Effect of Wellman multivitamins

 I have taken Wellman multivitamins for last 25 days. It contains general multivitamins in low concentration and Siberian Ginseng extract 20 mg.

Positive effects:

1. Anxiety is very much reduced. No fear / hesitation to go to office

2. Stuttering was manageable in the starting --> gradually worsened a little bit.

Negative effects:

1. Focus and concentration is very much reduced. Unable to concentrate on research and write research papers.

2. Unable to remember the counts of parts of prayer while praying

3. Unable to handle many things at the same time --> led to postponement of many works.

Food items and their impact on neurotransmitters

Whenever I consume the following foods items, I experience the following feelings.

1. Refined sugar - increased stuttering
2. Brown sugar/Jaggery - slightly increased stuttering
3. Full cream milk powder - reduced anxiety
4. Roasted ground nut with/without skin - Reduced anxiety/slightly increased energy/Slightly reduced stuttering
5. Roasted green peas - Increased stuttering
6. Butter consumption at dinner - slightly increased energy next morning, reduced stuttering next day
7. No sugar consumption - wrinkles on nails, dry skin, easy bruisability of skin, increased vocal blocks, reduced loudness of voice, good initiation to start a work, good concentration and focus to remain in a task

Natural dopamine antagonists and stuttering

Excessive dopamine in the brain appears to be the causative factor for stuttering in me. As of now, I do not know which part of my brain has excessive dopamine. It may not be really excessive, but may be a relative high level of dopamine compared to other antagonistic neurotransmitters such as serotonin, GABA and acetyl choline in specific parts of the brain which are involved in speech production. Hence, either decreasing dopamine or increasing serotonin, GABA and acetylcholine in those specific parts of the brain may be beneficial in reducing stuttering and achieving fluency. However, as of now, it is not clear exactly in which parts of the brain of stutterers, dopamine is relatively excessive.

In my experimentation with various supplements and drugs, I have observed that the following supplements increase dopamine and worsen stuttering and other issues of speech dis fluency in me. I tried to put them in the order of their effect (descending order). The first supplement causes more stuttering than the second supplement.

Supplements that increase dopamine and increase/worsen stuttering:

1. Omega-3 fatty acids (fish oil) above 100 mg per day
2. Ginkgo biloba
3. Zinc above 6 mg per day
4. Ginseng
5. Vitamin B6 above 6 mg per day
6. Coffee


Supplements that decrease dopamine and reduce stuttering: I tried to put them in the order of their effect (descending order). The first supplement causes maximum reduction of stuttering than the second supplement.

1. Ashwagandha (250 mg extract two times a day; one in morning and one in evening; can feel the effect after 2-3 doses; but it decreases serotonin also; hence, I get negative thoughts)
2. Vitamin C instant release above 250 mg per dose (100 mg taken at night gives better effect next morning)
3. Butter (taken at night gives better effect next morning)

Coffee consumption and stuttering

If I consume coffee, it increases stuttering with vocal blocks mainly. The vocal blocks mainly happen with starting word. It is more pronounced when demanded in situations such as attendance roll call, saying names in turns and giving report in turns. The vocal blocks cause long pause before I start the word. When tea is consumed, this effect is markedly low. However, consumption of tea is not producing fluent speech also.

Effect of Omega-3 fatty acids

I was taking 2 capsules of mega-3 from Dr Reddy's Laboratories (Each softgel capsule contains Eicasopentaenoic acid - 180 mg and Docosahexaenoic acid - 120 mg) in the night after dinner. It used to give somewhat better sleep in the night than ashwagandha. The next morning, I had stuttering issues such as repetition of words, smaller vocal blocks and stuttering on certain words and a bit anxious. When I skipped the dose one night, the stuttering was markedly less next day with less repetition of words and less vocal blocks. It appears that omega-3 fatty acids increase dopamine in the speech circuit area. Apart from stuttering effects, it improved the mood and motivation a little.  

