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this poor man. reminds me of me, re: vegan for so long. too bad they only tried b12. i had to cast the net far wider than that to get back any of my lost functionality. too many other things go downhill when you're vegan, whether they're linked to your b12 status or otherwise.
We describe a case of irreversible subacute sclerotic combined degeneration of the spinal cord in a Western vegan subject.
Methods
A 57-y-old man, member of a vegan cult for 13 y, developed weakness, paraplegia, hyper-reflexia, distal symmetric muscular hypotrophy, impairment of superficial sensation in the hands and feet, loss of deep sensation in the lower limbs, and neurogenic bladder and bowel. Magnetic resonance imaging of the cervical and dorsal spine disclosed abnormally increased signal intensity on T2-weighted sections in the posterior and lateral columns. Subacute sclerotic combined degeneration of the spinal cord was diagnosed and treatment with cobalamin was started.
Results
Despite rehabilitative treatment, the patient developed spastic hypertonia with mild improvement of paresthesias. Six months later, vitamin B12 plasma levels and hematological analysis were normal. One year later, spastic paraplegia was still present and the patient was unable to walk despite improvement on magnetic resonance imaging.
Conclusion
Irreversible subacute sclerotic combined degeneration of the spinal cord is a rare but possible effect of a strict vegetarian diet.
hi all, just reporting on what i had been doing for the week of may 19-25. strangely, considering how this post began, i have been ignoring D3 for a long time, probably to my detriment, due to ongoing magnesium issues.
anyway last week i took:
vit E - 1600IU (a 400IU capsule with each meal and at bedtime)
b100 complex - 400mg (1 100mg pill with each meal and at bedtime)
magnesium - 500mg (250mg pill, morning&night)
zinc - 50mg (one at night)
a fairly good week, no particular light bulb moments.
Last edited by jimmylegs on Mon Jun 02, 2008 9:21 am; edited 1 time in total
AM: iron with C for absorption, A and C as antioxidants, etc.
iron - 324 mg providing 37.5mg elemental
vit C - 2000mg
vit A - 10,000IU
CoQ10 - 100mg
chromium - 200mcg
Bedtime:
b100-complex -100mg
magnesium - 250mg
zinc - 50mg
plus some nights the odd potassium, or a vitE. stuff that's kicking around that i hadn't got to on other days.
this was an experimental week to figure out if i could do iron in the morning and magnesium at night, and have the binding of one effectively counter the loosening effect of the other on the GI tract. it worked.
i had some increasing troubles with my throat that kept me up most of the night on the 30th. i drank no caffeine on the 31st and doubled the bedtime magnesium. then i slept for 12 hours.
today the throat is MUCH improved. the family has commented with relief at not having to listen to me!
i'm back to coffee, but less and weaker, and this coming week, i'm going to keep the regimen largely the same, but upping the daily magnesium intake at 500-750mg, to see how that goes over. i will also remove the daily zinc for one week. on june 9th, i will finally stop pissing around and will go for my long overdue zinc test.
at some point i'm going to have to get back into the vitamin D scene again too!
hi there, i thought i'd throw in some info on daily food intakes. i have not figured out the nutritional value of all these foods yet except i have certainly included more dark leafy greens over the last couple of years.
in general, i try to eat organic and non-GMO and fair trade ...as much as i can afford to as an underemployed student. it cost me $72 to gas up the car yesterday!!??!!
breakfasts: usually one of three things - an egg with some veggies (one or more of onions, mushroom, pepper, and spinach) and a little cheese, or 8-grain wheat-free hot cereal (it has oats and rice and flax etc), or puffed kamut (basically wheat). when i have hot or cold cereal i put whole milk on it.
that's very time-dependent of course. if i'm out on the road really early and i didn't get up in time, i sometimes grab your typical bagel with cream cheese, or an evil breakfast sandwich of some description.
the occasional weekend breakfast fryup will be sort of like the egg thing above, with added baked bean, bacon, and toast.
drinks: a water, plus a tea and/or coffee during the morning.
lunches: usually lots of wraps. preferably whole wheat with flax. i put hummus (not always home-made) and cheese; plus maybe (not necessarily) either tinned tuna or a bit of sliced meat; then bell pepper, cucumber, tomato, lots of greens (spinach lately), a slice of dill pickle, and a few hot pepper rings. very occasionally i'll make quesadillas instead. i have those with plain yoghurt and salsa (again, only sometimes homemade... there is this fresh salsa in the deli section, i forget the brand name but it's sooooo goood!).
sometimes on campus at the cafeteria i will not choose their wraps, even though they make good ones... sometimes i just need one of their fish burgers. when lectures are in, maybe 1x per week. lately, maybe 1 per month. i seem to arrive on campus each week well after the caf is closed for the day.
we're in asparagus season here right now, and my mom modified a great asparagus tart recipe into wrap format the other day, which i might do more in future. you spread pesto on the wrap, layer on steamed asparagus and sauteed portobello, and sprinkle feta cheese on top. we didn't really have enough basil on hand so that batch of pesto was higher in cheese and nuts and than usual - but it still came out nicely. very tasty.
in the winter i like to have more soups, or things like spinach-herb-filo pies for lunches.
