Experiencing ALS Now and I Sense a Serotonin Connection

[yerrag]

For the first time ever, I get to experience what ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) or Lou Gehrig's disease, as it was once called.

I had been taking a plaque lysing agent called Endocalyx Pro (EP), together with using essential oil-infused suppositories, and using an emf zapper called Biotrohn) as recently as a month ago. The idea was lower my blood pressure. And this combo works by letting EP shed plaque from my blood vessels (especially capillaries that feed our vital organs). As plaque is released, dormant microbes become activated and gets into the bloodstream.

Using the Biotrohn and the suppositories, I am able to take away from the immune system a large part of the burden of killing these microbes. This way, the immune system would produce less ROS in killing these microbes and my body won't be using so much albumin as an antioxidant to counter the oxidative stress from the ROS.

The idea is sound as I could see huge drops in bp, but since this is going to be a medium to long term therapy to see sustained results (given that there is a lot of plaque harboring microbes and the body has a huge network of blood vessels), I had to tweak my suppository formulation as the current formula produces irritation in my butt cheeks and because of this, I could not keep doing this without suffering other consequences.

So I continued for the next two weeks using the EP and the Biotrohn, and found that I was using up a lot of albumin and my bp was increasing.

For this next two weeks, I only used the Biotrohn, and it seemed to be working fine. But just as I was about to resume to the full protocol with an improved suppository formula, as fate and the universe would conspire to do me in, I got sick (Yup, you don't need to be creative with soap operas).

I started having the sniffles, and then my throat got sore (but not the kind of sore requiring antibiotics from streptococci). I still had a good appetite though, so my digestion is fine. And I still have energy.

But some things were happening to me that I normally don't experience. I was having a slight headache (enough to keep me from doing yard work or going out to run some chores), and I was hiccupping very often that I quit stopping it (as it keeps returning). And worst of all, my swallowing was getting some resistance from the throat. It would take more effort, and after a few swallow, I would sense a bolus accumulate on the roof of my throat. I had to coax it out with my throat and the bolus would slowly come out into my tongue. I would the swallow that.

This is certainly enough to raise concerns, and I had to think deeply about what led me to this situation.

One, this is cold season and I had been bad lately, going past bedtime hours to finally resolve all my lingering Windows 10 issues. You know when troubleshooting Windows PCs, there is a tendency for the task to take a life of its own. Not only that, I also finetuned my rooted android phones, such that they don't reboot anymore. It took awhile; but hey, I want to start the year right.

With this bit of abuse on the background, I began to succumb to what I believe to be the stress of detox. The detox being the cumulative remainders of the dead microbes, with platelets and neutrophils dying with it, and the need for the lungs to be able to effectively detox these wastes.

My lungs (and the alveoli and the macrophages in the alveoli as well) began to gum up with phlegm, or so I would think, and this would just cause the lungs to not do their job of detox as it should have.

The lungs being the main organ to deactivate serotonin is a big factor in avoiding serotonin buildup in the body. Well, serotonin likely would have built up in the brain, accounting for my headache, and around the neck area, accounting for my sore throat and loss of full control with my swallowing. I suspect it also has to do with my incessant hiccupping. Serotonin, after all, affects our nerves, though I'm not acquainted with the details of it.

All I can do is to try to take as much rest as possible, but with the hiccupping I don't get full rest. It helps though to take undiluted honey, as I find out in reading some threads on it here. I would also take a stronger dose of cypro, though I don't want to risk an OD so I had been pretty conservative about it.

If what I'm saying is true, then getting a good handle on our serotonin levels is really job #1. I have a pretty tame gut, and I don't make a lot of serotonin from the gut. And I'm glad for it. But the level of serotonin I get from internal microbes (from those being released from plaques) is no small matter.

It is probable that my low platelet levels of around 180-220 is the result of platelets being used up continually to deal with a huge load of serotonin from those microbes.

