Pico de Orizaba

Pico de Orizaba
Taken from Huatusco, Veracruz, the closest town to Margarita's family's ranch.

Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Why worry about homocysteine?

Homocysteine normally is a marker for heart disease... 5.46 - 16.20 μM/L is the healthy range supposedly. However, Jenny, the MTHFR gene mutationists, and speciallists in Alzheimers Disease claim that your homocysteine numbers MUST be below 7. Why is that? Because homocysteine is very abrasive on the epithelial cells that line the inside of the arteries... The metabolism of methionine turns homocysteine into cysteine, that I believe works with glutathione for reversing the oxidation process of LDL cholesterol and other things in the body...

While they would consider my 8.05 still as high... (but much lower than the 9.83 on the 26th) I'm very happy to know that I have been reducing it...

But, you must ask: if homocysteine is a marker of atherosclerosis and heart disease, why is mine so good? I'm not taking Statins. I stopped taking the Beta Blockers because they also block the absorption of Magnesium... and now I know that they raised my triglycerides so high and dramatically lowered my HDL cholesterol. But, if you look at the rest of my blood tests, ALL that was related to a heart attack disappeared: AST, ALT, Bilirubina, LDH, C Reactive Protein... And, my lipid profile would still be almost perfect if the cardiologist hadn't given me Statins that Saturday night and if I hadn't taken his Beta Blockers...

And, I must inform you, returning to the reason why I want the genetic reading:

When I saw my triglycerides so high, knowing that I wasn't consuming sugar or any other refined carbs and was exercising at least an hour per day, I immediately google causes for a sudden rise in triglycerides. The Mayo Clinic explained that it is caused by too much consumption of refined carbs, sedentary lifestyle, certain diseases or certain medications. What medications? "Water pills" or Beta Blockers... However, they mentioned that this was an effect of older beta blockers... So, when I checked Lobivon (Nebivolol), it was stated that there was a risk of increased triglycerides and decreased HDL. However, it was rare that a person experienced those increases and decreases (like it being rare that a person be born with FAP/Gardners--1% of the U.S. population of colorectal cancer or rare that a person has histadelia or is an undermethylator) and that after a year, the lipid profiles would return... Granted, the cardiologists would say, "we wouldn't prescribe you a Beta Blocker without prescribing you a Statin" and that's what the cardiologist did... But, later on, what will they prescribe for me when I develop cancer for having cholesterol too low and for the Alzheimers caused by the same lack of sufficient cholesterol. And I know you don't want me to share with you why low cholesterol (below 160) puts you at high risk of Alzheimers... How cholesterol is needed for forming healthy sinapses... Isn't that what Alzheimers is about? Deterioration of brain synapses... the lack of ability of one part of the brain to communicate with another?

So, if my homocysteine is normal... as are all of the other markers for atherosclerosis (with the exception of what the Beta Blockers did to my triglycerides and HDL cholesterol), why throw in Statins? And, do I truly have a diagnosable problem? Or hasn't it always been something else...?

Dr. Gallagher (integrated healthcare specialist) and Dr. Julio Rodriguez (Cardiologist) explained to me why my BP remained low after the heart attack (not after the intervention). The Cardiologist said, "because you are a very healthy person..." (So, why so many pharmaceuticals? Why the heart attack if I'm so healthy?)... Dr. Gallagher said, "Because, when one of your heart arteries is blocked, your heart opens up other routes to move the blood." She gave it an actual name that I don't remember... What sounds most logical considering the treatment response. She says that we must address toxic stress in the body, heavy metal build-up in the liver, and toxins in the blood stream. Likewise, we must address a deficiency of anti-oxidants that are necessary for removing toxins from the body. We must address a deficiency of vitamins and minerals necessary for creating anti-oxidants or supplying anti-oxidants to the body. And we must address the deficiency of various enzymes necessary for metabolic purposes... Dr. Rodriguez says we must medicate and lower cholesterol... And, Dr. Gallagher says, "truthfully, you can't blame the doctors. That's what they were taught and is the only thing they know to do."

And I guess you would still trust the Cardiologist.

And here is what I found in the NIH Library of Medicine (although 8 years later, Homocysteine is being blamed more for cerebrovascular disease than cardiovascular disease). Please pay attention to the fact that they are not prescribing pharmaceuticals but nutrients... And, MTHFR is 5-methyl tetrahydro-folate...reductase. A deficiency of this causes an increase in Homocysteine. Jenny not only has Hashimotos Disease (the auto-immune form of hypo-Thyroidism, she also has MTHFR gene mutation:


Curr Atheroscler Rep. 2006 Mar;8(2):100-6.
Homocysteine: role and implications in atherosclerosis.
Guthikonda S1, Haynes WG.

Abstract

Hyperhomocysteinemia promotes atherosclerosis and is most commonly caused by B-vitamin deficiencies, especially folic acid, B(6), and B(12); genetic disorders; certain drugs; and renal impairment. Elevated homocysteine promotes atherosclerosis through increased oxidant stress, impaired endothelial function, and induction of thrombosis. Prospective studies have shown that elevated plasma homocysteine concentrations increase risk of cardiovascular disease by twofold and risk of cerebrovascular disease to a lesser degree. Hyperhomocysteinemia should be identified in patients with progressive or unexplained atherosclerosis and treated appropriately. Treatment of hyperhomocysteinemia is primarily through vitamin supplementation; folic acid and vitamins B(6) and B(12) are the mainstay of therapy. Betaine and 5-methyl tetrahydro-folate are also effective in lowering homocysteine levels. Treatment of moderately elevated plasma homocysteine in patients without atherosclerosis should be deferred until the completion of randomized outcome trials.

Disappointments Coming in Full-Circle

Ross,

Well I am terribly sorry about this. I just spoke with UPS and was told that I needed a permit from Mexican Health Department to send vitamins or supplements to Mexico! Of course I haven't a clue how to get a permit and I was never told that when I sent the package out.

Needless to say I am very sorry that I am once again disappointing you. 


Mom,

As for the package, I was horribly disappointed... But, not with you. It's not your fault.

The day I realized that the package wasn't arriving (the 2nd of April), I felt myself sliding greatly into depression... since all of my hopes for possibly encountering a progressive response to the situation (statins are not progressive; they are regressive, since they cause other problems; the idea is to not cause problems resolving problems; like Maria's brother's lymphoma (in the jaw and leg) being turned into cancer of the small intestine due to chemo... What good is the possible resolution of one problem by creating another one equally bad?)

However, instead of going to "sleep" with this horrible feeling, I mentioned the dilemma (about supplements in Mexico) on the Magnesium Group and a woman from Michigan responded rapidly saying that the pharmacies in Mexico should be selling Magnesium Chloride powder that you mix with water and drink... She even sent me a few Mexican websites... all within one minute of stating my complaint... With her information and my validating it... I could sleep and feel a little bit less vulnerable. The following morning I went to probably the largest pharmacy in Mexico a few blocks away and purchased the Magnesium Chloride...

And then I was accepted to the MTHFR group and placed my long letter that immediately received so many responses... and the Integrative Nutritionist Gail Clayton http://beyondpharmaceuticals.com/ connected me with her friend from Chapala/Ajijic...

Now, so you can relax a little bit: Dr. BioChemist/Nutritionist sells very high quality supplements that she manages to bring to Mexico... She also is affiliated with a company in Mexico City that fabricates Spirulina and Chlorella and is in the process of contracting a chemical company (she is has her Ph.D in biochemistry and masters in Nutrition) in Guadalajara for fabricating high quality magnesium supplements for cutting the cost of importation of supplements from the U.S. or Europe. The cost would be in importation of the raw material, which is much less expensive than the finished product.