afternoon snacks: triscuits. i am a sucker for those. i have a few with liverwurst (for the zinc and hopefully also uric acid boost). i am going to be adding a couple dried apricots because i hear they're good for potassium. i'm not a fan of many of the potassium rich foods, but i can do apricots.
dinner: all kinds of things. meat, chicken, fish, vegetarian, vegan, whatever. from the decadent to the simple. lemon-herb-wine marinated chicken bake, with a spinach-portobello-parmesan risotto. or some veggie curry with cucumbers in yoghurt. or a cheeseburger with veggie toppings on a whole grain flat-bread style bun and salad.
dessert: don't really do desert per se. it's more of a special occasion/entertaining guests thing. usually, if i have any dark chocolate in the house i might have a square. maybe a digestive cookie. sometimes i make rice pudding or custard but it's pretty rare.
evening: every night, water and supplements, plus an herbal tea before bed. it gets me up in the night, but i just like winding down with a tea at the end of the evening.
on occasion, maybe once every few months, i'll make some popcorn in the evening, the evil way: no hot air, hot oil on the stovetop, salt and butter
so, that's that. although i need more exercise and i wouldn't miss a few pounds if they were to disappear, i'm basically feeling good about most of what i eat of late. it's no best bet diet, but it works okay so far.
i've had my reactions tested (albeit not at all recently - i know that reactions can change over time) and all i reacted to even mildly was oats and mold. i had some trouble with bread in 2006 but that seems to have resolved. i still don't chow down on lots of things like pizza though, i think that would possibly bloat me up some.
anyway, i guess that just gives a bit more of the nutrition picture than just pills
Joined: Sep 11, 2007 Posts: 489 Location: southern California
Posted: Sun Jun 08, 2008 9:29 pm Post subject:
Hey JL-
Looks like you eat a wide variety of foods, great diet, smart to go organic. Good for you on leafy greens and healthy proteins. Just wondering...have you ever tried a week without dairy? Might be an interesting experiment. Jeff is off of milk and cheese, and feeling good. He has almond milk in his coffee or on cereal, seasoned tofu instead of cheese. He snacks on walnuts for extra protein and omega 3.
I know you like playing guinea pig
Maybe dairy free might help the throat?
just throwin' it out there,
AC _________________ Husband diagnosed RRMS March 2007
20 lesions brain/spine
Copaxone, Swank, supplements, laughter
hey there cheer, good idea - could help bring down the residual mucous issue. and take some fat intake off the menu
i've been paranoid about excluding dairy since the abject failure of my long-term veganism experiment.
i would definitely not substitute factory processed dairy alternatives at this stage; those days are behind me in vegan-land. too many ingredients.
i'd probably do all right cutting down on dairy and subbing in some other whole food like the nuts you suggest. and fish i suppose since our milk tends to be d3 supplemented these days.
Joined: Sep 11, 2007 Posts: 489 Location: southern California
Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2008 8:23 pm Post subject:
Thanks, JL!!!
Had a delish dinner at our favorite French bistro to celebrate.
Beets and chevre salade, ahi tartar, and mousse au chocolat for dessert. yum. Terrific celebration and Jeff's feeling really good these days! Counting our blessings.
We showed our wedding pics to our son...."Wow! You guys were really young!" He was surprised. We were just 20- had no idea what we were getting into
Time goes so quickly. Hope your folks had a good anniversary, too.
AC _________________ Husband diagnosed RRMS March 2007
20 lesions brain/spine
Copaxone, Swank, supplements, laughter
that's so great cheer! glad you had a nice time. it was very low key for the parents, they ended up just ordering pizza, instead of going out, or even bbqing some steak. i guess everything is kind of postponed but i brought a few things just to mark the day flowers and a card and a cake - there are champagne and flutes on hand now for whenever they're up to it!
i got asked for ID when i bought the champagne if i'm still getting carded when i'm 40 i'm havin a party lol
Joined: Sep 11, 2007 Posts: 489 Location: southern California
Posted: Tue Jun 17, 2008 8:59 am Post subject:
Whoo-hoo!
Zinc-tastic, JL.
How's the throat been with these levels? Any more news?
Also...not surprised you were carded! You've got that youthful, ski instructor thing going on. Won't be your last time.
I was actually carded last year at the age of 45. I started laughing and looked for the hidden camera, but the checker said, "No seriously, I could lose my job if I don't card everyone who is questionable."
Made my day (year) Sure it will NEVER happen again. _________________ Husband diagnosed RRMS March 2007
20 lesions brain/spine
Copaxone, Swank, supplements, laughter
heya, the throat's been mostly okay, but i still have to really stay on top of the supplements. i'm not unable to clear it when it fills up, but it is still filling up. i have been taking it nice and easy on the voice too (will consult with you when it's time to go loud again )
since the pharmacist advised potassium to help with the mag, i have gotten my hands on some apricots now and i'm taking a couple of hundred mg in pill form daily too - hopefully that will help.
i'm also thinking of picking up a more soluble form of magnesium - right now i'm probably only getting something dumb like 5mg for every 250mg i take!
lol hidden camera it does make for a good day huh lol!
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