Strange Symptoms And Myalgia

[Interactome]

Strange symptoms

post 108826 messtafarian

I don't know if I'm being paranoid or not, but I'm just gonna put it out there anyway.

After further looking at some of my 23andme genes related to glucose metabolism, I found a SNP that might, or might not, say something. I'm sure I have many others that are significant.

But I'm thinking, maybe I should have noticed something wrong a long time ago. I have had periods of feeling weak in my arms throughout my life, and a lot more often during the past year.


PFKM - phosphofructokinase
7 homozygous SNPs, one of which is non-synonymous, i.e., a mismatch mutation that changes one amino acid in the protein:

rs2228500 Arg100Gln

I then found this paper relating it to glycogen storage disease type VII:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/article ... 7-0139.pdf

This describes the function of the protein and the effects a mutation that would reduce its activity in vivo would have:

A major rate-limiting step of glycolysis, phosphorylation
of fructose-6 phosphate to fructose-1,6 bisphosphate, is
catalyzed by phosphofructokinase (PFK; ATP, fructose-6-
phosphate 1-phosphotransferase; E.C.2.7.1.1 1). The mammalian
PFK is a tetrameric enzyme and is subject to allosteric
regulation

...

An inherited deficiency of PFK, glycogenosis type VII, results in a complete
block in muscle glycolysis, leading to intolerance to exercise,
cramps, myoglobinuria, and compensated hemolysis. The observed clinical symptoms reflect
the lack of PFK in muscle and partial reduction of the enzyme in erythrocytes.

Then the case related to my SNP (rs2228500), called the exon 6 mutation substituting Gln for Arg-100:

The Swiss patient, who suffered from muscle PFK deficiency
of the classic type, is a genetic compound: a G-to-A
transition in exon 6, inherited from her mother, would
predict a substitution of Gln for Arg-100, and a G-to-A
transition in exon 22, inherited from her father, would
predict a substitution of His for Arg-696.

The exon 6 mutated allele is underexpressed,

...

The reason for the lower level of transcription from this allele is not
clear. It could be due to the mutation itself and/or the
effect of the base change at the TSP. However, there might
be another mutation farther upstream that affects PFK expression
in the Swiss patient.

The disease-causing mutations are expected to occur either
at the catalytic site of the PFK molecule or at the subunit
interaction site, since the ability to form polymers is
critical for the enzyme function and the smallest active
form of PFK in vitro is a tetramer.

Arg-100 and Arg-696, the sites of mutations in exons 6 and 22 in the Swiss
patient, are not located in evolutionarily conserved regions
and are not duplicated in the protein. Furthermore, Arg-
696 in the C-terminal part lies within the stretch of amino
acids that stand out as "extra residues" when the two
halves of the human muscle kinase are aligned with the
bacterial sequence. Although these changes would predict
a minimal effect on protein structure, we think that the
mutations are pathogenic, because (i) the entire coding region,
as well as the upstream regulatory region, was sequenced,
and no other abnormalities were found; and (ii)
30 control subjects contained normal sequences in exons 6 and 22.

...

The function of human mutant PFK was studied by
complementation of the engineered yeast strains devoid of
the endogenous PFK activity.

...

The genotype-phenotype relationship in a Swiss patient
is less clear, because Arg-100 (exon 6) and Arg-696 (exon 22)
mutants expressed in yeast resulted in only modest
changes in the stability of the enzyme. These mutants produce
functional enzyme in yeast but apparently not in humans.
The difference could be attributed either to different
conformational states of the tetrameric enzyme in human
and yeast cells or to different stability of the enzyme in the
extracts for enzyme assay in both systems. It is interesting
that the patient has residual PFK activity in muscle biopsy
(9.3 mU/mg; ~8% normal), indicating that small amounts
of functional enzyme are produced in vivo as well. In several
reported cases with measurable amounts of residual
PFK, the clinical syndrome was not atypical (Rowland et
al. 1986). It is also important to emphasize that in vivo the
tissue-specific regulation of the enzyme is controlled by
a complex of mechanisms, including modulation by the
effectors, phosphorylation, and control of synthesis and
degradation, conditions that cannot be faithfully reproduced
in a surrogate yeast host.

I wonder if my slightly elevated bilirubin and CK are related to this. Though my diet for 1-2 weeks before the blood test was full fat goat milk and simple sugars. Now, after two weeks on no simple sugars, lots of rice/masa and low fat, I've lost more weight and gotten worse. Maybe I'm seeing connections that aren't there...

