
1. Slight appearance of non stutterable pause
2. Decreased libido and decreased energy
3. Decreased motivation
4. Severe joint pain in left wrist
References:
1. Lycopene and vitamin E interfere with autocrine/paracrine loops in the Dunning prostate cancer model.
2. Effect of vitamin E therapy on sexual functions of uremic patients in hemodialysis.
Effect of Turmeric
I was taking turmeric powder since the scientific literature indicated that it can increase testosterone and inhibit aromatase enzyme. I took it for around 1 week. I took around 500 mg to 1 g of turmeric powder mixed with dosa flour or mixed with egg omlette. I took one time in the morning sometimes and both in morning and dinner sometimes.
Positive effects:
1. Generally good mood
2. Slightly increased focus and concentration
3. Slightly reduced stuttering
4. Early morning erections are rock solid
5. Slightly improved libido and motivation
Negative effects:
1. Increased sweating
2. Slightly increased agitated mood
3. Tightness in the chest - this effect was very significant and caused great discomfort to me. The chest muscles seem to be not relaxing and contracting like before. The chest tightness combined with muscle pain in hand caused great distress.
4. When I took turmeric two times a day (at breakfast and dinner), it caused severe left sided headache (serotonin deficiency). The headache persisted for almost two days. It did not subside after taking 650 mg paracetamol. It went away only after I stopped taking turmeric.
Possible mechanism:
Turmeric might have increased cortisol. This increased cortisol might have caused decreased serotonin. The exact mechanism needs to be studied further.
Turmeric compounds might have increased acetylcholine levels by inhibiting acetylcholinesterase enzyme and activating choline acetyl transferase enzyme.
References:
Combined administration of curcumin and gallic acid inhibits gallic acid-induced suppression of steroidogenesis, sperm output, antioxidant defenses and inflammatory responsive genes.
Inhibitory effect of curcuminoids on acetylcholinesterase activity and attenuation of scopolamine-induced amnesia may explain medicinal use of turmeric in Alzheimer's disease
Update on 18 Feb 2018:
I used to develop the same chest pain (exactly the pain the sternum and adjacent rib muscles). It does not pain normally. It pains sometimes whenever I turn my body and whenever I press the sternum ribs. Otherwise, it doesn't give any pain during walking or climbing stairs or even during exercise in elliptical trainer.
Recently also, I cooked a curry with some turmeric in it. After two times consumption of that curry, I got that pain again. Now, I am taking the following supplements:
Blackmore Multivitamin + Minerals - 1 tablet in morning
Thiamine mononitrate - 25 mg in morning and 25 mg in night
Blackmore Vitamin D3 - 1000 mcg - 1 capsule in morning
L-Tryptophan 500 mg - 1 capsule in night
Also, I consumed 2-3 eggs (enriched with organic selenium) per day. No other non-vegetarian food was consumed during these days. Within two days, the pain subsided. Is it due to selenium or tryptophan?
Positive effects:
1. Generally good mood
2. Slightly increased focus and concentration
3. Slightly reduced stuttering
4. Early morning erections are rock solid
5. Slightly improved libido and motivation
Negative effects:
1. Increased sweating
2. Slightly increased agitated mood
3. Tightness in the chest - this effect was very significant and caused great discomfort to me. The chest muscles seem to be not relaxing and contracting like before. The chest tightness combined with muscle pain in hand caused great distress.
4. When I took turmeric two times a day (at breakfast and dinner), it caused severe left sided headache (serotonin deficiency). The headache persisted for almost two days. It did not subside after taking 650 mg paracetamol. It went away only after I stopped taking turmeric.
Possible mechanism:
Turmeric might have increased cortisol. This increased cortisol might have caused decreased serotonin. The exact mechanism needs to be studied further.
Turmeric compounds might have increased acetylcholine levels by inhibiting acetylcholinesterase enzyme and activating choline acetyl transferase enzyme.
References:
Combined administration of curcumin and gallic acid inhibits gallic acid-induced suppression of steroidogenesis, sperm output, antioxidant defenses and inflammatory responsive genes.
Inhibitory effect of curcuminoids on acetylcholinesterase activity and attenuation of scopolamine-induced amnesia may explain medicinal use of turmeric in Alzheimer's disease
Update on 18 Feb 2018:
I used to develop the same chest pain (exactly the pain the sternum and adjacent rib muscles). It does not pain normally. It pains sometimes whenever I turn my body and whenever I press the sternum ribs. Otherwise, it doesn't give any pain during walking or climbing stairs or even during exercise in elliptical trainer.