A few searches yield a connection between serotonin and ALS. I would be spending some time reading up on them. A couple of hits:

Serotonergic Dysfunction in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Parkinson's Disease: Similar Mechanisms, Dissimilar Outcomes

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and Parkinson's disease (PD) share similar pathophysiological mechanisms. From a neurochemical point of view, the serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine; 5-HT) dysfunction in both movement disorders—related to probable ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Serotonergic mechanisms in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis - PubMed

Serotonin (5-HT) has been intimately linked with global regulation of motor behavior, local control of motoneuron excitability, functional recovery of spinal motoneurons as well as neuronal maturation and aging. Selective degeneration of motoneurons is the pathological hallmark of amyotrophic...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[brightside]

Damn, that's definitely troubling. I don't have anything to add, besides to wish you a swift recovery and so that you find a solution to these bacterial problems. I remember a post of yours going quite a ways back where you were trying to deal with the bacterial plaque, and seeing how you still struggle with it is disheartening.

 

[LeeLemonoil]

Very insightful post. All the best to you. Keep in mind that this high sero-state
-might -impair your intellectual abilities too or make you less rational.
So be extra careful and mindful when you go on reflecting on what to do.

 

[achillea]

Retinol in Roseata Cod Liver Oil. Roseata is the ONLY cod liver oil to use.
Look into RCP Institute as the researcher (Morley Robbins) has spent 12 years studying the importance of bioavailable copper and how the soil is so depleted that almost all of us are deficient. Funny thing Veterinarians prescribe copper to animals all the time.
Copper is toxic is just another of the long list of BS and misdirection by the Enemies of Life.
There are many interviews on Mitolife radio and or Extreme Health with Morley. He is very aware of Ray Peat and always backs his statements with research

 

[LLight]

Damn, that's definitely troubling. I don't have anything to add, besides to wish you a swift recovery and so that you find a solution to these bacterial problems.

Ditto.

"Funnily", I recently tended to have some hiccups or had the feeling it was going to happen soon.

I found a publication stating that breathing in a bag until you can't anymore (too much CO2, I don't know how it's called) can stop hiccups, don't know if this solution can help in your case. It worked for me once, I had to to do it twice so that is stops.

 

[yerrag]

Damn, that's definitely troubling. I don't have anything to add, besides to wish you a swift recovery and so that you find a solution to these bacterial problems. I remember a post of yours going quite a ways back where you were trying to deal with the bacterial plaque, and seeing how you still struggle with it is disheartening.

Thanks. Since I've been dancing with this devil for so long and getting to know him quite well, I'm getting a better handle of him. He's bared all the tricks in his bag, and they're just about run out.

Not following the medical establishment keeps me from sliding with two many steps backwards each time, and each time I have an incident I learn from it. It helps that Ray has given me a better understanding of physiology, and I could make better sense of what symptoms I experience.

Without this, I would just be punching in the dark, and I can lose hope and direction.

While the issues have not been resolved, I am certain that all this will culminate in the underlying microbial cause to eventually be subdued, and my optimal health restored. Slowly, the dominoes are falling. And it will accelerate till no domino is left standing.

 

[yerrag]

Very insightful post. All the best to you. Keep in mind that this high sero-state
-might -impair your intellectual abilities too or make you less rational.
So be extra careful and mindful when you go on reflecting on what to do.

Thanks for your concern.

The more reason to keep this high serotonin state stay as an acute and temporary state. Knowing it comes from high serotonin is an advantage so I can do all I can to address the high serotonin. And knowing this state has a lot to do with the lungs temporarily unable to do its job of deactivating serotonin is something I value learning from Peat.

If I went to a doctor, I would be led to a land of serotonin being a happy hormone, would be taking one too many pills, and I would keep getting sicker.

 

[yerrag]

Retinol in Roseata Cod Liver Oil. Roseata is the ONLY cod liver oil to use.
Look into RCP Institute as the researcher (Morley Robbins) has spent 12 years studying the importance of bioavailable copper and how the soil is so depleted that almost all of us are deficient. Funny thing Veterinarians prescribe copper to animals all the time.
Copper is toxic is just another of the long list of BS and misdirection by the Enemies of Life.
There are many interviews on Mitolife radio and or Extreme Health with Morley. He is very aware of Ray Peat and always backs his statements with research

Vitamin A as retinol, and copper - all very helpful. But because I get enough of them in real food in the form of beef liver as well as in copper-rich crustaceans, their deficiency is not causative to my condition.