 

[tara]

Strange symptoms

It looks pretty low carb until after lunch. Some of us feel a lot better if we eat well in the morning. There's a thread.
Personally, I do better if I've eaten a good part of my day's protein and calories by 1-2 in the afternoon. I still eat after that, but my appetite is usually stronger in the morning, and if I don't satisfy it, nothing I do in the afternoon seems to quite make up for it.

Since I don't know how much a bit of rice and a few potatoes and some meat is, I'm still wondering how much you are eating. Have you run it through cronometer or similar? If so, you could check all the microutrients while you are at it?

Personally, I would be inclined to separate salt and water, by putting the salt on food to taste. That way it's easier to salt to taste and drink to thirst, even if these needs are not in sync. Or at least have some of the water and salt separately for this reason.

 

[Interactome]

Strange symptoms

Just an update of the past suffering and some brainstorming... for posterity... if the end is nigh :)

Here are some lab results if someone:

They were taken after a 14 hour fast. Plus I think I was having a light flu at the time.

Veins are still equally swollen, and I haven't found an explanation yet. It's like when I tried lower fat, no milk, higher carb, something happened and they dilated and now they just always dilate to that size when it's hot, causing more pooling into the smaller veins, so the smaller veins have gotten larger and more visibly blue and I also get small visible red veins (spider veins?). I need to figure out if this is irreversible. I'm thinking that when one is growing, then the veins grow too. So, would putting pressure on veins not cause them to grow/lengthen/dilate using the same mechanism that is active during regular growth of an organism? Or does that happen only when the right hormonal combination/code is active at the same time? Maybe I triggered that by accident with a wrong combination of things that the Aspirin has initiated.

I'm trying to keep calm as much as possible, though I do freak out often and think it's strange that no one really knows what's causing all this. I've asked a few cardiologist if the larger veins are varicose veins, and they say no. But it has lad to a slight venous insufficiency, esp. when it's warm. Is it due to damage to the valves of the veins, or due to vein dilation, due to some connective tissue issues that get worse when I eat low fat, high carb, no milk (don't know which is the determining factor)?

I also had an endoscopy, and the doc said I had very visible veins on my esophagus. So they're swollen/dilated there too. By the way, I've had nausea for 2 weeks now after the endoscopy. It made things worse. Now I'm trying to ditch the acidic fruits (oranges) for a while to see if it helps.

post 109049 It looks pretty low carb until after lunch. Some of us feel a lot better if we eat well in the morning. There's a thread.
Personally, I do better if I've eaten a good part of my day's protein and calories by 1-2 in the afternoon. I still eat after that, but my appetite is usually stronger in the morning, and if I don't satisfy it, nothing I do in the afternoon seems to quite make up for it.

Since I don't know how much a bit of rice and a few potatoes and some meat is, I'm still wondering how much you are eating. Have you run it through cronometer or similar? If so, you could check all the microutrients while you are at it?

Personally, I would be inclined to separate salt and water, by putting the salt on food to taste. That way it's easier to salt to taste and drink to thirst, even if these needs are not in sync. Or at least have some of the water and salt separately for this reason.

I've been trying to stick to a diet of about 1L milk/day. Fruit, dates, prunes, a bit of meat, eggs, some kale. Whenever I eat too many starches (masa, rice) my thirst gets worse and I get some strange heart feelings still.
But as long as I can keep the thirst down (and maybe drink milk), the veins do not dilate further.

I do have a valve that is slightly damaged. I'm waiting for the results of a heart MRI I finally got. But it's very strange that all these symptoms came after having taken baby Aspirin (plus a bunch of supplements). I don't really know if it is POTS.

One thing that is off is the high renin. So I should be having high blood pressure. But given that my veins have dilated, maybe that would lower the measured blood pressure, but it would be high if they weren't dilated!?

People also talk about lowering prolactin. Well, how come mine (89 uU/ml) is way under the minimum of the normal range? What about my diet now made it so low? Is it really low from a Peat-perspective? In August it was about 450, after almost 2 months of no milk and some fasting, baby aspirin, vitamin c, e, Mg, ...
I don't think the prolactin is related to the rest of my symptoms... but I haven't measured weather it's higher when I feel the worst.

I'm trying to take some vit D because I'm low in it. Though I've read here that some think that that might not be a good idea...
Wrt. the vit D, my 25D3:1,25D3 ratio is 1:3, which I've read that it could be important. Does anyone know more about that?
Would taking some vit D lower the PTH I wonder?


My TSH has gotten 1 point higher than it was 3-4 months ago. So that's not good. But maybe it's related to my 14 hour fast.

My ammonia has fallen over the past 3 months after stopping the aspirin (if it really was the aspirin that caused it, which I don't know). It was around 85 2 weeks after stopping the aspirin, 45 about 1.5 month later, and now it was 35...