Recently also, I cooked a curry with some turmeric in it. After two times consumption of that curry, I got that pain again. Now, I am taking the following supplements:
Blackmore Multivitamin + Minerals - 1 tablet in morning
Thiamine mononitrate - 25 mg in morning and 25 mg in night
Blackmore Vitamin D3 - 1000 mcg - 1 capsule in morning
L-Tryptophan 500 mg - 1 capsule in night
Also, I consumed 2-3 eggs (enriched with organic selenium) per day. No other non-vegetarian food was consumed during these days. Within two days, the pain subsided. Is it due to selenium or tryptophan?
Sunday, May 10, 2015
Supplements with effect on aromatase enzyme CYP19
Supplements that can INCREASE the activity of aromatase enzyme
1. Ginseng (ginseng refers to Panax ginseng C. A. Meyer) root
Ref: US Patent US 20070041996 A1
2. Green Tea
Ref:
Chronic Green Tea Consumption Decreases Body Mass, Induces Aromatase Expression, and Changes Proliferation and Apoptosis in Adult Male Rat Adipose Tissue.
J. Nutr. November 2008 vol. 138 no. 11 2156-2163
It is stated in this paper that green tea also reduced testosterone levels and increased estradiol levels. This is an in vivo study done with oral administration of green tea infusion equivalent to human consumption.
Supplements that can DECREASE the activity of aromatase enzyme
1. Ginkgo biloba extract
Ref:
Antiestrogenic activities of Ginkgo biloba extracts.
Oh SM, Chung KH.
J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol. 2006 Aug;100(4-5):167-76.
2. Cigarette smoking/nicotine
Ref:
J Enzyme Inhib. 1990;4(2):187-200.
Aromatase inhibitors in cigarette smoke, tobacco leaves and other plants.
Osawa Y1, Tochigi B, Tochigi M, Ohnishi S, Watanabe Y, Bullion K, Osawa G, Nakabayashi Y, Yarborough C.
1. Ginseng (ginseng refers to Panax ginseng C. A. Meyer) root
Ref: US Patent US 20070041996 A1
2. Green Tea
Ref:
Chronic Green Tea Consumption Decreases Body Mass, Induces Aromatase Expression, and Changes Proliferation and Apoptosis in Adult Male Rat Adipose Tissue.
J. Nutr. November 2008 vol. 138 no. 11 2156-2163
It is stated in this paper that green tea also reduced testosterone levels and increased estradiol levels. This is an in vivo study done with oral administration of green tea infusion equivalent to human consumption.
Supplements that can DECREASE the activity of aromatase enzyme
1. Ginkgo biloba extract
Ref:
Antiestrogenic activities of Ginkgo biloba extracts.
Oh SM, Chung KH.
J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol. 2006 Aug;100(4-5):167-76.
2. Cigarette smoking/nicotine
Ref:
J Enzyme Inhib. 1990;4(2):187-200.
Aromatase inhibitors in cigarette smoke, tobacco leaves and other plants.
Osawa Y1, Tochigi B, Tochigi M, Ohnishi S, Watanabe Y, Bullion K, Osawa G, Nakabayashi Y, Yarborough C.
Tuesday, April 21, 2015
Effect of folic acid, methyl folate, zinc and vitamin B6
During the course of several multivitamin tablets and capsules, I observed the effects of few components such as folic acid, methylfolate, zinc and vitamin B6. Actually, these effects are observed when these compounds are taken along with a multivitamin tablet/capsule. Those multivitamin tablet/capsule contain less than daily recommended value of folic acid, zinc and vitamin B6.
When taken alone, zinc 15 mg gives sleepiness and dullness. In contrast, when zinc and vitamin B6 (at least 6 mg) are combined, it gives opposite effect. With this combination, sometimes I don't feel sleepy even around 1.30 am. But If I lie down on bed, I used to get good sleep and complete sleep. Even if it is a 6 hrs sleep, after getting up, even though I still feel the same tiredness and inertia, I don't get the feeling of "not slept enough". Earlier, I used to get "not slept enough....need to sleep for long hours to make up the loss" feeling, if i sleep less than 8 or 9 hours. Because of this feeling, I used to sleep for 8-10 hours during the weekends and 7-9 hours during the weekdays. with zinc and B6 combination, I never worried about sleep debt. Some afternoons, I felt sleepy. But, no urge to lie down and sleep. Earlier, many times I used to go to house and sleep from office. Those times, simply I could not control my sleepiness.
Zinc, when taken alone or in combination gives good muscle flexibility and endurance to sustain 45 minutes of pedaling in cross trainer. However, zinc taken at night disturbs the sleep and the next day I used to feel sleepy. Zinc also heals the skin bruises and scratches fast. My skin around the hand finger nails used to peel off after getting scratched while inserting into my back pant pocket. After taking zinc, simply I don't get this.
