Makes sense. I used to do that when living in Central America, put everything in the fridge on account of the humidity and to protect food against ants, etc.

Cheers,
Gene

__________________
"A skeptic is a well informed believer and a pessimist a well informed optimist"

Hello, Gene. So, I just skimmed through this thread. There sure are a lot of good suggestions on it, IMO. I'll try to add my two-cents to the mix.

It seems like you're currently taking the following supplements:

This looks fine to me. I don't think you need to take the B12 quite so often however.

I do think that the probiotics could help. But, I disagree with the health food store consultant about the dosage. IMO, you should start off slowly. I would start by taking a minimal-dosage and then slowly building up to a higher-dosage.

As a baseline, let me tell you what I thought while reading your history. This is a guy who's system/body needs some gentle care. By that, I mean that you should first try to make very gradual changes. Mainly focusing on the macro pieces of the health pie. Diet, mental health and sleep are the macros I'm thinking of. The supplements would fall into the micro category - which is important but not primary.

Diet-wise: I like the idea of trying an anti-fungal diet. Doug Kaufmann's diet is a pretty good way to go because it allows for some fruit items (like berries and green apples) which make it less of an extreme low-carb program. This makes it easier, for some, to stick to.

note: His cook book is a good place to start. You can pick up a copy for around $35 and it will give you the basic information and recipes to help you on your way.

Eating in such a manner may also help to balance your blood sugar levels which can help with depression and anxiety. It could also help you lose excess weight which is often implicated in GERD symptoms.

GERD-wise: Check out this link and see if it helps you find some good ideas. Ask any questions if they may arise.

https://vitamintutor.blogspot.com/200...may-cause.html

Mental Health-wise: Have you ever tried any form of stress-reduction? I mean things like guided imagery, meditation, breathing exercises, biofeedback, etc.?

If not, perhaps we can find something that may help your mind cope with the damage that was done in the past.

Do you exercise regularly? If not, can you start making this a goal? Walking several time a week is a good place to start. It would address multiple targets of your health care puzzle.

Adding a good fish oil supplement may be helpful as well - for your mental-ills and your GERD. I know this was mentioned earlier in this thread.

https://vitamintutor.blogspot.com/200...-barretts.html

https://vitamintutor.blogspot.com/200...-fish-oil.html

Also, I'd like to add my support for the use of magnesium (like other posters have, earlier in the thread). The form I like best is the magnesium taurinate form. This form appears especially good for anxiety-symptoms.

Supplement-wise: I do like the Natural Factors line of products. But, there may be something better out there in regard to a few of the supplements you take.

#1 - I prefer using probiotics that have scientific studies to back up their claims. I'll name three products that fit that description and that are usually easy to find.

+ Culturelle
+ Danactive
+ Yakult

Danactive and Yakult are (cultured) dairy-based drinks. They do have some added sweeteners however. I wish they didn't but they do. Even so, they do seem to be effective. The good seems to outweigh the bad.

Danactive, in particular, is intended to support immune function.

If you decide to try Culturelle, I would stick with the one-a-day dosage.

It may also be wise to alternate probiotics. So, for example, you might try Culturelle for a month and then switch to Danactive for the next month. Use your symptoms as a guide as to what's best for you.

Another newer probiotic that I like is by Nature's Way. It's called Intensive Probiotics. But, I think it's probably too powerful to use at this point.

#2 - As far as your multi-vitamin goes. Which one are you taking? Here's one product that is intended to help balance mood:

https://www.iherb.com/ProductDetails.aspx?c=1&pid=838

Read the customer reviews to see if you think it may help.

Immune-System-wise: I agree that getting your vitamin D levels tested would be a good idea. Until then, try to get more sun in non-peak hours of the day. Many people, with your symptoms, are deficient in D.

The Life Extension Foundation offers a reasonably priced vitamin D test.

https://www.lef.org/newshop/items/itemLC081950.html

I'm sure I've left quite a few possibilities out. This is by no means a definitive list. It's only what I could come up with at this moment.

BTW, another option for chronic flu symptoms is black elderberry extract. Sambucol is an elderberry extract that's been shown to be active against the flu virus.

I hope some of this helps.

__________________
You're officially invited to visit my natural health blog: www.healthyfellow.com

Catch up time, with just a few minimal comments...

I'm wondering if what you saw was msm, instead of the mms.. I got that confused alot for awhile!!!

When I was doing the mms, I had alot of trouble doing it during the day, so I started out at night, right before bedtime, so any side effects I basically slept through.

Also, I have read (dont remember where) that if you take your b vitamins at night, that your body has a better chance of absorbing them... wonder how true that is..

If the garlic is too harsh on your stomach, try cutting a clove of garlic in half, and place it on the bottom of your bare foot for awhile... I wonder if maybe you could sleep that way.... granted you wont get all the benefits of the garlic, but surely you will get some. I had read once about doing this, and so let my daughter be a guinia pig.. we cut a clove in half and had her stand on it... within a matter of seconds, she could taste the garlic in her mouth, and felt a tingling in her knee where she had alot of inflammation....