In any case, we bought $2,500 pesos of suppliments: Co-Enzyme Q10, a multi-vitamin from the non commercial Biotics Research Corp that is highly rated in the U.S., Magnesium Taurate from Cardiovascular Research LTD and her Spirulina and Chlorella... It seems that she probably has whatever I need, U.S. cost.

I wouldn't have been able to encounter this option if I didn't have the tendency towards writing so much as a process of seeking adequate responses...

I'm sorry that you went through so much trouble... and hope that you can find a way that UPS reimburses you and Bruce, since they should have advised you of the risk of the package being returned or not reaching its destination. As for the supplements, you can always use them... Or, I'm certain that you can return them to those stores... At least the one in Flemington certainly will allow you to return them in exchange, since you say that you are a regular customer of theirs...

But back to your statement of disappointing me...

There is a statement that I repeatedly make towards you and towards the rest of the family in one way or another for decades... You and you guys have taught me the meaning of "reading between the lines"... And what I constantly read is a "screw you. You are the cause of all of your problems and we have no time for this... and due to our family values and the belief that we are better than "that" (better than you) we will always love you as our (family member) and always show you that you are well received... But the moment you bring up THOSE topics or personal topics not first mentioned by us... we're turning our backs." And truthfully, the reading between the lines has shown me repeatedly that it all must be on your (everyone over there) terms... But, for me, all of this is a horrible illusion... appearances, fantasies etc. "You will be well received..." UNTIL "you ask for things we don't want to give..:" LIKE FOR INSTANCE when I asked for a loan pooled by everyone so that Margarita and I could construct the way we could get her to the U.S. with me so that we could give everyone what it seemed they needed, since they constantly ignored my statements why we wouldn't be visiting any time soon. I even shared with everyone what Alan Davidson told you to tell me about Margarita entering the U.S. And Aunt Esta reacted so harshly and offensively without there existing a true instigation, since she was reacting to the same group letter I sent everyone else... And everyone took her side when I reacted to her reaction... Which blew everything so out of proportion. But, while everyone is so quick to point their finger at me, why hasn't ANYONE observed just how insensitive they were being towards me repeating the same question OVER and OVER again about when I would be visiting with Margarita... after I had repeatedly explained... and Sheri even told Alana that we would be visiting in 6 months... And how do you think that made me feel?

And is it that you still don't understand?

You don't understand the amount of stress I was under in Xalapa, working 7 days a week up to 20 hours per day, with the risk of violence against me... Offering such a high quality baked product at such low prices... and all we lacked was financing for "professionalizing" the business and placing it where our clients live or shop and not in the middle of a park... or on the street... And, I greatly appreciated that everyone was in contact with me... But, as you would later understand regarding my health and the damage the stress and the over-working and the poor diet due to lack of extra money would cause later on, there was no room for more stress and explaining and explaining the same old reasons to deaf ears. You have no idea how I worked towards one day being able to achieve that fantasy of having the flexibility of visiting everyone there with Margarita and also knowing just how improbable that was... And then there occurred to me the only option, which was extremely risky for me, because it meant asking something from everyone (something that most people don't want to give, not even to family; in Brooklyn Anya had asked me why I didn't ask Sheri and Beth for a loan so I could return to school. And I responded, "You've gotta be crazy!" and she responded about Russian-Jewish families...) I never had that skill or confidence that Beth has... to ask for and be given... It was too risky and I did it anyway. And look what happened.

And you still don't understand what is the problem.

We could have focussed on the problem at hand... If you and they truly cared... truly wanted to meet Margarita and see me in New Jersey... we could have worked something out. But, Aunt Esta had to call me a Leach... and everyone else ignored my letter until I reacted to Aunt Esta's horrible qualification of me... and all of you have proven that that is exactly how you see me...

So, I must go further back into the past... And I must fling your shit in your face. Because, although you don't acknowledge anything, it is YOUR SHIT... You shat on me and you and yours continue shitting on me...

The problem did not begin and end with the death of my father... It doesn't only have to do with my age at his death... It has to do with everything else that occurred from that point on... And those occurences were orchestrated by other people (family members and non-family members). But the events caused by the non-family members would have been ameliorated had the family members been more careful and more responsible and had they not been mentally ill... In what world do you live where a child abuser is not considered mentally ill? They certainly aren't normal healthy people...

Don't you understand where I've always been going with this?

Or is it that you are just protecting yourself and them with "it's you word versus ours!" And here we go again with reading between the lines...

YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO MENTION DISAPPOINTING ME AGAIN... If you have no desire for truly addressing what I believe is so clear:

Childhood Misfortune (and it wasn't only the death of my father when I was 4-years-old) which is also called Environmental Insults greatly increases the risk of Acute Myocardial Infarction in adult... increases dramatically with each additional event (insult) in the child's life...

Do you truly believe that the only truly traumatic event in my childhood was the sudden loss of my father and that the rest of the events I brought onto myself... everything between Dad's death when I was 4-years-old and the major surgeries removing my colon and then the scar tissue when I was 13-years-old... and that I brought onto myself too...?

Is there anyone else out there who can respond to this other than the scientists, medical investigators and the epidemiologists/epigeneticists who write about "Childhood Misfortune and the onset of varying adult diseases"? I'm not the crazy one here... although I lose my cool. But, anyone who is honest, sincere and considerate with their head well placed upon their shoulders would respond, after reading all of this I've been writing for years, that I lose my cool because I am pushed to lose it...

Mom, I've been meaning to send you the other scholarly artical I found related to the "Childhood Misfortune..." one I sent to you not long after being in the hospital... But, I didn't find it... afterwards... Something to the tone of "Childhood Incest or sexual abuse and distancing from the family later on in adult life..." And you've gotta wonder why those family members distance themselves from the rest later on in adulthood...

And why I left for Mexico. And why I repeatedly cut myself off from you... And why I cut myself off from Sheri and Beth and Craig... And truthfully don't give a shit about their children. And why should I? If they never truly gave a shit about me... and it is shown in so many of their repeated behaviors... Why should I give a shit about them, let along their offspring? Think about it...

This is your family. Embrace it... But, stop returning to me as if nothing happened and as if there was never anything to be resolved.

For me the heart attack and coming upon the "Childhood Misfortune (Environmental Insults)..." artical was the closing of a circle... Now it's too late, isn't it?

Sleep in the bed you made and accept it... I do what I can to address the situations and have experience much success and some may turn out to be mixed. But, I've NEVER succeeded with you guys... And that's because I've always placed the ball in "your" hands and you all have always dropped it.. or tossed it as if you were playing the preschool game "hot potato"...

Think about it. I've written a book.

Tuesday, April 7, 2015

Why Must I Seek Genetic Testing?; response to my mother...

When a person has been diagnosed with asthma and throughout their life they exhibit allergic reactions to many different foodborne and airborne "particals" much different from the general population (or from those sharing the same space as them or from their family members) it is due to a genetic difference...

That genetic difference can be called histadelia or undermethylation... What this means is that the person lacks sufficient enzymes for metabolizing the amino acid (protein) histamine and/or ridding excess histamine from their body (and why they are given anti-histamines)... Histamines come from food and they are produced by certain white blood cells in the body...