When taken alone, zinc 15 mg gives sleepiness and dullness. In contrast, when zinc and vitamin B6 (at least 6 mg) are combined, it gives opposite effect. With this combination, sometimes I don't feel sleepy even around 1.30 am. But If I lie down on bed, I used to get good sleep and complete sleep. Even if it is a 6 hrs sleep, after getting up, even though I still feel the same tiredness and inertia, I don't get the feeling of "not slept enough". Earlier, I used to get "not slept enough....need to sleep for long hours to make up the loss" feeling, if i sleep less than 8 or 9 hours. Because of this feeling, I used to sleep for 8-10 hours during the weekends and 7-9 hours during the weekdays. with zinc and B6 combination, I never worried about sleep debt. Some afternoons, I felt sleepy. But, no urge to lie down and sleep. Earlier, many times I used to go to house and sleep from office. Those times, simply I could not control my sleepiness.
Zinc, when taken alone or in combination gives good muscle flexibility and endurance to sustain 45 minutes of pedaling in cross trainer. However, zinc taken at night disturbs the sleep and the next day I used to feel sleepy. Zinc also heals the skin bruises and scratches fast. My skin around the hand finger nails used to peel off after getting scratched while inserting into my back pant pocket. After taking zinc, simply I don't get this.
Compound
|
Effect
|
Remarks
|
Folic
acid
|
2.5 mg
of folic acid gives energy and feelings of pleasure. When listening to music,
it gives a very good feeling of intense happiness (just one level below mild
euphoria )
|
|
Methylfolate
|
3.75 mg
of methylfolate gives mainly enhancement of serotonergic function leading to
dullness and sleepiness. On prolonged administration more than 2 weeks, it gives stabilized mood and energy.
|
|
Zinc
|
15 mg of zinc + vitamin C 250 mg
Positive effects
·
good energy and positive mood,
·
reduced day time sleepiness (not completely abolishing
but to some extent),
·
feeling of completed sleep
·
Healing of skin scratches and bruises
·
No gasping for breath while exercising, while climbing
stairs and while talking
Negative effects
profuse
sweating, pronounced stuttering, reduced fluency, non-stutterable pause, slightly reduced motivation, significantly reduced concentration and focus, reduced libido and erections.
7.5 mg – 10 mg of zinc in the form of
aminochelate
All the
above effects in reduced intensity (dose-dependent reduction) with improved
speech fluency and reduced stuttering but still mild non-stutterable pause is there
|
Without
the zinc, I used to feel sleepy and lethargic with any multivitamin
combination.
After I observed non-stutterable pause, I stopped taking zinc. The next day, great improvement in energy, mood and almost nil non-stutterable pause was observed. I googled and found that Zinc can induce Parkinson's like syndrome in animal models by causing death of striatal dopaminergic neurons. Minocycline Rescues from Zinc-Induced Nigrostriatal Dopaminergic Neurodegeneration: Biochemical and Molecular Interventions. |
Vitamin
B6 / Pyridoxine HCl
|
1-5 mg
gives moderate energy, focus and concentration. 5-10 mg gives optimum energy,
focus and concentration. Above 10 mg gives profuse sweating, sleepiness, reduced loudness of speech and little
anxiety due to pronounced stuttering
|
Sunday, February 8, 2015
Effect of exercise timing
I switched my exercise timing from morning to evening and also increased the duration to 40-45 minutes. Also, I have reduced my protein intake (no fish during lunch and dinner but an omlette at dinner). I did elliptical cross training (cycling movement for legs and rowing movement for hands and upper body) for 40-45 minutes (distance covered - 14 kilometers at a speed of average 19-20 km/hour) I have observed the following things.
1. Better sleep with dream recall
2. Ability to get up from sleep faster with the feeling of completed sleep
3. Increased energy especially in morning - get ready to office in 1 hour 30 minutes after getting up
4. Increased focus and sustained concentration
5. Decreased sense of daytime sleepiness especially post lunch dip or afternoon sleepiness
5. Increased motivation
Possible reasons:
1. Evening time may be the best time for exercise because of more muscle flexibility
2. Evening exercise may stabilize cortisol level.
1. Better sleep with dream recall
2. Ability to get up from sleep faster with the feeling of completed sleep
3. Increased energy especially in morning - get ready to office in 1 hour 30 minutes after getting up
4. Increased focus and sustained concentration
5. Decreased sense of daytime sleepiness especially post lunch dip or afternoon sleepiness
5. Increased motivation
Possible reasons:
1. Evening time may be the best time for exercise because of more muscle flexibility
2. Evening exercise may stabilize cortisol level.
Effect of Olive oil
I used olive oil (labelled as "suitable for frying, sauteing") for cooking for last one week. I used this olive oil two times daily (morning and night) for making dosa (1 tablespoon each time). I observed the following things.
