Guest guest Posted November 29, 2005 Report Share Posted November 29, 2005 Hello all, I'm new to the group, so just posting a hello! I was wondering what everyone thinks about glutamine. I've been struggling for the last several years with strange and undiagnosed neuropathy in my arms and hands, which was starting to spread to my face. Despite spending several thousand dollars, doctors, neurologists, et al could find no reason or explanation for any of it, and were no help at all. In fact, they mostly decided it didn't exist, because they couldn't explain it! I've also had an apparently life-long allergy to dairy (NOT lactose intolerance, but allergy to the dairy protein casein), and have a mild " ick " reaction to nightshade vegees like tomatos. In the last several months, I'd also developed a mild allergic to tree nuts (a first in my 44 year old life). Also, I'd had chronic fatigue and mental fog, sometimes do bad that it was torture doing anything at all. Again, nothing any doctor could diagnose or do anything for. I've been taking many extra vitamins and herbs the last several months, with a little help to fatigue, and not much more. Then several weeks ago I happened across a brief article about glutamine, and I started taking that (I'm now up to 3 grams a day, and plan on staying there at least for now). It took some weeks, but I'm amazed at how much better I feel! I can't explain any of it, and haven't even bothered to tell my doctors since I'm sure they will poo-poo it. But in the last few weeks, my neuropathy has almost entirely disappeared. In the last week, I've been able to sleep almost every night without waking up once with the hands/arms buzzing and numb. I'd guess half of my brain-fog is gone, and perhaps 2/3 of my general fatigue (I still have good days and bad). I've actually been able to get to housework and such, like I haven't been able to for years. And I'm enjoying it! And this is all without changing anything else except for taking 1, then 2, now 3 grams of glutamine a day. For instance, I'm still ingesting allergens in other things - probably more often than I know! And I've not changed my vitamins or herbs at all. What I'm wondering is if anyone has any ideas of what this is actually doing in my body. I'm wondering about Leaky Gut Syndrome and the like. Can this be my major difficulty? Of course I'm wanting to get even better, and if I can figure out if this indicates a certain course of action (something besides hit-n-miss, which is what I've been having to do the last several years), I'm anxious to learn more. Thanks! (and again, sorry for the long intro!) Gert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 30, 2005 Report Share Posted November 30, 2005 In the late 60's, and 70's...Glutamic Acid was highly touted for mental alertness. Might still be, I just haven't happenedto read aything about it lately. I think it certainly may have helped clear your brain fog. Finding the right individual formula...for all our supplements, is indeed a challange. If there is an orthomolecualr practitioner near you, you might like to give them a try. Otherwise, like so many of us, you just have to tuff it out alone. Do carefully watch that you don't consume MSG. Some of your symptoms bring to mind several things I've observed/read about it. ~mk , Gertie <gertrudeout> wrote: > > Hello all, > > I'm new to the group, so just posting a hello! > > I was wondering what everyone thinks about glutamine. I've been struggling for > the last several years with strange and undiagnosed neuropathy in my arms and > hands, which was starting to spread to my face. Despite spending several > thousand dollars, doctors, neurologists, et al could find no reason or > explanation for any of it, and were no help at all. In fact, they mostly > decided it didn't exist, because they couldn't explain it! > > I've also had an apparently life-long allergy to dairy (NOT lactose > intolerance, but allergy to the dairy protein casein), and have a mild " ick " > reaction to nightshade vegees like tomatos. In the last several months, I'd > also developed a mild allergic to tree nuts (a first in my 44 year old life). > > Also, I'd had chronic fatigue and mental fog, sometimes do bad that it was > torture doing anything at all. Again, nothing any doctor could diagnose or do > anything for. > > I've been taking many extra vitamins and herbs the last several months, with a > little help to fatigue, and not much more. Then several weeks ago I happened > across a brief article about glutamine, and I started taking that (I'm now up > to 3 grams a day, and plan on staying there at least for now). > > It took some weeks, but I'm amazed at how much better I feel! I can't explain > any of it, and haven't even bothered to tell my doctors since I'm sure they > will poo-poo it. But in the last few weeks, my neuropathy has almost entirely > disappeared. In the last week, I've been able to sleep almost every night > without