The cholesterol numbers are pretty high too (240). Maybe it's the diet, maybe the slight flu.

And what's up with the total Testosterone (37.6 nmol/l, 10 points above the range max)? The free testosterone is fine though. Maybe it's the SHBG that is high...

 

[beachbum]

Strange symptoms

Hello,

I didn't read your whole topic, but I had almost the same symptoms. .im a 51 year old female and I know your a male..for me progesterone and eating what I was able to not following away of eating because I lost so much weight...I just ate whatever that didn't worsen my symptoms went off all supplements. I am waaaay better now... waaaaaaaayyy better.. I still take progesterone and no supplements. .Im still progressing alot but my body is still recuperating. .its been about 3 months now. All I can say im so glad the head pressure is pretty much gone..sometimes I feel it but just vaguely. .depends on what I eat or drink. I will add I had a wick sinus infection and way more problems then you at that time....I wish you good progress.

Beachbum

 

[Interactome]

Strange symptoms

post 116152 Hello,

I didn't read your whole topic, but I had almost the same symptoms. .im a 51 year old female and I know your a male..for me progesterone and eating what I was able to not following away of eating because I lost so much weight...I just ate whatever that didn't worsen my symptoms went off all supplements. I am waaaay better now... waaaaaaaayyy better.. I still take progesterone and no supplements. .Im still progressing alot but my body is still recuperating. .its been about 3 months now. All I can say im so glad the head pressure is pretty much gone..sometimes I feel it but just vaguely. .depends on what I eat or drink. I will add I had a wick sinus infection and way more problems then you at that time....I wish you good progress.

Beachbum

Should I try to take progesterone? Or pregnenolone? Or DHEA? My serum progesterone should be ok according to the blood sample results.

Did you have problems with your veins and thirst? Or some strange reaction when you tried low fat and no dairy? I just kept loosing weight for about 3 weeks, being constantly thirsty. My temperature was higher during that time. Sometimes 37.6.
What type of diet gave you problems and what solved it?

The problem is that I don't know what I'm supposed to treat. The root cause of it all. What causes the feeling of dehydration that I get? I don't know if it's due to low blood volume or because my veins have dilated and therefore that causes low blood volume. Maybe leaky aneurysms?

I also wonder if there could be some bacterial infection that doesn't show up on any blood tests. Bacteria that get happy when I eat a lot of carbs and no milk or something and they live on my heart and vein valves and injure them causing leakiness. Or some viruses. I know I have CMV and EBV. The 1,25:25 vit D ratio is 3 for me. I read somewhere that it could indicate some sort of infection. But wouldn't that show up on a blood culture?

Or some connective tissue disorder that's exacerbated by a certain diet and the veins loose their tone...

 

[Interactome]

Strange symptoms

I think it would be good to re-test the 25 and 1,25 D3 and PTH to get a better idea of what's going on. I'm now supplementing some D3. I put some on the skin and also take a few capsules (35mg capsules). If I could re-test in a few weeks and the PTH and 1,25 D haven't gone down, then I guess I could assume that lack of D3 is not the main reason for my low 25 D and high 1,25 D and that it could be due to some immune / "autoimmune" stuff going on.

 

[Interactome]

Strange symptoms

More brainstorming. Not a doctor, so somewhere between 1 and 99% of my musings here might be wrong :) :?

Right now I'm waiting to see if the efforts of the last 5 months and the results can convince the doctors here that something is not right. They said that I've got a bicuspid valve, but after going to 3 other cardiologists I've found out that it's not bicuspid, but tricuspid with one of the valves having a 5-6 mm thickening so it doesn't close completely. The question in my mind is: Is that thickening scar tissue or something on the valve. And is this the reason for my strange symptoms? Or is it just a chance finding. Maybe in my current physiological situation I have some electrolyte imbalances or disturbances due to

• Aspirin
• some supplement I (over)took (vit C, Mg, K2, E, ...) (I'm not taking anything at the moment)
• lack of Ca from my no-milk periods
• genetic predisposition
• latent infection / "autoimmune" / some sort of endotoxin load
• ...?

and if that causes my veins to dilate so my blood volume is too low, then renin / aldosterone will rise to raise / maintain blood pressure. If blood volume is low then a leaky valve will probably be even less efficient and it will exacerbate the backflow, causing worse circulation and more thirst.

I'm also thinking that the heart is just an oversized vein, so if there's something wrong with a heart valve, why not also something with some other valves in the veins throughout the body? So if something is actively irritating / eating my valves, then that could cause more backflow and my kidneys will think that I have low blood volume and they will raise my renin leves, and then angiotensin II will rise, and aldosterone and so on...