1. Increased sense of feeling coldness and not sweating - significant reduction in sweating
2. Slightly decreased sense of body pains and inflammation
3. Generally good mood
4. Reduced libido
References:
1. Oleic acid inhibits cholesteryl esterase and cholesterol utilization for testosterone synthesis in mouse Leydig cells. Metabolism. 1996 Mar;45(3):293-9. PubMed Link: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8606634
2. Oleic acid increases hepatic sex hormone binding globulin production in men. Mol Nutr Food Res. 2014 Apr;58(4):760-7. doi: 10.1002/mnfr.201300304. PubMed Link: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24142580
1. Increased sense of feeling coldness and not sweating - significant reduction in sweating
2. Slightly decreased sense of body pains and inflammation
3. Generally good mood
4. Reduced libido
References:
1. Oleic acid inhibits cholesteryl esterase and cholesterol utilization for testosterone synthesis in mouse Leydig cells. Metabolism. 1996 Mar;45(3):293-9. PubMed Link: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8606634
2. Oleic acid increases hepatic sex hormone binding globulin production in men. Mol Nutr Food Res. 2014 Apr;58(4):760-7. doi: 10.1002/mnfr.201300304. PubMed Link: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24142580
Thursday, January 29, 2015
My hormone levels
These are my hormone levels tested in the last 10 years. Very important data indeed!
It appears that the thyroid function improved over the years. Also, the testosterone and LH levels improved over the years but decreased in the last two and half years.
| Ref range | 22-Sep-05 | 24-Jan-06 | 26-Jul-10 | 5-Jan-12 | 24-Nov-12 | 20-Sep-13 | 7-Jan-14 | 5-Aug-14 | 24-Jan-15 | 21-Feb-15 | 26-Jul-15 | |
| TSH | 0.30 – 5.5 µIU/mL | 4.28 µIU/mL | 1.71 µIU/mL | 2.99 µIU/mL | 1.90 µIU/mL | 1.07 µIU/mL | 1.66 µIU/mL | |||||
| Total T3 | 60 – 200 ng/dL | 114 ng/dL | ||||||||||
| Total T4 | 4.5 – 12 µg/dL | 8 µg/dL | ||||||||||
| 64 - 167 nmol/L | 102.96 nmol/L | 99.2 nmol/L | ||||||||||
| Free T3 | 1.7 – 4.2 pg/mL | 3.07 pg/mL | 3.80 pg/mL | 3.43 pg/mL | ||||||||
| 3.5 - 6.5 pmol/L | 4.72 pmol/L | 5.05 pmol/L | 5.1 pmol/L | |||||||||
| Free T4 | 0.70 – 1.80 ng/dL | 1.06 ng/dL | 1.10 ng/dL | 1.01 ng/dL | ||||||||
| 11.5 - 22.7 pmol/L | 13.64 pmol/L | 15.75 pmol/L | 16.43 pmol/L | 16.0 pmol/L | 18.3 pmol/L | |||||||
| FSH | Male: 2 - 10 µIU/mL | 4.95 mIU/mL | 5.0 µIU/mL | 4.77 µIU/mL | 5.08 µIU/mL | |||||||
| LH | Male (ICSH): 2 - 15 µIU/mL | 1.93 mIU/mL | 5.0 µIU/mL | 3.4 µIU/mL | 3.85 µIU/mL | 3.66 µIU/mL | ||||||
| Prolactin | Males: 2 - 18 ng/mL | 8.9 ng/mL | 4.65 ng/mL | |||||||||
| Testosterone Total | 2.41 - 8.27 ng/mL | 3.37 ng/mL | 6.25 ng/mL | 4.30 ng/mL | ||||||||
| 241 - 827 ng/dL | 567.01 ng/dL | 260.22 ng/dL | ||||||||||
| Estradiol E2 | Male: 0 - 39.8 pg/mL | 59.83 pg/mL | 32.80 pg/mL | |||||||||
| DHEA | 1.8 - 12.5 ng/mL | 4.66 ng/mL | ||||||||||
| DHEA Sulphate | 120 - 520 μg/dL | 181.4 μg/dL | ||||||||||
| SHBG | 17.3 - 65.8 nmol/L | 35.9 nmol/L | 34 | |||||||||
| Parathyroid hormone | 1.5 - 7.6 pmol/L | 2.2 pmol/L | ||||||||||
| Cortisol | AM: 4.3 - 22.4 µg/dL | |||||||||||
| PM: 3.1 - 16.7 µg/dL | 18.5 µg/dL @ 1:58 PM | |||||||||||
| IGF-1 | 109.00 - 284.00 ng/mL | 131 ng/mL | ||||||||||
| Vitamin D3 | Sufficiency: 31 - 100 Insufficiency: 20 - 30 Deficiency: < 20 Toxicity: > 100 ng/mL | 13 ng/mL | 27.82 ng/mL |
It appears that the thyroid function improved over the years. Also, the testosterone and LH levels improved over the years but decreased in the last two and half years.
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