That is a metabolic perspective that I have looked at before, and have addressed. The other perspective is microbial, which I have been more into.

Both are important. The metabolic aspect is what keeps me strong enough to still be above average health-wise, but to be optimal I have to work on the microbial sub-optimality that plagues me.

I have found that the solution is never about one magic bullet that many like to search for, like the fountain of youth of Juan Ponce de Leon. It is to me more about parrying with an opponent with a good skillset that involves knowing yourself, your opponent, and what you can do to neutralize his every move, till the opponent is all spent and is subdued.

 

[yerrag]

Ditto.

"Funnily", I recently tended to have some hiccups or had the feeling it was going to happen soon.

I found a publication stating that breathing in a bag until you can't anymore (too much CO2, I don't know how it's called) can stop hiccups, don't know if this solution can help in your case. It worked for me once, I had to to do it twice so that is stops.

I'll give it a try. I had not tried that as I had discounted its usefulness in my case. Given my breath rate at 14 per minute is optimal. But CO2 has qualities that make Otto Warburg call it a cardinal adsorbent, which I do not fully grasp, so bag breathing may help. Thanks.

 

[yerrag]

Why I zero in on serotonin needs some explanation.

I have platelet counts that lie in the low range of normal. A mid value of 300 would be ideal, and mine is often from 180-200.

Since my mean platelet volume is high of range (6.5-12), at 11.2, it means I am getting new platelets regularly. So, this would mean I use up platelets regularly.

A likely reason for that is platelets eat up fungi, and a live blood test indicated that my rbc's harbor fungi, and fungal spores get released into the blood stream to be picked up and eaten by platelets.

With a low platelet count, I have less platelets to hold on to serotonin. CO2 is important as well in keeping serotonin contained in serotonin. With less platelets and CO2, the more unbound and free serotonin there is to get into brain and nervous system and cause nervous system issues.

When the lungs get covered by mucous and the mucous isn't expelled or discharged, the lungs cannot deactivate serotonin and the serotonin load increases. And the symptoms I get are headaches, hiccupping, and difficulty in controlling the muscles involved in swallowing.

 

[charlie]

their deficiency is not causative to my condition

Could be quite the opposite.

 

[achillea]

Vitamin A as retinol, and copper - all very helpful. But because I get enough of them in real food in the form of beef liver as well as in copper-rich crustaceans, their deficiency is not causative to my condition.

There are many studies of people who have relied on beef liver and crustaceans for their copper and done blood work before eating it and then 6 months and a year later and there was NO change in copper but an increase in iron
Have you ever thought of the iron in your tissue and its exposure to oxygen over the years so that it "rusts". One must do all they can to reduce the iron in their tissue, the iron in the blood basically means little to nothing and this is where retinol and copper come in to help to create cirutiplasin (sp) and facilitate O2 turning into water in the mitochondria to give the energy to everything everywhere in the body.
It will not hurt you to listen to a few interviews with Morley Robbins. It may lead to a new path toward the answer.
Whatever we wish you well as we have enjoyed your input over the last 7 years we have been Peaties

 

[xpat]

wishing you the best on your new endeavor @yerrag. Following.

 

[yerrag]

Could be quite the opposite.

6 days into it and I'm not getting any better with the spams around my upper respiratory and digestive area.

Finding cause needs to be well studied and considered. The guy who keeps saying thiamine, thiamine, thiamine -I'm glad he hasn't chimed in.

When I discount lack of copper and vitamin A as a cause, I have good reason to. Because years of being on this forum have made me practice an lifestyle free of deficiencies. I get a weekly meal of liver and of oysters, and I also est small shrimp-like crustaceans regularly such that my copper intake should be covered.

Since its been a week since this began, I no longer think this isn't caused by something external. I had gone out for brunch with friends at a restaurant last Tuesday, and since then I have developed issues I have never had the pleasure of dealing with.