waking up once with the hands/arms buzzing and numb. I'd guess half of > my brain-fog is gone, and perhaps 2/3 of my general fatigue (I still have good > days and bad). I've actually been able to get to housework and such, like I > haven't been able to for years. And I'm enjoying it! And this is all without > changing anything else except for taking 1, then 2, now 3 grams of glutamine a > day. For instance, I'm still ingesting allergens in other things - probably > more often than I know! And I've not changed my vitamins or herbs at all. > > What I'm wondering is if anyone has any ideas of what this is actually doing in > my body. I'm wondering about Leaky Gut Syndrome and the like. Can this be my > major difficulty? Of course I'm wanting to get even better, and if I can figure > out if this indicates a certain course of action (something besides hit-n-miss, > which is what I've been having to do the last several years), I'm anxious to > learn more. > > Thanks! (and again, sorry for the long intro!) > > Gert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 30, 2005 Report Share Posted November 30, 2005 Thanks, everyone, for your replies! What does anyone know about the so called " Cave Man " or " Paleo " diet for curing various ills? Gert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 4, 2005 Report Share Posted December 4, 2005 http://www.westonaprice.org/bookreviews/paleodiet.html The Paleo Diet By Loren Cordain, PhD Review by Sally Fallon Peter Paleolith goes ahunting and catches himself a plump prairie hen. Using tools of stone and bone, he removes the entrails and throws them away. Then he plucks off the feathers and peels off the skin—he'd like to eat the succulent fat underneath but he learned during his rites of passage that the fat is taboo. Next he cuts off the dark meat and discards that too. Deftly he separates the white meat from the bone. The bones go in the trash heap and Peter Paleolith is left with. . . skinless chicken breasts! Then Peter prepares his meal. Because salt didn't exist in those days, he bathes his chicken breasts in lemon juice and balsamic vinegar. He greases his Paleolithic pot with canola oil, the kind his elders recommend. He seasons his meal with ground black pepper or perhaps chili powder which he always carries with him in a leather pouch. And, because he doesn't have any sugar, he washes down his Paleolithic meal with. . . a diet soda! If this sounds absurd, it's because absurd things happen when a professor of exercise tries to write a diet book that captures the current interest in the so-called caveman diet and adheres to political correctness at the same time. This book is as pc as pc can be—and totally ignorant of what we know about hunter-gatherer diets. Everyone who has described the diets of primitive peoples—Stefansson, Samuel Hearne, Cabeza de Vaca, Weston Price—has detailed the great emphasis these groups put on animal fat. Animal foods rich in fat were the basis of these diets. Animals were hunted selectively to procure those richest in fat. In good times, only the fattest parts were eaten, the lean meat was thrown away. In fact, the one thing Paleolithic Peter would never have eaten was a skinless chicken breast. He wanted the fat, the entrails, the bones, the contents of the stomach. . . the lean meat went to his dogs. Cordain makes a lot of other crazy claims. He says that Paleolithic peoples had no carbohydrate foods like grains or starchy root foods—never mind reports of grains found in the fire ashes of some of the earliest human groups, or the widespread use of tubers among primitive peoples, usually fermented or slow cooked. He says that there isn't much fat in wild animals (did he check with any hunters while writing his book?) and that what fat these animals had was highly politically correct—low in lethal " saturated fat and rich in monounsaturates and omega-3 fatty acids. Did he look up the fatty acid profile of buffalo fat while researching his book? Obviously not. If he had, it would have ruined his whole theory because buffalo fat is more saturated than beef fat. And obviously he didn't check up on canola oil, which he recommends as a source of omega-3 fatty acids—because virtually all canola oil is deodorized, a process that gets rid of the omega-3s. Cordain says that primitive man did not eat salt. Yet we know that salt was available in many parts of the world, principally from brine on the seacoasts and salt flats in the interior. Salt-rich blood from game was collected and used in food preparation. In Africa, ashes of sodium-rich marsh grasses were added to food. Unfortunately, Cordain's Paleo Diet is not only absurd, but also dangerous. High levels of lean meat lead to vitamin A deficiency and a host of health problems, even heart disease, which Cordain's high-protein diet is supposed to prevent. There's no good source of calcium in his diet and no salt, so vital for digestion. He recommends rubbing flax