Or does renin cause vein dilation systemically? Or the combination of high renin/angiotensin II/aldosterone and local vein pressure will induce some dilation that is maintained in some positive feedback loop... maybe something with NO... Or does it induce actual tissue growth, meaning that it is irreversible... unless my valves also grow to compensate... don't know.

The combination of wider veins and high renin might "cancel" each other in terms of blood pressure... but then maybe there has to be some ventricular hypertrophy to maintain that new normal blood pressure set point...? :?

An ultrasound said that my Vena Cava was 2.4 cm in diameter. I'm assuming that is on the high end, since the doc chose to highlight that.

 

[Interactome]

Strange symptoms

Here's a link to some vit D information, if it isn't already somewhere on the forum:

http://primaldocs.com/members-blog/vitamin-d-for-the-biohacker-get-the-total-picture/

I need to process this.

 

[Interactome]

Strange symptoms

On vit D

I am heterozygous for the BSM VDR mutation, meaning that I should be converting 25D a bit faster into 1,25D. I'll try not to oversupplement with D3, and re-test at some point soon to see if my 1,25D is getting to high.

On renin / aldosterone
I see that the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system gets activated when there's low blood flow to the kidneys. This could be caused by:

- haemorrhage (leaky aneurysm, gastric bleeding? - doesn't sound likely but u never know)
- thrombosis in veins leading to the kidneys
- low plasma sodium
- insufficient pumping from the heart: my damaged valve or lower metabolism causing inefficient contraction and / or low pulse
- ? loss of venous muscle tone causing dilation due to a loss in some nutrient / cellular energy
- ? endotoxin altering plasma osmolarity or something like that making the kidneys think that I have low plasma volume
- ? aspirin / other supplement toxicity (e.g. a few weeks of 5-6 g vit C/day) interfering with the kidneys ability to handle some electrolytes

But it's just difficult to believe that it's just the valve, given that diet has been having a huge effect on symptoms.

 

[Interactome]

Strange symptoms

And another one bites the dust! One of my veins in my right arm just got more swollen after having rested my wrist on the edge of my laptop for some minutes. And it seems, as with the other veins so far, that it's diameter has now been permanently altered. Frack! :? What's this about? Maybe I have to live in 0 G and make sure I put no pressure on any vein. Is it like stretch marks that just don't go away? Is it because I've tried to eat some rice and potatoes the past 2 days? I do not get this.

 

[Interactome]

Strange symptoms

Either I've suddenly developed some vein connective tissue disorder, or I'm in a hormonal state where venous pressure causes permanent distension, or my valves are super weak and they collapse at the slightest pressure...

 

[tca300]

Strange symptoms

I apologize if this was already mentioned, I think spider veins are caused by estrogen, topical Progesterone over top the veins might help. B vitamins especially 1,2 and 6, adequate protein, vitamin A, E, caffeine, Methylene Blue, asprin, epson salt baths, avoiding high fat diets, and getting red light are all helpful for lowering estrogen.

 

[Interactome]

Strange symptoms

post 116433 I apologize if this was already mentioned, I think spider veins are caused by estrogen, topical Progesterone over top the veins might help. B vitamins especially 1,2 and 6, adequate protein, vitamin A, E, caffeine, Methylene Blue, asprin, epson salt baths, avoiding high fat diets, and getting red light are all helpful for lowering estrogen.

Hi, thanks.

But it feels like it's something systemic. Maybe connected to the high renin?

My estradiol was 130 pg/l = 35 pg/ml and progesterone 1.9 nmol/L = 0.6 ng/ml. Are these values non-optimal? Is there an optimal Peat-range for men?

I'm a bit nervous for getting B6 toxicity. I think I experience more muscle twitching when I take B6. I should get a blood test to be sure if I have too much or too little of that.

Need to look into Methylene Blue. On Amazon it looks like it's something used for aquariums. Is it the same thing?

 

[tca300]

Strange symptoms

I'm not sure about optimal levels of those hormones, blood values dont nessisarily equal what's getting into the tissues. B6 toxicity probably won't be in issue at 10mg or less per day. Haidut sells a methylene blue supplement that's safe and pure, as well as a quality B vitamin supplement.

 

[Interactome]

Strange symptoms

post 116439 I'm not sure about optimal levels of those hormones, blood values dont nessisarily equal what's getting into the tissues. B6 toxicity probably won't be in issue at 10mg or less per day. Haidut sells a methylene blue supplement that's safe and pure, as well as a quality B vitamin supplement.