Hiccups is just a spasm, of which I am experiencing more of. My head would be having regular short shakes as Inhiccup. And my speech would constantly be interrupted by hiccups. When I lie down, I would feel like drowning in saliva. And when I eat, I continue to not be able to see the entire bolus swallowed, with a portion accumulating at the top of my throat.

There is a lingering headache and my eyes feel a lingering pressure.

It seems that I ate a food with neurotoxins. If anyone knows what toxin that is from my symptoms, or can venture a guess, I would be appreciatibe.

I may have to go to that restored and hope it is still serving the same toxins, and get a take out so I can being the food to a toxicology lab.

And move from there. I suspect I have amils form of botulism, as the strong form quickly getsnone to vomit and to have blurred vision, as that had happened to my uncle long ago.But it would take as long as 21 days to resolve. This is not likely to be permanent, but a major inconvenience.

 

[yerrag]

wishing you the best on your new endeavor @yerrag. Following.

Thanks, but given a choice, I would have opted out of this endeavor lol

 

[yerrag]

There are many studies of people who have relied on beef liver and crustaceans for their copper and done blood work before eating it and then 6 months and a year later and there was NO change in copper but an increase in iron
Have you ever thought of the iron in your tissue and its exposure to oxygen over the years so that it "rusts". One must do all they can to reduce the iron in their tissue, the iron in the blood basically means little to nothing and this is where retinol and copper come in to help to create cirutiplasin (sp) and facilitate O2 turning into water in the mitochondria to give the energy to everything everywhere in the body.
It will not hurt you to listen to a few interviews with Morley Robbins. It may lead to a new path toward the answer.
Whatever we wish you well as we have enjoyed your input over the last 7 years we have been Peaties

Morley Robbins has some good info to share and from whom I can learn a lot from no doubt. I have been monitoring my iron and cerruloplasmin so I have little to worry about in those areas. Ferritin is higher than I would like, but that is the body protecting me from microbes in my system. Cerruloplasmin in fine, but can be higher and that is why I eat more crustaceans.

I was at first thinking I was having a healing crisis, but I had to reconsider and now think I got food poisoning. The toxins explain why I am having symptoms that a mere healing crisis cannot explain.

Food poisoning happens, and I'm glad I'm the only one stricken. It will be resolved.and there will be no lasting damage. it helps I have a sturdy metabolism and I can weather the insult. It's foolish of me to be worried about the spasms. I should trear them as no more than ant bites.

We.will always be back, better than ever.

 

[Blossom]

6 days into it and I'm not getting any better with the spams around my upper respiratory and digestive area.

Finding cause needs to be well studied and considered. The guy who keeps saying thiamine, thiamine, thiamine -I'm glad he hasn't chimed in.

When I discount lack of copper and vitamin A as a cause, I have good reason to. Because years of being on this forum have made me practice an lifestyle free of deficiencies. I get a weekly meal of liver and of oysters, and I also est small shrimp-like crustaceans regularly such that my copper intake should be covered.

Since its been a week since this began, I no longer think this isn't caused by something external. I had gone out for brunch with friends at a restaurant last Tuesday, and since then I have developed issues I have never had the pleasure of dealing with.

Hiccups is just a spasm, of which I am experiencing more of. My head would be having regular short shakes as Inhiccup. And my speech would constantly be interrupted by hiccups. When I lie down, I would feel like drowning in saliva. And when I eat, I continue to not be able to see the entire bolus swallowed, with a portion accumulating at the top of my throat.

There is a lingering headache and my eyes feel a lingering pressure.

It seems that I ate a food with neurotoxins. If anyone knows what toxin that is from my symptoms, or can venture a guess, I would be appreciatibe.

I may have to go to that restored and hope it is still serving the same toxins, and get a take out so I can being the food to a toxicology lab.

And move from there. I suspect I have amils form of botulism, as the strong form quickly getsnone to vomit and to have blurred vision, as that had happened to my uncle long ago.But it would take as long as 21 days to resolve. This is not likely to be permanent, but a major inconvenience.

