This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Community: Knowledge & Support

hi px,

the short answer is that i'm doing great, and no major symptoms. i would say at my worst i was about a 5.0, and now i would say i'm probably edss 1.0, but i'm not sure if numbness is a 'sign' or a 'disability'.

for the long answer, the main thing that has not resolved since dx is the numbness in my hands. i have a bulging disk in my neck which may have done some permanent damage to my compromised cervical cord (from the b12 deficiency) when i wiped out in 2006, right before dx. i also have carpal tunnel issues so that's part of the picture too.

i'm much better than the couple weeks right after dx, but given the lasting damage, i do still lose some functionality when i really exert myself.

other than that, any new symptoms in the last 3 years turned out to be deficiencies i had not previously identified, and which have mostly resolved.

for example during '07 after a couple of years of high-dosing d3 without appropriate levels of mineral intake i ended up with that confusion while driving (zinc deficiency) and the scary dysphagia (magnesium works pretty well but i still have to clear my throat more often than normal - my vocal instructor says it is acid reflux but i don't get heartburn so that's somewhat unusual).

anyway, imbalances happen i guess - when you're guinea-pigging yourself you can accidentally throw things off.

hope you are doing well too - ttfn,
JL

I'm doing ok, except for not knowing what "ttfn" means.

i was curious how you nutrition program was translating to clinical experience. Glad to hear things are going well.

tigger's acronym for 'ta ta for now'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkA_96QHGB4

called the doc about the selenium today. i have been waiting for that result from jun 19 bloodwork. it's not in yet. called the lab. it is the one test i had to pay for and they have lost my sample. they messed up my vit A and E too, putting them in the wrong colour vials. oh well they're usually a good lab by and large. i will have to run over and see if they will re-do A, E, and Se (without a new lab req or any new payment for the Se!).
le sigh.

luckily all they had to do was make a couple phone calls and request a fax of the original requisition. i can expect results on vit A, vit E and selenium next week.

ps, i finally figured out there is natural vitamin E in my omega 3 fish oil capsule, and it doesn't say how much.
so whenever i have been taking an E supplement, this has been in addition to dietary E, plus whatever's in the fish oil, AND whatever's in my multi.
i think that spells 'mystery solved'!!

found a neat soil selenium map - shows canada and US.
http://www.saanendoah.com/map1.html
i was posting in april in response to mention of therapies that help elevate glutathione. i found at that time that zinc helps raise it.
now that i'm looking at selenium, turns out that helps raise glutathione levels also:
Selenium supplementation in healthy Belgian adults: response in platelet glutathione peroxidase activity and other blood indices
http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/abstract/48/1/139

found a couple of reference ranges for selenium, and conversion info:
0.90 to 2.00 µmol/L
1.02 to 1.91 µmol/L OR 80 to 150 µg/L (molecular weight of Se is 78.96)

sources:

http://www.trace-elements.org.uk/trace- ... /selenium/
0.2 to 0.9 µmol/L (0 to 2 years)
0.5 to 1.3 µmol/L (2 to 4 years)
0.7 to 1.7 µmol/L (4 to 16 years)
0.9 to 2.0 µmol/L (Adults)

< 0.3 µmol/L (in adult) - supplementation may be required
> 2.5 µmol/L (in adult) - possible toxicity

http://www.annals.org/cgi/content/full/ ... 70-00228v1
Selenium Toxicity: A Case of Selenosis Caused by a Nutritional Supplement 17 June 2008 | Volume 148 Issue 12
Background: Selenium is a nonmetal element that serves vital roles in normal physiologic function. Substantial toxicity can occur with excessive selenium consumption...
Objective: To describe the clinical features of a patient with selenium toxicity after ingesting Total Body Formula Peach Nectar liquid supplement with a selenium formulation error.
...The supplement’s stated ingredients included multiple vitamins and trace minerals and elements, including selenium.
...Her serum selenium level was markedly elevated at 534 µg/L (6.76 µmol/L) (reference range, 80 to 150 µg/L [1.02 to 1.91 µmol/L]). Her spot urinary selenium level was also elevated at 220 µg/L (2.79 µmol/L) (reference range, <150 µg/L [<1.91 µmol/L])

22-11-2011 update: conversion info (04-2013 update - need to revisit this. why is the analyte zinc??)

Analyte: zinc
Specimen: serum/plasma
Reference Range, Conventional: 58-234
Conventional Unit: mg/L
Conversion Factor (Multiply by): 0.0127
Reference Range, SI: 0.74-2.97
SI Unit: mmol/L

okay so, the selenium, vit A and vit E are back at last.

my selenium is a little high at 2.28 µmol/L or 180 µg/L, so i can back off on that for a while.

vit A is 2.38 vs 2.33 from the previous test.

my vit E (alpha-tocopherol) is fine at 29.9, down from 57.6 last time (normal 7.0 - 36.7). i am not sure from my lab printouts whether that 'normal range' is in mg/L or µmol/L... but i'm leaning towards µmol/L.
either way, still don't think i have a 'target' value inside the normal range for this nutrient.

i read something that put me a little off calcium a while back, so i experimented with not taking my calcium for the last week (i have been off the d3 too, pending my next lab requisition - to be obtained at my physical appt next week).
anyway, it suuuuuuuucked. my throat was awful, and my right eye started 'tic'-ing like mad.
i gave in and took some calcium yesterday eve, only about 150mg, and ate a bunch of kale and broccoli for dinner.
it's like night and day. no eye-twitchy nonsense, throat much improved, whew.

got some messages from my doc's office that the d3 is now "okay", no longer too high.
have to wait until business hours to call in for the date and the actual result.

interesting aside:
"Women are a group of drug consumers who should be especially concerned with Drug-Induced Nutrient Depletion. Few women know that oral contraceptives lower the levels of vital nutrients such as Vitamin B2, B6 and B12, Vitamin C, Folic Acid, Magnesium and Zinc."

In the January 2010 issue of Better Homes and Gardens is this item on page 124:



This article seems to reinforce the importance of testing your numbers, just as Kathryn R. Simpson emphasizes in her book, The MS Solution.

Just in case anyone was wondering, 35 ng/mL is to equivalent 87.5 nmol/L so it's still a bit less than a target of 150 nmol/L.

To do the calculation, divide by the molecular weight of 25-hydroxy vitamin D3, 400.17 ng/nmol, and then multiply by 1000 mL/L.

Chemistry is fun

NHE

oh NHE you're such a card
thanks for this, and yes it still bugs me that the status quo vit D info is talking about osteoporosis. i mean heck we may as well talk rickets FCOL.
'so-called'?
hey, where's that abstract i gleefully posted, citing less than 100 as insufficient??
also, for that conversion you can multiply by 2.496