If only there were a way of figuring out if estrogen is really the cause of it all. But maybe I could try to order a few things and start slowly... maybe some pregnenolone and see how it goes for a week or two, then add some of the methylene blue product and see what happens. Should one play with the thyroid product TyroMax, or is that dangerous?

It could also be a liver problem, as maybe the aspirin or some other supplement overloaded/disturbed some liver detox enzymes causing the system to get out of balance and made estrogen or something else accumulate... or deplete something...

My bound Testosterone is 10 points higher than the max and the Prolactin is 10 points lower than the minimum. And my urinary cortisol is high. So something hormonal is going on. Maybe it's a reaction to an injury though.

 

[tca300]

Strange symptoms

I personally wouldn't take thyroid unless I knew I needed it. Pulse, temps, maybe TSH.. It seems so often peoples issues are usually liver/ thyroid related around here.

 

[Interactome]

Strange symptoms

post 116447 I personally wouldn't take thyroid unless I knew I needed it. Pulse, temps, maybe TSH.. It seems so often peoples issues are usually liver/ thyroid related around here.

Ok, I've ordered some Haidut products to experiment with... when they arrive.

The hard part for me is to know if something that I'm doing is the right thing. Otherwise I keep it up for a bit and then I get some different advice, people tell me to just eat normal, and I drop taking this and that, and suddenly another vein swells, or my thirst comes back. I need to know what is wrong by measuring something, know what to take to correct it, and measure it so I can see things moving in the right direction.

I cannot be the first case in the entire world for whom this is happening. So far, all the doctors that I've told about my veins getting wider have told me that it is normal for them to get wider. Then I try to explain that I know that veins get wider when it's hot, but now, when it's hot or I get warm, the veins get wider than ever before, causing some sort of venous insufficiency, especially in places where I accidentally squeezed them causing temporary pooling; a thing that normally wouldn't have caused any change in the diameter of my vein. Things got even worse when I took my blood pressure a few times. The cuff, squeezing the veins, caused all the veins in my arm to dilate. I asked a few doctors weather these are varicose veins, and they say no. I told one that then maybe the muscles in my veins have weakened, and he said that veins don't have muscles... but Wikipedia disagrees. So it's very confusing.

If it's my liver, then it's strange that it isn't healing by itself. And there should be some tests that could shed some light on what exactly is messed up with the liver. What enzymes in the liver are disturbed / inadequate. Apparently a low PUFA diet isn't all there's to it.

 

[Interactome]

Strange symptoms

Still waiting for the products to arrive.

I've tried to cut out the milk for 2 days, and the thirst seems to return. Strange. It looks like lack of milk leads to increased thirst. But my tongue feels a bit more flexible without the milk. Maybe something in the milk (some protein, the fat, or calcium) inhibits whatever causes my thirst, but at the same time irritates something messing up my ability to speak more smoothly. Catch 22!

I could try to eat some butter and see what effect it has. If none, then it's not the milk fat.

If it's not a genetic thing then it must be some hidden bug. Candida or something...

 

[Interactome]

Strange symptoms

... or a virus or bacteria. The thirst and vasodilation (larger veins) could indicate some sort of septic shock like response. Or it could just be that when I quit the milk my veins dilate more.

Or maybe the milk contains antibodies against the bacteria/virus. I did feel better when drinking unpasteurised milk than pasteurised. Maybe the antibodies in the milk help with the (not so) latent infection? And at the same time something in the milk feeds Candida or gives me slight brain/speech fog due to some milk-protein allergy? Or maybe something in the milk kills the bug giving me die-off symptoms... or I'm thinking too much?

I found this here on the site:

post 43166 I know CMV digs through your arteries and is a big cause of cardio vascular disease (and almost every adult has it). Aspirin inhibits this process (RP wins again). I used to take some lysine on an empty stomach since I figured it's a herpesvirus after all.

Given my elevated urinary cortisol and strange blood test results, maybe I'm slightly immunosuppressed and this lets the bug wreck havoc on my heart and vein valves...?

But then the aspirin should have helped. Maybe in my case it didn't, or maybe the symptoms are unrelated to the aspirin. I'm a bit nervous to try aspirin again though, in case it caused some of this.

Googling CMV and cardiovascular diseases also brings up another bug: Chlamydia pneumoniae. This is an intracellular one. This could also eat up my valves. I have to find out if I have it. If only I can convince a doctor or the hospital. Otherwise I'll have to travel to a private lab again and do it myself.

 

[Interactome]

Strange symptoms

An infection of sorts would also fit with what I read about the 25:1,25 vitamin D ratio and my 1:3 lab values. I've been taking 35-50mg on my skin (cut the oily capsule and smear it on my wrists... don't know how much is absorbed). I'd like to re-test these to see what effect it has.