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. 

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.





 
 

 
   

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.

Effects of Methylfolate in combination with other nutrients

I took methylfolate along with other nutrients for fine tuning the benefits of methylfolate.

	L-methylfolate 7.5 mg/day (3.25 mg in morning and 3.25 mg in night) + Pyridoxine HCl 10 mg/day (5 mg in morning and 5 mg in night) + methylcobalamin 500 microgram/day (500 microgram in morning)	L-methylfolate 7.5 mg/day (3.25 mg in morning and 3.25 mg in night) + one capsule of Supradyn recharge in morning + methylcobalamin 500 microgram/day (500 microgram in morning) + Pyridoxine HCl 5 mg in night	L-methylfolate 7.5 mg/day (3.25 mg in morning and 3.25 mg in night) + one capsule of Supradyn recharge in morning + methylcobalamin 500 microgram/day (250 microgram in morning and 250 microgram in night)	L-methylfolate 7.5 mg/day (3.25 mg in morning and 3.25 mg in night) + one tablet of zincovit in morning + methylcobalamin 500 microgram/day (250 microgram in morning and 250 microgram in night) + one tablet of Calcium & Magnesium Plus (Elemental calcium 275.9 mg + elemental magnesium 125 mg + elemenatl manganese 1.5 mg + elemental zinc 300 microgram + Vitamin D3 100 IU)
Effects on anxiety	No anxiety	No anxiety	No anxiety	No anxiety
Effects on depression	No depressive feelings	No depressive feelings	No depressive feelings	No depressive feelings
Effects on stuttering and voice	Mild stuttering. Can make a fluent conversatioatin. No effect on loudness of voice	Less stuttering. Can make a fluent conversation. Good loudness of voice	Less stuttering. Can make a fluent conversation. Good loudness of voice	Less stuttering. Can make a somewhat fluent conversation. moderate loudness of voice
Effects on motivation	Slightly reduced Motivation	Reduced Motivation	Average motivation;. If methylcobalamin dose in increased, it produces less motivation and lethargic effects similar to that of fluoxetine. If methylfolate dose is increased, it creates increased motivation and restlessness.	Average motivation
Effects on concentration	Slightly reduced concentration throughout the day	Reduced concentration throughout the day	Slightly reduced concentration throughout the day	Average concentration
Effects on memory	Good	Good	Good
Effects on mental fog and clarity of thinking	Slightly reduced clarity of thinking	Reduced clarity of thinking	Nil to Slightly reduced clarity of thinking
Effects on telephonic conversation	Mild stuttering	Mild stuttering	Less stuttering and good speech
Effects on affection and social life	Neutral	Reduced affection towards family	Neutral
Effects on sleep	Not excessive sleepiness. Able to get up early in morning	Excessive sleepiness. Not able to get up early in morning, Uncontrollable sleeping after lunch in evening	Neutral
Effects on libido and sex	Neutral	Neutral	Neutral	seems to increase libido...gives good spontaneous erections...able to get strong erection after massaging for masturbation (this effect was better observed with medimix soap/chandrika soap). The soap is used for bathing only and not during the time of masturbation.
Effects on eye vision	Neutral	Neutral	Neutral
Effects on driving	Neutral	Neutral	Neutral
Effects on body temperature and sweating	Slightly increased sweating	Slightly increased sweating	Reduced body temperature and sweating
Other effects	Slight bad taste in mouth, mild skins rashes like an allergic reaction (red skin eruptions appear in line)	Slight bad taste in mouth, mild skins rashes like an allergic reaction (red skin eruptions appear in line)	No bad taste in mouth. No skin allergies. (If the tablets are taken after food)
Diet during these time	Oats porridge in morning and night; lunch – rice with 200 g of chicken or fish with 200 g vegetables	Oats porridge in morning and night; lunch – rice with 200 g of chicken or fish with 200 g vegetables	Oats porridge in morning and night; lunch – rice with 200 g of chicken or fish with 200 g vegetables

Effects of methylfolate

I took 5 mg of folic acid per day (2.5 mg in morning and 2.5 in night). I felt more energetic and motivated. So, I have started experimenting with methylfolate.