Undermethylation is when the person has a problem with metabolizing the amino acid Methionine... which means that they have low levels of Methionine in their body. The problem with this is that Methionine is necessary for transforming Homocysteine (bad) to cystine (good)... The problem with having too much homocysteine in your blood is that it leads to different forms of vascular dementia (such as Alzheimers). Most cardiologists connect high homocysteine levels to Coronary Heart Disease, although truthfully, it hasn't been proven as a cause or a response (symptom)...

Another problem with low levels of Methionine is that they tend towards being accompanied by low levels of the amino acid (and the body's #1 anti-oxidant) glutathione... Gallstones and the inflamed gallbladder are linked to low levels of glutathione. Glutathione is necessary for cleaning the arteries... When there is adequate methylation in the body and there is adequate glutathione, that means that there is adequate Sulfur... It's all part of the methyl cycle. Sulfur with glutathione is the glue that the oxidized LDL cholesterol and the heavy metals that form the arterial plaques stick to and are transported out of the body through the urine or within the bile salts... Remember, the main cause of Alzheimers Disease is the heavy metal Mercury... If you look into Liver Disease, you will also find that the Liver wasn't able to rid itself of the heavy metals...

One more thing, when the immune system is over-taxed due to allergic reactions, which causes a ton of stress... It also causes chronic inflamation. Chronic inflamation is what is blamed for Heart Disease, Cancer and Alzheimers Disease... Pulmonary diseases, Arthritis and Neurological Diseases such as Parkinson's and Peripheral Neuropathy.

Now, we know that I have a great genetic difference that is very rare in the U.S. called Familiar Adenomatous Polyposis/Gardners Syndrome... So, it really isn't a foreign idea that I may have a genetic mutation etc... We also know that I have Asthma and a whole bunch of allergies... Cat and Dog Dander, mold spores, grass pollen, tree pollen (Bambu, Pine), Certain Mollusks (long necked clams), Penicillin, Soy, Wheat, Sulfites, Pork... Meaning what?

That I have a problem metabolizing certain amino acids (proteins) such as Histamines, Methionine and Glutathione... Glutathione is necessary for preventing gallbladder disease just as it is necessary for preventing atherosclerosis (and future heart attacks)... I've had both...

So, what I'm testing for is exactly what is (are) the genetic malfunction so we can no how to approach it (with what diet/supplement plan I must approach) and for preventing future disease connected with these enzyme difficiencies that lead to amino acid deficiencies that lead to uncontrolled chronic inflamation... And, it may very well be connected with FAP/Gardners.

One more thing: In "Advanced Nutrition and Human Metabolism, sixth edition" by Gropper and Smith, colorectal cancer is connected with the lack of folate caused by undermethylation... If this doesn't strike a key with you, remember why women planning on becoming pregnant are told to greatly increase their folate intake 6 months prior... And continue that intake throughout the pregnancy. Why? Because low levels of folate are directly related to neural tube defects...


And this is why the nutritionists and the Doctors practicing alternative medicine are increasingly saying, "Humans are not born with pharmacological deficiencies. They are born with nutrititional deficiencies." You don't prevent an illness with pharmaceuticals. You prevent it with the nutrients required for developing and maintaining a healthy body. However, if a child is born with a genetic defect (like FAP/Gardners Syndrome) or if that child experience what the scientists/epigeneticists are calling "Environmental Insults" and they experience a gene mutation because of that, we must know as early as possible so that we can address the problem...


"Environmental Insults" are also called "Childhood Misfortune"...



Death of the Father


Female Headed Family


Economic Hardship


"Chaotic/Difficult Household"


Child Abuse (Physical, Mental, Sexual, Neglect)


Violence in the Neighborhood (Bullying)


Illness (Major Surgery)


Insomnia...


That's why I'm asking for the genetic reading. I wish it wasn't so difficult for you to understand this. Do you have any idea how much energy I've placed into not only understanding what happened on the 12 of March in order to prevent a horrible accident, since undermethylation and low glutathione increases the risk of problems with certain pharmaceuticals... (The Beta Blocker lowered my HDL cholesterol and shot my triglycerides to the roof in just 2 weeks... And this is scientifically documented)... but in trying to explain this stuff to you in more ways than one in order for you to understand and accept... understand and accept... understand and accept... so that I can finally relax with you... and my health. Remember, the key word is "my". "My" didn't exist when I was a child... I didn't have rights... or those rights were either ignored or violated... and, by the way you respond to what I write that the only real trauma I experienced as a child was the loss of my father, you continue displaying your blatant need to invalidate what I say (and what Seth said) was my experience or were the Environmental Insults I experienced...



I check my blood pressure everytime I get off the computer with you... and it is always 10-15-20 points higher... 125-130/85-90... And each time it takes a little more time for it to return to normal. Fortunately/unfortunately I leave for Aguascalientes in 4 days and will not have access to internet... so I won't have to worry about this constant battle for your understanding and acknowledgement... And, call me the fool or the idiot for continuously returning to the same conversation with you when you have repeatedly responded the same antagonistic way since I started confronting you with questions and exclamations in late adolescence during high school... Remember those evenings alongside your bed trying to talk to you? And, yes, they turned into frustration tantrums... And, yes, there were those calmer evenings sitting in the family room when you told me about your pushing me away due to fear of turning our relationship into one you knew of in childhood between an aunt and a cousin (her son)... and when you talked to me about Sheri being so horribly jealous of me when I was born that she would pinche me in the crib so I would cry and what she did (had Beth and I do) to that babysitter... But, later on you would deny having ever said any of that... And do you deny what Seth insisted about what his father did to me when Dad was dying in Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York? But, why don't you acknowledge this stuff? And why the need to ignorar what I said about the kids and the teachers did to me in Old York School? And it was during one of those calm evening talks in the family room where you asked me, "Ross, isn't it possible that there was something about you that brought on that behavior towards you by your peers?" Will you deny that too? Isn't it possible that all that I've shared with you about my health and the science etc and what the doctors say about my knowledge and about the diet I constructed is proof that my memory isn't the problem here?


How much more must I dig up from the past and from the scientific literature before you finally admit that I have a great point?

Monday, April 6, 2015

A Letter I posted to Morley Robbins on the Magnesium Advocacy Group and his important response...

Ross Goldstein
Yesterday at 9:05pm

Thanks to Morley Robbins' comment referring to Gallbladder cleansing this morning where he shares a Pubmed artical linking low glutathione levels to increased incidence of Gallstones, I suddenly feel that I have the link between my inflamed gallbladder/gallstones of 2006, my heart attack 3 weeks ago, what seems like histadelia/undermethylization, childhood asthma (that never really went away...) and, possibly, my hereditary "disease" Familia Adenamatous Polyposis/Gardners Syndrome. I'm seeking scholarly articals for truly tying this together so that I can convince my cardiologist and other people why they should "treat me" for what causes the inflamation etc and not the fats/cholesterol... I feel this great need to "prove" that the cause of the heart attack is the same cause of the rest of the medical issues; undermethylation/glutathione deficiency... When I read what Morley posted, a light flashed on extremely brightly. But now that I'm searching for the literature I had read over the past 3 years, I'm finding it a bit more elusive than I had expected. So, if anyone has access to the information I'm seeking or feels their "educated guesses" could be helpful, I would be extremely appreciative...

Morley Robbins Ross Goldstein
They are related...
Regrettably, your Cardiologist has NO economic incentive to link these together, NOR to solve your "disease..."