Epsom salts baths will also help with detoxing

Have you read the info about the EFT??? Look in the links section... I know anxiety is really hard to deal with, but it seemed the eft did help me.

I told you that I had bought the doug kaufman book, and it has the full diet in it... but if you go to the website that Sally posted, in the FAQ section, it does give you phase one of the diet... it might be worth your while to start there.

__________________
God is and all is well
~John Greenleaf Whittier~

Hi Harry and thanks for taking a look at this thread.

What would you recommend, cutting down to either 1000 or 2000mcg's? I was under the impression that 5000mcg was the ideal "booster".

I assumed as much, being that going with the maximal dosage (3 caps/day) gave me a couple of bouts of diarrhea which kind of worried me so I stopped taking them (especially after reading certain warnings about using them).

This also has been my line of thought and why I mentioned in several of my posts that I do have to be careful on how I should approach this situation and do everything one step at a time and watch for adverse reactions before moving on and/or adding something else to my "recipe to recovery". Unfortunately, when I had that awful flu and sore throat, I tried several concoctions I found on another site and the end results were worse than the darn flu, chemical imbalances that interfered with my anxiety/seizures medication, others that reactivated the GERD and probably burnt a hole through my stomach (which is unfortunate for I had been off the Nexium for over 6 months), decreased appetite, nausea, bowel problems, etc..

As others and you pointed out, fungus seem to be the root of most of my problems and I sure will get that book, quite a few people have recommended it.

Checked it out, great reading, thanks. Mind you, I would like to add that I'm only 6 pounds over the recommended BMI.

I WAS very much into meditation but for the past year, I can't seen to relax enough to get into it, can't focus on my relaxation techniques and my mind slowly drifts back to stuff that stresses me out...

I go out for 30 minutes walks 5 or 6 days out of 7 (depending on the weather).

Already, I did read that Omega-3 supplements were excellent, something else to add to the "arsenal" (once I do a successful test run with the probiotics).

As stated above, I'll slowly build up my "arsenal".

What would be your opinion that I take the Natural Factors for a month then altenate with Danactive and/or Culturelle?

Hopefully, I'll be able to build my system up enough to give those a try.

I'm taking something similar to the one you linked to but a different brand.

Thanks, I'll sure look into it doing that. BTW, how does that procedure work? You order the test, have a technician draw the blood and LEF does the lab work or does it have to go to a local lab?

LOL! Thanks, along with what others have suggested, I sure as heck have a lot on my plate...

Thanks, I'll look it up... I think I'm overloading Google these days, LOL!

It sure does, you and all others who have participated in this thread are great.

Thanks,
Gene

Gene,

The LEF blood tests work like this:

- You order the test via their website or by phone.

- They send you some paperwork and the location of nearby labs that can draw your blood.

- You go to one of the labs, they draw your blood and then send the blood sample away for analysis (or do it on-site, if they have the capability). The results are then sent to you.

I don't recall if LEF actually does the analysis. They may just act as the "doctor" ordering the blood work. Otherwise, a physician would probably have to order such a test for you.

That's how I recall that it works anyhow. I think it takes a few weeks, from the draw-time, to get your results.

re: B12

I think a good starting point would be 1,000 mcg a day (along with your B-complex). That's just my opinion based on the "go-slow" approach. B12 is very safe, even in very high dosages.

re: Natural Factors probiotics

I think they're worth a shot. Maybe a lower dosage will allow your body to gradually adjust.

Make sure to take the product as directed. Some probiotics are best taken on an empty stomach. Others are suggested for after meals. It largely depends on the strains of bacteria and the delivery system (regular capsules, enteric-coated capsules, the buffering-agents included with the probiotics, etc.).

It sounds like you're taking quite a few positive steps to regain your health. Keep up the good work!

Harry and Gene,

After having blood tests at the lab. the lab does the analysis and sends the report to a doctor at LEF. LEF then sends a copy of the report to you. It is done by the same reputable labs that your M.D.'s use when they order a blood test, usually LabCorp. If you are a member of LEF, you can save quite a bit of money, but I don't believe you have to be a member to order. You can call and talk to someone at LEF if you need information about the results of your tests, but they cannot diagnose your health issues.

nightowl

You might want to talk to your local hospitals, to see if they have any type of program that will help you get the blood work without a doctors order....Just last week, I was able to go to one of our small local hospitals, and get all the blood work I wanted... they have a heart health blood test which test cholesterol and triglycerides, and they have a comprehensive one that will also check your liver and such. I was able to get a 3 hour fasting blood glucose, and also a complete thyroid testing done.... Paid 250 dollars, but very well worth it... I was given the choice to have the results sent to me or my doctor, so I had them sent to both of us.

NightOwl and Just Me,

Thanks for the clarification/information. I've used the LEF blood testing in the past but that was several years ago. Luckily, I have pretty good insurance at the moment and a sympathetic doctor. So, I'm fortunate to get my testing through him.

