Aa
5-htp
Has anyone tried 5-htp, sam-e, NADH, d-ribose, coq10, or any other natural treatments?
DHEA breaks down as part of the steroid system in the body, so use caution when trying it out. i.e. do some research on it. People have reported it as helpful, again it's personal whether it will work for you.
Also, for me adding magnesium (and removing calcium which is the opposite of mag) helped a lot for me with muscle spasms, tightness. That balance is very personal though so you have to play around. I also can't take calcium anyway. I also found I like the unusual mag as an additional supplement to the regular stuff, mag gluconate. It's harder to find. I get it from Puritan's Pride. I take the regular stuff too.
Here's my experience:
5-htp: Some folks near me swore by it when they took it. It helped them go to sleep at normal hours. They tended to be overzealous about each new treatment and not very careful, so I took it with a grain of salt. I researched it for myself. I don't remember the details but it did significant things like break down into brain chemicals or something that wasn't a good idea with the rest of my personal picture so I decided to skip it.
sam-e: again, it's powerful stuff in the chemicals it targets. Also it's a blood thinner which is probably why it has impact on many problems. I didn't like that it could impact so much, and skipped it. Any of these remedies that thin blood are likely to help at least a little, including fish oil. Evening primrose is another blood thinner that people have liked.
nadh - it increased energy production on the celluar level. For some people it can give a boost. I know people who started it 10 years ago, and still use it. It won't make you well. Caution, for some people such as myself it's over enthusiastic and when it finally kicked in, put me into a spinning scary state. I waited the few hours/day until it subsided and was okay. It takes weeks to kick in. For me it was at least 5 which is long, so don't get impatient and up the dosage while waiting or you may do yourself harm when it kicks in. Maybe if I'd played with the dose such as every other day, it would have been helpful. I was at the point of bedridden, and this was the first thing that made me able to even read the literature about itself since I'd gotten sick. I stopped using it, but during the time of semi-awakeness I developed other treatment ideas for myself, which did work (food eliminations). So it did help me! The literature said something about it increasing adrenline in the brain pathways as a side product, and that explained the reaction to me, and was always why I got cautious.
CQ-10: I've heard people say it helps, although I haven't talked with anyone on an ongoing basis using it. I personally reacted poorly, similarly as I do to iron & calcium, with an increase in my CFS. I dont' know if it's a filler or the vitamins, but I can't take them. (I've tried various brands, and can take and really like other vitamins...)
Biotin: personally I like this one. It's very subtle but helpful stablization of energy and blood sugar. I can feel it, and my mom tried it and also can feel it. I take 300mcg which is around the RDA. Most multivitamins don't include. It's probably expensive to get in there, but it's cheap on it's own.
B-12 shots & B vitamins: Some people swear by these. Others have no real improvment from them. When people swear they really mean it, so it's worth a try.
Vit C: I've heard of using Vit C as an astringent at high doses to knock out the viruses floating around. I know one person who kicked their CF in it's first year using it. It's probably a lot less effective in later years. Word of caution, if you use vit C at ultra high doses you're body can get used to it and show signs of scurvy when you stop until it adjusts to normal. So use for limited time and with care (i.e. research this problem.)
Licorice (sp?) root: with the active ingredient. It can act similarly to prescription florineff to elevate blood volume and andrenal system and work well in a few people. I get swollen glands from it, and no improvement. Jean Brandy? or there's someone who wrote a whole book on herbal treatments for all sorts of conditions that describes well how to use this. It's worth the try, but if you don't see improvments with the first or second try and within a few hours, it's not working for you.
Those are what I can think of at the moment.
5-htp: Some folks near me swore by it when they took it. It helped them go to sleep at normal hours. They tended to be overzealous about each new treatment and not very careful, so I took it with a grain of salt. I researched it for myself. I don't remember the details but it did significant things like break down into brain chemicals or something that wasn't a good idea with the rest of my personal picture so I decided to skip it.
sam-e: again, it's powerful stuff in the chemicals it targets. Also it's a blood thinner which is probably why it has impact on many problems. I didn't like that it could impact so much, and skipped it. Any of these remedies that thin blood are likely to help at least a little, including fish oil. Evening primrose is another blood thinner that people have liked.
nadh - it increased energy production on the celluar level. For some people it can give a boost. I know people who started it 10 years ago, and still use it. It won't make you well. Caution, for some people such as myself it's over enthusiastic and when it finally kicked in, put me into a spinning scary state. I waited the few hours/day until it subsided and was okay. It takes weeks to kick in. For me it was at least 5 which is long, so don't get impatient and up the dosage while waiting or you may do yourself harm when it kicks in. Maybe if I'd played with the dose such as every other day, it would have been helpful. I was at the point of bedridden, and this was the first thing that made me able to even read the literature about itself since I'd gotten sick. I stopped using it, but during the time of semi-awakeness I developed other treatment ideas for myself, which did work (food eliminations). So it did help me! The literature said something about it increasing adrenline in the brain pathways as a side product, and that explained the reaction to me, and was always why I got cautious.
CQ-10: I've heard people say it helps, although I haven't talked with anyone on an ongoing basis using it. I personally reacted poorly, similarly as I do to iron & calcium, with an increase in my CFS. I dont' know if it's a filler or the vitamins, but I can't take them. (I've tried various brands, and can take and really like other vitamins...)
Biotin: personally I like this one. It's very subtle but helpful stablization of energy and blood sugar. I can feel it, and my mom tried it and also can feel it. I take 300mcg which is around the RDA. Most multivitamins don't include. It's probably expensive to get in there, but it's cheap on it's own.
B-12 shots & B vitamins: Some people swear by these. Others have no real improvment from them. When people swear they really mean it, so it's worth a try.
Vit C: I've heard of using Vit C as an astringent at high doses to knock out the viruses floating around. I know one person who kicked their CF in it's first year using it. It's probably a lot less effective in later years. Word of caution, if you use vit C at ultra high doses you're body can get used to it and show signs of scurvy when you stop until it adjusts to normal. So use for limited time and with care (i.e. research this problem.)
Licorice (sp?) root: with the active ingredient. It can act similarly to prescription florineff to elevate blood volume and andrenal system and work well in a few people. I get swollen glands from it, and no improvement. Jean Brandy? or there's someone who wrote a whole book on herbal treatments for all sorts of conditions that describes well how to use this. It's worth the try, but if you don't see improvments with the first or second try and within a few hours, it's not working for you.
Those are what I can think of at the moment.
I took the recommended dose on the label. I would think that it could be taken with cymbalta, because it is a sugar, but I would check with your physician first.
I've taken many supplements before, but this was the last combination that my Endo prescribed for me and I found it to be beneficial:
vitamin B12 (drops --- available at Walgreens)
powered magnesium
ACETYL Carnitine
COQ10
D-Ribose
fish oils
DHEA
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