When you're well, how do you expect her/him to pay for their trinkets?...

Forgive my cynicism, but the literature can be connected, but I fear it would fall on deaf ears... Sorry!

A votre sante!

Ross Goldstein Forgive your cynicism Morley? I think that, in light of all the varying socio-political or political-economic "situations" within which we find ourselves, cynicism is the only thing that truly keeps "the homefires burning"... or "the flame under our asses"... It's what incites us and inspires us to NOT leave it up to someone else... if you know what I mean... I'm giving the cardiologist a chance... as strange as it sounds... a chance to work with me... And if I must totally succumb to the reality or "cynicism", meaning that there really isn't any hope... I will just return to how I felt two nights ago before MJ Hamp shared with me information about finding Magnesium Chloride in Mexico or how I felt this morning reading the information you placed about glutathione... A feeling of having something to fight for... a wonderful project... And it isn't a project with a Cardiologist... but with myself... for a truly worthwhile "peace of mind"... Something I could say to the cardiologist truly backing up the reasoning behind why he should stop suggesting prescription medicines... at least certain ones... And, if the situation for me is truly hopeless, at least I can approach the next heart attack or the Alzheimers or the cancer that is always looming with FAP/Gardners (that should have killed me 14 years ago...) with the idea that it all makes sense now... It's al connected... And one last thing: I just read that it is believed that Methionine raises the risk of cancer... Now, I was born with an incredible risk of cancer... So, how about the idea (although possibly spiritual) that my body has created undermethylization since well before puberty for fighting the genetic predisposition of dying from cancer at a very young age (my father died at the age of 34)... My younger sister, who inhereted the same gene, although does not experience all of the allergies and the asthma that I've experienced all of my life, has developed cancer of the thyroids and rectal cancer... I've never had cancer, although I've had the preventative surgeries due to the polyps and other things... Truthfully, two days ago I was feeling absolutely hopeless without a future towards which to plan... Today, I feel there is something really interesting towars which to work... Thanks for responding! and if you stumble across something and remember me, I will greatly appreciate the information.
22 hrs · Like · 5

MCW: Ross Goldstein, I totally get your hope, though for other reasons. I hope you found your information. And b we have doctors that enjoy us giving them information, a rare breed for sure, but real alln the same.
22 hrs · like · 1

MJH: Ross GOldstein - were you able to get the Mg chloride?
12 hrs · Unlike · 1

Ross Goldstein MJH, of course! Or I wouldn't be so indepted to you
9 hrs · Like · 1

A letter I posted on the MTHFR Gene Mutation wall and the incredible responses...

A letter I placed on the MTHFR Gene Mutation group facebook page... Truthfully, what is more important is the conversation that followed the letter (FYI, the letter was written when I first asked to enter the group at least 2 weeks ago.  I was accepted just the other day.  So, many things have evolved since I wrote the letter... Those changes have greatly to do with all of the research I've done over the past 3 weeks and how much more I've learned):

Hi, I was recommended by a friend after sharing with her my homocysteine results. On the 12th of March I had a very surprising first heart attack, although I had just spent a week on the beach and two weeks eating purely fish and a year avoiding all refined carbs, wheat products, industrial vegetable oils... The day I had my heart attack I thought it was an allergic reaction to soybean oil in dark chocolate and did 72 fast push-ups, 20 wheel abdominals and ran 3 miles smack in the middle. Then my bp dropped precipitously... The following day I had my routine blood tests to check my glucose levels, LDL, VLDL and HDL (56)... And discovered my AST and DHL (Lactic Acid in the blood) high, that told me that I had had a heart attack 24 hours earlier. The following day I visited with a cardiologist and later on that day I had an angiogram and two angioplasties (stents) placed in the non-heart attack arteries. In the middle of placing the second stent, I had an allergic reaction causing my heart rate to rise from 68 to 200... My body went into convulsions and I blacked out... When I awakened I couldn't see for a few hours...

Before the reaction began, the cardiologist exclaimed that I wasn't hypertensive and I claimed that it must be related to my high consumption of ground flaxseeds... which he promptly ignored... Where am I going with this?

The cardiologist and I (along with my mother who works in a hospital in Flemington NJ; I live in Guadalajara Mexico) are in a battle over my desire to NOT take statins... I asked him, if my numbers are perfect, then why lower the cholesterol and triglycerides? And, why did the heart attack cause my bp to remain so low (on average of 106/70 +/-)? He said that it must be because I'm very healthy due to my exercise and diet and how much weight I had lost over the year (actually between March and July 2014; 33 pounds). So, why the heart attack?

My facebook friend and sufferer of MTHRF along with other problems suggested I have my homocysteine taken and it just came back, so she connected me with you, since the results say that I'm fine. 9.83...

Let me tell you about me: I was diagnosed with asthma as a child. But supposedly I outgrew that. I do not and have never believed that... always with respiration and sinus problems. I have had horrible reaction to apple cider and alcohol (now I know that it is a reaction to sulfates). Was always allergic to cats (although my mother had us with cats throughout my childhood... and old carpets and old furniture) and she had this horrible habit of smoking in the car with the windows closed on hot summer days... In New York City I visited a free asthma clinic and was told that I wasn't asthmatic, but what I suffered from was seasonal allergies. As a child, my mother would take me to Channel Home Center, where I couldn't breath from the fumes of the treated wood... But, I'm the only one who experiences that. I'm also the only one who reacts to bamboo dust and water damage mold spores... A year ago I prepared a bone broth with cows feet, ribs and oxtail and within hours I inflated with 7 pounds of water... I looked like a gelatin bag. That's when I learned about under-methylation and that, in order for me to decrease the inflamation I must rapidly increase my methionine levels by eating muscle meat like chicken breast... nothing near the bone...
}
I inhereted my father's and paternal grandmothers FAP/Gardners Syndrome gene and had my colon removed at the age of 13 in 1982. Just after 9/11 I had my rectum removed and part of my ileum constructed as a J-Pouch. A year later I moved to Mexico and have suffered horribly when eating any fruit, vegetable or nut/seed high in fiber... until I removed the wheat products from my diet. I have never been diagnosed for celiac... there are many tests you cannot find here in Mexico. And, in order to test for celiac, first I must return to eating wheat, which I refuse to do, since I know the difference...

Although Jenny sent me Vitamin D 10,000mgs 2 years ago when I was suffering horrible from muscle fatigue and no longer could run and my Vitamin D was at 19, and although my diet is so wonderful and I run without my shirt at midday etc, I find my Vitamin D levels dropping again (now at 27, down from 33 in November). The cardiologists don't want to talk about Vitamin D... And I'm certain they don't want to talk about magnesium or Vitamin C or CoEnzyme Q10... And, here in Mexico you can't encounter adequate suppliments...

And here I am being warned that if I don't take Statins, and blood thinners and Beta Blockers and Effient, I will have a massive heart attack since the stents will become blocked within 6 months... And Jenny wants me to look into MTHFR and I'm wondering just how much any of this truly matters... Ok, not so much as that... But, how much of this truly is in my hands now, although I am very diligent and proactive...

And what do you think after having read all of this? I'm almost 46-years-old... and waiting for the next lightning bolt. 



VHR likes this.