	L-methylfolate 7.5 mg/day (3.25 mg in morning and 3.25 mg in night) + one zincovit tablet  in morning + one Magcalzinc tablet in night (Elemental calcium 250 mg + Elemental magnesium 125 mg + elemental zinc 3 mg)	L-methylfolate 7.5 mg/day (3.25 mg in morning and 3.25 mg in night) + one zincovit tablet  in morning	L-methylfolate 7.5 mg/day (3.25 mg in morning and 3.25 mg in night)	L-methylfolate 7.5 mg/day (3.25 mg in morning and 3.25 mg in night) + one capsule of fluoxetine in night
Effects on anxiety	No anxiety	No anxiety	No anxiety	No anxiety
Effects on depression	No depressive feelings	No depressive feelings	No depressive feelings	No depressive feelings
Effects on stuttering and voice	Moderate stuttering was there. Cannot make a fluent conversation. Reduced loudness of voice	Moderate stuttering was there. Cannot make a fluent conversation. Reduced loudness of voice	Moderate to severe stuttering was there. Cannot make a fluent conversation or presentation. Reduced loudness of voice	Much reduced stuttering. Can make a good presentation and conversation. Good loudness of voice
Effects on motivation	Good motivation	Good motivation	Good motivation	Reduced motivation and increased lethargy
Effects on concentration	Good concentration throughout the day	Good concentration throughout the day	Good concentration on tasks in morning. Low concentration in afternoons. Then, concentration increases after 7 pm.	Reduced concentration
Effects on memory	Good	Good	Good	Good
Effects on mental fog and clarity of thinking	Good	Good	Good	Reduced clarity of thinking
Effects on telephonic conversation	Moderate stuttering	Moderate stuttering	Moderate stuttering	Reduced stuttering
Effects on affection and social life	Longing for love from family members but no interest in social life	Longing for love from family members but no interest in social life	Longing for love from family members but no interest in social life	Reduced affection towards family but increased participation in social gatherings probably due to less stuttering
Effects on sleep	No excessive sleepiness. Able to get up early in morning	No excessive sleepiness. Able to get up early in morning	Not much of excessive sleepiness. But, heavy uncontrollable sleepy feeling after taking lunch.	Increased sleepiness. Cannot get up easily in morning.
Effects on libido and sex	Neutral	Neutral	Neutral	Neutral to less
Effects on eye vision	Neutral	Neutral	Neutral	Neutral
Effects on driving	Neutral	Neutral	Neutral	Neutral
Effects on body temperature and sweating	No ‘heated body’ feeling and no increased sweating	No ‘heated body’ feeling and no increased sweating	No ‘heated body’ feeling and no increased sweating	Increased sweating
Other effects	Moderate right hand wrist pain and forearm pain was there due to excessive computer mouse usage, bad taste in mouth, mild skins rashes like an allergic reaction (red skin eruptions appear in line)	Mild right hand wrist pain and forearm pain was there due to excessive computer mouse usage, bad taste in mouth, mild skins rashes like an allergic reaction (red skin eruptions appear in line)	No hand pain or wrist pain, bad taste in mouth, bad breath, mild skins rashes like an allergic reaction (red skin eruptions appear in line)	Slight bad breath, mild skins rashes like an allergic reaction (red skin eruptions appear in line)
Diet during these time	Oats porridge in morning and night; lunch – rice with 200 g of chicken or fish with 200 g vegetables	Oats porridge in morning and night; lunch – rice with 200 g of chicken or fish with 200 g vegetables	Oats porridge in morning and night; lunch – rice with 200 g of chicken or fish with 200 g vegetables	Oats porridge in morning and night; lunch – rice with 200 g of chicken or fish with 200 g vegetables