I think he was alluding to the possibility of one or more nutrient toxicities? Food or chemical poisoning of some sort seems possible too. I can tell from your writing that you definitely don't seem like you're feeling well. I really admire your dedication to figuring it though. You're really the forum poster child (man) for Perceive, Think, Act imo. I know it's not peaty but I'm curious if you have considered a short fast just to pause as many variables as possible?

 

[yerrag]

I think he was alluding to the possibility of one or more nutrient toxicities? Food or chemical poisoning of some sort seems possible too. I can tell from your writing that you definitely don't seem like you're feeling well. I really admire your dedication to figuring it though. You're really the forum poster child (man) for Perceive, Think, Act imo. I know it's not peaty but I'm curious if you have considered a short fast just to pause as many variables as possible?

You mean vitamin A toxicity? It's not something I think I share with members here in terms of being exposed my whole lifetime to a common way of eating. So I wouldn't have taken and accumulated too much vitamin A. The fact is that I started off deficient and when I began to take beef liver weekly, over a few years I began to see the salutary effects in better eyesight and no heel skin cracking and no more dandruff.

As for fasting, that may actually have helped.

This morning I took out my pets' homeopathic kit and tried out a few sugar pills and instantly I felt better. But then I drank chain. And the symptoms came back. Given that chain contains caffeine and ginger, and these would counter the benefits of homeopathy. Plus, chain contains plenty milk, and that tends to form mucus.

Later this afternoon, I'll go back to taking the sugar pills of Gelsemium 30c. It's amazing how effective homeopathy is against toxins, which likely is what I got from eating that kimchi rice.

Once again, it's my bad for overlooking simple cures such as homeopathy. I should start giving it more respect and not confine its use to my cats.

 

[yerrag]

I think he was alluding to the possibility of one or more nutrient toxicities? Food or chemical poisoning of some sort seems possible too. I can tell from your writing that you definitely don't seem like you're feeling well. I really admire your dedication to figuring it though. You're really the forum poster child (man) for Perceive, Think, Act imo. I know it's not peaty but I'm curious if you have considered a short fast just to pause as many variables as possible?

You mean vitamin A toxicity? It's not something I think I share with members here in terms of being exposed my whole lifetime to a common way of eating. So I wouldn't have taken and accumulated too much vitamin A. The fact is that I started off deficient and when I began to take beef liver weekly, over a few years I began to see the salutary effects in better eyesight and no heel skin cracking and no more dandruff.

As for fasting, that may actually have helped.

This morning I took out my pets' homeopathic kit and tried out a few sugar pills and instantly I felt better. But then I drank chain. And the symptoms came back. Given that chain contains caffeine and ginger, and these would counter the benefits of homeopathy. Plus, chain contains plenty milk, and that tends to form mucus.

Later this afternoon, I'll go back to taking the sugar pills of Gelsemium 30c. It's amazing how effective homeopathy is against toxins, which likely is what I got from eating that kimchi rice.

Once again, it's my bad for overlooking simple cures such as homeopathy. I should start giving it more respect and not confine its use to my cats

 

[Blossom]

You mean vitamin A toxicity? It's not something I think I share with members here in terms of being exposed my whole lifetime to a common way of eating. So I wouldn't have taken and accumulated too much vitamin A. The fact is that I started off deficient and when I began to take beef liver weekly, over a few years I began to see the salutary effects in better eyesight and no heel skin cracking and no more dandruff.

As for fasting, that may actually have helped.

This morning I took out my pets' homeopathic kit and tried out a few sugar pills and instantly I felt better. But then I drank chain. And the symptoms came back. Given that chain contains caffeine and ginger, and these would counter the benefits of homeopathy. Plus, chain contains plenty milk, and that tends to form mucus.

Later this afternoon, I'll go back to taking the sugar pills of Gelsemium 30c. It's amazing how effective homeopathy is against toxins, which likely is what I got from eating that kimchi rice.

Once again, it's my bad for overlooking simple cures such as homeopathy. I should start giving it more respect and not confine its use to my cats

I’m not sure-it was just my impression from reading the comment. You seem to have an excellent understanding of what is happening with your body though and ultimately we all have to proceed with what that makes sense to us. I’m glad you are finding homeopathy useful. Hopefully this was just an inconvenient blip that passes quickly.