CKP: I would order a 23andme test asap, and then look into doing a consult with Healthcoach7 or some of others who do distant consults once your raw data is back from 23andme. You may be able to order 23andne through Healthcoach7. You need to work with a provider that has a functional medicine focus to get to the root. Conventional doctors/providers will always push for medication since that's what they're trained to do. FM doctors find the root cause and treat root cause, not symptoms.
20 hrs · Like · 5

VHR: Wow, what a story. I'm with you on the statins. If there's just a hint of a heart problem, they put people on them. My ex became vegan and was able to get off all his heart meds. He's had heart surgery twice, last one being a quintuple bypass. (Hope I got that right.) Doing the 23andMe genetic testing could give you some guidance. It's more than just MTHFR. Balancing supplements might help. Good luck to you and kudos for working so hard at being healthy.
20 hrs · Like · 1


Ross Goldstein Actually, I live in Mexico (Guadalajara)... and most of the tests and supplements available in the U.S. are not available in Mexico, although it is the 11th richest nation in the world (of 196)... My mother (who lives in New Jersey) just sent me Magnesium, Vitamin D, Hawthorn Extract, and Resveratrol (from very reliable sources) and it was returned at the border... The pharmaceutical companies have Mexico in the palm of their hand... Imagine, the 11th wealthiest nation which is also the 10th most populated nation, that is the #1 Coco Cola consumer in the world, with the highest level of childhood obesity and in the top 20 (some people would say in the top 3) with diabetes and probably the largest PepsiCo/Frito Lay and Nestle consumer market in the world; what a killing Pfizer, Merck and company, Squibb etc is and will be making before 2040... We "observe" today's Mexican generation (between the age of 5 and 12) and wonder if all of these companies (between the prepared foods/fast foods industry and the pharmaceutical industry) believe that the world will end before the year 2040... Because, truthfully, the illness will become out of hand even for them... since these people will not be able to afford all of the treatments required if no one here has access to adequate supplementation... It may not sound nice, but believe that you can keep the people eating the refined carbs and the industrial vegetable oils and the transfats without killing them if you can offer the adequate supplements... You keep them chronically ill, but feeling semi-healthy. The reason I say this is because, looking at so many obese children, adolescents, young adults and a growing population of obese middle-agers here and seeing them continue with a diet that keeps them as they are, makes me think that most of these people would opt to be obese and uncomfortable as long as no one messes with their leisure activities/social activities of eating as they do... But then, when someone decides to inform themselves on being healthy or healing themselves alternatively and come across the options of quality supplements, they can pursue that desire... How many of us living here in Mexico would choose that route? How would it harm the pharmaceutical industry and the processed food/fast food industry? But, one day, the doctors will find themselves in a horrible predicament within which they cannot even make the client feel a little better or truly have faith in them, since the problems will be so intense and extensive... But if they had access to supplements, meaning they have access to alternative information about healing (without the supplements, why understand about alternative healing?), they could start showing their patients that there is a solution... even if the patient decides that the eating lifestyle change is too difficult/limiting and socially isolating... then again, everyone else will be in the same boat...
20 hrs · Like · 7


VHR: Thank you for that lesson. I thought Mexico leaned more toward the natural and advanced medicine. I just couldn't live there then. I have to have my supplements. The U.S. keeps trying to restrict our access also; all for the drug companies, I'm sure.
20 hrs · Like · 1


Ross Goldstein It's funny (sarcastically)... Various FB friends in the organic food and anti-Monsanto movement have periodically asked me if it was true what their activist/ecologist movements are publishing about Mexico banning the proliferation of Monsanto "products" within their agricultural industry... For a few years now I respond that it would be extremely surprising... And then a few months ago, while waiting for the traffic light to change, a Monsanto pick-up truck passed infront of me... This was 2 years after the articals proliferated in the organic and ecological movement websites... I live in the 2nd largest city in Mexico (5 million; Guadalajara) and home to a very large upper-middle class... possibly due to being the Telecommunications capital of Latin America... Possibly due to being one of the drug trade capitals of all of the Americas.. Who knows why so much money circulates here? In any case, it is virtually impossible to find organic produce, grass-fed beef, free-range chickens... Truthfully, I don't know what would be more dangerous; to be a vegetarian here or a pure carnivore... because I can encounter grass raised beef driving into the farmland an hour outside of the city... and I can find a person who sells supposedly organic chicken a few days a week inside the city... I can't know if it is organic. But, it certainly smells much better than the horribly chemical smelling factory chicken all over the place... But, organic fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds? Forget about it!... And Mexican produce is beautiful. But it is conventionally produced and with highly doubtable vitamin and mineral levels... In Mexico very few people understand "organic" and no one pays the value of it, since it costs so much more to cultivate organically. 12 years ago my father-in-law was a 100% organic coffee farmer... But, it wasn't paying for even the organic "fertilizer" or replacing the old coffee plants... It didn't pay virtually anything, because no one paid more for his coffee... Organic produces much less per acre than does conventional... To give you something truly healthy for your body, you must pay the cost of supporting your health and diet... No one wants to pay that cost... although they pay double later on...
19 hrs · Like · 2


MH: Methyl vitamins help lower homocysteine, and lately I've been feeling great by adding methionine and lots of TMG to my supplements. I also take methylcobalamin and methylfolate. TMG is very effective in lowering homocysteine.
16 hrs · Like · 2


KM: Ross, what an education. I hope Mexico isn't a glimpse of our future here in the US. I absolutely have to have all my supps and whole unadulterated fresh food. I couldn't live in Mexico.

If you can, do the 23andme. Then do lots of homework and read Dr Savages posts and files (if any). You will be able to figure out your health problems.
14 hrs · Like· 1

Ross Goldstein The problem with living in Mexico is that I can't get those tests like 23 and me... Nitric Oxide... Magnesium... MTHFR etc.. And, yes, the bone broth reaction was related to a problem with histamine metabolism... All of this may seem like conjecture, since I'm not diagnosed with the histamine problem... just all of the allergic reactions over a life time... nor am I diagnosed Celiac... However, most of the allergic reactions and the digestive problems disappeared with the removal of wheat products a year ago...
7 hrs · Edited · Like

Ross Goldstein KM, in ways, Mexico is a reflection of the U.S. regarding medicine and pharmaceuticals and health recommendations... What is happening here with the pharmaceuticals (and Coca Cola, Pepsi Co, Nestle, Bimbo, Walmart etc) is that what is illegal and slightly monitored in the U.S. is ignored in Mexico... So, being that Mexico is the 11th richest nation of 196 and the 10th most populated, it is a dream-come-true for the multi-nationals dreaming of deregulation... Another difference between the U.S. and Mexico is the fantasy of how the country was formed... Fantasies/illusions about one's country, history and self may be much more powerful than realities (with the exception of historic racism against people of African Descent in the U.S.)... So, we "Americans" believe that the U.S. was constructed for protecting our own personal rights... That wasn't the history of Mexico... If you could encounter an honest anti-Mexican lobbyist in the U.S. and show them exactly why so many Mexicans cross the U.S. border "illegally" and show them all of the political-economic history dating back to just before the Great Depression along with the aftermath of NAFTA, maybe they would stop being lobbyists against Mexicans in the U.S. It is very important that Americans have the belief that their voice must be heard... and that they have rights that must be observed... and why there are so many watchdog groups in the U.S. Regarding medicine and healing in the U.S. The U.S. government has become corrupt and seemingly fascist ignoring the Hippocratic Oath in both science and medicine... The stockholders needs influence the actions of the boards of both the pharmaceutical corporations and the prepared foods companies... Even if the CEOs suddenly had a "change of heart", their companies MUST consider the concerns of the stockholders...
5 hrs · Like

KM: I wouldn't take TMG without first checking homocystine. Having 677 hetero I was sure my homocystine would be high. But my intuition told me not to take TMG. My recent labs came back 4.3 homocystine. Too low.
14 hrs · Edited · Like · 2


KB: Ross, I have FAP, too!! Not gardeners syndrome though, thankfully
12 hrs · like · 2


KB: Certainly do your 23andme. Ive since learnt that there are other genes involved with FAP. Are you taking digestive enzymes? From what you say, blood thinners sound more important at the moment, then statins.

