This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Knowledge & Support Community

hello.

I have ms symptoms but I'm not diagnosed.

After starting healthy diet (low sat fat, low suggar) my normal blood pressure went from 120/80 to about 105-110/70.
I think that this makes me some trouble. I also add some supplements from time to time, vit D, Mg, Q10, curcumin. I've read that most of the supplements reduce blood pressure. As a result I have some big deficit of energy an noon, it's becoming more severe day by day, I'm affraid I will faint.

I feel much better after coffe or alcohol.

Do you know any ways to increase BP?

Lab results (Age 33/M):
***2010*** Wester style diet
PO2 72mmHg (75-100)
Ca++ 1,15 (1,15-1,32)
Calcium 2,19 mmol/l (2,20-2,75) low!
hemoglobin 16,8 (12-17)
pth 25 (15-65)
tsh 1,65uU/ml (0,27-4,2)

(started vD + low diary, low sat fat low sugar diet - not perfect Swank with meat)
***03.2012***
Chol total 153
Triglicerydes 88
HDL 47 (low!)
LDL 88
B12 430pg/ml
D (25OH) 25ng/dl
MRI: hypoplasia of right side artery in head,
VEP p100: left 116 right 122

***05.2012***
vit D 41 ng/dl
Testosterone 22 (10-28)
DHEA-S 404 (160-449)
Calcium 2,52mmol/l (2,15-2,55)

***01.2013***
glucose 82 (70-99)
total Chol 128
HDL 54
Triglycerydes 66
LDL 61 nice
Cortisol serum at 8am 27 ug/dl (4,3 - 22) high!

**08.2013***
Uric acid 6,4mg/dl (2,4-7)
Calcium 10,23mg/dl (8,6 - 10,2 ) high! =2.63 mmol/l
D25OH Total 36ng/ml
zinc 13,5 μmol/l 9,2 — 18,4

Are you staying hydrated, i.e., beverages other than coffee or alcohol?

I usually drink 1-1.5L per day. I don't like drinking more because of frequent urination and I'm not thirsty - I think I learned my body to live with this amount of water. When I have a blood test I always have hemoglobin at the upper limit and one doctor suggested that I'm dehydrated.

And yes I tried to increase water intake and yes it helps but not as efficient as coffee.

when my blood pressure gets low it's typically dehydration - mine's been 80/50 before. if the high hemoglobin is in the mix, then it sounds like a pretty reasonable conclusion. I would expect diuretics like alcohol and coffee to make the problem worse over time, not better.

so, now I'm thinking about fat. when you decreased sat fat, how low did you go? how many g per day is typical? did you increase healthy fat? are you consuming a healthy balance of O-6 to O-3 fats?

re this energy deficit at noon - what do you typically eat for breakfasts, lunches, and dinners?

this study may be of interest (well I think it's interesting! I am usually un-thirsty and I know others here have mentioned having the same idiosyncrasy)

Thirst deficits in aged rats are reversed by dietary omega-3 fatty acid supplementation
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22226487
During heat waves many elderly individuals die as a consequence of dehydration. This is partially due to deficits in mechanisms controlling thirst. Reduced thirst following dipsogenic stimuli is well documented in aged humans and rodents. Low in vivo long-chain omega-3 fatty acid levels, as can occur in aging, have been shown to alter body fluid and sodium homeostasis. Therefore, the effect of dietary omega-3 fatty acid supplementation on drinking responses in aged rats was examined. Omega-3 fatty acids reversed thirst deficits in aged rats following dehydration and hypertonic stimuli; angiotensin (ANG) II induced drinking was unaffected in aged rats. Plasma atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) and arginine vasopressin (AVP) were altered with age, but not affected by diet. Aged omega-3 fatty acid deficient animals displayed increased hypothalamic cytosolic phospholipase A(2) (cPLA(2)), cyclooxygenase (COX)-2, and prostaglandin E (PGE) synthase messenger (m)RNA expression, compared with animals that received omega-3 fatty acids. The aged low omega-3 fatty acid fed animals had significantly elevated hypothalamic PGE(2) compared with all other groups. Hypothalamic PGE(2) was negatively correlated with drinking induced by both dehydration and hypertonicity. The results indicate that PGE(2) may be the underlying mechanism of the reduced thirst observed in aging.

also (I particularly like that the range of ratios and the cofactors are included here):

Nutritional Imbalances
http://natural-health-academy.com/natur ... hydration/
Cellular Hydration is also influenced by fat & oil intake. The Omega-3 essential fatty acids in particular, play a key role in maintaining cellular hydration. The essential fatty acids are involved in the production of tissue hormones known as prostaglandins, which have a range of functions including regulating cell hydration. A diet which is low or imbalanced in the essential fats, namely Omega-6 and Omega-3 leads to an imbalance within the prostaglandins. This type of imbalance often leads to inflammatory symptoms within the body. In order to successfully produce prostaglandins, Omega-3 and Omega-6 essential fatty acids are required in the correct proportions (1:1 up to 1:4). Other essential nutritional cofactors to make prostaglandins are also required. These include: phospholipids, zinc, magnesium and vitamins B3, B6, C and E. If these nutrients are not supplied then imbalances within prostaglandin functioning and the endocrine system start to occur.

You say you have MS symptoms but you're not diagnosed. Which symptoms affect you? The inability to Vasodilate is common in MS. That doesn't sound like an issue for you.

Regards

I usually have some sandwich(100g of bread) with butter or olive oil and cheese, fish or ham for breakfast or 2-3 eggs.
Typicall lunch is 200g of rice or potatoes, 100g of salad made of cabbage or carrot, 100-150 of meat, poultry or fish or lean pork.
Dinner is usually the same as breakfast. I often have 2x dinner, one at 6pm and the next one at 10pm (I goto bed at 11pm).
Additionally 1-3 fruits like orange/bannana/apple per day and 50g of nuts/almonds/sunflower seeds.
2-3x tea with 1tsp of sugger, 1 coffee, 1-2 glasses of water.

