This is mmmm's blog, where I post updates when I feel the need, or am asked to.

Here's some info about me (copied from Discord - please use `mmmm` to address me here, that's more anonymous):

- Probably mild CFS, undiagnosed. Sometimes very mild nowadays. No labs done ever since I deal(t) with medical anxiety. That's way better now, so considering doing tests if they are not too expensive.
- First health decline 15y ago (age 20), after a multi-week episode of laying in bed what was probably EBV, but could've been any other virus really. I had been drinking alcohol a lot for months every day, so I guess I predisposed myself to this.
- 4y ago only could spend every other day outside of bed. Got a lot better with lipo C and improving airflow in the bedroom, obviously was severely sleep deprived (O2 problems might hint @ arsenic right? My son's HMAT showed super high arsenic too).
- Discovered near infrared irradiation 4y ago, that was a life changer. Can elaborate if someone's interested. Got way better within a few months.
- Cutler chelation (started 2y ago) also improved things a lot (ALA microdosing, never tried bigger doses). Brain works way better now, which is important because I'm a coder.
- Went quasi-vegan 2y ago and that also helped greatly. Cannot eat gluten. Strictly no alcohol. Some sugar sometimes.
- Have been doing 20/4 IF for two months to lose weight, works great so far as. Taking cordyceps tea, milk thistle tea, lipo C + zinc
- Still, have to juggle supps and various protocols to keep feeling well.

Hi Mmmm,

One key part of the protocol to clarify is that while discontinuing the beta-glucans will reduce the immune response, reishi controls a lot more than the immune response - it also helps maintain the metabolism remediation.

For this reason, if you discontinue reishi, even for 1 or 2 days, the purine nucleotide cycle issues will reoccur. This means that you're expected to revisit the initial "induction phase crash" all over again.

It's not recommended. 

-Josh

Day 5 (14 June 2021)

- 6g Reishi (LFE)
- ~300mg EGCG in the afternoon, during the last 4h of the fasting window
- Tried 2g Mg-Threonate (LFE) for the first time. Immediately felt more relaxed, and cognition/memory improved after a few hours. Seems I have been Mg deficient for a while - maybe the transdermal spray doesn't fully cut it.

Day 7 (June 16 2021)

- Learned my lesson yesterday and started taking 0.5g Glycine regularly. The Mg-Threonate seems to work now with the lower dose (0.5g in the evening). Focus and mood are great, so far.
- 4g of Reishi, 380mg EGCG, 2g Glycine today

that's very curious man, do you think it was the aspartate replenishing that got you this response??

Days 9-12 (18 - 21 June 2021)

Intake
- Reishi, Lion's Mane, EGCG, Glycine (up to 10g), LOLA (1/2 tablespoon), occasionally D3, lipo C
- 15g oat bran on 20 June. Didn't feel that well the next day, but tolerance seems better than last week

Brain fog
Lion's mane does not seem to cause major brain fog anymore, so I'm kinda able to concentrate on work. I'm sure it would be way better without the LM, but I'm trying to keep it up as long as possible.

Immune reactions
I'm having lots of night sweats, but it's also super hot right now, so it could be just that.
Psoriasis had flared up a week ago, but seems to calm down now.
Gut bloating becomes worse on beta-glucans, but is better than usual without them. Still don't tolerate meat though, ate some grilled pork and chicken on the weekend and am quite bloated.

Overall wellness
I have more energy than usual, and when leaving away the beta-glucans I feel pretty great! My mood is also bright most of the time.

Time for another progress report!

Days 22 - 32 (1 - 11 July)

Intake

Mostly I did a minimal stack again (didn't really stop Lion's Mane this time though, as brain fog is not really an issue anymore):
- 2-2.5g Reishi (increase from last period)
- 2-2.5g Lion's Mane (increase from last period)
- 570-780mg EGCG
- 6-10g Glycine (increase from last period)
- 5ml lipo C (500mg ascorbic acid) every other day
- ~1g Mg Threonate
- 100-200mg (probably) potassium gluconate
- Occasionally, Cordyceps ethanol extract (previously: hot water extract). Gives me anxiety if I take it every day, so I'm alternating.