Re the bone broth, sounds like a histamine reaction.
It also be worth looking into the role of nitric oxide with regard to vascular health?
AKG, GC RPh, other recommendations?
12 hrs · Edited · like · 2


GC RPh: Ross Goldstein I think you should contact Dr. Beatrice Gallagher, PhD Clinical Nutritionist in Ajijic, Mexico. I used to live there and we were great friends! She is the one who inspired and mentored me to go for my Master's in Clinical Nutirition. She is located at the Integrative Medical Plaza behind the gas station on the road from Guadalajara to Ajijic just before you get to the Walmart on the Carreterra. Tell her I sent you! She will be excited. If anyone can help you with your issues, she CAN! Her rates are very reasonable, and she's only about 45min from Guadalajara.
12 hrs · Edited · like · 8

Ross Goldstein Hi GC RPh... Wow! I was just in Jocotepec in the market last Tuesday buying grass-fed beef and raspberries! The road to Guadalajara? If I'm correct, there is only one that passes through Ajijic... to Chapala or to Jocotepec... and then there is the libramiento... But, I'm certain it wouldn't be difficult to find her. Wow! What a nice tip! and also wonderful hearing that she inspired you to get your Masters in Nutrition!... if I could turn the clock back 20 years... that's what I would do too!
7 hrs · Like

Ross Goldstein GC RPh, checking "coincidences": Does Beatrice have a husband with who teaches bullfighting or something of the sort? Sounds like a crazy question... I know... My wife said that we had a client who said that his wife was a nutritionist in Ajijic and Margarita is almost certain that his wife wasn't Mexican...
7 hrs · Edited · Like

GC RPh: No, her husband lives in Connecticut
7 hrs · Unlike · 1

GC RPh: If you can't find her, then PM me and I'll give you her direct phone#. She is fluent in Spanish and in English, Studied in the US, lives and practices full time in Ajijic.
7 hrs · like · 1

GC RPh Ross Goldstein Dr. Gallagher has a booth in the Tuesday organic market! you might have seen her....look for her next Tuesday. She's quite fun to chat with. She sells her spirulina and her chlorella there
7 hrs · Unlike · 1

Ross Goldstein GC RPh, we'll look for Beatrice tomorrow... I've passed by the market, but not entered it... I'll do that tomorrow... In fact, I think we noticed the Integral Medical Plaza the last time we passed through Ajijic in November... I've been avoiding Chapala ever since... A lot of traffic... 
5 hrs · Like

GC RPh there is an online bulletin board for the Chapala area that you could post a need for someone to bring a pkg back for you. It is quite common for people going back and forth to bring packages for people. I think there is even one person that makes a border run every week and she has you send pkg to her address and she brings it back for a small fee
5 hrs · Unlike · 1

LBGC RPh: advise is right on, you need resources. Yes…. do you 23andme! I would think that you will have to have some Serrapeptase or other enzymes that will help keep the stent clean. I would advice Statins and use CoQ10. Surely the cardiologist did a homocysteine.
10 hrs · Like

Ross Goldstein No, the cardiologist did NOT do a homocysteine. I did the homocysteine.. 9.8 (for cardiology purposes; smack in the middle of perfection... or no atherosclerotic risk... although non-cardiologists would say that it needs to be 3 points lower...)
7 hrs · Like

Ross Goldstein CoEnzyme Q10 in adequate amounts and from supplementary companies verified as authentic do not exist here... It would be easier to eat beef heart...
7 hrs · Like

Ross Goldstein I'm not taking the statins because they would lower my cholesterol into the danger zone... I am taking the pharmaceutical "Effient" for keeping the stents clean.
7 hrs · Like

RG: I'm sorry to read of your history. Glad u r here. Try looking at lowhistaminechef.com. Her story may help.

Low histamine diet recipes for histamine intolerance, mastocytosis, MCAS
healthy low histamine diet recipes for histamine intolerance, mastocytosis, mast cell activation, mcas, food allergies and intolerances. Desserts.
LOWHISTAMINECHEF.COM
10 hrs · like · 1

G C RPh: Another good resource is to read Jeannie Lee Sweeneystory at www.methyl-nation.com



Methyl-Nation

METHYL-NATION.COM
10 hrs · Edited · like · 3

Ross Goldstein Hi RG, Jess, from "The Patient Celiac" had connected me with "the low histimine Chef" a year ago... But, considering that I was already auto restricting: no wheat, no industrial vegetable oils, no soy, no alcohol, no refined carbs (with the exception of a little bit of sugar in my coffee), no prepared foods... I ignored the list of fruits and vegetables etc... And, truthfully, with the exception of the bone broth, I've found that my histamine levels have stabilized... I have reactions to the soy if I ignore the label on the "high quality" chocolate bars... Joint Pains and immediate head ache. But, after the heart attack that I attribute partially to inflamation caused by soy in a cheap chocolate truffle (part of a birthday present from my landpeople to my wife the night before), bye! bye! chocolate... HELLO wonderful cacao tea... Instead of drinking coffee, we're preparing "tea" directly from cacao seeds...
7 hrs · Like · 1

LN: advise against stains.
10 hrs · Like · 3

TS:With a dropping D level like you have, I would look into hyperparatyhroidism. Get your PTH hormone and calcium tested. How is your bone density?
10 hrs · like · 1

Ross Goldstein TS, I looked into my thyroids the month before changing everything in my diet... I went to an endocrinologist who tested my thyroids as being normal. Granted, Chris Kresser claims that thyroid tests are incredibly inaccurate... The endocrinologist in gave me a diet to follow... I looked at it and put it aside and then designed my very own based on the newfound understanding of metabolic syndrome and the role of refined carbs on obesity, fatigue and the development of VLDL cholesterol and Triglycerides... When I visited him a month later, 10 pounds lighter and my triglycerides plummetting, he immediately asked me about his diet and I told him the truth and mentioned what was published in the New York Times about the truth about saturated fat, cholesterol and heart disease... He responded that he wouldn't change anything about my diet... but recommended my taking a statin for dropping the remaining triglycerides faster than fast... And my wife got angry "isn't Ross dropping his triglycerides fast enough naturally?" Instead, we dropped the endocrinologist...
7 hrs · Like · 1

Ross Goldstein Bone density... who knows? I've always had very thick bones... that mess up my BMI making me weigh more than is normal for me height even when I was a super skinny midget in elementary school... I could be anorectic and "they" would say I must lose weight... Too much bone, too much muscle... I've only broken one bone in my life and had only one cavity (although I've NEVER taken care of my teeth)... I do believe I fractured a bone in my foot (never diagnosed) doing alpine-type exercises two+ years ago (ravine climbing-hiking)... when my Vitamin D was at its lowest (19)... It may not be a fracture... since it doesn't always bother me. Truthfully, I use it as a marker of where the Vitamin D is going when I'm running... If it starts acting up, I'm probably not getting enough sun. Granted, the past few months that I've been getting the sun, the Vitamin D is dropping... leading me to believe that it's due to low magnesium... and probably another connection with the heart attack...
7 hrs · Like · 1

MH: Yes, I thought that's what you meant, Lisa!  (Lisa had said that she advised using statins and then said she meant that she didn't advise using them).
10 hrs · Like · 1

AKG: I like Gail's suggestion of getting help locally. Nitric oxide was definitely my first thought (as it is responsible for the vessels), but I would also be concerned about some sort of infection (GI?) due to the fast-changing Vit D (and if that's the case, supplementation with D would just feed the infection). Not sure if anyone has mentioned yet, 23andMe is a genetic spit test (very simple), ordered from a website with the same name. You can verify with the company, but I believe they mail and receive kits from Mexico.
9 hrs · like · 1

SWPRoss Goldstein, some folks convert storage D to active 1,25 dihydroxy vitamin D very quickly. I would have both forms tested as the ratio of active to storage should be 1.5 to 2 , or there are other problems.