My parents just recently ordered the vitamin D test (through LEF) and are awaiting their results. I'm a member so they were able to get the discounted price for the test.

I'll report back on their test results. They're both supplementing with higher-dosages of vitamin D and they live in Southern California. But, that doesn't necessarily mean their D levels are adequate. It'll be interesting (for me at least ).

Thanks for the posts.

I'll answer tomorrow, had a heck of a terrible night and today wasn't any better so I feel like crap (intermittent awful heartburn, nausea, bloating, gas, belching, etc.). The only things I could stomach up to now were dry toast and a small apple.

I kind of wonder if the Nexium is doing more harm than good, I'll fill you in tomorrow and maybe we could figure something out.

TTYL,
Gene

If you're getting things like Gas, Heartburn, (Acid Reflux), etc etc, you may have some kind of Hyperaciditiy, so want to try and do things that may assist with that, like increase Water, Increase Veggies for a few days and see how that works.

With the bloating, might be wise to increase your Gut Bacteria, if you're not Lactose intolerant, (can't remember if you said you were or not), and maybe cut your Milk a bit to reduce Casein intake, incase the bloat is Casein related.

Gene,

Don't sleep on your side, pushes the acid up from the stomach and causes heartburn. Nexium reduces acid in the stomach. Gas and bloating is caused from undigested food. There is not enough acid in your stomach to digest the food properly, not too much! You are probably lacking enzymes that are necessary for digestion, too. The older we get, the less enzymes our body produces. Nexium is a temporary fix. It causes the gut to become more alkaline. Fungus cannot survive in an alkaline envirnment. It's a Catch 22. When you stop taking the Nexium, the fungus comes back and so does the heartburn. If you stop eating grains and sugar the hearburn will stop, too! Sounds like an impossibility, but once your hearburn goes away, you will no longer crave sugar and grains. Fungus craves sugar and grains. Take the sugar and grains away from the fungus and it will go away, too. Fungus actually cannot live without sugar and grains. These are all issues I have been dealing with for the past 20 years. I no longer have fungus, nor do I have heartburn.
Two days ago I ordered blood tests from Life Extension. They are on sale until June 9. I saved about 40%. After you receive your results in the mail you can speak to an actual doctor at LEF about the results. They will keep a record of the results from the lab. It's easy, although I'm not sure they offer this in Canada!

Sally B.

Sally,

I've always heard that people, especially older people, that lack stomach acid that they need to properly digest food should put a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar (Bragg's is good) in an 8 oz glass of water and sip it with each meal. I've read that vinegar is the closest thing to natural digestive juices. But it is made by a fermenting process. Does this make it bad for conditions caused by fungus?

nightowl

Hi Friends, I'm feeling a bit better today and wish to fill you in on what happened:

A couple of nights ago, I was feeling OK and popped a "trial" probiotic after dinner (label says on a full stomach). A couple of hours later, I started feeling a bit bloated and a while later, it escalated into a full-blown heartburn, as if I had swallowed muriatic acid. Also, at one time I went to urinate and could feel a bit of burning in my urinary tract and then remembered that when I first started taking them (for 4 days, a couple of weeks ago), I had that same feeling once or twice, quite unpleasant I must say.

According to the way I felt, I assume it must have been an adverse reaction. I've been reading just about everything I could find on probiotics and there are reported adverse effects to certain strains and mine being a multi. it would be quite a process of elimination to find out which triggered such a terrible reaction. Another thing I forgot to mention, when I first tried them 2 weeks ago (3 caps/day then stopped), the couple of bouts of diarrhea I had were quite unpleasant, it felt like I was evacuating very acidic liquid feces and I felt a burning sensation in my rectum.

So, it was a heck of a bad experience, putting up with the heartburn, bloating, nausea, etc. which made me nervous, thus provoking anxiety and panic attacks which in turn made my gut worse, heck of a vicious circle.

Needless to say, I didn't sleep much that night and the Nexium didn't seem to help.

Yesterday, I ate very little and once again, had several bouts with bloating and nausea, anxiety and all but it subsided enough to get a decent night's sleep.

This morning, I had 2 hard-boiled eggs and dry toast, decided to skip the Nexium for it seems to interfere with the absorption of food and so far, so good, I seem to be digesting my breakfast without discomfort. The darn thing is that even though the bland breakfast went down quite well, it's dinnertime and I am not hungry. Mind you, I haven't felt hungry for the past 3 days or so.

About LEF, no such thing in Canada, thanks to socialized healthcare...

Thanks,
Gene

Can't answer the fungus thing but in my case, NOT to be taken with my ulcer, been there, done that and it only irritated the heck out of it...

Mind you, according to Earth Clinic, it does work for some people, I seem to be one of the exceptions to the rule.

Gene

Even though it is a catch 22, I did stop taking the Nexium, let's wait and see if the heartburn will show up again.

I'm not really into sugar (rarely eat sweets, dessert, etc.) and as far as grains go, I'll have to look into it but as far as I know, I switched to whole wheat bread on account that fungus feeds on white enriched flour.

Cheers,
Gene