I don't know how much sat fat I take but I think that it's around 20g per day.

I'm not sure if my issue is actually low BP, maybe it's low suggar or poor energy production. I get the same kind of weakness feeling when I walk for 2-3 miles.

As for ms symptoms: polynopsia, VEP test failed on one eye, fatigue, leg and arm numbness, dizzyness ( mri clean, edss 0).

I run from time to time I get ammonia smell of sweat, do you know what that means? Is it harmful?

hi again,

diet sounds good overall in terms of whole foods, with perhaps some room for tweaking. in general, is your bread white bread? is the rice white rice, or do you include brown and/or wild rice? how much cheese would you say you eat daily?

re omegas, and looking at the balance between O-6 sources like bread and olive oil vs O-3 sources such as fish, which specific kinds of fish are you eating, and how many times per week do you have fish for breakfast? how many times per week at lunch and dinner?
info: http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tnam ... nt&dbid=84

re fatigue one thing you could look at is your daily intake of magnesium. if your intake is below 600mg, you might want to consider adding more magnesium-dense foods to the daily routine.
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tnam ... #foodchart (note that when they specify serving size 1 cup, in the case of greens that's boiled for a short time eg 1 min for spinach. I ate an entire bunch of swiss chard with my fish and sweet potato last night- after a 3 min boil to reduce oxalic acid, the chard was down to about a 1.5c serving)

the ammonia smell could be related to dehydration, but could also indicate something amiss with the urea cycle (with links to high protein intake).. which can be quite harmful and suggests that in addition to hydration you may want to pay some attention to zinc status. in addition to its role in the urea cycle and contribution to good uric acid status, if zinc is low, it can impair your ability to utilize magnesium.
do you ever eat shellfish, red meat from wild game, beef, or lamb? if so, how often?
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tnam ... #foodchart
aim for 40mg zinc from food daily. you may be there already, but it helps to do the math.

if you can get any serum nutrient testing done, it could provide an idea of how much work you have to do on your status. can be informative and pretty harmless. worst case scenario, you rule nutrition out as a contributing factor.

see first post for my lab results

Hi Leo,
In my line of work... all the specialists recommend water and more water for low BP. I have clients that have been told to drink water every half an hour. I hope that helps you some anyway.
Ann

What does your doctor say about the hypoplasia? Is it the only incidence you have and have they looked at other parts of your body as well?
Have you had any testing for infections (mycoplasmas, rickettsias, Lyme, JCV etc)?
If something is amiss in your glycolysis process then it should also show up in your non essential amino acids. Try a fasting amino acid test as well.

Regards

ah thanks for the heads up re results, Leonardo.

so, yes zinc is low, consistent with daily bread consumption and not much in the way of zinc rich foods.
you'd want serum closer to 18.

meanwhile uric acid appears high.
any chance you had that ua test done after a coffee?
coffee can make ua results appear higher than they actually are.
if you can, next time someone tests you for serum ua, have it done first thing in the morning with nothing beforehand except water.

d3 looks decent, certainly better than it was in 2012..
and you've been taking vit D3 for 2 years now - without adding supplemental mag, I take it?
I see no serum magnesium results - any chance of a test next trip?
this last piece looks like a plausible candidate for at least part of the fatigue puzzle.
do you have any magnesium supplements on hand?

I was thinking about your BP issue and just had a thought. When you said you feel better drinking alcohol and coffee. Do you mean red wine? I read some where that the chemical in red wine and coffee as well, are an Nrf2 activator. Maybe that is why you feel better.
Ann

- it doesn't matter what alcohol I drink, every time I get better

- white bread is the main thing in my diet (normal in my country)

- right now I don't use magnesium, probably I should because I have side effects of vit D (now I take vD 5000UI every 3-4 days). I tried to take mg before but this made my problems 10 times worse. Maybe because I took to high dose of mg (250mg of elemental mg). I will test Mg.

- I bought a glucometer and I'm measuring glucose level. From what I have read my current symptoms are 100% the same as in reactive hypoglycemia. Will post results soon,

- Forgot to add that I have high generic anxiety/ tension without any reason, usually until 2-3pm. This often leads to panic attacks.

- the 2 doctors didn't say anything about hypoplasia,

- Lyme test negative,

hi again, ok if white bread is the status quo, see if you can take the daily amount down a notch, and simultaneously increase the zinc density of your regular diet. you might want to consider a month or so on a supplement, just to kick things into gear.

when you took high dose magnesium, what form was it in? 250mg of elemental mag from magnesium oxide could certainly lead to unpleasant side effects. can you track down any magnesium glycinate locally? also, any chance of boosting dietary mag intake? better mag status should help address the anxiety situation as well.

The Mg that I used was magnesium glycinate 1400mg+zinc(100%GDA)+B6. It lowered my BP too much. I think that I have correct level because of eating plenty of nuts and seeds (didn't supplement for 1 year). Anyway I'm going to start Mg suplementation at much lower dose.

I did some blood tests for glucose, the level in the morning and 2-3h after meals was 80-90. After some meal: 110-140.
I also did test while I got that noon "zombie" feeling and the suggar was still correct (80-90), I thought it will be under the limit = hypoglycemia. (Normal range for my units is 70-100 in the morning and 140 2h after meal).

So my issue is rather a mix of low blood pressure/ poor energy production/ high anxiety.

I bought zinc (zinz diglycinate 15mg) and take one per day. I got your idea about zinc status and bread - good to know, will try to reduce white bread.