Acv and alcohol can also be indicative of mold or fu gal infections among other things. 23andme will help to see.
I completely agree with GC RPh, and what a find to jave someone nearby.

Shoemaker is the authority on mold and there is much info online.

Homocysteine anything over 9 is too high, according to David Perlmutter, MD.
9 hrs · like · 1

Ross Goldstein SWP, not only Dr. Perlmutter, but everyone suffering MTHFR... I received "Grain Brain" a few weeks ago, and now am the third person in the house reading it... Fortunately I can receive medical, nutrition, medical science criticism here in Mexico. Granted, I go to the English Language library/bookstore here in Guadalajara and have them order the books from England, Spain, the U.S. (I always ask for them in Spanish so that my wife and brothers-in-laws can read them and usually receive them in English)... Grain Brain was published in Spanish in November... So, that's why I'm the third one reading it right now... The mold is an interesting idea. But, as long as I can't test for it here... I must put it aside... for the moment, since thinking about all the things that I can't count on here in Mexico just makes me stressed... And I've finally outgrown "if only"... or "If I were a rich man... Yidle Didle Didle Yidle Didle Du..."
6 hrs · Like · 1

Ross Goldstein I've got the "surviving mold" page up... I wonder if it has anything to do with mold spores in the air... since we've been living in a very water damaged house for 3.5 years now... But, I guess I'll see when I look at the page after responding to all of the comments here...
6 hrs · Like

JLS It really sounds like you have been dealing with a large environmental load from very young. Mast Cell Activation Disorder with POTS possibly.
7 hrs · like · 1

Ross Goldstein JLS... I've stumbled across a lot of scientific literature connecting "childhood misfortune" with acute myocardial infarctions... And they focus greatly upon what they call "environmental insults"... which is a very interesting term: Insult... What is an insult? It could be the violation of a girl by her uncle... or being mentally abused by her mother or having an alcoholic father or being bullied heavily in school or or or... When pediatricians diagnose children with asthma, I imagine most of them don't know that much of the problem is caused by stress at home... that maybe causes what the epigeneticists call gene mutations influenced environmentally... Did I mention that my father suddenly died when I was 4.5-years-old, he was an opthalmologist and died on New Years Eve of the illness my younger sister and I inhereted... He was 34-years-old... My mother was 29-years-old with 3 young children. My older sister was very possessive of my father when I was born and very jealous of me... she became very abusive... My mother sent herself to school 2 weeks after my father's death and pushed me away due to fear of developing an incestuous relationship with the new "man of the house"... It was 1973, her American Dream had suddenly crashed and she was entering into the budding feminist movement and the sexual revolution... We had a revolving door of potential fathers... In fact, in less than a year she almost married Hal with his grown children... My father's only sibling who was saved by my father's death (for being diagnosed on time) supposedly beat the sh... t out of me when my mother was with my father at Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York... because I wet my cousin's bed... because I teased the dog... One PTSD therapist in New York insisted that I had been sexually abused as a child because of all of the right signs... And the children picked up on my vulnerability and had me ostracized heavily from 2nd grade until my second 10th grade... I had my first surgeries at the age of 13... (my colon was removed at Sloan Kettering), I suffered insomnia until my late 20s early 30s, I struggled horribly in school, which would later on be misdiagnosed as ADD, when it truly should have been diagnosed as PTSD... You tie all of this together and, regardless of blood lipid/cholesterol levels, you've got a child who will have an Acute Myocardial Infarction in his mid-40s regardless of all he did to prevent it during the prior years... And, truthfully, there is no doctor here who will touch this cause-effect with a ten foot poll... So, we return ALONE (with the exception of all of you wonderful people responding in ways that those on the FAP, Gardners Syndrome, J-Pouch groups don't) to the Environmental "Insults" and how they certainly changed enzyme levels and blocked the absorption of certain vitamins and minerals... and led to chronic inflamation... and other things... and now we have an Acute Myocardial Infarction... And, one more thing: there is no one on this planet who will truly be able to tell me how much my lack of a colon and part of my ileum turned into the J-Pouch truly affects my absorption... Plus, having removed the wheat and the refined-carbs, my digestive experience has greatly changed... as seen in the bathroom and with the incredible decrease of inflamation/blockages... and the ability to ingest fruit and vegetables and nuts and seeds that caused horrible misery in the past and only cause happiness today...
6 hrs · Like

Ross Goldstein FYI, I wrote the story of the heart attack about 3 weeks ago. However, I wasn't accepted into the group until yesterday. A lot of things have passed in those 3 weeks. And I've done a ton of investigation... At the moment I'm investigating the connection between my Gallstones of 2006 with low Glutathione, undermethylation, allergy to penicillin, childhood asthma, my FAP/Garders/J-Pouch and the heart attack. With low Glutathione, the doctors MUST be very careful what medicines they prescribe... and this is a battle I'm waging with the cardiologist...
7 hrs · Like

AKG: You are doing so very many things right, Ross. IMHO, I would still suspect nitric oxide insufficiency. Nitric oxide is needed for blood vessel integrity. GC RPh and I have posted quite a bit about BH4 (tetrahydrobiopterin), the cofactor needed for nitric oxide as well as how to eat and live to improve nitric oxide production in the MTHFR A1298Cgroup (in the Files section). There are some basic lab tests that you may be able to order in Mexico to confirm low BH4.
7 hrs · like · 1

Ross Goldstein AKG, after my mother's vitamin package sent from New Jersey by way of UPS was returned at the border, I am very worried about purchasing anything through mail order to be sent to Mexico... ReMag said that they could send me their wonderful magnesium... through USPS... but if it is returned to sender, they can only reimburse me 80%... I can't take those risks...
6 hrs · Like

AKG Exercising and eating foods specific to nitric oxide production can be done without supplements or border issues.
6 hrs · Unlike · 2

JLS: And the elevated lactic acid could be other things too.
6 hrs · Unlike · 2

Ross Goldstein Yes, JLS, I've gotta go back to the question of the Lactic Acid... I will be having blood taken tomorrow... we'll see if it appears again on the test... It's what told me on Friday the 13th that I had just had a heart attack... combined with the ALT... it could have been cancer... Plus, for the past year my immunology levels are coming back slightly all over the place, while everything else was perfect... I've repeatedly received Leukocyte readings that supposedly hint towards leukemia or bone marrow cancer... (Although I imagine the numbers should be just a bit higher)... and truthfully, "let's not overdo-it" passes through my mind. It's sufficient worrying about all of the cancer probabilities that are connected with FAP/Gardners Syndrome... But, Leukemia? And we can always blame the heart attack on a life-long horrible eating style... or the newly encountered research into childhood misfortune. But Leukemia...?
6 hrs · Like

Ross Goldstein: AKG:, I had stumbled across information on nitric oxide in the 3 weeks after the heart attack... probably when investigating what suplements my mother should send me... But, your statements greatly help, especially for keeping the information in the front of my mind... As for exercising... I would love to start running again... and returning to the push-ups, wheel abdominals and rowing machine... Building muscle "kills two birds"... one is it burns the possibly excess glucose in the blood or moves it into storage in the muscle cells... two, it prevents cancer, since cancer cells have only one food: glucose...
6 hrs · Like

SWPRoss Goldstein, congratulations on your journey thus far. It sounds that you have dpne much healing and much learning.

