New to Methylation!

[Jolly Wolf]

Hi everyone,

 

Someone introduced me to the idea of having problems with Methylation today. This correlates with my Lyme disease diagnosis and positives for co-infections Babesia and Bartonella.

 

However, one of the first problems I ever had was chronic hives that suddenly appeared about 10 years ago. Imagine my surprise when I read about a methylation defect and histamine connection.

 

I don't quite understand it all yet, and I'm going to continue to research it. I do have a question now that would help me sort things out a little more.

 

In my case, I had chronic hives with exposure to the sun, exercise and dust. The biggest issue of all was that I could not use anti-histamines. Anti-histamines made my hives MUCH worse. Every doctor told me I could not be allergic to anti-histamines, but I WAS! Guess what reduced my hives at any time? Alcohol. Alcohol cleared my hives within a drink or two, and I was good for the rest of my night.

 

It took about 5 years during which it slowly stopped becoming a problem, and then the reverse happened. I couldn't tolerate alcohol anymore without my ears turning bright red. I started having sinus problems, food intolerance developed, pale appearance. Much more with all the Lyme stuff, but I don't want to fall off topic.

 

Now, I find myself having a lot of trouble tolerating supplements. Just things like B-Complex 50 make me feel more tired. Certain antibiotics are a no go, and I'm having all sorts of skin-related problems with these medicines.

 

My question is what does this tell me about methylation and histamine in my case? I still have pretty bad environmental allergies, still dealing with food intolerance but am on a diet that helps me avoid trigger foods. Oh yeah, all my trigger foods are MOLD related / fermented foods (e.g. cheese, canned tomatoes, sauerkraut, vinegar, all vinegar products, alcohol).

 

I'm aware of GI stuff and candida, have worked on that stuff too. But, this is much bigger I think with the supplement intolerance stuff.

 

I am very interested in hearing from anyone who can offer help.

 

Thanks!

[lismom]

Are you treating the Lyme now? Lyme and strep can reside in the gut as well as the rest of the body and cause what your describing as well. My son can't just take any supplement he wants either. We had to heal the gut and continue to whatch what he eats. He gave up on the gluten free diet though. He has high histamine problems. Taking shots for some enviromental. I know he doesn't methylate like he should either, but hoping once Lyme is treated, his system will regulate better.

[Jolly Wolf]

Yes, I've been treating Lyme for over a year using several different antibiotics. Still, the stuff I mentioned persists or worsens through treatment. I have made a lot of progress with some antibiotics though, so just not in this area.

 

I first got introduced to this whole idea through a post on this forum:

 

http://www.latitudes.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=2056

 

So, I was really hoping others would have heard about it, and had some ideas for me..

[MichaelTampa]

There is a book, "Explaining Unexplained Illnesses" by Martin Pall, where he present some cycle in the body related to nitric oxide and peroxynitrate, that can cause illness. It is seen commonly in chronic fatigue, chemical sensitivities, PTSD, and multiple-system illnesses of which lyme disease would fall in this category. He actually presented this as a potential new cause of disease. That may or may not be correct.

 

But, there is a lot of information in there about methylation and how it relates to these illnesses. Also, a lot of suggestions, some of them are vitamin B2, B6 (as P-5-P), and B12. Interesting you are feeling tired from vitamin B. I wonder, is it giving you energy to fight lyme disease and causing tired/herx reaction? Is your methylation backwards from most people (over-methylated rather than most who are under-methylated)? Don't really know what to make of your situation.

 

One thing I did that helped a lot, that might help you (or, if you're backwards, be a bad idea?), is oxygen therapy--breathing 97% pure oxygen from a concentrator. Lincare rents them, Rx required there. I bought one from a place that also required Rx, for about $500. While Martin Pall was not gung-ho about O2 therapy in his book, I remember feeling like he explained some of why it had been so helpful for me.

 

Don't know if this will be helpful, your's is a situation I don't think I've heard about quite like that, just throwing out the thoughts I have here.