oil on meat before cooking—a recipe for creating carcinogenic oxidation products. And then there are those diet sodas. .. . bound to cause trouble in a diet so lacking in protective nutrients. Fortunately, Peter Paleolith never ate this way, or we would not have made it this far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 4, 2005 Report Share Posted December 4, 2005 Gert, I started taking glutamine to help with glucose metabolism and like you, find it very helpful for fatigue, alertness and such. I would suggest reading on insulin resistance and seeing if there is stuff there helpful to you or that you might relate to. They've been connecting insulin to signal transduction the last few years and my suspicion is that may be connected to your neuorpathy. , " mk2967 " <mk2967> wrote: > > In the late 60's, and 70's...Glutamic Acid was highly touted for > mental alertness. Might still be, I just haven't happenedto read > aything about it lately. I think it certainly may have helped clear > your brain fog. > Finding the right individual formula...for all our supplements, is > indeed a challange. If there is an orthomolecualr practitioner near > you, you might like to give them a try. Otherwise, like so many of > us, you just have to tuff it out alone. > Do carefully watch that you don't consume MSG. Some of your symptoms > bring to mind several things I've observed/read about it. > ~mk > > , Gertie > <gertrudeout> wrote: > > > > Hello all, > > > > I'm new to the group, so just posting a hello! > > > > I was wondering what everyone thinks about glutamine. I've been > struggling for > > the last several years with strange and undiagnosed neuropathy in > my arms and > > hands, which was starting to spread to my face. Despite spending > several > > thousand dollars, doctors, neurologists, et al could find no reason > or > > explanation for any of it, and were no help at all. In fact, they > mostly > > decided it didn't exist, because they couldn't explain it! > > > > I've also had an apparently life-long allergy to dairy (NOT lactose > > intolerance, but allergy to the dairy protein casein), and have a > mild " ick " > > reaction to nightshade vegees like tomatos. In the last several > months, I'd > > also developed a mild allergic to tree nuts (a first in my 44 year > old life). > > > > Also, I'd had chronic fatigue and mental fog, sometimes do bad that > it was > > torture doing anything at all. Again, nothing any doctor could > diagnose or do > > anything for. > > > > I've been taking many extra vitamins and herbs the last several > months, with a > > little help to fatigue, and not much more. Then several weeks ago I > happened > > across a brief article about glutamine, and I started taking that > (I'm now up > > to 3 grams a day, and plan on staying there at least for now). > > > > It took some weeks, but I'm amazed at how much better I feel! I > can't explain > > any of it, and haven't even bothered to tell my doctors since I'm > sure they > > will poo-poo it. But in the last few weeks, my neuropathy has > almost entirely > > disappeared. In the last week, I've been able to sleep almost every > night > > without waking up once with the hands/arms buzzing and numb. I'd > guess half of > > my brain-fog is gone, and perhaps 2/3 of my general fatigue (I > still have good > > days and bad). I've actually been able to get to housework and > such, like I > > haven't been able to for years. And I'm enjoying it! And this is > all without > > changing anything else except for taking 1, then 2, now 3 grams of > glutamine a > > day. For instance, I'm still ingesting allergens in other things - > probably > > more often than I know! And I've not changed my vitamins or herbs > at all. > > > > What I'm wondering is if anyone has any ideas of what this is > actually doing in > > my body. I'm wondering about Leaky Gut Syndrome and the like. Can > this be my > > major difficulty? Of course I'm wanting to get even better, and if > I can figure > > out if this indicates a certain course of action (something besides > hit-n-miss, > > which is what I've been having to do the last several years), I'm > anxious to > > learn more. > > > > Thanks! (and again, sorry for the long intro!) > > > > Gert > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 5, 2005 Report Share Posted December 5, 2005 Thanks, Mary! --- Mary <mhysmith wrote: > I started taking glutamine to help with glucose metabolism and like > you, find it very helpful for fatigue, alertness and such. I would > suggest reading on insulin resistance and seeing if there is stuff > there helpful to you or that you might relate to. They've been > connecting insulin to signal transduction the last few years and my > suspicion is that may be connected to your neuorpathy. ________ DSL – Something to write home about. Just $16.99/mo. or less. dsl. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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