Since two days I'm additionally having:

- 5g oat bran with some glycine
- Forskolin (first 80mg which was way too much, now ~20mg)
- 160mg Astragaloside IV
- 400mg Silymarin
- 600mg NAC - a bit hard to stomach but effects feel really good!

So far I'm really happy with these recent additions. Mood is good and feeling relaxed, especially NAC and Astragalus seem to do a lot there.

Ca 60% of the days were fasting days with an 18h fasting window. Had two "really bad" cake days and hope to make up for it with some more intensive fasting days now.

Also noteworthy: Started eating lettuce from our urban gardening patch a week ago, and mood improved a lot. Josh mentioned that it's a good idea to get dirty, and I took that up by eating some of the lettuce unwashed, and the rest only moderately washed . I'm not sure whether it's the bacteria, or vit A or K1 that are to blame, but I'm really glad I'm returning to a more relaxed state

Immune reactions

- Psoriasis is still there, but not bad
- Gut bloating got really bad when potassium went low (fluid retention especially around the waist and probably around gut). Now with potassium under control, constant bloating is still there but "normal" for me. Hope for this to go away down the road.

Negative side effects

- Still some zaniness towards other people (especially poor wifey). Just have a tendency to blurt out jokes of bad taste and regret it immediately. I still think that's the beta glucans.
- Not a part of the protocol, but maybe noteworth: It seems the Mg Threonate lowers potassium for me. I expect this to be a startup problem that will go away. The Mg Threonate might have also been to blame for the gut bloating I mentioned in the last post in connection with Glycine. Lowering the dose and combining with potassium seemed to fix that mostly, knock on wood.
- My right ear has been blocked/stuffed for a week now. I get this every summer ever since I had my first health decline, so I think that’s somehow HHB (EBV?) related.

The other negative side effects mentioned in the last post are now gone. The self-grown lettuce fixed the new muscle tightness (basal tightness remains though).


Positive side effects

Now getting to the exiting stuff!

- Throat health is still great! I think it's not swollen at all. Occasional phlegm seems to be directly related to seasonal allergies, as it occurs immediately after driving in the car.
- Chronically swollen lymph nodes disappear or reduce in mass. I had one on the back of my neck since age 14, and it's not palpable at all anymore. Also have one quite big one under the left armpit, which got definitely smaller and wandered down by a centimeter or so. This is really huge for me, as I thought those were permanent artefacts of Lyme infections in my youth.
- Gum and teeth health seems to improve. I almost got a (root canal treated) tooth pulled 2y ago, and it needed regular blue laser treatments to keep infections in check. That seems to be a thing of the past, knock on wood!
- Stool is consistently darker (better bile flow I assume), and I cautiously think digestion is improving. Need more time to really recognize a positive trend there.
- I think I have more stamina. Only seldomly need to sit down because I need to rest. I'm going for a walk most nights now, something I haven't done for a year. OTOH, I ate a lot of chocolate those last few days, so I need more data (and time) to really establish a positive trend.

Outlook

Looking forward to the next few days and seeing where this takes me.
In the long term, I would like to follow the full protocol, but still have a few reservations:

- Full fast for 3 days will probably not be possible with my responsibilities - family needs me too much right now, I'm basically a taxi when I'm not coding, and I'm not sure it's safe to drive when fasting with induced diarrhea, I'd be afraid of having a blackout or something. So I'll probably just skip the fast.

- The LifeExtension Mix capsules contain some things which I'm scared of. My last major health decline was either triggered by long-term (ab)use of Apple Cider Vinegar, or methylated B vitamins, or both. Or it could have been the bad Kefir batch which I chugged for a few months (it initially smelled like a solvent or paint thinner, but I "restarted" it with a trick from the internet which probably didn't really work - I'm still angry at myself for this). Hard to say, but I'm still wary of methylated B vitamins and Apple Cider Vinegar (outside of salads). My worry is mainly that I'd take those, and feel great for a few weeks and even months, and then crash for two years, like the last time around.

- I‘m still not completely over Cutler Chelation yet, and I will probably do a few more ALA rounds using that protocol. According to Cutler, ALA has a short half life in the body (a few hours) after which the bound metals are dropped into the bloodstream. Timing the doses according to that half life (during the day, max 3h apart, and 4h during the night) evens out ALA levels in the blood, allowing less metals to get redistributed into organs or the brain.

- Molybdenum every other day (~10mg)

u wot