Magnesium as well as the diet choices for max nutrition can do wonders even wout access to supplement.

Certainly the surgeries have changes assimilation and elimination. However magnesium is absorbed very well through the skin and is a major support for heart health. Aquarium stores may sell magnesium chloride which is pharmaceutical grade or food grade. This can be added to evrclear or vodka and put on the skin. It can also be added to water if you do not tolerate the alvohol even on the skin.

The magnesium advocacy group is very knowledgeable regarding this.
Kudos to you for reachg out and being your own best advocate.
6 hrs · like · 1

Ross Goldstein SWP, the other day we found a video on YouTube for preparing magnesium oil...
6 hrs · Like

JLS: Stress will raise histamine levels, elevated histamine can cause environmental allergies. Stress wears on the adrenals. Stress raises cortisol, this imbalance can promote an entire imbalance and promotion of mineral imbalances and microbe imbalances, or pathogenic overgrowth. All increase the environmental load and immune burden.
6 hrs · like · 1

Ross Goldstein JLS, you are so correct about the cortisol... I was looking into that 2 years ago, since my digestive problems and pouchitis caused my awakening 2 or 3 times in the night for going to the bathroom or much more... making it incredibly difficult for lowering my BP... Then with the heart attack and reading about childhood misfortune, I realize that the adrenaline or cortisol has me in fight or flight for at least 40 of my 45 years now... and what consequences! And what cardiologist wants to hear about this...? They "must" focus on pharmaceuticals for dropping triglycerides and cholesterol... Granted, stress can cause the liver's dumping of cholesterol into the blood stream. But, although my cholesterol was elevated 14 months ago, it was NEVER hypercholesterolemia... I would focus a million times more on Cortisol than on cholesterol... But I'm not my cardiologist... and we need him for his technical expertise as a glorified mechanic... and not as a healer...
5 hrs · Like

KB Ross, the absorption thing is something I have always wondered about. It's great to have a fellow FAP'er in this epigenetics world. I'm sure you will find many answers here, too
5 hrs · Like

KB: Do you know anyone across the border whom you could have a 23andme kit sent to?
5 hrs · Like

Ross Goldstein KB, I'm sorry, I didn't see your response until much later... And, yes, it was a nice surprise your appearance as a fellow FAPer... what percentage of the U.S. population are we? Of those who will develope cancer of the colon or who are at risk (I imagine you are without yours too...) we are only 1%... I'll be looking into the 23 and me kit sending in the near future.

KB: Ross, Im in Australia. I was diagnosed 24yrs ago. At the time I was the youngest in Australia. I believe my initial colonoscopy video travelled to the US lol
Feel free to PM me too
1 hr · Edited · Unlike · 1


JMP started a whole new discussion based on a comment I made in my discussion:

JMP: "Should under-methylators avoid bone broth? If so, why? ( Ross Goldstein just posted something that triggered this question, but I didn't want to high jack his post...)"

EP: Why ???? Broth is cysteine, which is an intermediate of methylation process.
13 hrs · Like

RG: If u have histamine intolerance bone broth isn't good.
13 hrs · Unlike · 7

LIS: I think if you have histamine issues yes
13 hrs · Like · 1

SS: Ugh I give up. Was going to try bone broth for gut healing but I know I have major histamine issues
12 hrs · Like

JC: It's the same issue I have sally. There are other snps that need dealing with before mtfhr.mits frustrating because the things that heal gut...bone broth, fermented foods, glutamine, all are bad for me.
12 hrs · Like

TH: There are ways do low(er) histamine bone broths. You could also consider gelatin for gut healing or maybe fasting?
12 hrs · Unlike · 1

SS: Well I bought the gelatin to put in the broth. When it arrived it had spilled a little in the box and just the smell of it sent me into a flare then I was told that a lot of people with histamine intolerance can't handle the gelatin. I'm ready to just give up
12 hrs · Like

LW: Tammy, how do you make it low histamine? I don't tolerate bone broth either.
11 hrs · Like

PL: Just consume immediately and freeze the rest
10 hrs · Edited · Unlike · 2

KA: I've heard To make it low histamine cook it for a shorter period of time. I used to simmer for 36 hours but I recently discovered my histamine issues so I haven't even tried the suggestion above yet. I Definitely don't use beef bones-I've never been able to tolerate beef broth; chicken is a better alternative for me if I'm going to do broth. I hate having histamine issues! I was also told that you can purchase a supplement called Histamine Block that will digest histamine In the gut so you don't get flare ups but I haven't tried yet
10 hrs · Like

Ross Goldstein I would simmer the bones for 4 hours... and immediately cool it... The issue with bone broth (as says Chris Kresser) is that with more time simmering bacteria forms and, if I'm correct (I re-read his comment last night) certain enzymes are formed...
9 hrs · Like · 1

RG: how about just some homemade chicken broth which doesn't need to cook as long and won't bring out those hystamines as much - maybe try not to attack everything at once.
9 hrs · like · 2

JMP: Would histamine issues show up as behavioral or emotional issues?
9 hrs · Like

RG:Yes! I have broken down in tears and had a lot of anger after eating the wrong thing. And if u read lowhistaminechef story she was misdiagnosed for many many years
8 hrs · Edited · Unlike · 3

Ross Goldstein Look up histadelia and its influence on Autism, schizophrenia... My maternal grandmother died in a mental institution of gangrene of all things... My mother was 15-years-old. Her mother was diagnosed as schizophrenic... However, my maternal grandmother also was the 12 child of immigrant Russian Jews. How much trauma did her family experience before escaping the Pogroms? And, how much malnutrition did she experience as a child in such a large and poor immigrant family? I wouldn't diagnose her as schizophrenic and would greatly wonder about histadelia/undermethylation... and trauma... I remember while studying in all of the women's studies classes I took at Hampshire College in the early 90s reading that 1 in 4 American women have been raped (or sexually abused)... And those are only statistics of those who were contacted or willing to say something (or remembered; dissociative property of mental illness probably is more powerful than is the need to "cure" oneself). And what if the woman wasn't raped or sexually abused as a child? How many other ways of destroying a child's health and future exist, that will NEVER be assessed because it is the former child's (especially if they exhibited "anti-social" behaviors) word against the perpetrator and the family members who protect the perpetrator or the good name of the family or who just weren't there to be able to testify against their sister's "lying" or "exaggerating"? But, whenever I've mentioned things that happened in our childhood, my sisters claim that they don't remember anything but the good...
8 hrs · Like · 1

KA: Yes JMP! Me too, RG! It can be a rollercoaster, that's for sure!
7 hrs · Like · 2

JMP: Thanks everyone!
5 hrs · Like